Calling WPS Office an alternative to Microsoft Office is seemingly inadequate, seeing that it pretty much mimics the entire look and feel of MS Office and adopts an array of its basic features as well while adding some useful novel features. WPS Office can be used for free, however, you will be subject to a fair share of ads during your usage, but it's nothing too unmanageable. You can also get the free office trial of the premium version and enjoy the ad-free experience.
The office suite comprises a word processor, spreadsheet, and presentation tool mimicking Word, Excel, and PowerPoint. This user-friendly office suite is packed with features and is fully compatible with MS Office documents which facilitate easy sharing with Office users. There are also free versions of WPS Office for Linux and Mac systems, as well as a free WPS Office app for Android and iOS devices. However, we will just be looking into WPS Office for Windows in this Level Up. Here’s a list of lesser-known tips and tricks for WPS Office.
Paragraph Layout Mode
WPS Office has a distinctive paragraph adjustment tool that allows users to modify the characteristics of paragraphs intuitively by simply using the mouse instead of having to go through multiple arduous steps to do the same. To enable ‘Paragraph Layout’ mode, head over to Home > Show/Hide Editing Marks > Show/Hide Paragraph Layout.
Click on This and Then Highlight a Paragraph
You’ll see an icon pop up on the left side of the paragraph that looks like a bookmarked paper. Click this icon and you will enter paragraph layout mode. You can now drag and alter paragraph characteristics such as first-line indents, left and right paragraph indents, line space between paragraphs, and more. The paragraph layout tab has other options such as line spacing and character spacing.
PDF Conversion and Editing
Editing a PDF file and converting it to different formats can be quite a cumbersome process. WPS Office has an inbuilt PDF converter that lets users change PDF files to Word, Excel, or even PPT files, just by following a few steps. The converted file will attempt to resemble the original PDF as closely as it can, ensuring the usage of the same fonts, paragraphs, character spacing, and other intricate details.
To achieve this, first launch the WPS Office suite. In the taskbar on the left-hand side, you will see ‘App Center’ under which you will find ‘PDF to Word. Click on that option and then drag and drop your PDF file in the pop-up box or click to look through your files and open the PDF file. Once you have added the PDF file, click on the green ‘Convert’ button. The file will then be converted to a Word doc and you can easily edit it now.
Skins and Other Customisations
If you enjoy customizing the look of your apps, WPS Office offers ‘Skins’ that allow users to do just that. While the options aren’t plentiful at this moment, more should be added as time passes. There are dark and light-themed skins, festive skins, colored themes, and even the Classic Word format in case you were attached to that format.
Final Words
There’s also a Custom tab that lets users construct their own custom skins by choosing a background color or background image and by changing the font as well as its size. Furthermore, there’s an Icon tab next to the Custom tab, which only has the default icons right now that are already enabled, but we’re rooting for a lot more variety in future updates.
