# Creating and Updating a Style Attribute

Select the element you wish to decorate. By default the selection is set to the character string, and you have to press the `Esc` key on Unix or the `F2` on Windows to select the enclosing element..

The first four entries of theStyle menu open a dialog that lets you associate a style attribute with the currently selected elements:

- Character style lets you choose the font family, the character style, the body size, and the underline style.

- Colors let you choose the foreground and background colors from a palette. Click a palette cell with the left button to set the foreground color, and click with the middle button to set the background color.

- Format enables you to set alignment, indentation, justification, and line spacing.

- Background image enables you to choose a background image and its repeat mode.

In all these dialogs, Default options enable you to remove any corresponding style information for the selected elements.

All modifications made with these dialogs can be viewed immediately in the Formatted and Structure views.

## See Also:

- Working with Styles