Text formatting guide for paper-based surveys

Updated:

PaperSurvey.io supports a small subset of 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 red
Text in red
Text in red

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.

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
  • One
  • Two
  • Three
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

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]
RESULT

my centered text

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.

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]. 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]

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]

  • If you would like to center the image, additionally provide center parameter, (e.g. [img width=5 height=3 center]logo[/img])
  • If you would like to include a full-width image, do not provide any parameters, (e.g. [img]logo[/img])
  • If you would like to set image to half page width, set width parameter to half (e.g. [img width=half]logo[/img])
  • If you would like to set image to third page width, set width parameter to third (e.g. [img width=third]logo[/img])
Page last updated:

Get Started with PaperSurvey.io Software

Get Started

Start your 14-day free trial now, no credit card required.