Set styles on RichEditableText subcomponent with textDisplay property
<!-- Code from Flex 4 Documentation "Using Adobe Flex 4". This user guide is licensed for use under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial 3.0 License. This License allows users to copy, distribute, and transmit the user guide for noncommercial purposes only so long as (1) proper attribution to Adobe is given as the owner of the user guide; and (2) any reuse or distribution of the user guide contains a notice that use of the user guide is governed by these terms. The best way to provide notice is to include the following link. To view a copy of this license, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0/ --> <!-- styles/TextAreaStyles.mxml --> <s:Application xmlns:fx="http://ns.adobe.com/mxml/2009" xmlns:s="library://ns.adobe.com/flex/spark" xmlns:mx="library://ns.adobe.com/flex/mx" creationComplete="initApp()"> <s:layout> <s:VerticalLayout /> </s:layout> <fx:Script> /* Non-inheriting styles you must set on textDisplay: columnCount columnGap columnWidth Non-inheriting styles that you can set on TextArea because they are passed to the subcomponent through the TextAreaSkin class: lineBreak paddingTop/Bottom/Left/Right verticalAlign */ private function initApp():void { ta1.textDisplay.setStyle("columnCount", 3); ta1.textDisplay.setStyle("columnWidth", 100); ta1.textDisplay.setStyle("columnGap", 15); } </fx:Script> <s:TextArea id="ta1" height="100" width="400" verticalAlign="bottom" paddingBottom="20"> </s:TextArea> </s:Application>