Mark It Up
We all know about watermarks, those light pictures or text placed behind our text on printed documents. They can mark a document as a draft or as confidential, or they could be used to enhance the appearance of a document.
With older versions of MS Word you had to do quite a bit of work to get that watermark. You were forced to go through the header… Continue reading
Fraction Frenzy
Use a lot of fractions in MS Word?
Do you love how it turns 1/2 into ½?
Did you ever notice that it does this neat little trick with only the most common of fractions? I’m also sure that some of you have found access to a few additional choices through the Insert menu, Symbols choice, but I’d bet that you’re frustrated that neither of these work for… Continue reading
Background Save? What’s That?
I received another question from a reader regarding the background save options in MS Word. (This can be found via the Tools menu, Options choice, Save tab.)
Pretty much the question was “what is it?” The reader expected this option to have Word frequently save the file quietly in the background – avoiding your need to initiate saves. (Let’s face it – not too… Continue reading
Sorting Data In MS Word
Have you ever found yourself wishing that the list you just typed into MS Word was alphabetized? Or, for those of you who are good with Excel, you’re probably wishing that you typed the list in Excel in the first place (where it’s so easy to sort data).
Well, stop dwelling on the “should have, could have” stuff and smile. It’s very easy to sort… Continue reading
Space It Out
By default, MS Word documents are single-spaced, which is great for most of the work we do, but what about those documents where you need double space?
Now, as I’ve said before, I’m a teacher. I have a lot of opportunities to see how people (both students and staff) are using their technology. I’m always amazed when I find someone using the enter key to double-space their… Continue reading
Are you new to MS Word? Did you recently switch from WordPerfect to Word?
Do you find yourself confused sometimes? Can’t quite find what you need?
Would you like Word to provide a little assistance with your transition?
Well, if you’re answering “Yes!” then here’s the way to get Word to give you a helping hand.
First you’ll need to go to the Tools menu, Options choice.
Then on the… Continue reading
Do you use Word’s built-in styles for quick and easy text formatting? You know, using the drop down list to the left of the font name?
Works great—not too difficult.
But… for everyone who likes the headings but hates using the mouse here are a few keyboard shortcuts to help you apply the most common styles.
Many of you know that you can add to Word’s AutoCorrect “replace as you type” list. You know, the little gadget quietly using a preset list to automatically correct many common typos such as changing “teh” into “the”.
Well, a question came in from a reader who was looking to put specially formatted text into this list so that a simple
hh
might be replaced with
color and all… Continue reading
Leave My Addresses Alone!
Tired of the way your program (Excel, Word or PowerPoint) keeps changing all your web or email addresses into hyperlinks automatically?
Looking for a way to get these programs to stop it and behave themselves?
If you’ve been answering with yes responses then here’s just the thing for you.
What you have happening is the AutoCorrect feature of the program(s) is taking over each time it… Continue reading
3D Extreme
On Monday we had a little fun with our files and went over the 3D button located on the Drawing Toolbar.
Well, that was the basics—ready for the rest?
Was that a “Yes” I heard?
Good.
Then lets get back to the fun of 3D objects.
When you selected your object and clicked on the 3D button did you notice the option of 3D Settings at the bottom?… Continue reading
Anchor Your Word Selection
Many of you may know that the F8 key will anchor the cursor for highlighting in MS Word. It’s a great trick that allows for text highlighting using only directional keys (arrows, page up/down) or a click of the mouse. It’s something that can really help people who aren’t so savvy when it comes to highlighting text in a document while holding down a multiple-key combination… Continue reading
Do you constantly find yourself looking for a way to “jazz up” a document, presentation or worksheet?
Most of you already know that you can use the Drawing Toolbar’s AutoShape feature to create simple shapes for emphasis.
Maybe something like this:
Look familiar?
Yes, that’s right, it’s pretty much the shape used in the title but with one huge difference—that title is in a 3D form. Way more… Continue reading
Wrap It My Way – Permanently
Did you try yesterday’s MS Office tip concerning text wrapping around pictures? I bet you like how easy it makes wrapping text around those pictures and really embedding them within the document to produce such a professional-looking finished product. You’ve probably also figured out that it’s a bit of a pain to constantly tell Word how to behave with your pictures.
Did you find… Continue reading
Wrapped With Style
Do you use a lot of pictures in your MS Word documents?
Hate the way they push the text around the document, often causing awkward looking gaps and layout problems?
How would you like a way to get the text and picture to “play together nicely”? You know, make them work in a way that doesn’t cause all the gaps and other problems.
Maybe even turn this… Continue reading
Use a lot of bulleted lists in MS PowerPoint? How about MS Word? Looking for quick ways to move items in your bulleted list without a cut / paste?
Or… maybe you’d like a way to promote and/or demote items in the list without all the extra work with the increase and decrease indent buttons.
Whatever your particular need, you’re sure to find something here that works for you!
First… Continue reading
Drag And Drop With A Right Click?
Yep, that’s what I said! Right click!
We often find ourselves moving text in MS Word with a quick drag and drop, but did you know that if you use a right click instead of a left click, Word will offer you far more than the usual move text thing?
Next time you want to move or even copy text simply follow these… Continue reading
Mark It Up
We all know about watermarks, those light pictures or text placed behind our text on printed documents. They can mark a document as a draft or as confidential, or they could be used to enhance the appearance of a document.
With older versions of MS Word you had to do quite a bit of work to get that watermark. You were forced to go through the header… Continue reading
Chapter Numbers Wanted
Do you frequently use MS Word to produce documents that contain chapters? Looking to use a more meaningful way to number your pages? Might I suggest that you use a page number / chapter number combination? Today, let’s consider the possibility.
First you’ll need a Word document that was created with chapters using the bullets and numbering feature. Wait! Hold on, there’s more. You can’t use just… Continue reading
Finished writing a word document? Hit F7 to spell check before saving it! It works in composing email in Outlook Express, too. It’s fast, it’s simple, and it can make your communications look more professional.
~ Chris Fisher… Continue reading
Have you ever found yourself trying to make a perfect square or circle using the drawing tools for a rectangle or oval? Or maybe you’re trying to draw a perfectly horizontal or vertical line?
Did you find yourself eyeballing the measurements and angles hoping you were getting close?
Did you know that it’s possible for you to use the drawing tools to make these perfect shapes without all the guesswork?… Continue reading
Every time you’ve ever tried to edit a document in MS Word while a window (such as the font formatting window) is open you get nowhere. That window just sits there, open and waiting. You certainly aren’t going to make any changes to the document until you’ve made your choices and either clicked OK or Cancel.
Hard to believe that the Find window behaves differently?
Yeah, I thought so too… Continue reading
End The Button Confusion
Have you ever noticed that many of the custom toolbar buttons you’ve added have the exact same image?
I have—I added a button that takes me to the New window you see when you use the File menu, New choice in MS Word.
Unfortunately, it’s identical to the New button that opens a blank document from the Normal template.
So, what can you do?
Change the… Continue reading
Formatting That Demands Their Attention
Do you ever find yourself looking for a way to make something really stand out in a Word document?
I don’t mean just a bigger or different font—I mean a way to put something on the page that can’t be ignored.
There are lots of things you can do (bolding, Italics, AutoShapes, etc…) but maybe turning this
into this
is… Continue reading
Quick Slide Margins In MS Word
Just picture it—you just finished working on a document that you really need as a one-page memo. Unfortunately, it ran over to page two.
What do you do?
One solution is to adjust margins.
So… some of you go to the File menu, Page Setup choice, Margins tab, make your adjustments, then click OK.
Sounds good—but when you return to your document you find… Continue reading
Get Into Style
Did you know that MS Word can get you in style with just a few clicks?
No?
Well, good news—it can.
(Bad news—it’s style for your text and has nothing to do with the latest fashions. Sorry, no free shopping trips.)
But… back to the good news.
The first thing we need to discuss is a very good question.
What is a style in MS Word?
To… Continue reading
Controlling Runaway Clichés And Other Grammar Problems
Did you know that you have some control over the type of grammar mistakes MS Word looks for?
No?
I didn’t either until I stumbled through some information about having Word’s grammar check catch common cliches in my writing. As I started investigating the options I discovered just how many choices we really do have.
Want to know where to find your options?… Continue reading
Use It, Lose It, or Momentarily Disable It
Decisions, decisions, decisions…
These are your choices when dealing with the AutoComplete in MS Word.
To “Use It” you need to decide to accept the AutoComplete entry (exactly what’s in the bubble) and then hit the Enter key. The entire text string will be completely filled in and you’re ready to move on.
Good – now that you know how to “Use… Continue reading
