Macro Mode
We had a reader ask:
“My camera is supposed to be able to focus down to 4 inches, but I can’t get anywhere close to that. Do you think the camera is defective?”
Your camera is probably fine. I’ve seen this happen to several friends, so I know you’re not alone.
In order to get in really close, you’ll need to switch your digicam to Macro mode (usually… Continue reading
Comments | Filed under: Digital Photography |
Have you ever been working on an image and had the computer crash? Sucks, doesn’t it? All that hard work, down the proverbial tubes.
I remember a few years back working on an image in Photoshop. It was a restoration of an old photo I was doing for a family member (I was “volunteered” since I “knew about those darn computers”).
So, I scanned… Continue reading
Comments | Filed under: Digital Photography |
Formatting Cards
A reader asks, “What’s with card formatting? Do I really need to do it? I just popped my card into my camera and everything seems to work OK.”
Formatting a card basically insures that it is going to work right with your camera.
Just like computers, memory cards have files systems, folders, etc. When you use your camera to format a card, it sets the card up the… Continue reading
Comments | Filed under: Digital Photography |
PC Or Mac For Digital Imaging?
I had the “Should I use a PC or Mac for digital imaging” question brought up to me recently. It seems like when people start to get more serious about digital imaging, this question always comes up. So, what’s the answer?
A long time ago, in a galaxy, far, far, away, if you were going to do any kind of digital imaging, you were… Continue reading
Comments | Filed under: Digital Photography |
Flash Distance
A reader asks, “I was at an outdoor concert and tried to take some photos. It was at night so I tried to use my flash. All I got was the back of people’s heads! You could see a little of what was on stage, but it didn’t look very good. What went wrong?”
Ah, flash distance. You don’t have enough of it. Most people think that all… Continue reading
Comments | Filed under: Digital Photography |
Noisy Photos
At one time or another, you’ll probably hear people talk about “noise” in digital photos. Nope, this doesn’t involve screaming kids, it actually involves tiny specks of random color that show up in an image. It’s basically the digital equivalent of film grain.
Noisy photo (no it doesn’t look noisy from here, but look at the close-up below):
Close-up (note the grainy look)
How do you… Continue reading
Comments | Filed under: Digital Photography |
Beware The Digital Zoom!
Here’s the story behind this week’s exciting digital imaging tip:
My wife just got a new digital camera—her first actually. We found a simple, easy to use little Kodak and all seemed well, at first.
You see, this camera features both an optical and digital zoom. And that’s where the trouble starts.
My wife zooms in on our 3-year-old son and then decides to keep zooming… Continue reading
Comments | Filed under: Digital Photography |
AutoFormat In MS Word
Ok, so if you’re with me here then you must be ready to get down to the business of MS Word’s AutoFormat.
So… let’s delay no longer.
Obviously, the very first step is to open the document that needs to be formatted.
Next you’re looking to start the AutoFormat feature—that’s the Format menu, AutoFormat choice.
The AutoFormat will open where you’ll need to make a few… Continue reading
Get Word To Do The Formatting For You
So, you’ve written a true masterpiece in MS Word… or maybe it’s a group project and you’ve all done your part to create the document.
Only one problem—formatting is all over the place!
I mean, different spacing, different headings and other such tragedies.
Obviously you could go through the document and make it all consistent by hand, or, you could let Word… Continue reading
Let The Light Shine
So, you’re working along in a program from the MS Office Suite, your little Office Assistant is politely standing by just waiting to give you a hand.
Now we all know that if you have a question you can simply click on the Assistant and try to get information you need through the online help it offers.
But, have you ever noticed while you were working… Continue reading
Comments | Filed under: MS Office Help |
Outline It Now!
Ever find yourself working in MS Excel and need a quick outline to a cell or group of cells?
You could go through the hassle of the whole “hands off the keyboard and onto the mouse” thing or…
You could highlight the cells to be outlined and try Ctrl + Shift + &.
Yep, that ‘s it—three simple little keys do the trick!
Want to remove the… Continue reading
Changing Your View
So, we’re all here and ready to take a look at changing MS Outlook views.
Let’s get right to it.
There are a couple of different ways to make changes to your MS Outlook view. Your method depends upon how you like to see things while you work.
If you prefer to see lists of what’s available and what’s been selected and its placement then you’ll probably… Continue reading
Comments | Filed under: MS Outlook |
View It Your Way
Have you ever found yourself wishing that you had different information displayed in MS Outlook for email?
Yeah, me too.
There are just certain things I’m interested in seeing and some stuff I don’t care about at all.
If only it could be all my way.
Oh… but wait.
It can be my way!
With a few quick clicks I can set Outlook to give me… Continue reading
Comments | Filed under: MS Outlook |
Saving The View
We discussed how to make the changes to your views—which is really good—but do you find you’re making a lot of changes all the time?
Are you looking for a way to save a few of these View set-ups so you can quickly switch back and forth as needed?
If you’re thinking that it’s a good idea then I have to agree.
And… I’d bet you’re ready… Continue reading
Comments | Filed under: MS Outlook |
See Them All At Once
Are you an MS Outlook user who loves to sort your information down into many folders and likes to keep them all on the Outlook bar?
You’ve got to love the way the Outlook bar makes it so easy to jump between functions—but—I must say that I hate it when I get so many items in there that I’ve got to use the scrolling arrows… Continue reading
Comments | Filed under: MS Outlook |
Ever notice how some people always seem to have documents that are a little more eye-catching?
You know what I mean; the people who always seem to have a little something extra on the page that gives it the perfect touch.
There’s a whole bag of tricks you can use to make your document look just right. One of the best is called WordArt. This little feature of MS… Continue reading
Comments | Filed under: MS Office Help |
Cell References in MS Excel
Ever notice that when you’re copying a formula in MS Excel the cell references in the formula will change?
I’m sure you have. They do this because a formula uses the cell addresses as relative cell references. The cell names are “directions” for the cells to use in the formula. The cell containing the formula is the starting point for the “directions”.
This is awesome… Continue reading
Excel Cells Into MS Word
Have you ever tried to copy and paste cells from Excel to Word?
What happened?
I bet you went to Excel, highlighted the cells, copied the cells, went to Word, pasted the cells and poof! There they were.
Sounds great, doesn’t’ it?
Yeah, and it can be, but, if you’re using version 97 then there are some slight problems.
You might notice that you can’t… Continue reading
One After Another
Do you use the Drawing Tools in the MS Office programs frequently?
Have you ever used the same drawing tool repeatedly and found yourself aggravated with the need to turn the tool back on after each new shape?
Sure would be nice to be able to turn the drawing tool on and leave it on…
(Sorry, daydreaming again.)
Oh, but maybe not.
Did you know that it’s… Continue reading
Comments | Filed under: MS Office Help |
Moving Toolbars in MS Office Applications
Have you ever noticed that when you use the View menu, Toolbars choice to display various toolbars that some of them “float” in the document?
That is, some of them open in a position around the edge of the file and others seem to open on top of the document.
The question that may occur to you is, “what do I do with these… Continue reading
Comments | Filed under: MS Office Help |
How do you know when the document you’re working on is perfect and ready for printing? Have you ever used the scroll bars to navigate through a large file in the hopes of trying to see if everything is proportioned properly? This can be nearly impossible in a large Excel file. Or are you the person who prints a document over and over, making small adjustments each time, until an… Continue reading
Comments | Filed under: Hardware & Peripherals, MS Office Help |
The Replacements
Did you notice in MS Word the Replace tab just behind the Find tab? Or in Excel and PowerPoint, did you notice the Replace button?
I bet you’re wondering what it’s all about?
It’s a great function to use in conjunction with the Find.
Let’s suppose that you finished a huge paper and just figured out that you spelled a name wrong, through the entire document, ugh…
What… Continue reading
Comments | Filed under: MS Office Help |
Come Out, Come Out, Wherever You Are
Sound familiar?
Does it bring to mind the childhood game of searching for someone hiding? Or perhaps it brings to mind a common problem…
A file so massive that you pretty much felt like you were playing hide and seek every time you needed to find a particular part of the file.
Unfortunately, “come out, come out, wherever you are” doesn’t really do… Continue reading
Comments | Filed under: MS Office Help |
Many Changes With One Key
So, you’re in the process of text formatting in MS Word and you’re getting frustrated.
You need to jump from place to place highlighting text, changing font type, size, bolding, underlining etc.
And, when you’re done with one highlighted section you can move on to the next and start all over again.
Aggravated and bored yet?
Yep, me too.
So, is there a way to… Continue reading
Excess Spaces Be Gone!
We all know about the infamous “lead foot” and the speeding tickets the condition can cause… but have you heard of the “lead thumb”?
What’s that you ask?
Well, it’s the unfortunate condition some of us have that makes our thumb stay on the space bar a little too long. The result of the condition is all of those annoying extra spaces in our text.
Comments | Filed under: MS Office Help |
Q:
Are there any good spam filters out there?
A:
If you search our software store, you will notice that we do not sell any spam filters. Is this because we want your inbox to be flooded with porn and scams? Is it just an oversight on our behalf?
Well, no. I’m sure I’ll be bombarded with recommendations from y’all, but so far the anti-spam tools available are… Continue reading
Comments | Filed under: E-Mail Help |
