STIKREATIONS ... INFORMATION FOR THE SERIOUS BUSINESS PERSON 

Spacing Themes

The Hot key for Word’s adjustment to change direct formatting for the before and after text is Ctrl+0.  I have taken that concept and expanded it to use the same “Ctrl+0” keystroke to create a before and after text theme which incudes four additional combinations of the before and after text.   These are shortcut combinations you can experiment with to get your desired results.

Before Text Theme

• Space Before 12Pt. On/Off      (Ctrl+0)
• Space Before 24Pt.                (Ctrl+Alt+0)
• Space Before 36Pt.                (Ctrl+Alt+Shift+0)

After Text Theme

• Space After 0Pt.                    (Alt+0)
• Space After 12Pt.                  (Alt+Shift+0)
   

      *Not Programmable                  (Ctrl+Shift+0)

Many varations are possible, but, I believe the above configuration is the best for the noivce user to control the before and after formatting.

Creating Your Own Keyboard Themes

Creating your own keyboard themes can be fun and very productive when trying to capture repeated keystrokes with certain types of documents. 

I came up with my Spacing Theme as a process to handle the before and after spacing of text so I may eliminate the use of the mouse every time I need to make a little adjustment. 

The Theme for this macro is described in the opposite column. 

Note:  Make sure the paragraph you are recording the macro with has 12pt after set before recording the alt0 macro.

• Select "Record Macro".
• I name the macro the same as the keystroke I am using.  In the Below Example I use "alt0" 

• select the "Keyboard" Button to assign the key.

• Press the Keyboard Combination that you are assigning "alt+0" in this case.
• Review the combination and decide if it is a shortcut key that you currently know about and use.  If it does not interfere with any other keystroke combination.  Select "Assign".
• Select "Close"

Below is an example of a keystroke combination that has a conflict.  The keystroke combination I tested was "Ctrl+0" which I know is the toggle for before text spacing.

Do the exact keystrokes you want the macro to do for you.  "In this case just select paragraph spacing and make it equal to 0".

• Select "Stop" to stop recording the macro.

• Edit Macro:  For Best Results edit the macro you just recorded

Example Code Before Editing

Example Code After Editing

Repeat the process for the rest of the macros in the "spacing theme".