Announcements

I've Finally Got It!

And I LOVE It!

I'm so excited! We have PrintShop ProPublisher Deluxe 11 in stock and the price is incredible! Only $24.97 with FREE US Shipping! It retails for $89.95, so you save over 70%! Here's just a partial list of all it can do!

Or start your own project from scratch!

With all that, you can see why it's # 1!

It's incredibly easy to use, has a ton of flexibility, and is extremely user friendly. In fact, most projects can be completed with a few mouse clicks using the built in wizard, or you can do them from scratch. I'd say it's one of the easiest "print" type programs I've ever used (and I've used a lot).

Oh, it also includes over 1,200,000 images (175,000 on CD, 1,025,000 online), 11,500+ templates, an integrated address book, tons of ready to use projects, an awesome mail manager (for printing labels, cards, etc), a fantastic photo organizer, a spell checker, video tutorials and more.

I almost forgot. It can also be used with your scanner to import photos directly into the program (yes, you can take pictures off your hard drive too). Oh, and it also includes OCR software that will convert your scanned documents into editable text!

It also has an impressive photo editor built in that's just as easy to use as the rest of the program. This photo editor allows you to remove red-eye (yeah!), enhance brightness / contrast, crop, adjust color, sharpen, clone, fix flaws, do touch ups, and more! And best of all, it's super easy to use. (Just think, no more fighting with hard to use photo editing software!)

After only using this software for an hour or so, I've decided that it's my new publishing software. I like both its power and ease of use. I only wish I had been using it all along!

Again, this is only $24.97 and US shipping is FREE if you live in the US!

It would be easy for me to ramble on, but I think you get the idea. It's a great program and I can't recommend it highly enough. Here's the link for more info:

http://www.worldstart.com/store/printshoppro11.htm

PS - Quantities are somewhat limited and this is bound to be a fast seller. If you want one, get to the site ASAP!

MS Office 101

Keyboard Font Size Shortcuts Update

Last week we discussed a couple of keyboard shortcuts for increasing font size.

Specifically I covered:

• Ctrl + Shift + > which will increase font size.
• Ctrl + Shift + < which will decrease font size.

This is true in Word, Excel and PowerPoint. In fact, it changes font size in the increments listed in the font size pull-down list (10, 11, 12, 14, 16, 18, 20, etc…)

One reader tried these combinations in Outlook Express and found that these combinations would simply move your selection among the emails up and down the list (< for up and > for down). I tried it and yep, that's exactly what it did. I also tried it in an email I was writing and unfortunately no font size change. But it still works great in the other Office Suite programs.

And then another reader sent in a different key combination for font size changes. This reader found that:

• Ctrl + [ will decrease font size.
• Ctrl + ] will increase font size.

So I gave this a try. It works! I even got it to work when writing an email message in Outlook (not Outlook Express). So I, being the person I am, kept investigating - trying to discover if there was a difference between the two sets of key combinations.

Well - probably not to anyone's surprise - there is a difference.

As stated above, the set with the < and > symbols will increase and decrease font size in the increments listed in the font size pull-down list. In contrast, the combinations with [ and ] keys will increase and decrease font size by 1 point each time you hit the key.

Small difference but it could mean a lot of extra key punching if you're trying to get to a really large font size. (To get to a 48 point font, from a 12 point, using the > combination takes 10 strikes on the > key. To do the same change with the ] key combination takes 36 strikes on the ] key.)

I also tested the idea of just holding down a key combination to see if the increase or decrease would continue as long as the keys are depressed. Much to my delight, it works. Talk about quick movement in font size - try highlighting a word and then holding down a key combination, you'll find some fast size changing. Try not to pass the right size up!

Now you know all I do on this particular topic, although I'm sure there's more. There's always more.

(Thanks to the readers who submitted the information they knew regarding these tips :-)

Office Tip of the Day

I choose Red... No, Orange! Wait, maybe Lime Green?

Have you ever found the perfect clipart for your presentation, document or worksheet only to find that it seems to clash with other elements (maybe the background or other clipart)?

Did you find yourself wishing you could change the clipart color scheme so everything would look "right?"

Well, you can... if you have MS PowerPoint.

When you insert clipart into an MS PowerPoint slide, a picture toolbar comes up and it's on this toolbar that we'll find a Recolor button.

But I get ahead of myself here - let's start at the beginning.

First thing you need to do (besides starting PowerPoint and getting into a slide) is to insert the clip art you need to recolor. You can do this several ways. You could select a slide type that contains clip art and then use the clip art box to insert or you could use the Insert menu, Picture choice, Clip Art from the sub-menu. (Or any other method you may know - the point is to insert a clip art picture.)

Once the clip art is in the slide you should notice a picture toolbar has opened.

On this toolbar we're looking for the Recolor Picture button.

Click on the button.

The Recolor Picture window should open showing you a list of the colors currently used in the clip art and a preview of the picture. It's in this window that you have the option of changing any or all of the colors in the clip art.

On the left is the list of colors. To change any color, simply click the down arrow to the right of the New color box.

The current color scheme for the clip art will pop-up. If none of those colors are what you're looking for then click on the More Colors button at the bottom.

See the difference between the two pictures? I already changed the green to pink.

This will take you to the Colors window where you can choose a color from the standard choices or pick a custom color (found on the Custom tab). (To pick a custom color move the white cross hairs through the color spectrum until the color in the New box suites your needs.)

Whether custom or standard, click OK once you've found the new color choice.

You should be returned to the Recolor Picture window where you should see your clip art with the color change.

Notice that all occurrences of the old color have been replaced with the new color. (Sorry - you can't replace just certain elements. Color changes affect all places where the original color existed.)

Change as many of the colors as you feel necessary. Any change you don't like can be reversed by un-checking the box to the left of the original color.

You can click the Preview button and the clip art in the slide will be updated with the new colors, allowing you to see exactly how it will look. You are then free to continue making color changes to get just the right affect.

When you have your clip art exactly as you want it, click OK.

(I'd like to re-iterate here that to restore your clip art to its original colors, simply un-check the boxes to the left of the original color bar.)

Now I looked in Word and Excel for a similar option and just couldn't find one. But, of course, that just wouldn't do. I frequently print documents and worksheets in color and I'm always trying to make the clip art match. So I set out in search of a way to use this little tidbit in Word and Excel too.

My first thought was a copy/paste from PowerPoint to Word or Excel. But that didn't work - it always returned the clip art to the original colors.

So I tried the Paste Special option and, BAM!, I had a useable solution.

To bring a re-colored clip art into Word or Excel simply select and copy the clip art in PowerPoint then switch over to Word or Excel. Once there, go to the Edit menu, Paste Special choice.

In the Paste Special window, choose (in the center of the window) to bring the clip art in as Microsoft Clip Gallery Object, Picture or Picture (Enhanced Metafile). I found that any of those options would paste the clip art with the new colors.

Click OK. You should now have your custom colored clip art at your disposal.

Whew! Glad we figured out that one. I just hate it when things don't match!