You probably know how frustrating it is to apply the same format to items in different locations in your document, drawing, worksheet, presentation, or Web page. For example, you may want to apply a special font to several non-sequential words in your document. Or you may want to change solid lines to dotted lines in graphics you created with the drawing tools. However, instead of clicking the Format Painter button on the Standard toolbar every time you want to apply the new format, you can double-click this button and apply the format to multiple items in Office XP.

To apply formatting to multiple items

1. Select the item with the format you want to copy.
2. Double-click the Format Painter button. The button stays selected.
3. Select the text or graphic items you want to apply the new format to.
4. When you're finished applying the format, click the Format Painter button again or press ESC.

Note  Applying text and graphics formatting multiple times does not work between programs. For example, you cannot apply formatting from a Microsoft Word document to a Microsoft PowerPoint® presentation.