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Inserting an Inside Horizontal Border on a single-line paragraph

Anonymous
2018-01-17T18:49:24+00:00

To create the effect below, I (1) added a Bottom Border to a single-line paragraph, (2) created a Text Box containing the word “TESTS”, and (3) positioned the Text Box over the Bottom Border:

Is there a way to create the aforementioned effect without utilizing a Text Box or any other shapes?

Thanks in advance for any assistance.

Microsoft 365 and Office | Word | For home | Windows

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  1. Suzanne S Barnhill 277.1K Reputation points MVP Volunteer Moderator
    2018-01-18T17:45:05+00:00

    The solution using a tab leader is the way to go; there's just one more step, as follows:

    1. In the paragraph in question, set a center-aligned tab stop centered between the margins.
    2. Set a right-aligned tab stop at the right margin.
    3. In the Tabs dialog, select a hyphen tab leader for both tab stops.
    4. Press Tab once, type "TESTS"; then press Tab again. You will have a broken line before and after the word.
    5. Select the line or tab character and press Ctrl+D to open the Font dialog.
    6. On the Advanced tab, in the Spacing box, select Condensed. The default setting is 1 point, but you can increase this as needed to make the hyphens join. You may also want to increase the point size of the tab characters to make the line heavier.
    7. You may want to add a space character before and after the text so that the line is not so close.

    Here's an example:

    Another approach is to format the tab characters as Strikethrough; again, you may need to increase the point size.

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  1. Anonymous
    2018-01-17T19:00:09+00:00

    Another approach that comes to my mind sounds complicated but is rather easy. It's based on a page-wide table with two rows and three columns. Hide the outer borders but keep the horizontal divider between the two rows visible. Now combine both cells of the middle column. This is where you write your Text ("Tests"). The result looks like your screenshot.

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  1. Anonymous
    2018-01-17T19:06:18+00:00

    Yes, kind of.

    You can add a left, #3 dash "dot leader" tab at 3.5 inches

    Then add a right #3 dash "dot leader at the right margin

    . * Display the ruler

    . * Tab will take you t 3.5" with a dashed line (can't find a way to make it solid).

    . * Type your word

    . * tab again

    . * now you can adjust the first tab to center the word properly

    . * You could create a 3 row x 3 cell table.

    . * Select cell row1 column1

    . * apply bottom border

    . * select row1 column3

    . * apply bottom border

    . * select middle column

    . * merge the cells

    . * put a blank para

    . * type the word

    . * adjust the font size of the blank para to vertically place the word correctly

    . * adjust the left and right borders of the cell to bring the line closer to word

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  2. Anonymous
    2018-01-17T19:48:35+00:00

    Thanks for your approach!  There is one additional step that needs to be performed in order to truly center the text and the horizontal divider horizontally.  I had to change the Before Spacing of the merged cell's paragraph (i.e., the middle column) to 6pt.  That did the trick.

    Thanks again for your help!

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  3. Vijay A. Verma 104.8K Reputation points Volunteer Moderator
    2018-01-17T19:01:51+00:00

    Write your Text and Middle Align

    Insert > Shapes > Horizontal Line on both sides

    Format the lines for thickness / color

    Align them vertically to align them to the middle of your text.

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