Formatted text

You can change how words look on a screen. You can make words dark or bright. You can also make them big. Some words can even have color.

Long ago, people used lines under words. Early computers could not do this. People used stars or big letters instead.

Now, we use special codes to style text. These codes tell the computer what to do. The computer reads the code to show the style.

Some tools show you the style right away. You can see the dark words as you type. This helps you see your work.

Some files are hard for others to open. This can make it tough to share work. It is fun to make words look special!

You can make words look special on a screen. This is called formatted text. Plain text only shows the words. Formatted text adds more. You can change the color. You can make words bold or slanted. You can even change their size.

Long ago, people used lines under words on paper. Early computers could not do this. Users used symbols instead. They used stars or capital letters to show emphasis.

Today, we use markup languages. These use tags to style text. A tag is a special code. For example, HTML uses angle brackets. One tag starts the style. Another tag ends it.

Some tools use a WYSIWYG way. This stands for "what you see is what you get." You can see the style as you type. This is different from typing codes. Some programs save files in a binary way. These files use hidden code. This can make them hard to share. Other files, like PDF, are hard to change once they are done.

Digital text can look many different ways. Most text is just plain text. Plain text only shows the words themselves. Formatted text is much more interesting. It adds styles like colors and sizes. You can also make words bold or slanted. Some text even has special links. These are called hyperlinks in HTML.

Formatting works in a few different ways. One way uses markup languages. These languages use tags to style words. Tags are special codes for the computer. HTML uses angle brackets for its tags. For example, an italics tag starts a style. Then, a closing tag ends that style. LaTeX is another way to use markup. You can use a simple text editor for this.

People have wanted special text for a long time. Before computers, people used typewriters. They would underscore words to make them stand out. Early computers could not use underlining. Users had to find new ways to show emphasis. They used capital letters to do this. They also used stars or underscores. These symbols acted as substitutes for real styles.

Modern tools use a style called WYSIWYG. This means "what you see is what you get." MacWrite was the first WYSIWYG word processor. In these programs, you code the style visually. Most word processors save files as binary files. These files have hidden characters inside them. Microsoft Word and WordPerfect use this method. OpenOffice.org Writer saves files in an XML format. However, it still uses compression.

There are different ways to save your work. Binary files can sometimes be hard to share. This is because they are often proprietary. This means the rules are kept secret. This makes it hard for other programs to work. PDF is another common file format. It is usually a binary file too. It uses compression for text and graphics. Most people use it as an end-user format. It is not easy to edit once it is done.

In the world of computing, text can appear in many different ways. Most basic text is called plain text. Plain text only shows the characters themselves without any extra design. Formatted text, also known as styled text or rich text, goes much further. It includes information that changes how the text looks to a reader. This can include different colors and various font sizes. It also includes styles like boldface or italics. In some digital environments like HTML, it can even include special features like hyperlinks.

Formatting has its origins in the era of typewritten manuscripts. Before computers existed, people used underscoring to make certain passages stand out. When early interactive computer systems arrived, they could not perform underlining. Users also dealt with the limitations of ASCII, which lacked formatting options. To show emphasis, people had to invent clever substitutes. They used capitalization to make words look important. They also used symbols like underscores or asterisks around words. Spacing was another way to create a visual difference.

One modern way to handle formatting is through markup languages. These languages use specific tags to tell the computer how to style text. These tags are different from the body text because they use special characters. For example, HTML uses angle brackets to define its tags. To make text italic, a user must include an opening italics tag and a closing tag. This ensures the computer knows exactly where the style begins and ends. LaTeX is another type of markup language used for this purpose. Most markup languages can be edited with a simple text editor.

There is also a method called WYSIWYG, which stands for "what you see is what you get." This style of editing was introduced with MacWrite, the first WYSIWYG word processor. In these programs, the typist codes the formatting visually. You do not have to type in text markup codes to see the result. Instead, you interact with the styles directly on the screen. This allows for a more immediate way to design a document.

Most modern word processors tend to save their work as binary files. This is different from the way markup languages work. In a binary file, the formatting information is embedded within the file. Sometimes these characters are placed around the text, as seen in WordPerfect. Other times, they are kept separate at the beginning or end of the file. Microsoft Word is a common example of a program that uses this method. However, binary files have certain disadvantages that users should understand.

One major issue with binary files is the scope of the formatting. In markup languages, the extent of a style is clearly marked by tags. In WYSIWYG programs, formatting is often based on the computer's memory. For instance, a program might keep a boldface setting active until you manually cancel it. This can lead to mistakes or difficulty when maintaining a document. Another problem is secrecy. Many binary file formats are proprietary, meaning they are owned by a company and undocumented. This makes it difficult for third-party developers to create compatible software.

Different programs use different approaches to file storage. WordStar was a popular word processor that did not use binary files with hidden characters. OpenOffice.org Writer uses an XML format to save files. However, the final file is still considered a binary because it is compressed. PDF is another very common formatted text format. It is usually a binary file that uses compression for both text and graphics. PDF files also store fonts in a binary format.

PDF is generally considered an end-user format. It is typically created by an application like Microsoft Word or OpenOffice.org Writer. Once a document is converted to a PDF, it is generally not editable by the user. This makes it a useful tool for sharing finished work. Understanding these different formats helps us see how digital information is structured and shared. From simple ASCII symbols to complex binary files, the way we style text continues to evolve.