Many times I receive articles and documents via e-mail and I have resorted to printing them so that they were easier for me to read.

In Word 2003, this task has been significantly enhanced with a new Reading Layout Mode, which provides handy single and multiple page layouts for reading and editing documents.

If you are opening a document primarily to read it, reading layout view optimizes the reading experience. Reading Layout view hides all toolbars except for the Reading Layout and Reviewing toolbars.

To switch on Reading Layout view, click the Read button on the Standard toolbar.

The Reading Layout toolbar consists of:

1. Document Map: Displays the document map in a pane on the left side of the window.
    
2. Thumbnails: Displays several pages of the document in a thumbnail format at the left side of the window.
    
3. Research: Opens the Research task pane at the right side of the window.
    
4. Text Size: These two buttons give you the ability to make the text larger (or smaller) for reading purposes without changing the font size.
    
5. Actual Page: See what the text would look like on a page if you printed it. This is similar to print layout view.
    
6. Allow Multiple Pages: Look at two pages side by side, as you do when you read a book.
    
7. Close: Closes reading layout view.

To switch off documents opening in Reading Layout view:

• On the Tools menu, click Options
   
• Then on the General tab, clear the Allow starting in Reading Layout check box.

Now wasn't that easy?

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