Revision as of 22:11, 18 November 2010

Text formatting determines the way your text will look in the document. Advanced capabilities in editing text format is what distinguishes CKEditor from a standard website form text area or a basic editor. Font styling, changing the size of the text, its size and color, or applying a pre-defined set of consistent styles all happen within seconds, with one mouse click. Experiment with various CKEditor text formatting options to achieve a unique presentation of your documents.

Font

In CKEditor the Font is the typeface that will be applied to the document text. Fonts are pre-defined sets of characters with uniform styling collected under one name. The CKEditor collection of fonts includes most popular serif fonts (Times New Roman, Georgia), sans-serif fonts (Arial, Verdana, Tahoma), and monospaced fonts (Courier New).

To change a font for a text fragment, open the Font menu by clicking the button on the toolbar. The font drop-down list contains a number of typefaces that you can use. To make the choice easier, the font names are displayed in a font that they represent, giving you a preview of what the text will look like.

Font drop-down menu in CKEditor

A font can be applied to the whole document, a paragraph, or a text fragment of arbitrary length — even a single letter. Do note, however, that for esthetic reasons it is recommended not to combine too many different fonts in one document.

Different fonts used in CKEditor

Size

In CKEditor the Size determines how big or small a font used in the document text will be. The system administrator may customize the set of font sizes to the needs of a particular CKEditor installation, however, by default the following values are available: 8px, 9px, 10px, 11px, 12px, 14px, 16px, 18px, 20px, 22px, 24px, 26px, 28px, 36px, 48px and 72px. Depending on the needs of the system, font sizes may also be defined in a descriptive manner, like Very small or Bigger.

To change a font size for a text fragment, open the Size menu by clicking the button on the toolbar. The font size drop-down list contains a number of sizes that you can use. To make the choice easier, the items of the list are displayed in a font size that they represent, giving you a preview of what the text will look like.

Font size drop-down menu in CKEditor

A font size can be applied to the whole document, a paragraph, or a text fragment of arbitrary length — even a single letter. Do note, however, that for esthetic reasons it is recommended not to combine too many different font sizes in one document.

Different font sizes used in CKEditor

Bold, Italic, Underline, and Strike-through

These four basic font styles are frequently used in both print and online documents. Due to their popularity each one of them is available under a separate toolbar button. To turn the style on, press the button or use the respective keyboard shortcut. To turn it off, use the button or a keyboard shortcut again.

To write in bold (i.e. using thicker letters), press the toolbar button or use the Ctrl+B keyboard shortcut.

To write in italics (i.e. using slanted letters), press the toolbar button or use the Ctrl+I keyboard shortcut.

To underline the text (i.e. draw a horizontal line underneath the letters), press the toolbar button or use the Ctrl+U keyboard shortcut. Remember that the underline style will also be applied to all white space of the selected fragment.

To strike the text through (i.e. draw a horizontal line through the letters), press the toolbar button. Remember that the strike-through style will also be applied to all white space of the selected fragment.

The bold, italics, underline and strike-through styles can be applied to the whole document, a paragraph, or a text fragment of arbitrary length — even a single letter. Do note, however, that for esthetic reasons it is recommended not to combine too many different formatting styles in one document.

Bold, italics, underline, and strike-through used in CKEditor

In CKEditor it is possible to combine these styles or use them in conjunction with other formatting methods. It is worth remembering, however, that bold, italics, underline, and strike-through often have special meaning. Strike-through, for example, is often employed to denote the recently deleted text, while underline may suggest recently inserted text or a link. Since their usage is partly standardized, it is important to use these styles consistently across your documents.

Bold, italics, underline, and strike-through combined in CKEditor

Text Color

CKEditor allows you to change the color of text in your documents by using a color palette. To choose a color, select a text fragment and press the toolbar button. The Text Color drop-down menu that will open lets you select a color from a basic palette of 40 shades.

Text Color drop-down menu in CKEditor

If the color that you are after is not included in the basic palette, click the More Colors option in the drop-down menu. The Select color dialog window that will open lets you choose a color from an extended palette. You can either select a desired shade with your mouse or enter the RGB color value into the text box, using one of the following formats:

• rgb(nn, nn, nn) format, where nn is a numeric value on a scale from 0 to 255 representing the red, green and blue channel.
• #nnnnnn format, where the n letters stand for the three pairs of hex color values representing the red, green and blue channel.

Select Color dialog window in CKEditor

A color can be applied to the whole document, a paragraph, or a text fragment of arbitrary length — even a single letter. Do note, however, that for esthetic reasons it is recommended not to combine too many different colors in one document.

Text color used in CKEditor

Background Color

CKEditor allows you to change the color of text background in your documents by using a color palette. To choose a color, select a text fragment and press the toolbar button. The Background Color drop-down menu that will open lets you select a color from a basic palette of 40 shades.

Background Color drop-down menu in CKEditor

If the color that you are after is not included in the basic palette, click the More Colors option in the drop-down menu. The Select color dialog window that will open lets you choose a color from an extended palette. You can either select a desired shade with your mouse or enter the RGB color value into the text box, using one of the following formats:

• rgb(nn, nn, nn) format, where nn is a numeric value on a scale from 0 to 255 representing the red, green and blue channel.
• #nnnnnn format, where the n letters stand for the three pairs of hex color values representing the red, green and blue channel.

Select Color dialog window in CKEditor

A color can be applied to the background of the whole document, a paragraph, or a text fragment of arbitrary length — even a single letter. Do note, however, that for esthetic reasons it is recommended not to combine too many different colors in one document.

Background color used in CKEditor

Subscript

Subscript is a character that is slightly smaller than the text that surrounds it and is set below the baseline. It is often used in mathematical expressions to denote a variable version or the denominator part of a fraction.

To use subscript in your document, press the toolbar button. To remove the formatting, press the button again.

Subscript used in CKEditor

Superscript

Subscript is a character that is slightly smaller than the text that surrounds it and is set above the baseline. It is often used in mathematical expressions to denote power or the numerator part of a fraction. In normal text superscript often directs a user to a footnote; some special characters are often added as superscript by default.

To use superscript in your document, press the toolbar button. To remove the formatting, press the button again.

Superscript used in CKEditor

Styles

Using lots of different formatting on the text makes it ugly and difficult to read.

Styles keep all formatting uniform. Each style provides a predefined combination of formatting features. It combines all the formatting functions described in this chapter and enables fast access to the common used text formats. For example: Instead of changing individually: the font, its color, its background, its size user may simply pick a preferred style from the Style menu and start typing.

File:CKEditor style.png

Please remember to be instructed on how properly use each style.

Example:

File:CKEditor example style.png

Text Alignment

Paragraphs’ lines may be modified as well.

• To align the text at the left side of the editing area, User needs to press the File:CKEditor align left.png button on the toolbar.

Example:

• To align the text at the right side of the editing areaFile:CKEditor align right.pngbutton on the toolbar should be pressed.

Example:

• To align the text in the center of the document, User should pressFile:CKEditor align center.png button on the toolbar.

Example:

• To use the block alignment also called "justify" user needs to press on the toolbar (“Justify” expands the text and makes it equally long so that the lines will end in the same place)

Example:

Paragraph (Block) Format

Format menu located in the toolbar is one of the most important functions.

File:CKEditor format menu.png

User uses format to organize the text and to distinguish different parts of the text e.g.: if user wishes to start a new chapter or to put different categories and subcategories he/she utilizes the format menu and chooses different headings.

Example:

File:CKEditor example format.png