Paperwork is subject to certain requirements. One of the most common requirements, a paragraph must be started with a red line, that is, with a larger margin from the edge than the rest of the text.
Let's figure out in practice how you can make a red line in the Word text and what difficulties you may encounter.
Red line - why is it needed?
The red line, along with the fields, is an important part of the text document. In many ways, this is associated with the psychological characteristics of the perception of the eyes and brain of a person.
So, for example, about 1/5 of the page area is occupied by margins. In this case, the padding of the fields at the top, bottom and sides have different sizes.
Set up a very simple experiment, find any text document, it is desirable that the letters completely fill the sheet and cut off the margins to zero. Now answer the question, how is it easier to read, with or without fields ?.
The same laws apply to paintings. Imagine The Three Bogatyrs painted at the right corner of the picture. The composition will be irretrievably broken.
A huge number of publishers, book artists, type designers and printers are engaged in such issues. These are the psychological aspects of the perception and processing of information by a person.
"Red lines", paragraphs, drop caps and spacing in strips of text are part of these aspects.
Thanks to the red line, the text becomes clear, it is easier to read and understand. New paragraphs begin with it, into which the document is divided according to the meaning.
The red line indicates a new thought, a semantic segment.
But why is this indentation called "red"?
According to one of the versions, in ancient times, all documents began with a drop cap, which was artistically depicted, had a certain meaning and ... very often it was depicted in red.
Let's figure out how to expose the red line in Word documents.
What size of the red line to use according to GOST
From school, I remember when the red line was marked by putting two fingers to the corner of a notebook sheet. Where the second finger ended, there should have been a red line.
At school, they taught me to do the right things, but over time, a person grows and changes, and where two fingers of a student used to end, everything will be different for an adult.
The red line has very specific dimensions that are prescribed in accordance with GOST.
Unlike other indents, the size of the red line for all types of documents according to GOST is the same: 1.25 cm.
Regardless of whether a term paper, an abstract, a thesis or just a document is being printed, the requirements for the first indent in the paragraph are the same.
How to make a red line in Word
In all versions of Word, you can indent in several ways. In this section, we will look at each method separately, and you should understand that each method is used for certain needs and in certain conditions.
Set the red line with the Tab key
The option is quick and easy. Necessary:
- Place the courses at the beginning of the line of the paragraph of interest.
- Press the Tab key.
The latest versions of keyboards do not contain the caption on the "TAB" button, but have a side arrow pattern.
When pressed, an indent appears from the edge of the text. When you select all the text and press the "TAB" key, the indent appears not only at the beginning of the paragraph, the entire text is shifted to the right.
If you need to indent each paragraph and there are many of them, this method is problematic. It's easier to set up a command for the entire document at once.
Setting the indentation for the red line
Electronic documents do not always need to add a red line, but if it is necessary, then it is better to use the indentation settings and set the rule to start each paragraph with a red line.
You can customize the red line in Word (no matter what version) in the following way:
- Select all the text in the document using the "Select All" button on the main tab, or press "Ctrl" + "A".
By the way, in the article "", it was explained in detail how you can select the text. Be sure to read this article as it is an extremely important topic for Word users.
- Press the right mouse button and select "Paragraph" from the list. A window opens in which you can set the indent value in the first line. We write the desired value, click "OK".
- The same can be done using the "Page Layout" tab, find the "Paragraph" subsection and click on the arrow in the lower right corner. In the "Indent" block, set the indent for the first line.
If you do not first select all the text, then the red line will appear only in the paragraph on which the cursor was.
Indent a red line using bullets
Red line paragraph, can be done using ruler markers. In this case, it will not be possible to set some exact value, which can well be attributed to the minuses, but if compliance with GOST or other rules is not required, this method will be the fastest.
- Activate the ruler on the "View" tab with the "Ruler" command, where you need to check the box. Ruler marks appear at the top and left of the document.
- Select the entire text of the document.
- There are two markers on the ruler: a down-pointing marker and an up-pointing marker. Move the downward-pointing marker to the right. A red line indent appears for all paragraphs in the document.
A downward-pointing marker will only move the first line of each paragraph. A marker pointing up will move the entire text.
Creating a new style "With red line"
When working with Word documents, I came across tasks when, for several documents, it was necessary to set a certain amount of indentation for the red line.
Time is the most precious thing we have, and we need to be able to save it. Having created a style with the necessary parameters, it will be enough to apply it to the current document, which at times saves time by preventing a series of manipulations.
Creating your own style is a long process, but once you've created it, you can always use it.
- Find the subsection "Styles" on the main tab.
- By clicking on the right mouse button in any of them, select "Change ...". A window with many options opens.
- We set everything that may be required: font size, text alignment, and others. Click on the "Format" button at the bottom of the window, select "Paragraph". For the first line, we set the indent and its size.
- In order to be able to use it in the future, select the "Add to the list of express styles" checkbox. It is usually selected automatically. We put a full stop in the option "In new documents using this template."
How to change the red line
You may come across a document in which, when formatting, the operator set a certain size for the paragraph of the red line. It's good if this size matches our requirements, otherwise you will have to change the size of the red line.
In fact, changing the indentation is no different from the topic described above, which answers the question "How to indent a red line".
- Select the entire text.
- Go to the "Paragraph" settings by right-clicking on the text and selecting the "Paragraph" command.
- In the "Indent" block, set the indent of the paragraph of the first line.
By the way, when it was previously known that a red paragraph line should be present in the document, it can be set even before typing. Then, every first line of every paragraph will automatically start with a red line.
How to remove the red line
In the previous section, a case was considered in which it was necessary to change the existing indentation.
Also, there are times when the indentation of a paragraph needs to be removed altogether.
- Select the entire text or the section in which you want to remove the red line.
- Go to the “Paragraph” settings by right-clicking on the text and selecting the “Paragraph” command, or in the “Page Layout” tab, in the “Paragraph” block, click on the arrow in the lower right corner.
- In the "Indent" block, set the value "no" for the "first line" command.
The second way is to use the ruler markers.
It was described above that markers are not the best idea if you need to set exact dimensions, in this case, when dimensions are not needed, markers will remove the red line very quickly.
- Select the entire text or the part of the document of interest.
- Move the marker pointing down to the left edge of the document.
These methods will help remove the indentation of the red line from the document.
So, setting a red line in a Word text document, as you already know, is very simple. Use the knowledge you just gained and format the text the way you need it in your case.
A paragraph is a piece of text that is expressed with a certain uniformity. Begin with indentation(red line). In an office suite Word, it is separated from other paragraphs by pressing the key Enter... It can be customized beautifully and effectively.
Particularly for Word 2010 this can be done in several ways... First of all, one should highlight paragraph. It can be done threefold by clicking in the area of this category or by simple highlighting holding down the left mouse button.
Next, right-click and select the item Paragraph.
The same action could be done by clicking the small arrow on the right side of the panel Paragraph in the tab Page layout(or Home) on Toolbars.
There are many settings allowing any modifications to be made. 
Here you can configure alignment(left, right, center, and justified). Do indent on the left and right sides. In the First line indent field, you can select indentation or indentation. 
By default it is equal to the standard 1.25 cm, here you can change.
You can make a red line without this window by simply pressing a button Tab by placing the cursor in front of the corresponding part of the text. In this case, the first line will shift by the same 1.25 cm. If you need to change this value, then returning to the window parameters click on the bottom left button Tab.
In field Default change the value to whatever suits you. 
Another useful parameter. here you can select the value of the indent from the previous and before the next paragraph. Also changes here line-to-line value.
The standard line spacing for official documents is one and a half... You can change it here at your discretion.
Down in the field Sample, you can see what changes will be made before confirming.
To set the same paragraph settings for the entire document before opening the preferences window should be highlighted the whole document. The most convenient way to do this is key combination Ctrl + A.
Another way to wrap the first line is with rulers... If you do not see it, you need to go to the tab view and put a tick next to the item ruler In chapter Show.
After selecting a paragraph or the entire document, drag the top triangle of the ruler to the distance you want. However, the method of manually dragging the slider, in our opinion, is the least convenient. 
Lower triangle pulls the entire selected part of the document.
All of the above steps are also relevant for subsequent versions of Word 2013 and 2016.
Make red line in Word 2007
Similar actions can be performed in the 2007 version. 
Follow the directions described above for Word 2010. 
The ruler turns on on the tab View.
Red line in Word 2003
The 2003 version of Word is currently underutilized. Nevertheless, it is easier to figure out how to change the indentation parameters than in the others - there are no numerous tabs, everything is in one panel.
Concerning settings indents, after selecting a part of the text, here you should select the tab Format, and on it the point Paragraph.
Or right click on highlighting with the choice of the same item.
A dialog box identical to other versions will open Paragraph parameters.
Settings group Indent allows you to change the position of the text paragraph in relation to the page margins. Points Left and On right set the distance from the left and right margins of the page, respectively.
To enable the ruler on a tab View check the box Ruler.
Then, in the already familiar way, drag the slider to change the indents.
The red line in Word is used to separate paragraphs from each other. If the text of the document contains several paragraphs in a row, then without a red line they will merge into one solid text and it will be difficult to read it.
Users who are not familiar with Word are accustomed to indenting a red line in a document with extra spaces. You cannot do this - at the slightest change in the formatting of the document, all the text is displaced in different directions and it becomes difficult to reformat it again. Try to include non-printable characters in such a document (system tray icon), then spaces will be shown with dots. Don't worry, the text only looks like this on screen, it will work just fine when printed. In addition, the display of unprintable characters can also be disabled. As you can see, in each paragraph, you need to accurately calculate the number of spaces. All this can be avoided if the text is formatted correctly.
There are two ways to separate paragraphs from each other - the traditional red line indentation and the more modern one - before and after paragraph spacing. The latter method is especially widespread on the Internet. Combining both methods is not recommended - either this or that.
Select the paragraphs before changing the indentation of the red line. If you need to change the parameters of only one paragraph, it is sufficient that the text cursor is located anywhere in the desired paragraph.
Let's consider the selection of indents in Word. There are three ways to do this.
1 way... Move the First Line Indent marker on the horizontal ruler to the desired position. Yes, in Word Red line called the first. If the ruler is missing, select the menu View | Ruler.
When dragging with the mouse, the position of the marker changes in jumps. To set it exactly, hold down the key Alt... In this case, Word will also show the exact value of the indentation.
2 way... Select the menu Format | Paragraph… On the first tab "Indents and Spacing", in the "First row" box, select "Indent". Word will substitute the value "1.25 cm" by itself. Traditionally, in office work and in the design of work, an indent of "1.27 cm" is required. Change the value suggested by Word manually.
Method 3. Place the text cursor at the beginning of the line and press the key Tab... In this case, Word will automatically replace the tab character with a line indent. If not, select the menu Service | AutoCorrect options ...... On the "AutoFormat as you type" tab, in the "Automatically as you type" group, check the "Set key padding" checkbox.
Now, if you start a new paragraph after the current one, then Word for the new paragraph will indent the same as the current one - 1.27 cm.
Also read and download a quick Word tutorial for beginners - the "10 Commandments Word" cheat sheet.
Red lines in paragraphs make the printed material easier to read. Therefore, it will not be superfluous to find out how to do it. Since now 3 editions of Word have become widespread among users, the instruction will consist of three parts - for each application separately.
Word 2003
A good old editor that many users are used to. The application has a classic interface, so the commands are different from modern versions of programs.Method one
Select part of the text and move the top-left slider on the horizontal scale of the ruler (which should be displayed) to the desired distance.
Method two
The easiest option is to position the cursor where the new paragraph will be placed and press Tab on your keyboard.
Third method
Select a piece of text with the cursor and click the "Format" menu item, then select "Paragraph". A window will open where find the field "first line", set the value for the "indent" parameter and click OK.
Word 2007
The most popular editor today. Users are so accustomed to its interface that they are in no hurry to master new versions of the program. All functions are available immediately. There is no need to dig through the menu and memorize paths. There are several options for solving the problem.The first way
First, notice if the item is active. If not, then display it. To do this, go to the "View" tab, find the "Show" block in the panel and enable the "Ruler" option. After that, select the entire text with the Ctrl + A command or its fragment.
When creating an indent, you only need a horizontal scale, on which 2 triangular sliders are installed on the left. By moving the top one, you can find the required distance.
Second way
Mark a part of the text and call the editing menu by clicking on the fragment with the right mouse button. Select "Paragraph" from the menu. You will see a window where find the "first line" field and set the value of the "indent" parameter. The system will set the interval of 1.25 cm by itself (if you want, enter your numbers). All that remains is to click OK.
The third way
If you are typing text yourself or its volume is small, you can use the Tab button. To do this, you need to put the cursor at the beginning of the paragraph and just press the key.
The cursor must be on the starting line of the paragraph. Press Tab, and the program will automatically replace the tab character with an indentation with a distance of 1.25 cm. The only minus is that this approach is not applicable to the entire document at once.
Word 2010/2013/2016
Fresh Microsoft product. It differs from Word 2007 in an updated interface, the names of some tabs and functions.First reception
Find the Paragraph block in the Home (or Layout) panel and click the small square button with an arrow in its corner. A window will open where in the "first line" field select the value of the "indent" parameter. The program will automatically detect an interval of 1.25 cm. Click OK.
Now after pressing Enter, the application will create a red line on its own.
Second reception
A proven method that has not lost its relevance in this version of Word. First, display it. Going to the "View" tab, select the checkbox in the "Ruler" field.
If you have typed unformatted text, then mark it by clicking the "Select" button in the "Home" tab, then select "Select All". You can just use the hot key Ctrl + A.
On the horizontal scale, move the upper inverted triangle marker the desired distance to the right.
Third reception
The red line is easy to make by simply pressing the Tab key. This approach is in demand only when creating a new or editing a small document, because processing each paragraph, for example, on 90 pages, is a dubious pleasure.
All the instructions reviewed for each edition of the Word may appear to be the same. This is partly true. But it is better to arm yourself with the necessary knowledge right away than to waste time studying the issue at the wrong moment.
Hello friends. Today I decided to make a short guide to the most frequently asked questions - how to work with Word 2010. These tips are universal and will most likely work in everyone. Today we will analyze the following:
How to make a paragraph in Word 2010
Simple keystroke ENTER on the keyboard automatically creates a new paragraph.
In our understanding, a paragraph is text that is highlighted in red lines. But for a computer, a paragraph is between two characters ¶. This character is a sign of the end of a paragraph and by default we do not see it, since it is a special indicator in a text document. To see paragraphs in a document marked with a ¶, click in the toolbar on the tab home button with symbol ¶ or use hotkeys Ctrl + shift + * The mode is turned off by pressing the corresponding buttons again.
How to make a red line in 2010 Word
Red line in Word the indent of the first line is called and you can set it in two ways: using the ruler or through the paragraph formatting window.
1st way: Select one or more paragraphs of text and drag the top marker on the ruler to the right to the desired distance.
2nd way: Select one or more paragraphs of text and enter the menu for editing paragraph parameters by clicking on the arrow (see figure),
or use hotkeys in the Russian layout alt i z z
For the first line, set the mode Indent... Initially, it is set equal to 1.25 cm, but it can be changed. We set the desired value and press the button OK.
How to make a ruler in 2010 Word
If the ruler is not displayed in your Word, then you can enable it in three ways.
1st way: Click the button (see picture) in the upper right part of the Word window.
2nd way: In the ribbon, go to the tab View and in the section Show check the box next to Ruler
3rd way: Hot keys for turning on the ruler (successive pressing of three buttons in the Russian layout) Alt o k
How to make a landscape page in a 2010 Word
1st way: Hotkeys in Russian layout alt z o
2nd way: Select a tab in the ribbon Page layout... In chapter Parameters select pages Orientation.
How to make footnotes in Word 2010
Place the cursor to the right of the word to which we create a footnote.
And choose one of the options:
- Using simultaneous keystrokes Alt + Ctrl + F
- In the ribbon, go to the tab Links In chapter Footnotes push Insert footnote
A footnote will be created at the bottom of the page. There we write the text of the footnote.
How to make columns in 2010 Word
To create columns, you need to select the text that will be placed in them. In the ribbon, go to the tab Page layout In chapter Page settings push Loudspeakers and choose the right amount
Advice. Think about which orientation of the sheet is better to use the columns and pre-set the size of the margins.
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