A professional report needs to be organized, visually appealing, and easy to read. Multi-column layouts can help with all three, which is why newspapers, magazines, and scientific publications use them. The good news is that multi-column layouts aren’t just limited to large publishers – you can easily use them in Word, too.
What is a multi-column layout
As the name suggests, a multi-column layout divides the text of your document into multiple columns. It’s quite popular in magazines, brochures, newspapers, and scientific articles.
A multi-column layout isn’t just for aesthetics; it helps save space, makes the document easier to scan, and can be used to organize different sections in the text.
Microsoft Word offers flexible page layout settings that allow you to customize the number of columns in your document, whether the multi-column layout applies to the entire document or a section of it, as well as the width and spacing of the columns.
Add columns to an entire document
To add columns to a document, go to the Layout tab, choose Columns, and choose Two or Three to divide your text into two or three 3-inch columns, spaced 0.15-inch apart. For more than three columns, choose More columns and enter the number you want in the Number of columns box. You can create up to thirteen text columns in Microsoft Word.
If you want more text on the left rather than the right, or vice versa, choose Right or Left from the Columns menu. This layout is a little more free-form, allowing you to emphasize more prominent content on one side of the page while reserving the other columns for supporting information such as side notes or summaries. This method can be especially useful in reports or newsletters where you want to draw attention to key points or visuals.
Add columns to a single paragraph
To add columns to a paragraph and keep the rest of the document in the default, one-column layout, select the paragraph, go to Layout > Columns, and choose your preferred option from the drop-down list. The paragraph will be split into columns while the rest of the text remains the same.
Add columns to a section
Section breaks allow you to use a multi-column layout within a section of a document. You can add a section break by navigating to Layout > Breaks > Section Breaks. Then, choose where you want the next section to begin: the next page, the same page, the next even-numbered page, or the next odd-numbered page. Once section breaks are placed before and after a particular point, you can apply the multi-column format to that section only.
Next, place your cursor within the section, choose Layout > Columns, and select the number of columns you want to add.
Tips for creating a professional report
After you add columns to your document, you can make your report look more professional with the following:
- Use text wrapping for images
Word’s text wrapping allows images to blend seamlessly with the text in your document. To apply text wrapping, select the picture, click the Layout Options icon next to it, and choose a Text Wrap layout from the text wrapping options. You can now resize your image outside the column boundaries and make the text flow naturally around the image.
- Customize beyond the preset
You can further customize your multi-column layout by choosing More Columns from the Columns menu. In the next window, you can add up to 13 columns, customize their width and spacing individually (uncheck the Equal Column Width box), and add lines between columns.
- Use column breaks
Column breaks can be used to control the flow of text within a column. You can use it to force a line in one column to begin in the next column. To insert a column break, use the shortcut Ctrl+Shift+Enter or choose Columns from Layout > Breaks.
Multi-column layouts can enhance the visual appeal and readability of your report. They’re fairly easy to set up and customize. You can experiment with different column layouts — such as two or three columns or unequal column widths — to see which one fits your document best. Tables are another great way to organize information in Microsoft Word.