Italicized text is text that is italicized to the right. Italicizing text will give it emphasis in a document, for example a file created with a software application, an HTML page of a website, a document with LaTeX, or a Wikipedia page. Each application has its own way of italicizing text.
Step
Part 1 of 5: Italicizing Text with Software Applications
Step 1. Decide which part of the text should be italicized
Most software applications allow you to select the text you want to italicize in one of two ways:
- Select the text to be italicized. Place the cursor in front of the first letter of the block of text to be italicized. Hold down the left mouse button, drag the cursor over the block of text to highlight it, then release the mouse button.
- Italicize the new text. Place the cursor at the position of the body of the text to be italicized. Usually this position is at the end of the text.
Step 2. Use the right controls
In software applications, you can italicize text from both the software's graphical user interface and keypress commands.
- Microsoft Office applications and other similar applications have a toolbar or ribbon consisting of a series of control buttons for formatting text. Between these controls is a button marked with the letter "I" italicized to the right. This is the italic (Italicized) button.
- Press Ctrl+I on the keyboard to enable italics in Windows.
- On a Mac, you can also enable italic text by pressing Command+I on your keyboard.
Step 3. Italicize the text
Whichever method you choose depends on whether you are italicizing the selected text or typing new italicized text.
- To italicize the selected text, click the Italic button or use the appropriate keypress command. The selected text will be italicized, and the highlights around the text will disappear.
- To italicize the letters to be typed, click the Italic key or use the appropriate italic keypress command. Start typing. As you type, the text is italicized. To turn it off, click the Italic button or the command keypress again. The text will no longer be italicized.
Part 2 of 5: Italicizing Text in HTML
Step 1. Place an italic tag in front of the text you want to italicize
Italicized tags are "i" or "I" enclosed in "less than" and "greater than" (""): or.
You can place the tag in front of the text that is already typed, or type the tag and then type the text you want italicized
Step 2. Place a closing italic tag after the text you want to italicize
A closing italic tag looks like an italicized tag, plus a slash between the "lesser than" and "I": or.
- If you don't place a closing italic tag after the text then all text after the italics tag will be italicized.
- Some sites allow you to enable HTML to support bold, italics, and underlines. However, other HTML features are not necessarily supported.
Part 3 of 5: Italicizing Text in LaTeX
Step 1. Write your text file using a text editor
LaTeX (pronounced "Le-tek" or "La-tek") is a typesetting application that converts text files into formatted documents. To use LaTeX, you must first create a document in a text editor program with instructions that tell LaTeX what type of document you have and where the actual text of the document begins. These instructions are commands that start with a backslash character ().
- Specify the document type with the "\documentclass" command and write the document type in curly braces. For articles, the command would be "\documentclass {article}" without the quotes.
- Specify the text section that begins with the "\begin {document}" command.
Step 2. Enclose the text to be italicized in curly braces ({})
The curly braces indicate the start and end places for formatting text as specified by the format command.
You can enter nested formatting commands, such as formatting a large block of italicized text with bold sections within it. If you're doing nested commands, make sure to use as many closing curly braces as you need to get the text formatted the way you want it
Step 3. Prefix the text to be italicized with the "\textit" command
An example of a sentence with the last word in italics would be: “One of the first TV shows to show the realities of a patrol officer's life was \textit {Adam-12}.”.
Part 4 of 5: Italicizing Text for Wikipedia Articles
Step 1. Enclose the text to be italicized with a pair of single quotes
Two single quotation marks (apostrophes) are placed before and after the text to be italicized. This instructs the Wikipedia text editor that the text in between should be displayed in italics. You can type the text first and then place single quotes around the text, or you can add the first pair of single quotes, write the text, then add a second pair of single quotes.
- A pair of single quotes can be distinguished from double quotes by the size of the distance between them that is wider.
- If your text editor has a "smart quotes" feature, disable it for the Wikipedia text editor to recognize single quotes as formatting marks.
- If you have a link that includes italicized text, the italics must be outside the link bracket indicator otherwise all the link text will be italicized. If only part of the link text is to be italicized, you can place italics only around the text to be italicized.
Part 5 of 5: Knowing When to Italicize
Step 1. Italicize when you want to give special emphasis
In other words, any word that will be underlined in a handwritten letter with the intention of emphasizing, or will say more strongly than other words when spoken, is italicized in a word processing document or website. For example, “I am the only living only child among my first cousins.”
Step 2. Italicize foreign words that have not been fully adopted into Indonesian
Foreign words and phrases used in Indonesian writing are italicized, for example wefie which is a general term for selfies with friends or several other people. Foreign words that have been listed in major Indonesian dictionaries such as "desktop" are not italicized.
Latin words for the genus and species of organisms are also italicized, e.g. Homo sapiens
Step 3. Italicize technical terms
This is usually done when the term is first introduced, especially if it has a different meaning than what the reader would normally use.
Physical constants, such as c for the speed of light, and variables in algebra, such as "n = 2" are also italicized
Step 4. Italicize the quote block
A citation block is a long quote (usually 100 words or more, or at least 5 to 8 lines of text) that is separated from the rest of the text and is indented. Citation blocks are often italicized, or printed in a different font or font size.
- When any word in a quote block is italicized, and the rest of the quote block is already in italics, the word is in plain print to distinguish it from the quote block.
- Large blocks of text in italics can be difficult to read on a computer screen. In this case, print the quote block in a different typeface than the surrounding text.
Step 5. Italicize the name of the main transport vehicle
Even if you do not italicize the make, model, or military designation for a vehicle, ship, or boat, italicize the names of the following means of transportation:
- Trains (The Golden State Limited), but not the names of the individual vehicles.
- Ships, whether military or passenger ships (USS Lexington, Queen Elizabeth II).
- Airplane names or nicknames not based on construction or performance characteristics (Memphis Belle or Goose Cutter from the TV show Tales of Gold Monkey, but Batplane is still written upright).
- Spaceships, whether real or fictional (Space shuttle Challenger, starship Enterprise, Millennium Falcon). Space missions (such as Apollo 11) are not italicized.
Step 6. Italicize the title of the particular main creative work
The following works are italicized, unless specific style instructions (e.g. AP or MLA) state otherwise:
- Books (Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone), except for the titles of religious books such as the Bible or the Koran. Chapter titles, sections, and short stories in anthologies are enclosed in double quotes.
- Magazines (Collier, Reader's Digest). The title of the article ("I Am Joe's Kidney") is enclosed in double quotes.
- Newspaper (USA Today, The Wall Street Journal).
- Drama (Romeo and Juliet, Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?).
- Court case (Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka).
- Television and radio programs (Star Trek, The Shadow). The episode title (“Amok Time,” “Temple Bells of Neban”) is enclosed in double quotes.
- Recorded album (Mandatory Fun, Red). The title track of the album (“Word Crimes,” “I Knew You Were Trouble”) is enclosed in double quotes.
- Artwork (Mona Lisa, The Last Supper).
- Punctuation marks that are part of the title are italicized with the rest of the title.
Step 7. Italicize a character's internal dialogue
In fiction, a character's thoughts are put into words to inform the reader that it is italicized, for example, “Kate regarded her husband with apprehension. That's funny, Joe never asks for a second cup of my coffee.”
Step 8. Italicize onomatopoeia (sound words)
If you're trying to make it sound like the reader will hear it, italicize the word: “The startled cat gave out an angry Meeeowwwrr! If you are using a word to describe a common sound, write it as usual: “The cat meowed.”.
