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Word 2010 Videos - Format Painter

If you’ve put some stylish formatting onto one portion of text, and you decide that you want other pieces of text formatted the same way, you can use the Format Painter. The Format Painter will copy the formatting applied to one piece of text and will paste it to another.

This is a great feature, because you don’t have to remember what font, size, colour, and other effects you applied to the original text to apply them to the new text.

To demonstrate, let’s style this piece of text first.

Now, suppose we want this piece of text formatted in the same way. Piece of cake! Select the original text with the formatting you want to copy and then click the Format Painter button. You’ll notice that the cursor changes to a paintbrush. You can then “paint” new text with the formatting you copied by selecting them.

Notice how this only works for one go, as the cursor returns to normal after the first application of that formatting. However, you can apply formatting to several pieces of text by double clicking the Format Painter. Then you apply as before: simply select new text that you want styling the same way.

When you switch the Format Painter on like this, you’ll need to click the Format Painter button again to switch it off.

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