Using WordPerfect® documentation

WordPerfect includes online and paper documentation to help you learn and use the application efficiently. The main form of assistance is the online Help.

Before you start using WordPerfect, it is important to understand the conventions used in the documentation. By reviewing the conventions, you will be able to use the mouse and the keyboard to create and edit documents more effectively.

WordPerfect provides many ways to find information in the online Help. You can view information as you work in WordPerfect, or you can print online Help topics.

In addition, context-sensitive Help is accessible from anywhere in WordPerfect. You can access context-sensitive Help from the menus, dialog boxes, property bars, and all other toolbars.

You can also access the Showcase WordPerfect page, which illustrates many tasks you can do.

WordPerfect comes with its own built-in expert, which is ready to help you with many tasks. PerfectExpert® includes the best features of QuickTasks®, templates, and Coaches®, combined with information from online Help and the power of a natural-language interface, to assist you with everyday tasks. PerfectExpert allows you to create complex documents quickly, using professionally designed templates.

PerfectExpert can guide you through a detailed project, such as creating a résumé (even if you want to use other suite applications to create parts of the document), or it can guide you through a smaller task, such as inserting a clipart image.

PerfectExpert even provides you with templates of professionally designed documents to choose from, and you can change the layout and content in any number of ways to match your needs. More galleries of templates are available at the Corel® Web site.

Understanding the components of a document

A WordPerfect® document is a file with a filename extension. Each document consists of one or more of the following components.

Text can be typed directly into WordPerfect or imported from text editors or other word-processing applications. For more information about adding text to a document, see "Entering or inserting text."

Graphics include shapes, drawings, pictures, and clipart. A shape is any object created using WordPerfect drawing tools. A drawing is created using Corel Presentations® menus and tools. A picture is a bitmapped or graphic image that has been imported into a WordPerfect document. Pictures can be imported using a scanner or CD or from paint programs, such as Corel PHOTO-PAINT®. Clipart images are images that can be brought into Corel applications and edited or used as they are. Corel® offers a large selection of clipart in many formats. You can purchase additional images, including some in bitmap format, from commercial suppliers. For more information about adding graphics to a document, see "Inserting graphics."

A style is a collection of formatting attributes applied to characters, paragraphs, or documents. By formatting items with styles, you ensure consistent formatting throughout a document. Whenever you change the formatting in a style, you change the appearance of all items that use that style. For more information about formatting with styles, see "Creating and saving text styles."

A template is a preformatted document that can be used as a guide for creating a new document. Every document created in WordPerfect is based on a template or a project template. When you open WordPerfect, the blank document you see is based on the default template. Project templates can include fax cover sheets, memos, newsletters, and brochures. For more information about templates, see "Using project templates."