Formatting and font selection can be done either before or after you have typed your document .
Following are the different formats available and a description of the ways to activate them.
There is also a detailed description of the Font Dialog Box which
can be used for either font selection or formatting.
Text Formatting
There are four ways to format any text:
- Use the Format menu
- Use the Icon on the Format Toolbar
- Use the keyboard shortcut
- Use the Font dialog window
bold
- Go to the Format menu and click on "Bold"
- Click on the "Bold" icon
of the Format toolbar
- Use the keyboard shortcut by pressing the "Ctrl" and "B"
keys at the same time
italics
- Go to the Format menu and click on "Italic"
- Click on the "Italic" icon
of the Format toolbar
- Use the keyboard shortcut by pressing the "Ctrl" and "I"
keys at the same time
underlined
- Go to the Format menu and click on "Underline"
- Click on the "Underline" icon
of the Format toolbar
- Use the keyboard shortcut by pressing the "Ctrl" and "U"
keys at the same time
overlined
- Go to the Format menu and click on "Overline"
- Click on the "Overline" icon
of the Format toolbar
- Use the keyboard shortcut by pressing the "Ctrl" and "T"
keys at the same time
strikeout
- Go to the Format menu and click on "Strike"
- Click on the "Strike"
of the Format toolbar
- Use the keyboard shortcut by pressing the "Ctrl" and "K"
keys at the same time
superscript
- Go to the Format menu and click on "Superscript"
- Click on the "Superscript" icon
of the Format toolbar
- Use the keyboard shortcut by pressing the "Ctrl" and "="
keys at the same time
subscript
- Go to the Format menu and then click on "Subscript"
- Click on the "Subscript" icon
of the Format toolbar or
- Use the keyboard shortcut by pressing the "Ctrl" and "-"
keys at the same time
You can combine several formatting
commands, such as: bold + italic + underline + strikeout + superscript.
Font Dialog Box
This dialog box can be accessed in any of three ways:
- Go to the Format menu and click on "Font..."
- In an AbiWord document, rightclick the mouse button, then select Font
- Use the keyboard shortcut by pressing the "Ctrl"and "D" keys
simultaneously

All the preceding formating commands are in the Font Dialog Box. In addition,
the following formating is available:
- Color
Click on the arrow to the right of the Color command in the Effects box and then select
the desired color from the list of choices.
In Unix there is a separate tab to adjust the hue, saturation, and value, or the red,
green, and blue components, independently.
- Scripts for different languages for the specified font
Click on the arrow to the right of the Script command (Encoding in Unix) and select
the desired script from the list of choices.
In the "Example" box (the bottom text box in Unix) you can see what the text
will look like in the selected font and formats.
Once you have selected the attributes, confirm by clicking on the "OK" button or,
to discard the modifications, click the "Cancel" button .