# Text formatting guide for paper-based surveys Source: PaperSurvey.io Blog URL: https://www.papersurvey.io/blog/markdown-survey-formatting-paper-based-surveys --- [PaperSurvey.io](https://www.papersurvey.io) supports a small subset of [markdown](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Markdown) syntax for adjusting text formatting as well as some papersurvey.io specific commands. These may be beneficial for emphasizing certain words in the survey or changing the layout. ## Text formatting ### Color To change color you just need to use `[color=color_code]text[/color]` shortcode. `color_code` is a HEX color code. You may use this color picker to find a color you want to use. You may also use `[color=primary]` and `[color=secondary]`, which will be "Heading/Divider color" and "Secondary color" accordingly configured in your survey settings. EXAMPLE [color=ffbc06]Text in yellow[/color]
[color=3AE50C]Text in green[/color]
[color=FF0C00]Text in red[/color]
 RESULT Text in yellow
Text in green
Text in red ### Highlight background To change background color you just need to use `[highlight=color_code]text[/highlight]` shortcode. `color_code` is a HEX color code. You may use this color picker to find a color you want to use. You may also use `[highlight=primary]` and `[highlight=secondary]`, which will be "Heading/Divider color" and "Secondary color" accordingly configured in your survey settings. EXAMPLE [highlight=ffbc06][color=black]Background in yellow, text in black[/color][/highlight]
[highlight=3AE50C][color=white]Background in black, text in white[/color][/highlight]
[highlight=FF0C00][color=yellow]Background in red, text in yellow[/color][/highlight]
 RESULT Background in yellow, text in black
Background in black, text in white
Background in red, text in yellow ### Bold To make the text bolder you may wrap the text in two **asterisks**. EXAMPLE Bold text with **asterisks**. RESULT Bold text with asterisks. ### Italics To make the text written in italics you may wrap the text in one *asterisk* or _underscore_: EXAMPLE italicize text with *asterisks* or _underscores_. RESULT italicize text with asterisks or underscores ### Strikethrough To add strike-through you may wrap the text in two ~~tildes.~~ EXAMPLE Strikethrough text with ~~tildes.~~. RESULT Strikethrough text with tildes. ### Underline To add the underline below the text, use two __underscores__. EXAMPLE Underline text with two __underscores__. RESULT Underline text with two underscores. ### Headings To add headings, start the line with one or more `#` characters followed by a space. EXAMPLE # Heading 1
## Heading 2
### Heading 3 RESULT

Heading 1

Heading 2

Heading 3

 ### Unformatted text In some cases you may want to unbold or remove italics from a block of text, you may do with a [unformatted] tag. EXAMPLE **We see bolded text here but [unformatted]here[/unformatted] it isn't** RESULT Bolded text here but here it isn't ## Font sizes If you would like to change the font size in your text, you may use following short codes: EXAMPLE [tiny]Text[/tiny]
[small]Text[/small]
[s]Text[/s]
[normal]Text[/normal]
[large]Text[/large]
[larger]Text[/larger]
[xl]Text[/xl]
[xxl]Text[/xxl] RESULT Text Text Text Text Text Text Text Text ## Text rotation In some cases you would want to rotate the text to fit. You may use the following command to achieve it. EXAMPLE [rotate=90]Text[/rotate]
[rotate=60]Text[/rotate]
[rotate=-90]Text[/rotate]
[rotate=180]Text[/rotate] RESULT Text Text Text Text ## Lists To display text as a list, just start the line with an asterisk. Currently, only one-level ordered and unordered lists are supported. ##### Lists only work in _Description_ type questions! ### Unordered EXAMPLE * One
* Two
* Three
*this is not in list* RESULT this is not in list ### Ordered EXAMPLE 1. One
2. Two
3. Three
1 this is not in list RESULT
  1. One
  2. Two
  3. Three
this is not in list ## Tables You can create tables using the pipe (`|`) character to separate columns. Tables are supported only in _Description_ type questions. ### Basic Table EXAMPLE | Header 1 | Header 2 | Header 3 |
|----------|----------|----------|
| Cell 1 | Cell 2 | Cell 3 |
| Cell 4 | Cell 5 | Cell 6 | RESULT
Header 1 Header 2 Header 3
Cell 1 Cell 2 Cell 3
Cell 4 Cell 5 Cell 6
### Column Alignment You can align columns by adding colons (`:`) to the separator row: - `:---` for left alignment (default) - `:---:` for center alignment - `---:` for right alignment EXAMPLE | Left | Center | Right |
|:-----|:------:|------:|
| A | B | C |
| 100 | 200 | 300 | RESULT
Left Center Right
A B C
100 200 300
### Example: Pricing Table EXAMPLE | Monthly Pages | Plans Needed | Monthly Cost | Annual Cost (~20% off) |
|--------------|--------------|--------------|------------------------|
| 10,000 | 1 plan | $125 | $1,250 |
| 20,000 | 2 plans | $250 | $2,500 |
| 30,000 | 3 plans | $375 | $3,750 |
| 50,000 | 5 plans | $625 | $6,250 |
| 100,000 | 10 plans | $1,250 | $12,500 | RESULT
Monthly Pages Plans Needed Monthly Cost Annual Cost (~20% off)
10,000 1 plan $125 $1,250
20,000 2 plans $250 $2,500
30,000 3 plans $375 $3,750
50,000 5 plans $625 $6,250
100,000 10 plans $1,250 $12,500
##### Tables only work in _Description_ type questions! ## Spacings and alignment ### Centered text You may align text to the center by using `[center]my text[/center]` tags. EXAMPLE [center]my centered text[/center]
[center]next centered line[/center] RESULT

my centered text

next line

 Please note that `[center]` tag may need to be placed on each line if you have line breaks. ### Right-aligned text You may align text to the right by using `[right]my text[/right]` tags. EXAMPLE [right]my right-aligned text[/right]
[right]next right-aligned line[/right] RESULT

my right-aligned text

next right-aligned line

 Please note that `[right]` tag may need to be placed on each line if you have line breaks. ### Horizontal & Vertical spacing You can use `[verticalspace=0.5]` and `[horizontalspace=0.5]` short codes to adjust the spacings. `0.5` is the length in centimeters (cm) which you can adjust. The length may also be negative if you would like to reduce the spacings instead. Please do not make space between the question name and text box very small - this could impact the recognition as question name could be recognized as text/number as well. Also, `[smallspace]`, `[space]`, `[midspace]`, `[bigspace]` will add **0.1cm**, **0.5cm**, **1.5cm** and **3cm** horizontal spacing accordingly. You can also use shorter versions `[vspace=0.5]` and `[hspace=0.5]` EXAMPLE My text [space] with [horizontalspace=2.5] is here. RESULT My text       with                   is here. **Note:** `[smallspace]`, `[space]`, `[midspace]`, `[bigspace]` will be hidden in web surveys. Where `[verticalspace=0.5]`, `[horizontalspace=0.5]`, `[vspace=0.5]` and `[hspace=0.5]` short codes functions the same as in paper surveys. ### Align text to right If you would like to align text to the right, just use `[fill]` tag before the start of the text. EXAMPLE My left-aligned text [fill] My right-aligned text. RESULT My left-aligned text My right-aligned text. ### Fixed width or height box For more advanced layouts you may set the height and width of the text block allowing to align text areas using `[width=3cm]3 cm (1.18in) width[/width]` or `[height=3cm]3 cm (1.18in) height[/height]` or both `[height=3cm][width=3cm]3 cm (1.18in) box[/width][/height]`. `[height]` should always be used with the Prefill Forms dynamic variables to prevent dynamically added text from changing the survey layout. `[width]` shortcode is particularly useful when aligning text with "Inline text" and "Inline checkboxes". EXAMPLE [width=3cm]3 cm (1.18in) width[/width] [width=3cm]3 cm (1.18in) width[/width] [width=3cm]3 cm (1.18in) width[/width] [width=5cm][center]centered 5cm[/center][/width] [width=5cm][center]centered 5cm[/center][/width] [height=3cm][width=3cm][center]3cm x 3cm[/center][/height][height=3cm][width=3cm][center]3cm x 3cm[/center][/height]

[height=3cm][width=3cm][center]3cm x 3cm[/center][/height][height=3cm][width=3cm][center]3cm x 3cm[/center][/height] RESULT 3 cm (1.18in) width 3 cm (1.18in) width 3 cm (1.18in) width centered 5cm centered 5cm 3cm x 3cm 3cm x 3cm
3cm x 3cm 3cm x 3cm ### Page break To move section down to the next page you could use `[pagebreak]` shortcode. This shortcode may not work in 'Heading' type questions. Alternatively, you may add a new question and select its type as "Page break". EXAMPLE My first page [pagebreak] This text will appear in the next page RESULT My first page



This text will appear in the next page ### Line break To make a small line break may just press the **[Enter] button** in your keyboard to add as many line breaks as you need. You may also use `[br]` or `[newline]` short codes in your text to add a line break. EXAMPLE My first paragraph [br] Another paragraph RESULT My first paragraph
Another paragraph ### Large Line break If you wish to make a large line break you may insert `[linebreak]` tag in your text. EXAMPLE My first paragraph [linebreak] Another paragraph RESULT My paragraph


Another paragraph ### Horizontal line If you would like to add a horizontal line, just use `[hr]` in your text EXAMPLE My first paragraph [hr] Another paragraph RESULT My paragraph
Another paragraph ### Line If you would like to add a line, just type six underscores `______` in your text. Line will be extended to automatically fit in paragraph. EXAMPLE ______ RESULT ### Dotted line If you would like to add a dotted line, just type six dots `......` in your text. Line will be extended to automatically fit in paragraph. EXAMPLE ...... RESULT ### Pagination There are several shortcodes for displaying page numbers. `[currentpage]` - shows current page number. `[lastpage]` - shows the last page. For example, you may use the above shortcodes to get a dynamically changing text of "This is a page 1 of 5" ("This is a page [currentpage] of [lastpage]). Additionally, if you only want to display certain text on a specific page only, you may use this shortcode: `[page=PAGE]My text[/page]`. Replace `PAGE` with the page number you want the 'My text' to de displayed. ### Other short-codes Fixed paragraph height: `[height=3cm]my paragraph has max height of 3cm[/height]`. **NOTE**: This is extremely useful with Prefill Forms to prevent dynamically added text to change the survey layout. Fixed paragraph width: `[width=3cm]my paragraph has max width of 3cm[/width]`. **NOTE**: This command is particularly useful when aligning text with "Inline text" and "Inline checkboxes". This is a list of other short-codes that are available to use. Unique identifier: `[id]` Link to web survey: `[link]` QR code to web survey: `[websurvey_qrcode height=2cm]`. **IMPORTANT**: DO NOT place this code at the top-left and bottom-right of the survey. Smiles: `[sad]`, `[neutral]`, `[smile]` Checked checkbox: `[check]`, `[multicheck]`, `[singlecheck]` Filled checkbox: `[filled]`, `[multifilled]`, `[singlefilled]` Corrected checkbox: `[correct]` Math equations: `[equation]100+999[/equation]` `[equation]100-10[/equation]` For multilingual surveys, if a letter is displayed as a square box, it means the font in use doesn't contain the glyph for that character. In these cases you could use `[latin]` and `[arabic]` shortcodes. Arabic typesetting (Allows using Arabic script, where the primary language is e.g., English): `Sentence in English language [arabic]استطلاع رأي[/arabic]` Latin typesetting (Allows using Latin script when the primary language is e.g., Arabic): `[latin]Sentence in English language[/latin]استطلاع رأي` ## Images You may upload your images to be included in the paper survey. This feature is only available in the __Enterprise__ plan. However, you may try it out in your demo survey, by inserting the image of our logo: ```[img]logo[/img]``` --- Need more? The complete PaperSurvey.io help center and blog is available as a single document at https://www.papersurvey.io/llms-full.txt.