Tips & tricks

TextMaker

Setting the default font and size

If you would prefer to start your documents in a different font to Times New Roman 10 pt, you can easily change it. Simply right-click in the document window to open the context menu and select the menu entry Character. In the dialog box "Character", you can now select your preferred font settings and make them your new default settings by clicking on the Set as default button. In the following dialog box, select Change for all new documents based on the default template. All future documents based on the default template will now use the selected font settings.


Setting other default formatting options

If you want to set a different default zoom level or page size for all of your future documents, proceed as follows: Open the default template Normal.tmvx using the command File | Open and make the desired changes. Then save the document template. All of the future documents based on this template will have the selected settings.


Changing the zoom level with the mouse

If you use a mouse with a scroll wheel, you can use it to quickly change the zoom level at which a document is displayed. To do so, hold down the Ctrl key on your keyboard and move the scroll wheel on your mouse up or down.


Use paragraph spacing!

Even if you think it is annoying, don't insert blank lines between paragraphs. Instead, set the spacing between paragraphs using Paragraph spacing Before and Paragraph spacing After. You will find these options in the dialog boxes Paragraph and Paragraph style. Right-click in the document window and choose the relevant command from the context menu. The advantage of paragraph spacing is that it lets TextMaker automatically suppress unnecessary blank space at the top and bottom of pages.


Non-breaking spaces prevent unwanted hyphenation of words

If you want to prevent two words from being separated because a line break or page break occurs between them, just enter a "non-breaking space" between them. Do so by typing Ctrl+Shift+Space.


Saving printer ink when printing test prints

For test prints, you can select the option Drop pictures in the Print dialog box. The printing process will be faster and use less ink because all of the pictures will be omitted.


Frames and objects

You can select frames and objects even in edit mode: Just click on them with the mouse.


Using multiple paper trays

If you want the first page of your document or chapter to be issued from a different paper tray of your printer, you can set up the paper trays via the dialog box Page setup. To get to this dialog box, switch to the Layout tab of the ribbon and click on the small triangle to the right of the section label "Page setup".


Sharing document templates

If you work in a local area network and you want all users to access the same set of document templates, you can set a shared template path in File | Options | Files.


Master pages

Master pages are much more powerful than simple headers and footers. The elements of master pages are not limited to the page margins but can be placed anywhere on the page, for example for watermarks.


Picture frames and embedded pictures

TextMaker lets you insert pictures either as frames or as embedded pictures. Picture frames are positioned absolutely on the page or in relation to a paragraph, whereas embedded pictures simply "wander along" with the paragraph in which they have been inserted.

If you wish to convert an already-inserted embedded pictures to a picture frame (or vice-versa), simply select the picture in TextMaker, press the right mouse button and choose the command Convert to picture frame or Convert to embedded object respectively.