In addition to robust image-processing capabilities, Microsoft® Office Word also includes extensive drawing and graphics capabilities. Custom graphic elements enable you to position text boxes at any location or orientation in your document, and add a wide variety of shapes. WordArt adds visual appeal to headings, and SmartArt automates the creation of structured diagrams within your document. All of these can be combined to create striking documents.

For many of the Microsoft® Office Word documents you create, you may be the only person making changes to the document. Other times, you will need to work in a collaborative environment where others will provide feedback and document changes. In this lesson, you will use Word features that make this shared work more efficient.

Microsoft® Office Word documents can become quite complex, consisting of a large array of tables, figures, footnotes, endnotes, and other supporting components, including references and links to other publications. Word provides a variety of features for managing these references and links.

After you finalize your Microsoft® Office Word document by adding reference tables and other features that give your document polish, you may want to distribute it to others. Before you do that, you need to know that sensitive information has not been saved with the file, and to take measures to prevent unauthorized access or changes to the contents of the document.

In your work, you may need to collect the same type of information repeatedly from coworkers or customers. Forms are a familiar and standard way of gathering the data in a consistent manner. Electronic forms can easily be filled out and sent through email to the right person. You can use Microsoft® Office Word's forms feature to consistently capture and collect standard information.

Microsoft® Office Word includes a huge array of features that help you accomplish a wide array of tasks quickly and efficiently. However, as powerful as it is, there are times when you might wish for a particular feature that isn't available in Word. Fortunately, it does include a powerful macro programming capability that enables users to extend Word's capabilities.

You'll wrap things up and then validate what you've learned in this course by taking an assessment.