Whether a document is to be published from Word or is going to a designer, it is useful to format the document in Word. This involves:
- applying a template
- applying styles to all elements of the document (title, headings, main text, table and figure captions, text within tables and boxes, and so on)
- creating and updating tables of contents for headings, and for table and figure captions, if necessary.
The benefits of formatting are that:
- the document will have a clear and consistent layout
- automated tables of contents for headings, tables and figures can easily be inserted and updated
- styles can be set to ensure that a heading stays with the text that follows it
- headings can easily be viewed and edited as a set using Outline view
- sections of a document can easily be moved around using Outline view
- designers can readily see what styles should be applied when moving a document from Word to a layout program such as InDesign (this saves time and reduces errors at the design stage).