Microsoft KB Archive/23015

Word: Superscript Underline Higher Than Baseline

PSS ID Number: Q23015 Article last modified on 03-07-1997

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========================================================= 3.00 3.01 3.02 4.00 5.00 5.10 MACINTOSH kbother

= SYMPTOMS =

In Microsoft Word, when you have a line of text with some letters formatted to be superscripted and you want to underline the whole line, you can’t use the character format for underlining because the underlining is also superscripted.

= STATUS =

This problems was corrected in Word version 6.0 for the Macintosh.

= WORKAROUND =

Method 1: To underline the baseline of the words, use a math formula. The steps are as follows:

1. Place the insertion point in front of the superscripted word(s) you want to underline.

2. Press COMMAND+OPTION+\ (BACKSLASH key).

3. Type &quot;O(&quot; (the capital letter &quot;O&quot; followed by a left parenthesis). Do not include the quotation marks.

4. Type a number of &quot;OPTION+spaces&quot; equal to the number of        superscripted characters. OPTION+spaces are created by holding down the OPTION key and pressing the SPACEBAR.

5. Select the inserted OPTION+spaces.

6. From the Format menu, choose Underline.

7. Move the insertion point one character to the right to clear the selection and type a comma.

8. Move the insertion point to just after the superscripted characters that you are underlining.

9. Type &quot;)&quot; (a right parenthesis). Do not include the quotation        marks.

10. The underline will show when you select Hide Paragraphs from the View menu. Underline the rest of the text separately and as you would normally. If the superscripted text is both normally underlined and underlined using the above method, a double underline will occur. If the underline is then cleared, both underline processes will be cleared, and steps 5 and 6 must be repeated.

With Show Paragraphs selected, the formula should appear similar to the following (where the “o” is a superscripted degree character and the &quot;&quot; is created using COMMAND+OPTION+):

Show Paragraphs                   Hide Paragraphs ---                   ---

o                            o 100\O Celsius                 100  Celsius ---  -                    Method 2: Insert a Frame around the text to be underlined and place a border at the bottom of the Frame:

1. Select the text to be underlined, including both superscripted and normal text.

2. From the Insert Menu choose Frame. Click Close.

3. Reselect the text and from the Format menu click Border.

4. Click the bottom of the page icon to create a border along the bottom of the frame. Click OK. KBCategory: kbusage kbtlc KBSubCategory: kbformula Additional reference words: 3.00 3.01 3.02 4.00 5.00 5.10 macword5 macword base line ====================================================================== ============================================================================= Copyright Microsoft Corporation 1997.