There’s a bunch of Q-Tips in the tutorial but here are some more Elements tips and tricks.
1. First stop; try Quick Fix mode
If you’re in a hurry or a novice, a good first step in tweaking an image (especially a scan) in Elements is to use the Quick Fix mode. This let’s you quickly try out several adjustments.
Back in Standard Edit mode you can try the Enhance>Auto Smart Fix command to see how that works. You'll probably want to make some custom adjustments. More refined ways to adjust your images is via the Enhance> Brightness/Contrast> Adjust Brightness/Contrast or Enhance>Adjust Lighting>Levels commands.
2. Fixing the most common exposure problem:
Probably the most common exposure problem in photography is having things too dark in the shadows. Elements 3 has a wonderful tool for fixing this problem. Select Enhance>Adjust Lighting>Shadows/Highlights and set the Lighten Shadows: to 50%.
Conversely, if the brightest areas appear washed out you can use the same tool to fix that situation. First select the too bright area with the Lasso tool and feather the selection. Then select Enhance>Adjust Lighting>Shadows/Highlights and drag the Darken Highlights to an effective setting.
3. Elements allows you to adjust Levels instead of just brightness.
Any image editing program allows you to adjust brightness, but Adobe Photoshop Elements offers more precise ways to adjust and improve the tonal quality of the image. You’ve just worked with the Shadows/Highlights tool to bring out more visible detail in an image, but there is also the Levels adjustment. This can adjust the contrast in the middle range of grays in an image without dramatically altering the shadows and highlights. Using a combination of the Shadows/Highlights and Levels tools gives you the most precise control for adjusting the tonal values of your images.
The three sliders in the Levels diagram adjust the darkest, lightest and mid-tone pixels in the image. Generally speaking, you drag the shadows and highlights triangles under the Input graph slightly towards the center (to the edges of the “mountain”) to improve the levels.
4. Sharpen by Unsharpening
Almost any scanned image can benefit from a bit of sharpening. Sharpening cleans up the boundaries between colors to make things appear in sharper focus. Surprisingly, sharpening is best done in Elements and Photoshop using the Unsharp Mask filter. Beware, a little bit of sharpening goes a long way.
Here are general guidelines that work well on most images. Choose Filter>Sharpen>Unsharp Mask. In the dialog box set the Amount to between 50% and 150%, set the Radius to between 1 and 2 and set the Threshold to between 3 and 20 (the higher the Threshold number, the less intense the effect is).
Here's a magic formula which works well for many images:
Amount—85% Radius—1 pixel Threshold—4 levels
For pictures of people try:
Amount—150% Radius—1 pixel Threshold—10 levels
Click the Preview box in the dialog box off and on to see the effect. The Sharpen setting in the Quick Fix mode also applies the Unsharp Mask.
Original With Unsharpen Mask
5. Turn down the Noise
When your shooting in a low light situation or at a high ISO its common to get pictures that look “grainy” or pixilated. This is called “noise” in the world of digital photography. The better the digital camera the less noise you’ll have to deal with. Camera phones and PDA’s often take “noisy” images.
No program can remove all of the noise but Elements does a pretty good job. Select Filter>Noise>Reduce Noise. The default settings often work well, but if you need a bit more power try dragging the Reduce Color Noise slider up to 25% or so.
6. Come closer— no really closer!
Zoom way in to do detail work (such as cleaning up red-eye). Get used to coming way in to work on your image, right to the pixel level. In Elements, you can do this via the Navigator palette, the Zoom tool, or using Control + and Control - as keyboard shortcuts (Command + and - for the Mac). Holding down the Spacebar lets you scroll around in the image.
7. Give yourself credit
Create a credit file with the copyright symbol, your name, and date on a transparent background. You can quickly superimpose this on images you might distribute. Now your work will be automatically protected by copyright. You could also scan your signature. You can create the copyright symbol in most Windows programs (but not Elements) by pressing Alt-control-c; on the Mac use Option-c. In Elements you can type in Alt and 0169. If you would like to display your copyright info right over a picture, select the layer your text is on and apply the Clear Emboss effect to it.
You can also embed or inspect copyright information into a file’s metadata by selecting File>File Info… and entering in data in the Copyright Status and Copyright Notice boxes.
8. When it comes to file formats, stay the course.
Don't save your image in a different file format (other than PSD) until you have finished editing it. Each time you compress a JPEG image you lose detail. Repeatedly doing this really degrades your image. Also, when you save your images in other formats, you usually combine (flatten) the layers, thus losing the ability to edit on separate layers.
9. Lose the color.
It used to be that some art galleries would only display black and white photos because they seemed more like “art”. While I wouldn’t take it that far, black and white or duotone images can be striking.
To make a picture look antique, you can convert it to black and white (Image>Mode>Grayscale). Another effective device is to use duotone effects such as sepia tone or blue and white. Enhance>Adjust Color>Remove Color and then select Enhance>Adjust Color>Color Variations. After using either method, you could use Filter>Noise>Add Noise to make the image look old and grainy.
10. The secret to cool text effects in Photoshop and Elements
Elements keeps text on a separate layer, which allows you to edit the text, but does not allow you to apply filters or any other effects to the text. There's a way around this. Select all or a portion of the text layer with any selection tool. Choose Layer>Simplify Layer. You will no longer be able to edit the text, but you can apply filters to it. Give it a try! If you forget this, Elements will usually remind you of this when you try to apply a filter to text. Simplifying a layer also makes it a bitmap so that the font does not have to be installed on another computer for it to display correctly.
11. Another way to select irregularly-shaped areas.
Selecting objects with thin or irregular edges can be tricky. Photoshop’s Magnetic Lasso tool can help some, but here's another approach. Select the area around the object (using the Magic Wand tool or other selection tool) and then choose Select>Inverse to select the object.
12. Fixing a background.
There are at least three good ways to edit the background (perhaps to cover up lines or other distractions). Sample the background color by using the Eyedropper tool then select a soft-edged brush and paint over the unwanted portions. Or, you can use the Healing Brush or Clone Stamp tools to reproduce one part of the background over the offending area. But, here's my favorite: make a patch. Select a good portion of the background with the Rectangle Selection tool. Use Edit>Copy and Edit>Paste to reproduce this area and then drag it into place. You may need to paste several times to cover up the area. You can use the Smudge tool to soften any hard edges.
13. Make your own textures.
Scan in fabrics or other objects with patterns on them to use as textures for backgrounds. To create textures digitally, use the Blur, Noise, Pixelate, or other filters to create abstract textures. Save your textures in a folder and use them to fill in backgrounds for buttons or other elements.
To give your image the appearance that its printed on some textured material you can use the Texturizer command. Select Filter>Texture>Texturizer and experiment with the settings.
14. Be ready to Edit>Undo.
As soon as you make a mistake, select Edit>Undo…. If you do another command and then want to change an earlier move, use the Undo History palette to go back one step at a time. You can use Edit>Revert to Saved to go to the last saved version of the file. Save your work immediately before you make a radical change to your image and also just before you print. Sometimes you won't be able to undo a mistake and sometimes the computer might freeze. Elements does not have an automatic backup feature.
15. Save to your hard drive.
Digital pictures are big files. If you run out of room on a disk in the middle of a save you can lose your work. Don't take chances. Save to your hard drive, and then copy the file to a Zip disk, CD-R, USB drive or other removable storage system.
16. More RAM = happy camper.
Image editing programs are memory hogs. In Photoshop you actually have three copies of each file open while you are working on it - one for saving, one for "undo-ing," and one for previews. If you have plenty of memory, you won't run into those nasty "out of memory" error messages. And, having lots of memory speeds up the operation of your software. Elements needs at least 256 MB of RAM to run efficiently, but really wants 512 MB or more.
17. Warp factor five -- speeding up filters.
When you're trying out a filter or a new technique, select just a portion of the image to try it on. This will greatly speed up the processing of the effect. When you've figured it out, undo the filter and then try it on the whole image or you can use the Filter Gallery feature to get quick previews.
18. Use filters conservatively.
Although you may be tempted to use all kinds of wild effects in your image editing, it soon gets tiring for the viewer and can get in the way of the message. Most of the time, just use subtle effects, set the values low in your filter settings and don't apply too many filters.
19. Nudge a selection.
In Elements, once you've made a selection and have the move tool selected, you can move the selection a few pixels at a time using the arrow keys on your keyboard. Try it.
20. Use the Hand tool to scroll through an image.
Instead of scrolling around your image with the scroll bars or arrow keys, press the spacebar on the keyboard, and then hold the mouse button down. You can now drag your image around in the window.
21. Use How To Topics.
Elements helps beginners by providing guided how to recipes. But even experienced users can benefit by using them. They include several techniques that can't be easily done anywhere else in the program (such as creating a Web animation) or they can automate a complicated process (such as restoring a faded photo). At other times though, it will be faster and more flexible to do the technique via the menus. With experience, you'll learn when to use each approach.
22. Lighten up.
Pictures tend to darken a little when printed, so you might want to adjust your image's brightness so it looks a little too light on screen. Try some test prints to experiment with this.
23. Record your settings.
As you work with your image editing software, write down some of the settings that you successfully use for altering or adjusting your images. Then you can reuse these values with other images to achieve consistent results. In Photoshop, but not Elements, you can save many of your settings (such as for brightness and contrast) and re-load them in later.
24. Increase saturation for brighter brights.
We've gotten used to really pumped-up colors from traditional photo processing. If you like this kind of color, you can increase the saturation in your images for brighter colors; choose Enhance>Adjust Color>Adjust Hue/Saturation to make this adjustment. For more natural or muted colors, decrease saturation.
25. A trick for instant frames.
Elements has a neat little trick for putting a border around your image; you can even choose what color frame you want. First, select the entire image (Control A or Command A), then choose Edit>Stroke (Outline) Selection. Choose a color and width for your border. Click OK. Easy!
A drop shadow makes your photo look like it's floating on a canvas. It's really easy to add one in Elements. Display the Effects palette. Choose Frames from the drop down menu. Drag the Drop Shadow effect on to your image and watch the magic happen. You can undo that effect and experiment with some other frames.
26. Removing dust and scratches is not perfect.
You've probably heard the hype that digital imaging can automatically get rid of scratches and imperfections in a picture. Well, in Elements that comes at a cost. The remove dust and scratches filter (Filters>Noise>Dust/Scratches) works by blurring the bad pixels in with the good ones next to them, but in the process it makes the whole image a bit blurry. So, to do this correctly, first select a rectangular area just around the defect, and then use the filter. You'll want to set the Radius and Threshold values pretty low so as not to affect too many neighboring pixels. You can also try using the Healing Brush for this type of fix.
28. For a sharper foreground, blur the background.
The human eye plays all kinds of tricks on the brain. Technically, no image-editing program can restore focus to an out of focus picture. But it can create the illusion of sharper focus. You've probably already used the Sharpen filter, but here's a slight refinement. Select the background and apply a slight blur. A blurry background makes the foreground objects appear to be in sharper focus.
29. Power Methods of Copying and Pasting
Let’s say you find an image on the Web and want to “borrow” it and modify it in Elements. How do you proceed? There are several methods. The most common one is to right-click on the image in your web browser (Mac= Control-click) and then save the file. Now you can use File>Open within Elements to edit it. Another way is to right-click on the image and copy the image. Then in Elements choose File>New File>From Clipboard. Images that you get from the web are often low resolution, so you will usually will not be able to make them larger or print them out well.
By the way if you want to use your Elements images in PowerPoint, Word, on the Web or in other programs, it’s best to resize them in Elements rather than in the other programs. This is for two reasons. First, Elements has a very sophisticated method for resizing. Second, just making the image smaller in those other programs will not decrease their file size, whereas doing it in Elements will.
If all else fails there’s another way to capture anything on your computer screen into Elements, take a screen shot. To do this in Windows, just get whatever you want to capture displayed on the screen and press the Print Screen key on your keyboard (Print Scrn). Switch to Elements and select the good old File>New File>From Clipboard command. On a Macintosh you hold down Command-Option-3 on the keyboard. This will make a PDF file on your desktop. Just use File>Open in Elements to then open that file. Once you are in Elements you will want to crop the image to get rid of the extraneous stuff.
You might recall that in the tutorial we got fancy with the Paste Into command. You use this to fill one area of an image with what you’ve copied from another. We filled the letters in the word book with the actual picture of books, but you could also do this to fill an area with a texture. Simply select an area in the first image and choose Edit>Copy. Switch to the second image and select the area you want filled and then choose Edit>Paste Into.
Saturday, March 20, 2010
Tips & Tricks
Problems with Windows? Can’t log off? Can’t find your Startup programs? Find out some possible solutions and tips that can help with your Windows problems & efficient PC performance.
Can’t log off?
1) The sound file associated with exiting Windows may have become corrupted:
First try changing your Sound file for exiting Windows:
Start-Settings-Control Panel-Sounds
Look under Events for “Exit Windows”
Under Sounds-Names, change sound file to another, or set it to “None”.
2) Disable the fast shutdown feature because it may have a conflict with a hardware device:
Start – Run & type “MSCONFIG”
Click on the Advanced button
Uncheck “Disable Fast Shutdown”
For more details see: Jeff Levy’s lesson #45
http://www.jefflevy.com/lessons/45.txt
If these did NOT work, then you can try Microsoft’s solutions suggested in Knowledge Base articles Q232096 and Q239887, or you can just cut to the chase and install the Windows 98 Second Edition Shutdown Supplement (see below):
Q238096 - How to Troubleshoot Windows 98 Second Edition Shutdown Problems
Or, may need to run Windows Update, or just choose this fix at Win98 downloads:
Q239887 Availability of Windows 98 Second Edition Shutdown Supplement
http://windowsupdate.microsoft.com/
http://www.microsoft.com/windows98/downloads/corporate.asp
Also, See Woody’s Windows Watch,
http://www.woodyswatch.com/windows/archtemplate.asp?2-17
Can’t find your Startup programs?
Start – Run & type MSCONFIG & click on the STARTUP tab.
Then you can select, and more importantly Deselect Startup programs that you don’t need to run at startup (or ever).
Also, this will remove the icons for these programs from your System Tray!
Also, you can try a Free little program called “Startup Cop” that does the same thing:
See the Review of Startup Cop in a PC Magazine article, “Take Charge of Windows Startup”
http://www.zdnet.com/pcmag/pctech/content/18/08/ut1808.001.html Article
http://hotfiles.zdnet.com/cgi-bin/texis/swlib/hotfiles/info.html?b=pcm&fcode=000YKL Download
Tips and Tricks
Right-Click your Mouse
Right-click your Mouse key (press your right Mouse key) to get Menus (or options) anywhere in Windows.
Keyboard Shortcuts
Use Shortcut Keys, e.g., like CTRL+C and CTRL+V for Copy and Paste (CTRL+X is Cut)
Start – Help – Contents – Exploring Your Computer - Keyboard Shortcuts – For Windows
See nifty Keyboard Shortcuts.
In future, hit F1 to get to Windows Help!
e.g.
* CTRL+ESC for Start menu à Good for when you lose your Mouse cursor!
* ALT+TAB to go to last open window, or
o Hold down ALT key and hit TAB to select from open programs
* CTRL+Z to Undo
Internet Explorer (IE) Keyboard Shortcuts
F5 = Refresh!
F11 = Toggle between Full Screen & Window
CTRL+N = New IE screen
Easy Desktop Shortcut to Program(s)
Open Explorer by Right-clicking on Start – Explore
Find program (*.exe file) in Folder, then Right-click on program and continue holding down Mouse Key, then Drag file to Desktop. Note: you might need to change the size of your Explorer dialog box before doing this à click on rectangle (or rectangles in upper right of window), then drag file onto desktop.
Try PowerDesk – free utility program – dual “Explorer” windows
This makes it easy to Drag and Drop files from Folder to Folder (a pain in MS-Explorer).
http://www.ontrack.com/powerdesk/
“PowerDesk File Manager: The file manager provides you with single or dual pane file management windows, a powerful file finder, zip and unzip capabilities, a dialog helper, plus many other features.”
Use MSCONFIG
Start – Run & type in “msconfig”. Go to any tab, e.g., Startup. Can also selects/deselect Autoexec items, etc.
Problems with Windows?
Questions?
Any Questions?
Solutions/Prevention for General Windows Problems
Knowledge Base at Microsoft Website:
* Support – Knowledge Base
* http://search.support.microsoft.com/kb/c.asp
Run Defrag and Scandisk on a regular basis.
Forget Task or Maintenance Scheduler…that’s just something else to crowd your System Tray.
Run Windows Update occasionally & at least do Critical Updates
Start – Windows Update (Windows 98)
Use a Virus Checking program
Try Trend Micro’s Housecall – free web-based virus checker:
http://housecall.antivirus.com/default.asp
Make sure you have a fast internet connection or a lot of time.
In the future you’ll also get their weekly virus update emails.
Consider a Utility program
like “FixIt Utilities” by Ontrack http://www.ontrack.com/FixIt/
Or “Norton Utilities” by Symantec http://www.symantec.com/nu/
X-Setup – Free Utility program to “tweak” your PC
http://www.tweakfiles.com/allinone/xsetup.html
“X-Setup is the ultimate mother of all Windows tweaking utilities for Windows 95/98/NT/2000/Millennium. It has more tweaks than TweakUI and TweakAll combined and is safer and more secure, and has many new features and abilities. Here are just a few of the latest features: Office 97 and Office 2000 tweaks, IE 1.x through 5.x tweaks, …, excellent security options/tweaks, major performance boost tweaks, extensive customization abilities, and much more. There are hundreds of tweaks for the Win9x/NT/2000 operating systems. Highly recommended for power users, gamers, system admins, and anyone looking to maximize their performance and speed.”
Use Help
Start – Help
Contents – Troubleshooting – Windows 98 Troubleshooters
Hardware Problems
Control Panel – System & Device Manager Tab
Any Conflicts (Exclamation Points)? Look at Properties (button) and Drivers (tab).
If so, download latest driver from vendor, Remove device, and Restart Windows
Driver Detector
http://www.drivershq.com/main_home.html
Check to see if your drivers are up to date
Also, find dll’s
Windows ME
Top 10 Reasons to Upgrade to Windows Me, according to Microsoft:
1. Import and edit your home movies
2. Move your photo collection from a shoebox to the Web
3. Archive and index your favorite music
4. Protect your critical files
5. Revert your computer back to normal (can use GoBack program)
6. Find the answers you need (better Help)
7. Use your computer to program your VCR and thermostat
8. Link your household’s computers (Enhanced Home Networking)
9. Contact friends and co-workers more efficiently than ever
10. Take gaming to the next level
Microsoft’s comparison of ME and 2000 features
http://www.microsoft.com/windowsME/upgrade/upgradewhich.asp
Woody’s Windows Watch – Is Windows ME for You?
http://www.woodyswatch.com/windows/archtemplate.asp?3-15
According to one Windows expert/consultant:
* Windows ME is a more stable product, ONCE you get it to run!
* There are no hardware conflicts, except USB
* Config.sys and Autoexec.bat are gone
* Doesn’t use DOS to boot system à Windows
* Doesn’t have “pure” DOS: Can’t boot to DOS or go to “native” DOS
* Takes 3-4 minutes to shut down!
Can’t log off?
1) The sound file associated with exiting Windows may have become corrupted:
First try changing your Sound file for exiting Windows:
Start-Settings-Control Panel-Sounds
Look under Events for “Exit Windows”
Under Sounds-Names, change sound file to another, or set it to “None”.
2) Disable the fast shutdown feature because it may have a conflict with a hardware device:
Start – Run & type “MSCONFIG”
Click on the Advanced button
Uncheck “Disable Fast Shutdown”
For more details see: Jeff Levy’s lesson #45
http://www.jefflevy.com/lessons/45.txt
If these did NOT work, then you can try Microsoft’s solutions suggested in Knowledge Base articles Q232096 and Q239887, or you can just cut to the chase and install the Windows 98 Second Edition Shutdown Supplement (see below):
Q238096 - How to Troubleshoot Windows 98 Second Edition Shutdown Problems
Or, may need to run Windows Update, or just choose this fix at Win98 downloads:
Q239887 Availability of Windows 98 Second Edition Shutdown Supplement
http://windowsupdate.microsoft.com/
http://www.microsoft.com/windows98/downloads/corporate.asp
Also, See Woody’s Windows Watch,
http://www.woodyswatch.com/windows/archtemplate.asp?2-17
Can’t find your Startup programs?
Start – Run & type MSCONFIG & click on the STARTUP tab.
Then you can select, and more importantly Deselect Startup programs that you don’t need to run at startup (or ever).
Also, this will remove the icons for these programs from your System Tray!
Also, you can try a Free little program called “Startup Cop” that does the same thing:
See the Review of Startup Cop in a PC Magazine article, “Take Charge of Windows Startup”
http://www.zdnet.com/pcmag/pctech/content/18/08/ut1808.001.html Article
http://hotfiles.zdnet.com/cgi-bin/texis/swlib/hotfiles/info.html?b=pcm&fcode=000YKL Download
Tips and Tricks
Right-Click your Mouse
Right-click your Mouse key (press your right Mouse key) to get Menus (or options) anywhere in Windows.
Keyboard Shortcuts
Use Shortcut Keys, e.g., like CTRL+C and CTRL+V for Copy and Paste (CTRL+X is Cut)
Start – Help – Contents – Exploring Your Computer - Keyboard Shortcuts – For Windows
See nifty Keyboard Shortcuts.
In future, hit F1 to get to Windows Help!
e.g.
* CTRL+ESC for Start menu à Good for when you lose your Mouse cursor!
* ALT+TAB to go to last open window, or
o Hold down ALT key and hit TAB to select from open programs
* CTRL+Z to Undo
Internet Explorer (IE) Keyboard Shortcuts
F5 = Refresh!
F11 = Toggle between Full Screen & Window
CTRL+N = New IE screen
Easy Desktop Shortcut to Program(s)
Open Explorer by Right-clicking on Start – Explore
Find program (*.exe file) in Folder, then Right-click on program and continue holding down Mouse Key, then Drag file to Desktop. Note: you might need to change the size of your Explorer dialog box before doing this à click on rectangle (or rectangles in upper right of window), then drag file onto desktop.
Try PowerDesk – free utility program – dual “Explorer” windows
This makes it easy to Drag and Drop files from Folder to Folder (a pain in MS-Explorer).
http://www.ontrack.com/powerdesk/
“PowerDesk File Manager: The file manager provides you with single or dual pane file management windows, a powerful file finder, zip and unzip capabilities, a dialog helper, plus many other features.”
Use MSCONFIG
Start – Run & type in “msconfig”. Go to any tab, e.g., Startup. Can also selects/deselect Autoexec items, etc.
Problems with Windows?
Questions?
Any Questions?
Solutions/Prevention for General Windows Problems
Knowledge Base at Microsoft Website:
* Support – Knowledge Base
* http://search.support.microsoft.com/kb/c.asp
Run Defrag and Scandisk on a regular basis.
Forget Task or Maintenance Scheduler…that’s just something else to crowd your System Tray.
Run Windows Update occasionally & at least do Critical Updates
Start – Windows Update (Windows 98)
Use a Virus Checking program
Try Trend Micro’s Housecall – free web-based virus checker:
http://housecall.antivirus.com/default.asp
Make sure you have a fast internet connection or a lot of time.
In the future you’ll also get their weekly virus update emails.
Consider a Utility program
like “FixIt Utilities” by Ontrack http://www.ontrack.com/FixIt/
Or “Norton Utilities” by Symantec http://www.symantec.com/nu/
X-Setup – Free Utility program to “tweak” your PC
http://www.tweakfiles.com/allinone/xsetup.html
“X-Setup is the ultimate mother of all Windows tweaking utilities for Windows 95/98/NT/2000/Millennium. It has more tweaks than TweakUI and TweakAll combined and is safer and more secure, and has many new features and abilities. Here are just a few of the latest features: Office 97 and Office 2000 tweaks, IE 1.x through 5.x tweaks, …, excellent security options/tweaks, major performance boost tweaks, extensive customization abilities, and much more. There are hundreds of tweaks for the Win9x/NT/2000 operating systems. Highly recommended for power users, gamers, system admins, and anyone looking to maximize their performance and speed.”
Use Help
Start – Help
Contents – Troubleshooting – Windows 98 Troubleshooters
Hardware Problems
Control Panel – System & Device Manager Tab
Any Conflicts (Exclamation Points)? Look at Properties (button) and Drivers (tab).
If so, download latest driver from vendor, Remove device, and Restart Windows
Driver Detector
http://www.drivershq.com/main_home.html
Check to see if your drivers are up to date
Also, find dll’s
Windows ME
Top 10 Reasons to Upgrade to Windows Me, according to Microsoft:
1. Import and edit your home movies
2. Move your photo collection from a shoebox to the Web
3. Archive and index your favorite music
4. Protect your critical files
5. Revert your computer back to normal (can use GoBack program)
6. Find the answers you need (better Help)
7. Use your computer to program your VCR and thermostat
8. Link your household’s computers (Enhanced Home Networking)
9. Contact friends and co-workers more efficiently than ever
10. Take gaming to the next level
Microsoft’s comparison of ME and 2000 features
http://www.microsoft.com/windowsME/upgrade/upgradewhich.asp
Woody’s Windows Watch – Is Windows ME for You?
http://www.woodyswatch.com/windows/archtemplate.asp?3-15
According to one Windows expert/consultant:
* Windows ME is a more stable product, ONCE you get it to run!
* There are no hardware conflicts, except USB
* Config.sys and Autoexec.bat are gone
* Doesn’t use DOS to boot system à Windows
* Doesn’t have “pure” DOS: Can’t boot to DOS or go to “native” DOS
* Takes 3-4 minutes to shut down!
60+ of the Best Tips, Tricks & Shortcuts
60+ of the Best Tips, Tricks & Shortcuts
for Computer Users
1. Arrange your icons by: type, name, size, auto arrange, and arrange by grid. All of these options can be found in any folder and on the desktop by right-clicking and choosing “arrange icons by”…
2. Add symbols in Word by using the Character Map. To access the Character Map, either choose InsertàSymbol in Microsoft Word or, in Windows, simply go to the Start button and click Run. Type charmap into the blank. Then, copy and paste the symbol you want into almost any program.
3. Use your Links Bar in Internet Explorer (or any Windows folder) to quickly bring up favorite Web sites or files on your computer with a single-click button. To enable the Links Bar, right-click on the toolbar in Internet Explorer or any folder and check-mark the word “Links.” Then, uncheck “Lock the Toolbars” (in Windows XP). Drag the word Links down below your Address Bar, and proceed to drag any Web site onto this bar. The same goes for any file that you want to access. Drag them onto this bar to create a “one-click link” button on the toolbar. Look for the little black vertical line before dropping things onto the Links Bar.
4. To open any program so that it is automatically maximized or minimized, create a shortcut to the program (or file). Then, right-click on the shortcut and choose Properties. Next to the word “Run,” click the drop-down arrow and switch “Normal Window” to Maximized and click OK. The same method can also be used to open a program minimized. If you choose “maximized,” the next time you click on this shortcut, it will open up in full screen, maximized.
5. Minimize all windows with one keyboard shortcut. Press the Windows Logo button and the D key (Windows+D) to send all of your open windows to the taskbar, leaving only the desktop. This is the same as clicking the “Show Desktop” icon on the taskbar/QuickLaunch bar.
6. In Internet Explorer, there is a keyboard shortcut for Back and Forward. This way you don’t have to keep clicking the toolbar button every time you want to return to a Web page. Use your Backspace key to go back, and your Enter key to go forward.
7. There are keyboard shortcuts for undo and redo. In Word, PowerPoint and Excel, as well as many non-Microsoft programs, use Ctrl + Z to undo, and Ctrl + Y to redo.
8. To quickly find out how much RAM (memory) you have in any version of Windows, as well as exactly which version of Windows is on your computer, use this keyboard combination: Windows Logo and the Pause/Break keys pressed at the same time. This brings up the “System Properties,” which you can also get to by right-clicking on “My Computer.”
9. To find out a lot of other information about your system, such as your processor speed, your sound and video drivers, what version of DirectX you have, and a test of your hardward, go to StartàRun. Type in dxdiag, and you will see a ton of info. about your system.
10. The Microsoft Configuration Utility is the best way to speed up how fast your computer boots up and reduce the number of programs that load when your computer starts up. Go to StartàRun. Type in msconfig, and choose “Selective Startup.” Then, click on the Startup tab. Take a good look at the command name and the location, and un-check anything that doesn’t appear to be necessary. Leave Anti-Virus program info. checked, and un-check “Load Power Profile,” “Microsoft Office,” “QTTask”, and other programs that run anyway when you click on them. You don’t need them loading by themselves.
11. Get rid of pop-up ads and conveniently add a Google shortcut to your Internet Explorer toolbar by downloading and installing the Google Toolbar. This is a great Web search tool, as well as a terrific pop-up blocker. Go to google.com and type “Google Toolbar” into the search field. Then, download & install it. You won’t regret it.
12. The quickest way to adjust your screen display size, screen saver, icon sizes and your desktop wallpaper is by right-clicking on the desktop and choosing Properties. Now, all of the display properties are there at your fingertips.
13. PowerPoint is a good presentation tool, but you can also convert your presentations to .JPG pictures. Just open any slideshow from PowerPoint and go to FileàSave As and, next to “Save As Type,” choose “JPEG File Interchange Format (JPG)” which is long for “make a picture from your slide.” You can choose to convert the current slide or the entire slideshow into pictures.
*This can also be done in Print Shop by choosing FileàExport As and changing the “save as type” option to a picture format. This saves your PrintShop project as a picture.
14. Three tremendously important keyboard shortcuts found in Windows:
F1=Help F2=Rename F3=Find Files or Folders
15. Another great “Find” shortcut is Ctrl + F. Using this keyboard shortcut in Internet Explorer, Word or Excel allows you to search the current page or document for a specific word or phrase. After it highlights the correct word you’re looking for, press the Enter key to “Find Next.”
16. When you want to delete something in Windows, are you tired of it asking you if you are sure you want to delete it? Right-click on the Recycle Bin and un-check “Display delete confirmation dialog box.” But, only do this if you’re sure (haha).
17. To quickly close your open windows, use this keyboard shortcut: Alt + F4. Any open window that is selected will immediately close. When you run out of windows to close, it will ask if you want to shut down your computer. Press the Enter key to shut down.
18. Another seldom-used keyboard shortcut is the “Task Manager” which allows you to toggle between open files or between two different programs within seconds. To see how it works, press the Alt + Tab keys at the same time and then let go. It jumps back and forth between programs you have open. Very convenient.
19. The keyboard shortcut for Print is Ctrl + P. This brings up the Print dialog box. In most programs, you can bypass the Print dialog box by pressing the Print button at the top on the toolbar.
20. Two Office XP annoyances can be fixed quickly. First, to turn the Task Pane off (the split-screen window at the right in every Office XP application), you can un-check the little box in the bottom right corner that says “Show at startup.” You can also toggle the Task Pane on and off by going to ViewàTask Pane. However, the Task Pane option is hidden by default in the annoying half-menu, which started with Office 2000. If you always want to show full menus, go to ToolsàCustomize and check the box that says “Always show full menus.”
21. Another Office XP annoyance has to do with toolbars. By default, only the buttons you use most on your toolbar are displayed. What if you want more toolbar buttons? Go to ToolsàCustomize and click the Options tab. Check the box that says “Show Standard & Formatting toolbars on two rows.” This gives you more room for buttons. To add more toolbars, right-click on any toolbar and check the name of the additional toolbars you want added.
22. Now for some Word 2002 tips: How many of you are sick of the big square box that pops up by default when you try to add a text box or ClipArt/Picture? You can turn this off by going to ToolsàOptions and click the General tab. Un-check the box that says “Automatically create drawing canvas when inserting AutoShapes.” While you’re there, get rid of another annoyance, Click the Edit tab and change the Insert/Paste pictures as option. Change it from “In line with text” to “Square.” Now, when you insert a picture or ClipArt image, you can move the picture more easily, and not have to immediately go into Text Wrap mode to move objects around. This is a much better default setting if you insert a lot of images.
23. What if you could expand any Web page’s size and quickly get rid of all toolbars in Internet Explorer with the click of one key. Well, there is a full-screen mode in Internet Explorer. Go to a good Web site that you want to see more of, and press the F11 key on the top of your keyboard. Press it again to bring back your toolbars.
24. Desktop Shortcuts are a good idea if you use certain programs & files repeatedly. For example, if you use Microsoft Word a lot, you can create a shortcut to it by going to StartàProgramsàMicrosoft Word. Before you open the program, right-click on the Microsoft Word icon and choose Send ToàDesktop (create shortcut). This creates a shortcut to Microsoft Word on the desktop. If it says “shortcut to Microsoft Word,” you can get rid of the words “shortcut to” by right-clicking on the icon and deleting those words from its title.
25. Maybe you already knew tip #24, and you’re ready for something more advanced. Let’s take it a step further. Let’s make a keyboard hotkey to Word. Right-click on the Microsoft Word icon, and choose Properties. Next to where it says “Shortcut key,” click your mouse cursor in that box and press the Ctrl and Alt keys on your keyboard and then add a third key, such as the W key (which will stand for Word). You should now see Ctrl + Alt + W in the “shortcut key” box. Click OK and now try it out. Press Ctrl + Alt + W, and Microsoft Word should open from now on. You can do this with any desktop shortcut.
26. The quickest way to send an Email attachment in Groupwise 6, 6.5, Microsoft Outlook or Outlook Express is to right-click on the attachment you want to send, and choose Send ToàGroupwise Recipient (or Mail Recipient in Outlook Express). This opens your Email and attaches the file automatically to the message. Just put in the Email address of who you want to send it to, and press Send.
27. When you connect a Laptop computer to an LCD Projector, it’s pretty easy to get a picture on a movie screen, but your laptop monitor is often left blank. However, a quick keyboard shortcut will allow you to view both the screen display on the laptop as well as the movie screen. On most laptops, the shortcut is Fn + F5. Look for the little monitor icon on one of the function keys at the top of your laptop keyboard. This tells you which key to use in combination with the Fn key.
28. You can change your SchoolWorld (Zangle) password more easily than you might think. Zangle has a new icon now. Look for the blue Z, double-click and log in with your old password. Then, before selecting anything, immediately click FileàChange Password.
29. To change your Groupwise Email password, the best way is to do it online. Go to www.port-huron.k12.mi.us and click the “Email (staff only)” button. Log in with your current password. You will see three buttons at the very top of the screen. Click on the middle button (called the “Options” button) and it will bring up a “Change your password” screen.
30. To change your Novell and Windows passwords at the same time, the best way is to do the following: In Windows 98, go to StartàSettingsàControl PanelàPasswords and select “Change Windows Password” and leave the Novell Netware box checked. Click OK and then type in your old password once and your new password twice. It will ask if you want your Windows and Novell passwords to match. Say yes, and you won’t get the Windows password box popping up each time you log in to Novell.
*In Windows XP, you can change your Novell password by pressing Ctrl + Alt + Delete and clicking the “Change Password” button.
31. Here are some great Microsoft Word tips that will make your life easier.
A. To insert filler text (to demonstrate Word formatting), when you type =rand(4,5) and press Enter, you get:
The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog. The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog. The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog.
B. To quickly add a Table to your Word document, start with a plus sign, then type minus signs until you reach the desired width of your table cell. Then, type another plus sign and press enter. Continue to do this until you have all the cells you want.
C. To save all of your open documents at once, hold down the Shift key and open the File menu. The File menu will give you two new options: Save All and Close All.
32. More Microsoft Word tips: Add line separators to your documents. Here are the best of the best. If you want to separate portions of a document with fancy horizontal lines, use one of these methods:
1. To create a thin continuous line, type three hyphens and press Enter (---).
2. To create a thicker, bolder line, use underscores (___).
3. To create a dotted line, use asterisks (***).
4. To create a double line, use equal signs (===).
5. To create a wavy line, use tildes (~~~).
6. To create a triple fat line, use pound signs (###).
33. Add an Excel calculator. Usually, you calculate numbers when you use Excel, so it only makes sense to add a calculator to the Excel toolbar. Here's how:
1. Choose View, Toolbars, Customize.
2. Click on the Commands tab.
3. In the Categories list, choose Tools.
4. In the Commands list, choose Custom (you'll see a little gray calculator icon next to it).
5. Drag the calculator icon to the toolbar, letting it drop wherever you'd like it to reside.
34. Most computer users know that you can move horizontally to the right in any form or table by pressing the Tab key. However, did you know you can move horizontally to the left by pressing Shift + Tab on your keyboard? Try it in Excel and it works great.
35. We love Google, and it is amazing how much information you can find in one place. Here is how to use the Google Phonebook (remember to use lowercase letters):
phonebook=searches the entire phonebook
rphonebook=searches residential listings only
bphonebook=searches business listings only
Type the following information into the Google search blank:
rphonebook: smith, port huron, 48060
This brings up a listing of every Smith in the city of Port Huron. To be more specific, add a first name before the last name. Other options include dropping the Zip code and adding an Area Code instead. City & state are optional. You can also type in a person’s phone number to get their Address and directions to his/her house by clicking on the Yahoo Maps or MapQuest links.
36. One Web site tip is all it takes to get more reference material than you would find in an entire library—for FREE. Go to www.refdesk.com and you will find a mind-boggling amount of Web links & tools to satisfy every research need you might have, from a built-in Google & AllTheWeb link to Dictionaries, Thesauri, Quotations, Weather, Newspapers, etc. Refdesk is the best one-stop Web reference tool there is.
37. Google Images is one of the best places to find full-color pictures on the Web. Go to www.google.com and click on Images. Then, type in exactly what picture(s) you want to find. Pay close attention to the file name, file extension (JPG, GIF, BMP) and the pixel size (example: 800 x 600 pixels will be a huge picture. 200 x 196 will be much smaller and lower quality). Then, click on the picture to bring up the Web site it came from. Click again on the picture at the top to blow it up to its largest size. See if the picture is copyrighted before you use it, or get permission to use it (from that particular Web site’s creator). Then, either right-click and choose “Save Picture As” to save it to your computer, or right-click on the actual picture and choose Copy. Then, go into your document, right-click & choose Paste. It pastes the original full-color picture into your document.
38. When doing a “Google Images” search, you may end up with some pictures that are not kid-friendly. To filter out your search results prior to searching, tweak the settings a bit. After you click on “Images” in Google, click on the Preferences link on the right side of Google. Next to “SafeSearch Filtering,” choose either to “Use moderate filtering (Filter explicit images only - default behavior)” or “Use strict filtering (Filter both explicit text and explicit images).” This gives you some control over what images appear when you search Google. In the Preferences, you can also control things like how many results are displayed per page.
39. One more Google tip. A filetype search restricts your search results to files ending in what ever extension you want, such as .doc, .jpg, .pdf, .txt, .xls, .ppt, etc. This is helpful if you know that you want only one particular type of document. An example:
A search for Photoshop filetype: ppt will bring up results that only have to do with learning the Photoshop program, but the results will only be PowerPoint documents.
40. Using the Send To command, you can control which options appear when you right-click an icon and choose “Send To.” SendTo is actually a Windows folder. So, you can copy and paste items into this folder. First you have to find the folder though. In Windows 98, it is inside the Windows folder. Look for the folder called SendTo. In Windows XP, go to the C drive, and double-click on “Documents & Settings.” Choose the user’s name that you want, and inside that user’s folder will be a SendTo folder.
41. You can control Word formatting simply with your keyboard keys. Here are some examples. Double-click on a word you want to highlight in bold. Press Ctrl + B to make it bold. Press Ctrl + B again to bring it back to plain text. To highlight several more words in bold, use your Shift and your arrow keys. Shift à highlights text to the right. Shift ß highlights text to the left. Ctrl + U will underline the text. Ctrl + I will put the text in italics.
42. The QuickLaunch toolbar is an under-appreciated toolbar on the Windows taskbar. To show this toolbar, right-click on your taskbar and choose ToolbarsàQuickLaunch. This toolbar is for single-click button shortcuts, very similar to the Links Bar in Tip #3. Similarly, you can drag any shortcut from your desktop to the QuickLaunch toolbar, and open it with a single click. It’s also a great way to eliminate excessive icons from your desktop area. Just drag shortcuts to this toolbar and delete them from the desktop, but remember to first drag the vertical line on the QuickLaunch toolbar to the right. The farther you drag that vertical line, the more room you will have for shortcut buttons. If you need more room on the taskbar, drag the taskbar up and you will have a double taskbar with plenty of room for open applications and QuickLaunch buttons.
43. Part 1: Application Toolbars: To add or remove a toolbar button, such as removing some of the unnecessary toolbar buttons on Word, Excel, Outlook and PowerPoint, go to ToolsàCustomize and click on the Commands tab. Then, go up to the particular program’s toolbar and drag a button off of it and let go. The button will disappear. You can also choose a button from the “Commands” list and drag it onto the toolbar.
Part 2: Internet Explorer & Folder Toolbars: To customize exactly which buttons are displayed on your folder or Internet Explorer toolbars, use this method. Right-click on any toolbar button and choose Customize. You will see a split-screen with “Available Toolbar Buttons” and “Current Toolbar Buttons.” Select the buttons you want from the left and click the Add button to add them to your toolbar. Then, click the “Move Up” or “Move Down” buttons to position them right where you want them. Next to Text Options, choose “Show Text Labels.” This will allow you to see text under each toolbar button. Next to “icon options” you can choose either small or large icons.
44. Windows CleanUp! This tool is so good that we demand that you download it immediately and use it at home. Go to www.google.com and type in “Windows CleanUp!” and it should bring up the “Windows CleanUp! Utility Home Page.” Click on this link and scroll down the page to find the download link for the CleanUp! file. Download it and install the file. After it is installed, go to StartàPrograms and create a shortcut to “CleanUp!” on your desktop. Run the file weekly to clean up your computer, getting rid of Internet cookies, history, temporary Internet files, Windows temp files, and much more. The program is extremely quick but thorough and has options where you can customize exactly what it cleans up each time. Best of all, this program is free.
45. Right-dragging is a good way to move files from folder to folder. People love to drag icons to move them from place to place, but sometimes this results in a shortcut being moved instead of the actual file. To make sure you are moving or copying your files correctly, right-drag instead of left-dragging. When you right-drag an icon into a folder, it gives you these options: Move Here, Copy Here or Create Shortcut Here. Take your pick and never worry about whether you copied the original file, or a shortcut instead.
46. Cut, copy & paste all have keyboard shortcuts. Ctrl+X=Cut Ctrl+C=Copy and Ctrl+V=Paste.
47. You can add icons to your Start Menu (just above the Start button) by right-clicking on the Start button and choosing Explore. This opens Windows Explorer. Copy any shortcut you want from the desktop or from the Programs folder and paste it into the “Start Menu” folder. This is the folder that comes up first by default when you open Windows Explorer.
*By the way, right-click the Start button and choose Explore any time you want to quickly open Windows Explorer. If you haven’t used it, it’s a great way to navigate through your folders.
48. There is a “Thumbnail” view for pictures in Windows Me, 2000 and XP listed under View, but not in Windows 95 or 98. However, you can add this view to Windows 98 by right-clicking on any folder that has pictures inside and choosing Properties. Put a check-mark in the little box that says “Enable Thumbnail View.” Click OK and then re-open the folder. Go to ViewàThumbnails and you will see all of your little thumbnail pictures.
49. View your pictures as a SlideShow in Windows XP by going into a folder such as “My Pictures.” To the left, under “Picture Tasks,” choose “View as a slide show.”
50. You can make a “screen shot” of your current computer screen and save it as a Word document, PowerPoint slide or a Picture. Press the “Print Screen” button on your keyboard and then open up Microsoft Word and choose EditàPaste. The screen shot will be pasted into Word, where you can save it. You can do the same in PowerPoint, but if you want to save it as a picture file instead, go to StartàProgramsàAccessories and find the Paint program. Here you can save the screen shot as a picture. The PrintScreen button gives you the entire screen, but the Alt + PrintScreen shortcut gives you only the top window or the top dialog box. This is great for showing how to do something in a software application or in Windows.
If 50 Tips Just Weren’t Enough, Here Are Some More!!!
51. To record your voice as a Wave file, you will need a microphone plugged into the red microphone jack in the back of your computer. Then, use the free Windows “Sound Recorder” program to record your voice. Go to StartàProgramsàAccessoriesàEntertainmentàSound Recorder. As you talk into the microphone, press the red (record) button. It gives you up to 60 seconds to record. When you’re done, click the Stop button. To save your file, go to FileàSave As, give it a name and save it to your hard drive. You can now go into the folder where you saved it and play back the sound file you just created.
Troubleshooting Microphones:
If you do not see moving sound waves when you click the red button on the Sound Recorder, you will need to do the following:
1. Double-click the yellow (Windows 98) or black (Windows XP) speaker icon in the bottom right-corner of your taskbar. It should bring up Master Volume controls. Click OptionsàProperties. Click to put a dot next to “Recording.” Then, put a check-mark in the box next to Microphone. Click OK. You can then drag the volume lever to change the recording volume on your microphone.
*Make sure your computer speakers are turned all the way down before you record, or you will get feedback. To turn them down, use the buttons on your monitor and/or drag the volume lever on your Master Volume control (again, remember to double-click the yellow or black speaker icon next to the clock for volume).
52. This tip will cost you $29.99, and it’s the only tip here that you will have to pay for, but it’s worth it. QuickTime Pro is an upgrade for QuickTime users, and it will allow you to edit video, as well as audio clips. Just some of the great features of this program are the ability it gives you to cut and paste pieces of one sound or video clip into another, as well as the ability to save any QuickTime movie from the Web, create slide shows, import/export media, play movies in full-screen, create and play back CD-quality audio and DVD-quality video, prepare movies for streaming over the Web, and that’s just the beginning. This versatile tool is a must for any multimedia enthusiast.
53. Use Microsoft Word or PowerPoint to touch up photos. Both Word and PowerPoint come with simple photo editing tools. They are found on the “Picture toolbar.” Just right-click on any toolbar and choose “Picture.” This brings up the Picture toolbar. With this toolbar you can lighten, brighten, crop, insert, rotate and flip pictures with one click. Click on the Cropping tool and then push in on each corner handle (in the image/graphic) to reduce the size of the graphic, or pull out on the image's corner handle to enlarge its size. You can also add arrows to your image by going down to the AutoShapes button on the drawing toolbar. To bring up the Drawing toolbar, go to the View menu and choose Toolbars>>Drawing. To lighten or brighten a photo, click on the yellow Sun icons. The arrows pointing up or down will brighten or lighten your image.
54. Using the Format Painter is very helpful. It is found on your Word, Excel and PowerPoint toolbar. Here’s how it works:
1. Highlight some text in a document that has the formatting you’d like copied. (example below)
2. Click on the Format Painter button in your toolbar at the top.
3. Single-click the format painter if you want to copy the formatting from this location to only one word. If you want to copy the formatting to several words or locations in a document, then double-click the format painter.
4. Your cursor changes into a small paint brush.
5. Position the paint brush over the word or words from which you would like to change the formatting.
6. The text that you clicked with your paint brush (format painter) transforms into the text you had highlighted earlier. In other words, it clones the formatting from one location to another.
55. Free Anti-Virus software is just one link away. Actually, there are two good ones that we recommend. Go to http://www.grisoft.com/us/us_dwnl_free.php for AVG’s Free Edition or go directly to http://www.avast.com/i_idt_1016.html for Avast Home Edition, and click on US (next to English). The only downfall of these two free Anti-Virus programs is that you won’t get their technical support pros to help you. With free Anti-Virus programs, you’re on your own, but they do work quite well.
56. If you use Microsoft Access at all, you know that it is the Office program that is the least backward compatible between different versions. This can be a problem if you create a database in Access 2000 or higher, and you want someone to view it on Access 97. However, this tip shows you how to convert backward from Access 2002 to Access 97. Go to ToolsàDatabase UtilitiesàConvert DatabaseàTo Access 97 File Format, or just see the screen shot below.
57. Now for some PowerPoint tips. The best way to insert a Microsoft Word document directly into a PowerPoint slide (and retain the exact formatting and graphics from the Word document) is to follow these steps exactly: Insert a new slide into your presentation. Then, go to InsertàObject. Click “Create from File” and then click the “Browse” button. Locate the Word document that you want to insert into PowerPoint and double-click the name of that document. Then, click OK. The Word document’s text and graphics will be inserted directly into PowerPoint as a picture. You can now move or re-size the picture in the slide.
58. The next PowerPoint tip involves the recording of sound. It is easy to record your own voice directly into PowerPoint to provide narration providing that you have a microphone and it is plugged into the red hole in the back of your computer. Once the mic
is plugged in, the way to record sound is to open your presentation and then go to the Slide Show menu and choose “Record Narration.” See the screen shot below for the options. You can set your microphone level here. Then, click OK. Your slideshow will open in full-screen and you can talk over the slides as it plays. Speak directly into the microphone and click your mouse to advance the slides. When you are done, click on the last slide and it will ask if you want to Save your narration with the slides. Click Save and your narration sound will be added to each slide. Play back the slideshow and hear your voice included in the presentation.
59. One final PowerPoint tip. There are software programs that will trim a song file (such as a WAV or MP3). Some examples of programs that do this are MP3 Trim and WAV Trim (which are both free), as well as QuickTime Pro and other WAV editing software. You can find them at www.download.com or www.hotfiles.com. Just search for "Wav Trim", "WAV edit" or "MP3 Trim". These software tools will allow you to shorten a song to just the right length, so that it fits into your slideshow. To make the song play throughout your entire slideshow (and not stop after one slide), here are the steps. This technique is called “Music Looping.” Here are the steps to Looping Music in PowerPoint:
1. Keep in mind that the song must be the correct length of your slideshow. For instance, if the slideshow runs 3 minutes and 5 seconds, your song needs to be that length, too. Otherwise, the song will be cut off when the slideshow ends.
2. Now, in PowerPoint, go to InsertàSound from File.
3. Go to Slide ShowàCustom AnimationàAnimate Media 1.
4. Then go to the "Play Settings" tab. Choose "While Playing...Continue Slide Show"
5. Next, below choose "Stop Playing: After (important: indicate exactly how many slides you want this song to play through). ex: "Stop playing after 60 slides." Then the song will play all the way through the slide show, or until you tell it what slide to stop on.
6. Click the "More Options" button. Click "Loop until stop." This will allow the slideshow to loop and also play the song as it loops each time. If this loop doesn't work, or if the slideshow stops, go to the SlideShow menu and choose "Set Up Show" and put a check in "Loop continuously until 'Esc.'"
60. There is no need to type in the long www.website.com address for any www.com site. All you need is a simple keyboard shortcut. For example, www.amazon.com can be inserted into your Web browser address bar by typing Amazon and then pressing Ctrl + Enter on your keyboard. The www and .com will automatically be inserted. Then press the Enter key and you’re at Amazon. This works with any site that begins with www. and ends with .com
61. Tired of sending Email messages where the list of recipients is longer than the actual message? Three words: Blind Carbon Copy. Tell your friends about it. When you address a message to multiple people, there is no need for them to see the names of everyone who will receive it. Simply insert the addresses of the recipients into the BCC (Blind Carbon Copy) box instead of the To box. You can type your own name into the To box. The rest will be in the BCC. This eliminates the long list of recipients when people receive your email message.
62. If you copy and paste pictures into Word and PowerPoint, the file size of these documents will be huge. However, there is a way to compress these images. Unfortunately, this trick only works in Word 2002 & 2003 and PowerPoint 2002 & 2003.
•In Word or PowerPoint, Go to View > Toolbars > Picture.
•On the Picture toolbar, choose the “Compress Pictures” button
-Choose “All pictures in document.”
•Choose either “Web/Screen” or “Print” in the Change resolution section.
•Leave the options checked.
•Click on the OK button.
•Now you should notice a significant decrease in your file size.
63. Would you like to Print Row and Column Headings or Labels on Every Page in Excel?
Row headings are the row numbers to the left of the worksheet; column headings are the letters or numbers that appear at the top of the columns on a worksheet.
1. Click the worksheet.
2. On the File menu, click Page Setup, and then click the Sheet tab.
3. Do one of the following:
* To print row and column headings:
Select the Row and column headings check box, and click Print. Print row and column labels on every page
* To print column labels on every page:
Under Print titles in the Rows to repeat at top box, enter the rows that contain the column labels, and then click Print.
* To print row labels on every page, under Print titles in the Columns to repeat at left box, enter the columns that contain the row labels, and then click Print.
64. Advanced Word Tip. Have you ever had trouble positioning an AutoShape directly on top of some text? Maybe you're trying to draw a circle around a letter or number. It is difficult to position the circle directly over the number pefectly, unless you use this keyboard shortcut:
1. Select the shape, and then press Ctrl+Alt on your keyboard while you drag the shape. You will see a tiny +
2. Drag the plus sign and the shape will move wherever you want it to go.
3. Let go of the mouse, and drop the shape exactly where you want it.
4. Also, if you drag the shape and do not let go of the mouse, you can duplicate or copy the shape as many times as you wish.
This is a quick way to make multiple copies of the same shape to be used in an art project.
65. Pop-up blockers are very helpful, but sometimes you may want to turn the blocker off. For example, maybe you want to open a PDF document or a Java applet that will need to "pop up" in order for you to see it. Use a keyboard shortcut to turn it off temporarily. While you click the Web link, hold down the Ctrl key. This turns off most pop-up blockers just long enough to open the document. If you are using the Google Toolbar, for example, you can click on the toolbar where it says "Site Popups Allowed." This will allow popups just for that particular Web site.
66. Some Web sites have files for you to download. But what if you just cannot get the file to save on your computer? What if you cannot save it to a convenient location, such as your Desktop? What if it won't save at all? All of these problems can be resolved by right-clicking the link to the file. For example, the Web page might say "click here to download song (or document)." Right-click on the link and choose "Save Target As." Then, direct the file to a convenient location on your computer, such as the Desktop or My Documents. Then, you can easily save the document or song or video directly to your computer where you can find it afterward. This works particularly well for video clips, song files and large documents.
67. How about a list of the best Internet Explorer shortcuts (for advanced Web surfers)?
Using the Address Bar
Press this To do this
ALT+D Select the text in the Address bar
F4 Display the Address bar history
CTRL+LEFT ARROW When in the Address bar, move the cursor left to the next logical break (. or /)
CTRL+RIGHT ARROW When in the Address bar, move the cursor right to the next logical break (. or /)
CTRL+ENTER Add "www." to the beginning and ".com" to the end of the text typed in the Address bar
UP ARROW Move forward through the list of AutoComplete matches
DOWN ARROW Move back through the list of AutoComplete matches
Working with Favorites
Press this To do this
CTRL+D Add the current page to your favorites
CTRL+B Open the Organize Favorites dialog box
ALT+UP ARROW Move selected item up in the Favorites list in the Organize Favorites dialog box
ALT+DOWN ARROW Move selected item down in the Favorites list in the Organize Favorites dialog box
for Computer Users
1. Arrange your icons by: type, name, size, auto arrange, and arrange by grid. All of these options can be found in any folder and on the desktop by right-clicking and choosing “arrange icons by”…
2. Add symbols in Word by using the Character Map. To access the Character Map, either choose InsertàSymbol in Microsoft Word or, in Windows, simply go to the Start button and click Run. Type charmap into the blank. Then, copy and paste the symbol you want into almost any program.
3. Use your Links Bar in Internet Explorer (or any Windows folder) to quickly bring up favorite Web sites or files on your computer with a single-click button. To enable the Links Bar, right-click on the toolbar in Internet Explorer or any folder and check-mark the word “Links.” Then, uncheck “Lock the Toolbars” (in Windows XP). Drag the word Links down below your Address Bar, and proceed to drag any Web site onto this bar. The same goes for any file that you want to access. Drag them onto this bar to create a “one-click link” button on the toolbar. Look for the little black vertical line before dropping things onto the Links Bar.
4. To open any program so that it is automatically maximized or minimized, create a shortcut to the program (or file). Then, right-click on the shortcut and choose Properties. Next to the word “Run,” click the drop-down arrow and switch “Normal Window” to Maximized and click OK. The same method can also be used to open a program minimized. If you choose “maximized,” the next time you click on this shortcut, it will open up in full screen, maximized.
5. Minimize all windows with one keyboard shortcut. Press the Windows Logo button and the D key (Windows+D) to send all of your open windows to the taskbar, leaving only the desktop. This is the same as clicking the “Show Desktop” icon on the taskbar/QuickLaunch bar.
6. In Internet Explorer, there is a keyboard shortcut for Back and Forward. This way you don’t have to keep clicking the toolbar button every time you want to return to a Web page. Use your Backspace key to go back, and your Enter key to go forward.
7. There are keyboard shortcuts for undo and redo. In Word, PowerPoint and Excel, as well as many non-Microsoft programs, use Ctrl + Z to undo, and Ctrl + Y to redo.
8. To quickly find out how much RAM (memory) you have in any version of Windows, as well as exactly which version of Windows is on your computer, use this keyboard combination: Windows Logo and the Pause/Break keys pressed at the same time. This brings up the “System Properties,” which you can also get to by right-clicking on “My Computer.”
9. To find out a lot of other information about your system, such as your processor speed, your sound and video drivers, what version of DirectX you have, and a test of your hardward, go to StartàRun. Type in dxdiag, and you will see a ton of info. about your system.
10. The Microsoft Configuration Utility is the best way to speed up how fast your computer boots up and reduce the number of programs that load when your computer starts up. Go to StartàRun. Type in msconfig, and choose “Selective Startup.” Then, click on the Startup tab. Take a good look at the command name and the location, and un-check anything that doesn’t appear to be necessary. Leave Anti-Virus program info. checked, and un-check “Load Power Profile,” “Microsoft Office,” “QTTask”, and other programs that run anyway when you click on them. You don’t need them loading by themselves.
11. Get rid of pop-up ads and conveniently add a Google shortcut to your Internet Explorer toolbar by downloading and installing the Google Toolbar. This is a great Web search tool, as well as a terrific pop-up blocker. Go to google.com and type “Google Toolbar” into the search field. Then, download & install it. You won’t regret it.
12. The quickest way to adjust your screen display size, screen saver, icon sizes and your desktop wallpaper is by right-clicking on the desktop and choosing Properties. Now, all of the display properties are there at your fingertips.
13. PowerPoint is a good presentation tool, but you can also convert your presentations to .JPG pictures. Just open any slideshow from PowerPoint and go to FileàSave As and, next to “Save As Type,” choose “JPEG File Interchange Format (JPG)” which is long for “make a picture from your slide.” You can choose to convert the current slide or the entire slideshow into pictures.
*This can also be done in Print Shop by choosing FileàExport As and changing the “save as type” option to a picture format. This saves your PrintShop project as a picture.
14. Three tremendously important keyboard shortcuts found in Windows:
F1=Help F2=Rename F3=Find Files or Folders
15. Another great “Find” shortcut is Ctrl + F. Using this keyboard shortcut in Internet Explorer, Word or Excel allows you to search the current page or document for a specific word or phrase. After it highlights the correct word you’re looking for, press the Enter key to “Find Next.”
16. When you want to delete something in Windows, are you tired of it asking you if you are sure you want to delete it? Right-click on the Recycle Bin and un-check “Display delete confirmation dialog box.” But, only do this if you’re sure (haha).
17. To quickly close your open windows, use this keyboard shortcut: Alt + F4. Any open window that is selected will immediately close. When you run out of windows to close, it will ask if you want to shut down your computer. Press the Enter key to shut down.
18. Another seldom-used keyboard shortcut is the “Task Manager” which allows you to toggle between open files or between two different programs within seconds. To see how it works, press the Alt + Tab keys at the same time and then let go. It jumps back and forth between programs you have open. Very convenient.
19. The keyboard shortcut for Print is Ctrl + P. This brings up the Print dialog box. In most programs, you can bypass the Print dialog box by pressing the Print button at the top on the toolbar.
20. Two Office XP annoyances can be fixed quickly. First, to turn the Task Pane off (the split-screen window at the right in every Office XP application), you can un-check the little box in the bottom right corner that says “Show at startup.” You can also toggle the Task Pane on and off by going to ViewàTask Pane. However, the Task Pane option is hidden by default in the annoying half-menu, which started with Office 2000. If you always want to show full menus, go to ToolsàCustomize and check the box that says “Always show full menus.”
21. Another Office XP annoyance has to do with toolbars. By default, only the buttons you use most on your toolbar are displayed. What if you want more toolbar buttons? Go to ToolsàCustomize and click the Options tab. Check the box that says “Show Standard & Formatting toolbars on two rows.” This gives you more room for buttons. To add more toolbars, right-click on any toolbar and check the name of the additional toolbars you want added.
22. Now for some Word 2002 tips: How many of you are sick of the big square box that pops up by default when you try to add a text box or ClipArt/Picture? You can turn this off by going to ToolsàOptions and click the General tab. Un-check the box that says “Automatically create drawing canvas when inserting AutoShapes.” While you’re there, get rid of another annoyance, Click the Edit tab and change the Insert/Paste pictures as option. Change it from “In line with text” to “Square.” Now, when you insert a picture or ClipArt image, you can move the picture more easily, and not have to immediately go into Text Wrap mode to move objects around. This is a much better default setting if you insert a lot of images.
23. What if you could expand any Web page’s size and quickly get rid of all toolbars in Internet Explorer with the click of one key. Well, there is a full-screen mode in Internet Explorer. Go to a good Web site that you want to see more of, and press the F11 key on the top of your keyboard. Press it again to bring back your toolbars.
24. Desktop Shortcuts are a good idea if you use certain programs & files repeatedly. For example, if you use Microsoft Word a lot, you can create a shortcut to it by going to StartàProgramsàMicrosoft Word. Before you open the program, right-click on the Microsoft Word icon and choose Send ToàDesktop (create shortcut). This creates a shortcut to Microsoft Word on the desktop. If it says “shortcut to Microsoft Word,” you can get rid of the words “shortcut to” by right-clicking on the icon and deleting those words from its title.
25. Maybe you already knew tip #24, and you’re ready for something more advanced. Let’s take it a step further. Let’s make a keyboard hotkey to Word. Right-click on the Microsoft Word icon, and choose Properties. Next to where it says “Shortcut key,” click your mouse cursor in that box and press the Ctrl and Alt keys on your keyboard and then add a third key, such as the W key (which will stand for Word). You should now see Ctrl + Alt + W in the “shortcut key” box. Click OK and now try it out. Press Ctrl + Alt + W, and Microsoft Word should open from now on. You can do this with any desktop shortcut.
26. The quickest way to send an Email attachment in Groupwise 6, 6.5, Microsoft Outlook or Outlook Express is to right-click on the attachment you want to send, and choose Send ToàGroupwise Recipient (or Mail Recipient in Outlook Express). This opens your Email and attaches the file automatically to the message. Just put in the Email address of who you want to send it to, and press Send.
27. When you connect a Laptop computer to an LCD Projector, it’s pretty easy to get a picture on a movie screen, but your laptop monitor is often left blank. However, a quick keyboard shortcut will allow you to view both the screen display on the laptop as well as the movie screen. On most laptops, the shortcut is Fn + F5. Look for the little monitor icon on one of the function keys at the top of your laptop keyboard. This tells you which key to use in combination with the Fn key.
28. You can change your SchoolWorld (Zangle) password more easily than you might think. Zangle has a new icon now. Look for the blue Z, double-click and log in with your old password. Then, before selecting anything, immediately click FileàChange Password.
29. To change your Groupwise Email password, the best way is to do it online. Go to www.port-huron.k12.mi.us and click the “Email (staff only)” button. Log in with your current password. You will see three buttons at the very top of the screen. Click on the middle button (called the “Options” button) and it will bring up a “Change your password” screen.
30. To change your Novell and Windows passwords at the same time, the best way is to do the following: In Windows 98, go to StartàSettingsàControl PanelàPasswords and select “Change Windows Password” and leave the Novell Netware box checked. Click OK and then type in your old password once and your new password twice. It will ask if you want your Windows and Novell passwords to match. Say yes, and you won’t get the Windows password box popping up each time you log in to Novell.
*In Windows XP, you can change your Novell password by pressing Ctrl + Alt + Delete and clicking the “Change Password” button.
31. Here are some great Microsoft Word tips that will make your life easier.
A. To insert filler text (to demonstrate Word formatting), when you type =rand(4,5) and press Enter, you get:
The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog. The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog. The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog.
B. To quickly add a Table to your Word document, start with a plus sign, then type minus signs until you reach the desired width of your table cell. Then, type another plus sign and press enter. Continue to do this until you have all the cells you want.
C. To save all of your open documents at once, hold down the Shift key and open the File menu. The File menu will give you two new options: Save All and Close All.
32. More Microsoft Word tips: Add line separators to your documents. Here are the best of the best. If you want to separate portions of a document with fancy horizontal lines, use one of these methods:
1. To create a thin continuous line, type three hyphens and press Enter (---).
2. To create a thicker, bolder line, use underscores (___).
3. To create a dotted line, use asterisks (***).
4. To create a double line, use equal signs (===).
5. To create a wavy line, use tildes (~~~).
6. To create a triple fat line, use pound signs (###).
33. Add an Excel calculator. Usually, you calculate numbers when you use Excel, so it only makes sense to add a calculator to the Excel toolbar. Here's how:
1. Choose View, Toolbars, Customize.
2. Click on the Commands tab.
3. In the Categories list, choose Tools.
4. In the Commands list, choose Custom (you'll see a little gray calculator icon next to it).
5. Drag the calculator icon to the toolbar, letting it drop wherever you'd like it to reside.
34. Most computer users know that you can move horizontally to the right in any form or table by pressing the Tab key. However, did you know you can move horizontally to the left by pressing Shift + Tab on your keyboard? Try it in Excel and it works great.
35. We love Google, and it is amazing how much information you can find in one place. Here is how to use the Google Phonebook (remember to use lowercase letters):
phonebook=searches the entire phonebook
rphonebook=searches residential listings only
bphonebook=searches business listings only
Type the following information into the Google search blank:
rphonebook: smith, port huron, 48060
This brings up a listing of every Smith in the city of Port Huron. To be more specific, add a first name before the last name. Other options include dropping the Zip code and adding an Area Code instead. City & state are optional. You can also type in a person’s phone number to get their Address and directions to his/her house by clicking on the Yahoo Maps or MapQuest links.
36. One Web site tip is all it takes to get more reference material than you would find in an entire library—for FREE. Go to www.refdesk.com and you will find a mind-boggling amount of Web links & tools to satisfy every research need you might have, from a built-in Google & AllTheWeb link to Dictionaries, Thesauri, Quotations, Weather, Newspapers, etc. Refdesk is the best one-stop Web reference tool there is.
37. Google Images is one of the best places to find full-color pictures on the Web. Go to www.google.com and click on Images. Then, type in exactly what picture(s) you want to find. Pay close attention to the file name, file extension (JPG, GIF, BMP) and the pixel size (example: 800 x 600 pixels will be a huge picture. 200 x 196 will be much smaller and lower quality). Then, click on the picture to bring up the Web site it came from. Click again on the picture at the top to blow it up to its largest size. See if the picture is copyrighted before you use it, or get permission to use it (from that particular Web site’s creator). Then, either right-click and choose “Save Picture As” to save it to your computer, or right-click on the actual picture and choose Copy. Then, go into your document, right-click & choose Paste. It pastes the original full-color picture into your document.
38. When doing a “Google Images” search, you may end up with some pictures that are not kid-friendly. To filter out your search results prior to searching, tweak the settings a bit. After you click on “Images” in Google, click on the Preferences link on the right side of Google. Next to “SafeSearch Filtering,” choose either to “Use moderate filtering (Filter explicit images only - default behavior)” or “Use strict filtering (Filter both explicit text and explicit images).” This gives you some control over what images appear when you search Google. In the Preferences, you can also control things like how many results are displayed per page.
39. One more Google tip. A filetype search restricts your search results to files ending in what ever extension you want, such as .doc, .jpg, .pdf, .txt, .xls, .ppt, etc. This is helpful if you know that you want only one particular type of document. An example:
A search for Photoshop filetype: ppt will bring up results that only have to do with learning the Photoshop program, but the results will only be PowerPoint documents.
40. Using the Send To command, you can control which options appear when you right-click an icon and choose “Send To.” SendTo is actually a Windows folder. So, you can copy and paste items into this folder. First you have to find the folder though. In Windows 98, it is inside the Windows folder. Look for the folder called SendTo. In Windows XP, go to the C drive, and double-click on “Documents & Settings.” Choose the user’s name that you want, and inside that user’s folder will be a SendTo folder.
41. You can control Word formatting simply with your keyboard keys. Here are some examples. Double-click on a word you want to highlight in bold. Press Ctrl + B to make it bold. Press Ctrl + B again to bring it back to plain text. To highlight several more words in bold, use your Shift and your arrow keys. Shift à highlights text to the right. Shift ß highlights text to the left. Ctrl + U will underline the text. Ctrl + I will put the text in italics.
42. The QuickLaunch toolbar is an under-appreciated toolbar on the Windows taskbar. To show this toolbar, right-click on your taskbar and choose ToolbarsàQuickLaunch. This toolbar is for single-click button shortcuts, very similar to the Links Bar in Tip #3. Similarly, you can drag any shortcut from your desktop to the QuickLaunch toolbar, and open it with a single click. It’s also a great way to eliminate excessive icons from your desktop area. Just drag shortcuts to this toolbar and delete them from the desktop, but remember to first drag the vertical line on the QuickLaunch toolbar to the right. The farther you drag that vertical line, the more room you will have for shortcut buttons. If you need more room on the taskbar, drag the taskbar up and you will have a double taskbar with plenty of room for open applications and QuickLaunch buttons.
43. Part 1: Application Toolbars: To add or remove a toolbar button, such as removing some of the unnecessary toolbar buttons on Word, Excel, Outlook and PowerPoint, go to ToolsàCustomize and click on the Commands tab. Then, go up to the particular program’s toolbar and drag a button off of it and let go. The button will disappear. You can also choose a button from the “Commands” list and drag it onto the toolbar.
Part 2: Internet Explorer & Folder Toolbars: To customize exactly which buttons are displayed on your folder or Internet Explorer toolbars, use this method. Right-click on any toolbar button and choose Customize. You will see a split-screen with “Available Toolbar Buttons” and “Current Toolbar Buttons.” Select the buttons you want from the left and click the Add button to add them to your toolbar. Then, click the “Move Up” or “Move Down” buttons to position them right where you want them. Next to Text Options, choose “Show Text Labels.” This will allow you to see text under each toolbar button. Next to “icon options” you can choose either small or large icons.
44. Windows CleanUp! This tool is so good that we demand that you download it immediately and use it at home. Go to www.google.com and type in “Windows CleanUp!” and it should bring up the “Windows CleanUp! Utility Home Page.” Click on this link and scroll down the page to find the download link for the CleanUp! file. Download it and install the file. After it is installed, go to StartàPrograms and create a shortcut to “CleanUp!” on your desktop. Run the file weekly to clean up your computer, getting rid of Internet cookies, history, temporary Internet files, Windows temp files, and much more. The program is extremely quick but thorough and has options where you can customize exactly what it cleans up each time. Best of all, this program is free.
45. Right-dragging is a good way to move files from folder to folder. People love to drag icons to move them from place to place, but sometimes this results in a shortcut being moved instead of the actual file. To make sure you are moving or copying your files correctly, right-drag instead of left-dragging. When you right-drag an icon into a folder, it gives you these options: Move Here, Copy Here or Create Shortcut Here. Take your pick and never worry about whether you copied the original file, or a shortcut instead.
46. Cut, copy & paste all have keyboard shortcuts. Ctrl+X=Cut Ctrl+C=Copy and Ctrl+V=Paste.
47. You can add icons to your Start Menu (just above the Start button) by right-clicking on the Start button and choosing Explore. This opens Windows Explorer. Copy any shortcut you want from the desktop or from the Programs folder and paste it into the “Start Menu” folder. This is the folder that comes up first by default when you open Windows Explorer.
*By the way, right-click the Start button and choose Explore any time you want to quickly open Windows Explorer. If you haven’t used it, it’s a great way to navigate through your folders.
48. There is a “Thumbnail” view for pictures in Windows Me, 2000 and XP listed under View, but not in Windows 95 or 98. However, you can add this view to Windows 98 by right-clicking on any folder that has pictures inside and choosing Properties. Put a check-mark in the little box that says “Enable Thumbnail View.” Click OK and then re-open the folder. Go to ViewàThumbnails and you will see all of your little thumbnail pictures.
49. View your pictures as a SlideShow in Windows XP by going into a folder such as “My Pictures.” To the left, under “Picture Tasks,” choose “View as a slide show.”
50. You can make a “screen shot” of your current computer screen and save it as a Word document, PowerPoint slide or a Picture. Press the “Print Screen” button on your keyboard and then open up Microsoft Word and choose EditàPaste. The screen shot will be pasted into Word, where you can save it. You can do the same in PowerPoint, but if you want to save it as a picture file instead, go to StartàProgramsàAccessories and find the Paint program. Here you can save the screen shot as a picture. The PrintScreen button gives you the entire screen, but the Alt + PrintScreen shortcut gives you only the top window or the top dialog box. This is great for showing how to do something in a software application or in Windows.
If 50 Tips Just Weren’t Enough, Here Are Some More!!!
51. To record your voice as a Wave file, you will need a microphone plugged into the red microphone jack in the back of your computer. Then, use the free Windows “Sound Recorder” program to record your voice. Go to StartàProgramsàAccessoriesàEntertainmentàSound Recorder. As you talk into the microphone, press the red (record) button. It gives you up to 60 seconds to record. When you’re done, click the Stop button. To save your file, go to FileàSave As, give it a name and save it to your hard drive. You can now go into the folder where you saved it and play back the sound file you just created.
Troubleshooting Microphones:
If you do not see moving sound waves when you click the red button on the Sound Recorder, you will need to do the following:
1. Double-click the yellow (Windows 98) or black (Windows XP) speaker icon in the bottom right-corner of your taskbar. It should bring up Master Volume controls. Click OptionsàProperties. Click to put a dot next to “Recording.” Then, put a check-mark in the box next to Microphone. Click OK. You can then drag the volume lever to change the recording volume on your microphone.
*Make sure your computer speakers are turned all the way down before you record, or you will get feedback. To turn them down, use the buttons on your monitor and/or drag the volume lever on your Master Volume control (again, remember to double-click the yellow or black speaker icon next to the clock for volume).
52. This tip will cost you $29.99, and it’s the only tip here that you will have to pay for, but it’s worth it. QuickTime Pro is an upgrade for QuickTime users, and it will allow you to edit video, as well as audio clips. Just some of the great features of this program are the ability it gives you to cut and paste pieces of one sound or video clip into another, as well as the ability to save any QuickTime movie from the Web, create slide shows, import/export media, play movies in full-screen, create and play back CD-quality audio and DVD-quality video, prepare movies for streaming over the Web, and that’s just the beginning. This versatile tool is a must for any multimedia enthusiast.
53. Use Microsoft Word or PowerPoint to touch up photos. Both Word and PowerPoint come with simple photo editing tools. They are found on the “Picture toolbar.” Just right-click on any toolbar and choose “Picture.” This brings up the Picture toolbar. With this toolbar you can lighten, brighten, crop, insert, rotate and flip pictures with one click. Click on the Cropping tool and then push in on each corner handle (in the image/graphic) to reduce the size of the graphic, or pull out on the image's corner handle to enlarge its size. You can also add arrows to your image by going down to the AutoShapes button on the drawing toolbar. To bring up the Drawing toolbar, go to the View menu and choose Toolbars>>Drawing. To lighten or brighten a photo, click on the yellow Sun icons. The arrows pointing up or down will brighten or lighten your image.
54. Using the Format Painter is very helpful. It is found on your Word, Excel and PowerPoint toolbar. Here’s how it works:
1. Highlight some text in a document that has the formatting you’d like copied. (example below)
2. Click on the Format Painter button in your toolbar at the top.
3. Single-click the format painter if you want to copy the formatting from this location to only one word. If you want to copy the formatting to several words or locations in a document, then double-click the format painter.
4. Your cursor changes into a small paint brush.
5. Position the paint brush over the word or words from which you would like to change the formatting.
6. The text that you clicked with your paint brush (format painter) transforms into the text you had highlighted earlier. In other words, it clones the formatting from one location to another.
55. Free Anti-Virus software is just one link away. Actually, there are two good ones that we recommend. Go to http://www.grisoft.com/us/us_dwnl_free.php for AVG’s Free Edition or go directly to http://www.avast.com/i_idt_1016.html for Avast Home Edition, and click on US (next to English). The only downfall of these two free Anti-Virus programs is that you won’t get their technical support pros to help you. With free Anti-Virus programs, you’re on your own, but they do work quite well.
56. If you use Microsoft Access at all, you know that it is the Office program that is the least backward compatible between different versions. This can be a problem if you create a database in Access 2000 or higher, and you want someone to view it on Access 97. However, this tip shows you how to convert backward from Access 2002 to Access 97. Go to ToolsàDatabase UtilitiesàConvert DatabaseàTo Access 97 File Format, or just see the screen shot below.
57. Now for some PowerPoint tips. The best way to insert a Microsoft Word document directly into a PowerPoint slide (and retain the exact formatting and graphics from the Word document) is to follow these steps exactly: Insert a new slide into your presentation. Then, go to InsertàObject. Click “Create from File” and then click the “Browse” button. Locate the Word document that you want to insert into PowerPoint and double-click the name of that document. Then, click OK. The Word document’s text and graphics will be inserted directly into PowerPoint as a picture. You can now move or re-size the picture in the slide.
58. The next PowerPoint tip involves the recording of sound. It is easy to record your own voice directly into PowerPoint to provide narration providing that you have a microphone and it is plugged into the red hole in the back of your computer. Once the mic
is plugged in, the way to record sound is to open your presentation and then go to the Slide Show menu and choose “Record Narration.” See the screen shot below for the options. You can set your microphone level here. Then, click OK. Your slideshow will open in full-screen and you can talk over the slides as it plays. Speak directly into the microphone and click your mouse to advance the slides. When you are done, click on the last slide and it will ask if you want to Save your narration with the slides. Click Save and your narration sound will be added to each slide. Play back the slideshow and hear your voice included in the presentation.
59. One final PowerPoint tip. There are software programs that will trim a song file (such as a WAV or MP3). Some examples of programs that do this are MP3 Trim and WAV Trim (which are both free), as well as QuickTime Pro and other WAV editing software. You can find them at www.download.com or www.hotfiles.com. Just search for "Wav Trim", "WAV edit" or "MP3 Trim". These software tools will allow you to shorten a song to just the right length, so that it fits into your slideshow. To make the song play throughout your entire slideshow (and not stop after one slide), here are the steps. This technique is called “Music Looping.” Here are the steps to Looping Music in PowerPoint:
1. Keep in mind that the song must be the correct length of your slideshow. For instance, if the slideshow runs 3 minutes and 5 seconds, your song needs to be that length, too. Otherwise, the song will be cut off when the slideshow ends.
2. Now, in PowerPoint, go to InsertàSound from File.
3. Go to Slide ShowàCustom AnimationàAnimate Media 1.
4. Then go to the "Play Settings" tab. Choose "While Playing...Continue Slide Show"
5. Next, below choose "Stop Playing: After (important: indicate exactly how many slides you want this song to play through). ex: "Stop playing after 60 slides." Then the song will play all the way through the slide show, or until you tell it what slide to stop on.
6. Click the "More Options" button. Click "Loop until stop." This will allow the slideshow to loop and also play the song as it loops each time. If this loop doesn't work, or if the slideshow stops, go to the SlideShow menu and choose "Set Up Show" and put a check in "Loop continuously until 'Esc.'"
60. There is no need to type in the long www.website.com address for any www.com site. All you need is a simple keyboard shortcut. For example, www.amazon.com can be inserted into your Web browser address bar by typing Amazon and then pressing Ctrl + Enter on your keyboard. The www and .com will automatically be inserted. Then press the Enter key and you’re at Amazon. This works with any site that begins with www. and ends with .com
61. Tired of sending Email messages where the list of recipients is longer than the actual message? Three words: Blind Carbon Copy. Tell your friends about it. When you address a message to multiple people, there is no need for them to see the names of everyone who will receive it. Simply insert the addresses of the recipients into the BCC (Blind Carbon Copy) box instead of the To box. You can type your own name into the To box. The rest will be in the BCC. This eliminates the long list of recipients when people receive your email message.
62. If you copy and paste pictures into Word and PowerPoint, the file size of these documents will be huge. However, there is a way to compress these images. Unfortunately, this trick only works in Word 2002 & 2003 and PowerPoint 2002 & 2003.
•In Word or PowerPoint, Go to View > Toolbars > Picture.
•On the Picture toolbar, choose the “Compress Pictures” button
-Choose “All pictures in document.”
•Choose either “Web/Screen” or “Print” in the Change resolution section.
•Leave the options checked.
•Click on the OK button.
•Now you should notice a significant decrease in your file size.
63. Would you like to Print Row and Column Headings or Labels on Every Page in Excel?
Row headings are the row numbers to the left of the worksheet; column headings are the letters or numbers that appear at the top of the columns on a worksheet.
1. Click the worksheet.
2. On the File menu, click Page Setup, and then click the Sheet tab.
3. Do one of the following:
* To print row and column headings:
Select the Row and column headings check box, and click Print. Print row and column labels on every page
* To print column labels on every page:
Under Print titles in the Rows to repeat at top box, enter the rows that contain the column labels, and then click Print.
* To print row labels on every page, under Print titles in the Columns to repeat at left box, enter the columns that contain the row labels, and then click Print.
64. Advanced Word Tip. Have you ever had trouble positioning an AutoShape directly on top of some text? Maybe you're trying to draw a circle around a letter or number. It is difficult to position the circle directly over the number pefectly, unless you use this keyboard shortcut:
1. Select the shape, and then press Ctrl+Alt on your keyboard while you drag the shape. You will see a tiny +
2. Drag the plus sign and the shape will move wherever you want it to go.
3. Let go of the mouse, and drop the shape exactly where you want it.
4. Also, if you drag the shape and do not let go of the mouse, you can duplicate or copy the shape as many times as you wish.
This is a quick way to make multiple copies of the same shape to be used in an art project.
65. Pop-up blockers are very helpful, but sometimes you may want to turn the blocker off. For example, maybe you want to open a PDF document or a Java applet that will need to "pop up" in order for you to see it. Use a keyboard shortcut to turn it off temporarily. While you click the Web link, hold down the Ctrl key. This turns off most pop-up blockers just long enough to open the document. If you are using the Google Toolbar, for example, you can click on the toolbar where it says "Site Popups Allowed." This will allow popups just for that particular Web site.
66. Some Web sites have files for you to download. But what if you just cannot get the file to save on your computer? What if you cannot save it to a convenient location, such as your Desktop? What if it won't save at all? All of these problems can be resolved by right-clicking the link to the file. For example, the Web page might say "click here to download song (or document)." Right-click on the link and choose "Save Target As." Then, direct the file to a convenient location on your computer, such as the Desktop or My Documents. Then, you can easily save the document or song or video directly to your computer where you can find it afterward. This works particularly well for video clips, song files and large documents.
67. How about a list of the best Internet Explorer shortcuts (for advanced Web surfers)?
Using the Address Bar
Press this To do this
ALT+D Select the text in the Address bar
F4 Display the Address bar history
CTRL+LEFT ARROW When in the Address bar, move the cursor left to the next logical break (. or /)
CTRL+RIGHT ARROW When in the Address bar, move the cursor right to the next logical break (. or /)
CTRL+ENTER Add "www." to the beginning and ".com" to the end of the text typed in the Address bar
UP ARROW Move forward through the list of AutoComplete matches
DOWN ARROW Move back through the list of AutoComplete matches
Working with Favorites
Press this To do this
CTRL+D Add the current page to your favorites
CTRL+B Open the Organize Favorites dialog box
ALT+UP ARROW Move selected item up in the Favorites list in the Organize Favorites dialog box
ALT+DOWN ARROW Move selected item down in the Favorites list in the Organize Favorites dialog box
Tips
Disclaimer: I take no responsibility for anything that happens as a result of
using any of this information which is provided as-is and has no warranties
implied or otherwise.
Updates:
04-11-01 Running Applications in Compatibility Mode
Customizing the Start Menu
Bring Back Those Desktop Icons
Give Me My ClearType
Lock Computer vs. Welcome Login Screen
Looking for a Windows XP Compatible Driver?
Running Applications in Compatibility Mode
With Windows XP, you can run programs as if though they were being run under a different operating system. (This is known as "emulation".) Simply right-click a shortcut, select "Properties" and then check "Run in compatibility mode" and select the operating system you wish to make the program believe it is being run under. This fools or tricks the program into thinking you are really using a previous version of Windows, such as NT, 2000, 98, or 95. This is especially useful for certain games that won't run properly. Be careful *not* to use this with certain system utilities, such as antivirus, defrag, registry, and disk tool applications.
Customizing the Start Menu
Right click on the "Start" button and left click "Properties". From here, you can select the new Windows XP style Start Menu, or return to the Windows 2000/Millennium style one. You can also customize the two possible choices using their corresponding "Customize" buttons. This also allows you to turn on or disable cascading menus and other options that are useful, such as large or small icons and more.
Bring Back Those Desktop Icons
After you install Windows XP, you probably noticed that some of your icons from previous versions of Windows you've used are missing. Microsoft did this intentionally to help simply and reduce clutter. Of course, for some people, this isn't the best choice or the user preference. So, if you want those icons like "My Computer" and "My Network Places" back, just open Display Properties (right click Desktop Wallpaper, left click "Properties") and click the "Desktop" tab. Click the "Customize Desktop" button and on the "General" tab check the items you want. You can also change the icons used by these desktop items in the same screen. One final tip related to this screen is the "Clean Desktop Now" button, which notifies you of unused icons on the desktop and offers to remove them if you choose.
Give Me My ClearType
Windows XP includes a great new visual technology, called "ClearType" which increases horizontal legibility by approximately 300% and it looks great. Go back into "Display Properties" [see tip: "Bring Back Those Desktop Icons" for instructions] and this time, go to the "Appearance" tab. Click "Effects" and for the second drop down box, labeled "Use the following method to smooth edges of screen fonts", select "ClearType". Click OK twice and you're all set.
Lock Computer vs. Welcome Login Screen
You must go into Control Panel and open the "User Accounts" applet to change this setting. Click "Change the way users log on or off". For maximum security, uncheck the "Use the Welcome screen" option. This re-enables the use of the "Lock Computer" option from the ALT CTRL DELETE menu, but prevents multiple users from being logged on locally at a single time. This also returns to the Windows 2000 style login screen. If you'd rather have the ability to *not* be able to use "Lock Computer" and would rather allow multiple users to logon to the computer at a single time locally, leave this setting checked and also check "Use Fast User Switching".
Looking for a Windows XP Compatible Driver?
If you can't find a driver for a hardware device under Windows XP, you can try to use a Windows 2000 compatible driver for the same hardware. Usually this tends to work, and in my experience so far, it always has. However, if you can find a driver specifically designed for use with Windows XP that is usually the best and safest option. You can also e-mail the hardware manufacturer and ask them about Windows XP compatibility and drivers.
using any of this information which is provided as-is and has no warranties
implied or otherwise.
Updates:
04-11-01 Running Applications in Compatibility Mode
Customizing the Start Menu
Bring Back Those Desktop Icons
Give Me My ClearType
Lock Computer vs. Welcome Login Screen
Looking for a Windows XP Compatible Driver?
Running Applications in Compatibility Mode
With Windows XP, you can run programs as if though they were being run under a different operating system. (This is known as "emulation".) Simply right-click a shortcut, select "Properties" and then check "Run in compatibility mode" and select the operating system you wish to make the program believe it is being run under. This fools or tricks the program into thinking you are really using a previous version of Windows, such as NT, 2000, 98, or 95. This is especially useful for certain games that won't run properly. Be careful *not* to use this with certain system utilities, such as antivirus, defrag, registry, and disk tool applications.
Customizing the Start Menu
Right click on the "Start" button and left click "Properties". From here, you can select the new Windows XP style Start Menu, or return to the Windows 2000/Millennium style one. You can also customize the two possible choices using their corresponding "Customize" buttons. This also allows you to turn on or disable cascading menus and other options that are useful, such as large or small icons and more.
Bring Back Those Desktop Icons
After you install Windows XP, you probably noticed that some of your icons from previous versions of Windows you've used are missing. Microsoft did this intentionally to help simply and reduce clutter. Of course, for some people, this isn't the best choice or the user preference. So, if you want those icons like "My Computer" and "My Network Places" back, just open Display Properties (right click Desktop Wallpaper, left click "Properties") and click the "Desktop" tab. Click the "Customize Desktop" button and on the "General" tab check the items you want. You can also change the icons used by these desktop items in the same screen. One final tip related to this screen is the "Clean Desktop Now" button, which notifies you of unused icons on the desktop and offers to remove them if you choose.
Give Me My ClearType
Windows XP includes a great new visual technology, called "ClearType" which increases horizontal legibility by approximately 300% and it looks great. Go back into "Display Properties" [see tip: "Bring Back Those Desktop Icons" for instructions] and this time, go to the "Appearance" tab. Click "Effects" and for the second drop down box, labeled "Use the following method to smooth edges of screen fonts", select "ClearType". Click OK twice and you're all set.
Lock Computer vs. Welcome Login Screen
You must go into Control Panel and open the "User Accounts" applet to change this setting. Click "Change the way users log on or off". For maximum security, uncheck the "Use the Welcome screen" option. This re-enables the use of the "Lock Computer" option from the ALT CTRL DELETE menu, but prevents multiple users from being logged on locally at a single time. This also returns to the Windows 2000 style login screen. If you'd rather have the ability to *not* be able to use "Lock Computer" and would rather allow multiple users to logon to the computer at a single time locally, leave this setting checked and also check "Use Fast User Switching".
Looking for a Windows XP Compatible Driver?
If you can't find a driver for a hardware device under Windows XP, you can try to use a Windows 2000 compatible driver for the same hardware. Usually this tends to work, and in my experience so far, it always has. However, if you can find a driver specifically designed for use with Windows XP that is usually the best and safest option. You can also e-mail the hardware manufacturer and ask them about Windows XP compatibility and drivers.
Good Tips, Tricks & Shortcuts
Wicked Good Tips, Tricks & Shortcuts
1. Opening Slide
2. Agenda
*
* Why Use Them
* Create a Keyboard
* Windows (Key) Shortcuts
* Most Apps
* Word
* PowerPoint
* Excel
* Finding Shortcuts
* Create Your Own
* Toolbars/Menus
3. Why Use Them
* If you use MS Windows and Office applications in your daily work, a few simple tips will help you save
* an hour of your time per week, maybe more
* Best of all, these tips are so easy to use that you can put them to use immediately
* Pick & Choose - Do not try to memorize them all
* Memorize and learn 1 at a time
* *Please note that some schools/agencies may prevent you from changing some tools/options
4. On-Screen Keyboard
* Click on the 'Start' button
* Choose the 'Run' feature and type 'osk' in the text field
* The keyboard opens on your desktop which features different typing modes that can be used to type data (settings)
* Clicking mode - click the on–screen keys
* Hovering mode - use a mouse or key to point to a key, which is then typed
* Joystick or key
5. OSK Desktop Shortcut
* Right–click desktop, select New, - Shortcut
* Create Shortcut Wizard should appear
* Type OSK in Type Location - click Next
* Type a name - click Finish
* To set up a keyboard shortcut, right click the desktop shortcut you’ve just created and click Properties
* In the Shortcut key box, click a letter like Z and CTRL+ALT+Z will appear
* That’s your customized keyboard shortcut
* Click Apply and OK
6. Windows Key
* By itself, Opens Start Menu (great to know if it disappears)
* Ctrl-Esc works too
* Either shortcut will open the Start menu
* Use the Up and Down Arrow keys to move through the menu, and the Enter key to choose an item
7. Windows (key) +
*
* + D - shows the desktop
* + E - Windows Explorer
* + M - minimizes all open windows
* + Shift + M - maximizes all open windows
* + R - shows the RUN dialog
* + F - shows Search (find) window
* + TAB - Go through taskbar apps
* + L – locks Windows when leaving
* + U – Utility Mgr (osk)
* + Pause/Break - shows System Properties box
8. Context Menu
* Context-menu is what most people think of as the right-click menu —list of options relevant to the selected object
* Using the Application key is equivalent to, but easier than using Shift-F10
* Particularly useful within programs
* You can bring up the context menu for words in Word or cells in Excel without having to reach for the mouse
9. Minimize/Maximize/Close
* Press ALT-Spacebar to open the System menu, which includes Restore, Move, Size, Minimize, Maximize, and Close
* You also can close a window quickly by pressing ALT-F4, a shortcut that is especially handy for pop-up ads that display in a browser window with no menu bar
10. Screen Prints
* Copy an image of the currently selected Window to the Clipboard: Alt-
* You can then paste the image into a document – CTRL + V
* Using Alt- confines the capture to the currently selected window or dialog box, as opposed to , which captures the entire screen (or Ctrl + PrintScr)
* If no dialogs are open, Alt- gives you a picture of the current app
11. Windows Explorer Tips (my computer) (Winkey + E)
* Task pane/folder pane
* Views
* Details View
* Move Columns/Add/Remove/Resize
* Open two windows
* Rt click file – Properties - Summary tab
* Sorting
12. Delete a File – Bypass Trash
* If you have a sensitive file or a big file that you don’t want taking up disk space, press Shift +Delete to delete it instead
* It won’t appear in the Trashcan, it’s just gone with only one confirmation dialog box to confirm
* Change your mind? You can press Ctrl+Z to Undo the delete operation, but don’t wait too long
13. Edit the Send To
* In Windows Explorer – Go to the Local Disk – (C:) drive
* Click on Documents and Settings
* User Name (your name usually)
* Double Click on Send To Folder to open
* Right click in Window (right side)
* Select New - Shortcut
14. Edit the Save As/Save In Menu
* File – Save As
* In Save In Drop Down box, find folder you want to save to, then
* Tools – Add to My Places
15. Create Dummy Text (in Word)
* First, Make sure the "Replace text as you type" option is selected by default ("Tools | AutoCorrect Options“)
* To create some dummy text for this presentation type:
* =rand(8,10) into your document
* Word instantly fills the screen with "The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog," over and over again
* The first number specifies the number of paragraphs, and the second tells Word how many sentences to put in each paragraph
16. Most Apps
*
* Ctrl + A – select all Ctrl + C – copy
* Ctrl + V – paste
* Ctrl + X – cut
* Ctrl + B bold
* Ctrl + I italic
* Ctrl + U underline
* Ctrl + P – Print
* Ctrl + H – Find/Replace
* Ctrl + F2 – print preview
* Ctrl + Y – repeat last command
* Ctrl + Z - undo
*
17. Most Applications
*
* Ctrl + N - New Doc
* Ctrl + O - Open File:
* Ctrl + S - Save
* Ctrl + F4 - Close Doc
* Ctrl + F6 – scrolls between open docs
* Ctrl + shift + C, Ctrl + shift +V – like format painter
* Ctrl + shift + P – change font size
* Ctrl + shift + F – change font
*
18. Most Apps
*
* F5 – Refreshes
* F7 – Spelling and grammar
* F11 – Full Screen
* F12 – Save As
* Alt + Shift + D - Insert the current date (not Excel)
* Alt + Shift + T- Insert the current time
19.
20. F4: So Many Uses
* In some programs – repeats last action
* Use it to close any open applications
* Make sure the program you want to close is selected, press Alt+F4
* With one application that has many different docs in it, press Ctrl+F4 & just that 1 window closes instead of whole program
* Use F4 to shut down
* Make sure all programs are closed - press Alt+F4
* Brings up "Turn off computer" box - proceed with normal shut down
* Pressing Alt + F4 is the same as Start, Turn off computer
*
21. To Open Recently Used File
* Alt + F
* 1,2,3,4, etc.
* Expand List – Tools, Options, General
22. MS Word – Title Slide
23. More Shortcuts
* Ctrl+ D – Brings up Font Dialogue Box
* Ctrl+ L - Align selection or paragraph to the left
* Ctrl+ E - Align selection or paragraph to the center
* Ctrl+ M - Indent paragraph or selection
* Ctrl+ H – Find/Replace
24. Unique Shortcuts
* Ctrl + Shift + W – Underlines text, but not spaces
* Ctrl + Shift + D – Double underlines text (& spaces)
* Ctrl + shift + A – All caps
* Ctrl + Enter – page break
25. More Word Shortcuts
* Ctrl + Zero – adds or removes 1 space before paragraph
* Ctrl+ 1 - Single-space all the lines in selection
* Ctrl+ 2 - Double-space all the lines in selection
* Ctrl+ 5 - 1.5-space all the lines in selection
26. Change Case (Word)
* Format - Change Case options - make text all lower case, all upper case, sentence case, toggle case or title case.
* Shift + F3 – Change Case
* Two Different Types Of All Caps
* To change text to small caps, simply highlight the text to be changed and then press Shift+ Ctrl + K
27. Quick Tips – Jump to It
* Say you’re on page 17, but forgot something on pg 1
* Instead of scrolling to page 1 & then scrolling back..
* Go to the first page (Ctrl + Home)
* Hold down the Shift key and press F5
* The cursor will automatically jump to the exact place where the cursor was before you moved it
* Even better - still on pg 17 - save & close doc- when you re-open it, cursor is at very top of first page -Press Shift+F5 again - you’ll immediately jump right back to where you were on page 17 or wherever
28. Copy & Paste from Web
* Here's a neat copy-and-paste trick for Word XP
* After pasting stuff from a Web page into a Word document, Word XP pops up an object
* It‘s usually on the right side of the pasted text in the form of a little square with a clipboard icon within the square
* Click the icon and choose Keep Text Only
* This does away with all the formatting that's dragged along from the Web site (and graphics)
* Can also use Match Destination formatting
29. Other Methods to Remove Formatting
* Ctrl + Space bar (after selecting all text CTRL + A)
* Ctrl Q – Removes paragraph formatting
* Ctrl + Shift + N – returns to “Normal” style
30. Doing the Backstroke
* Some people tap the backspace key continually to delete text
* Could use mouse to highlight text and delete it with a single keystroke
* Or hold down the CTRL key, and then hit backspace a few times to take out one whole word at a time (Ctrl + Del deletes forward)
* Holding down shift key and using the arrows allows you to select text
* Shift + CTRL changes this from a single character to an entire word at a time
31. Selecting Text
* Difficult to select more than a few paragraphs of text at once using only the mouse, particularly if you have a fast PC, as the text will shoot past before you notice
* Select large amounts of text by clicking where you want your to start, then go to the end of the selection using the mouse wheel or scroll bars
* Hold down Shift and click again to select the block of text
* If you have already selected a portion of text and realize that you have selected too much, hold down the SHIFT key and click on the point where you want the selection to end
* The unwanted text will not be selected any longer, while the rest of the selection will remain
32. More Text Select
* Double-click to select a word
* Select a whole sentence by double-clicking anywhere inside it while pressing the Ctrl key
* CTRL key + any number of additional text selections, even if they are not adjacent to your original selection - (then format, delete, whatever)
* At left of each paragraph is a skinny, invisible selection-strip area- your cursor becomes an arrow pointing to the right
* Once it's there, a double-click selects entire paragraph
* Three clicks there selects the whole document
33. Select What You Want
* If you start selecting a piece of text in the middle of a word and stop in the middle of another word, Word will guess that you also wish to include the beginning few letters of the first word and the end few letters of the last word in the selection,
* Holding down CTRL-SHIFT and then selecting your text will bypass the automatic word selection feature in Word and will select the text precisely to the nearest character
34. Select Vertically
* We usually select text horizontally
* Want to select vertically instead?
* Just hold down the ALT key and start dragging open a selection rectangle until you have covered the information you wish to select
* If the Research pane appears - Release the [Alt] key before you let up on the mouse button
* Word should retain the selection
* If you hold down [Alt] but release the mouse button, Word thinks “[Alt]-click” and opens the Research pane in response.
35. Double Your Pleasure
* Double-click a number in a numbered list – Opens numbered tab in Bullets & Numbering dialog box
* Double-click a bullet in a bulleted list – Opens the Bulleted tab in the dialog box
* Double-click frame of a text box – Opens the Format Text Box dialog box
* Double-click the Title Bar – toggles between maximized and restored window size
* Double-click the vertical ruler (Page Setup-print view only)
* Or Double-click the gray (maybe) area of horizontal ruler
36. Neat Text Boxes
* Change the look of boring rectangular text boxes
* Create a text box and select the border
* Make sure Drawing toolbar is displayed, - View, Toolbars, Drawing
* Drawing toolbar, - Draw, Change AutoShape, Basic Shapes -select Rounded Rectangle shape
* How about a text box with a folded corner
* Draw arrows, stars, cartoon bubbles, flowchart items, shadows, 3D shapes, etc...
37. Cool Brackets
* How do you insert cool brackets that allow you to group items?
* There's one on the keyboard, but not one that can be manipulated
* Try selecting them from the Drawing toolbar – Autoshapes – Basic Shapes
38. Create Blank Lines in Lists
* In middle of numbered/bulleted list - want to insert a blank line to make the list more readable?
* Pressing ENTER, just adds another list item
* Press ENTER twice, your cursor moves out of the list, which is not what you want
* Press SHIFT-ENTER - cursor stays in list -moves down a line w/out inserting another bullet or number
* Press ENTER and a new bullet or number will form
39. Scraps
* You can create 'scraps' which are small blocks of text from a document
* Highlight text in open document and drag to Desktop, - you will see it appear as a document scrap
* Can arrange and rename scraps on Desktop, and drop back into Word docs as you need them
* Scraps can be pasted into most other applications too
* Can also do this in PowerPoint
40. Need to Leave in a Hurry?
* Why bother closing and saving all your files individually if you have a lot open
* Press the Shift key as you open the File menu
* You've just changed the Save command to say Save All, and the Close command to say Close All
41. Word Calculate?
* Choose Tools – Customize
* Click the Commands tab and choose All Commands from the Categories list box
* Click in the Commands list box and scroll down to select ToolsCalculate
* Drag the ToolsCalculate item to the toolbar where you want it to appear
42. Word Calculate - picture
43. How to Use it
* Once you have access to the Calculate command, highlight a series of numbers (either horizontally or vertically) and click your Tools Calculate button
* Word will display the sum in the status bar
* It will also place that sum on the clipboard, so if you need to paste it into a document, just click in the desired spot and press [Ctrl]V or click Paste
44. Picture
45. Table Tips
* Pain in the neck to delete columns and rows in a table?
* Just select and use Backspace, not Delete
* Enter - Add a space to the top of a table
* Tab - Add a row to the bottom of a table (you need to be in the last table cell)
* Ctrl + Shift + Enter – Split a table (click in the row above which you want the split to occur)
46. Table Shortcuts
* Alt + Shift + Page Up/Page Down -Selects from the current cell to the top or bottom of the column
* Alt + Shift + Home/End – Selects from the current cell to the beginning or end of the row
* Alt + double-click within table selects it
* Alt + click in column selects column
* Alt + click in column + Ctrl Alt selects non-adjacent columns
47. Sorting in Word
* Select the list to sort (make sure there is a return after each item)
* Go to Table – Sort
* Check if it has a heading
* Go to Options if need more sort options (ex. First and last name sorts)
48. Out of Sorts?
* You can cut and paste or you can retype the information… OR
* Click inside the row you want to move
* Hold down ALT + SHIFT keys - use up and down arrows on keyboard to move row to new location
* Also use these keystrokes to reorder paragraphs, bulleted lists and numbered lists
* Can sort whole list of items (Table, Sort)
49. Mouse Tricks
* Have a scroll wheel mouse - use wheel to enlarge or shrink screen size of doc or worksheet
* Hold down key - spin the wheel toward self to zoom out or away from self (forward) to zoom back in
* You may need to enable this feature to make it work properly; Tools – Options – General - Check
50. Mouse Magic
* Trouble locating your mouse pointer on the screen
* Windows XP has a nifty little 'mouse sonar' option available, which will cause your mouse pointer to pop-up a little concentric ring around itself to show you where it is
* Go to 'start\control panel\mouse'
* Choose the 'pointer options' tab
* Check the 'show location of pointer when I press the control key' box
51. Scroll Along
* With a mouse with scroll wheel, press your finger directly down on the wheel and see what happens
* Once you do that, you should see a big double arrow appear
* You can then just move your mouse up and down and it will do an "automatic scroll" for you
52. PowerPoint
*
* Home – First slide
* End – Last slide
* B – Black slide
* F5 – Starts slide show
* Shift + Normal View Icon – Master View
* During Slide Show, Press F1 for shortcuts
* Alt + Shift + Arrow Keys – promote/demote
* F2 –Selects text box
* Ctrl + M – New Slide
* Ctrl + G – activate guides/grid
* Ctrl + T – font menu
* Ctrl + D - Duplicate
53.
54. Text Boxes and Shapes
* Just type in the shape
* No need to overlay a text box
* Format – auto shape - text box
55. Add Pictures to AutoShapes
* This can look really nice if you use pictures within circles or stars
* Select your Auto shape such as a circle or a star
* Select the Fill Color button found on the Draw Toolbar usually found at the bottom of the screen
* Then select Fill Effects > Picture and then select Picture and Insert
* You probably also want to select Lock picture aspect ratio to keep the picture in proportion
56. Select Multiple Objects
* Click/hold/drag mouse to form a box around the objects
* Now you can move them, group them or nudge them
57. Easy Copy – (works in most apps)
* To copy an object on your page quickly and easily instead of using cut & paste, try this instead
* Select the object you want to copy by clicking on it
* Hold down the "CTRL"
* Click (with the left mouse button) and drag the object to the new position
* Try it again but press the "Shift" key at the same time as the CTRL key
* This will keep the objects aligned
* Great for making diagrams etc
58. Compress Your Presentation
*
* Click File - Save as
* Click Tools drop down menu
* Select Compress Pictures
* Select All Pictures in document
* Web/Screen unless you need to be able to print the presentation in high quality
* Select Compress pictures and Delete cropped areas of pictures
* Click OK
* Confirm you want to Compress Pictures (if the dialog appears)
* Save presentation to a new file name
* Click Save
59.
60. Show View and Slide View
* Ctrl + Slide Show View
* Adds a tiny preview window of current slide in Slide Show view
* Esc – ends slide show
61. Excel
* F2 – Edit in cell
* HOME – Go to column A of Active Row
* END – Go to edge of the spreadsheet
* Ctrl + Home – Go to A1
* Ctrl + End – Go to last cell in used range
62. Shortcuts
* Ctrl + Shift + ~ - Apply the general number format
* Ctrl + Shift + $ - Turn numbers into dollars
* Ctrl + Shift + % - Make numbers a percentage
* Ctrl + Shift + & - Apply a border
* Ctrl + ‘ – Repeat data from cell above
63. More Excel Shortcuts
*
* Ctrl + ; - Current date
* Ctrl + Shift + : - Current date and time
* Ctrl + Spacebar - Select columns
* Shift + Spacebar - Select rows
* Ctrl + 1 - Display Format Cells dialog box
* Backspace - Erase data in current cell
* Ctrl + Shift + * - selects a block of data
* F8: expands or extends a selection by using the arrow keys
* F7 - Check spelling of titles or words within cells
64. Excel Tips
* When typing a date into Excel, just enter the month, slash, day such as 7/15 and then press Enter
* No need to type the year
* Excel assumes that it is the current year
* The display of the date depends on the formatting of the cell
65. Worksheet Options
* Right-click on any sheet tab (Sheet1, Sheet2, etc.) for a shortcut menu of worksheet options
* This is a quick way to rename, delete, add, change colors, copy, and more
* Double-click to rename quickly
* Ctrl + Page Up/Page Down – switch between worksheets
66. F4 in Excel
* If insert row or column using Insert menu, hit F4 - get a second row or column inserted
* Could also move to another part of wrksht, hit F4 - have new row or column inserted in new location
* Repeatedly hitting F4 will continue to repeat the last action - allows you to insert multiple rows or columns quickly and efficiently
* Trick works with almost any action you use, like bolding, underlining, cell format type, justification, etc.
67. Reverse Columns and Rows
*
* Click first cell of data range such as A1
* Shift-click the last cell of the range.
* Click Edit menu - Copy
* At bottom of page, click tab for blank worksheet such as Sheet2 (insert new one if needed)
* In blank worksheet, click cell A1
* Click Edit menu - Paste SpecialClick checkbox for Transpose
* Click OK
68.
69. How Can You Remember All These
* Most programs can show you the shortcut keys for any given toolbar button (if they exist):
* Choose "Tools", then "Customize“
* When the "Customize" multi-tabbed dialog box appears, choose "Options“
* Check "Show shortcut keys in Screentips“
* Press "Close“
* Now, move your mouse over a toolbar button, Word tells you what the keystrokes are
70. Show Your Shortcuts - picture
71. Make Word Your Own
* Create your own shortcuts
* Customize toolbars
* Customize right-click menus
72. Create Your Own Shortcuts
* Click Tools, Customize, - Keyboard button
* Categories, select menu where function is located
* Commands - click item for which you would like to make a shortcut
* Click Press New Shortcut Key field - then press desired key combo
* Be careful not to override other shortcuts you commonly use, such as CTRL-S, CTRL-P, or F7
* Click Assign - Close
* Click Close again
73. Change Your Right Click Menus
* Tools - Customize
* Click Toolbars tab
* Select Shortcut Menus checkbox
* Click a category on Shortcut Menu - click shortcut menu to modify - may need to explore categories to decide which shortcut menu you should modify
* Open Customize dialog box, click Commands tab
* In Categories, click a Category
* Drag command from Commands box to spot on the shortcut menu where you want it to reside
* Drop it! (Release the mouse!)
74. Find Shortcut Keys & Tips
*
* Google –Keyboard Shortcuts, Tips
* Application Help Menus – Type Shortcuts (keyboard)
* Key XL - http://www.keyxl.com/
* www.softwarepro.com
* www.internet4classrooms.com/
* http://del.icio.us/poochiesan
1. Opening Slide
2. Agenda
*
* Why Use Them
* Create a Keyboard
* Windows (Key) Shortcuts
* Most Apps
* Word
* PowerPoint
* Excel
* Finding Shortcuts
* Create Your Own
* Toolbars/Menus
3. Why Use Them
* If you use MS Windows and Office applications in your daily work, a few simple tips will help you save
* an hour of your time per week, maybe more
* Best of all, these tips are so easy to use that you can put them to use immediately
* Pick & Choose - Do not try to memorize them all
* Memorize and learn 1 at a time
* *Please note that some schools/agencies may prevent you from changing some tools/options
4. On-Screen Keyboard
* Click on the 'Start' button
* Choose the 'Run' feature and type 'osk' in the text field
* The keyboard opens on your desktop which features different typing modes that can be used to type data (settings)
* Clicking mode - click the on–screen keys
* Hovering mode - use a mouse or key to point to a key, which is then typed
* Joystick or key
5. OSK Desktop Shortcut
* Right–click desktop, select New, - Shortcut
* Create Shortcut Wizard should appear
* Type OSK in Type Location - click Next
* Type a name - click Finish
* To set up a keyboard shortcut, right click the desktop shortcut you’ve just created and click Properties
* In the Shortcut key box, click a letter like Z and CTRL+ALT+Z will appear
* That’s your customized keyboard shortcut
* Click Apply and OK
6. Windows Key
* By itself, Opens Start Menu (great to know if it disappears)
* Ctrl-Esc works too
* Either shortcut will open the Start menu
* Use the Up and Down Arrow keys to move through the menu, and the Enter key to choose an item
7. Windows (key) +
*
* + D - shows the desktop
* + E - Windows Explorer
* + M - minimizes all open windows
* + Shift + M - maximizes all open windows
* + R - shows the RUN dialog
* + F - shows Search (find) window
* + TAB - Go through taskbar apps
* + L – locks Windows when leaving
* + U – Utility Mgr (osk)
* + Pause/Break - shows System Properties box
8. Context Menu
* Context-menu is what most people think of as the right-click menu —list of options relevant to the selected object
* Using the Application key is equivalent to, but easier than using Shift-F10
* Particularly useful within programs
* You can bring up the context menu for words in Word or cells in Excel without having to reach for the mouse
9. Minimize/Maximize/Close
* Press ALT-Spacebar to open the System menu, which includes Restore, Move, Size, Minimize, Maximize, and Close
* You also can close a window quickly by pressing ALT-F4, a shortcut that is especially handy for pop-up ads that display in a browser window with no menu bar
10. Screen Prints
* Copy an image of the currently selected Window to the Clipboard: Alt-
* You can then paste the image into a document – CTRL + V
* Using Alt-
* If no dialogs are open, Alt-
11. Windows Explorer Tips (my computer) (Winkey + E)
* Task pane/folder pane
* Views
* Details View
* Move Columns/Add/Remove/Resize
* Open two windows
* Rt click file – Properties - Summary tab
* Sorting
12. Delete a File – Bypass Trash
* If you have a sensitive file or a big file that you don’t want taking up disk space, press Shift +Delete to delete it instead
* It won’t appear in the Trashcan, it’s just gone with only one confirmation dialog box to confirm
* Change your mind? You can press Ctrl+Z to Undo the delete operation, but don’t wait too long
13. Edit the Send To
* In Windows Explorer – Go to the Local Disk – (C:) drive
* Click on Documents and Settings
* User Name (your name usually)
* Double Click on Send To Folder to open
* Right click in Window (right side)
* Select New - Shortcut
14. Edit the Save As/Save In Menu
* File – Save As
* In Save In Drop Down box, find folder you want to save to, then
* Tools – Add to My Places
15. Create Dummy Text (in Word)
* First, Make sure the "Replace text as you type" option is selected by default ("Tools | AutoCorrect Options“)
* To create some dummy text for this presentation type:
* =rand(8,10) into your document
* Word instantly fills the screen with "The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog," over and over again
* The first number specifies the number of paragraphs, and the second tells Word how many sentences to put in each paragraph
16. Most Apps
*
* Ctrl + A – select all Ctrl + C – copy
* Ctrl + V – paste
* Ctrl + X – cut
* Ctrl + B bold
* Ctrl + I italic
* Ctrl + U underline
* Ctrl + P – Print
* Ctrl + H – Find/Replace
* Ctrl + F2 – print preview
* Ctrl + Y – repeat last command
* Ctrl + Z - undo
*
17. Most Applications
*
* Ctrl + N - New Doc
* Ctrl + O - Open File:
* Ctrl + S - Save
* Ctrl + F4 - Close Doc
* Ctrl + F6 – scrolls between open docs
* Ctrl + shift + C, Ctrl + shift +V – like format painter
* Ctrl + shift + P – change font size
* Ctrl + shift + F – change font
*
18. Most Apps
*
* F5 – Refreshes
* F7 – Spelling and grammar
* F11 – Full Screen
* F12 – Save As
* Alt + Shift + D - Insert the current date (not Excel)
* Alt + Shift + T- Insert the current time
19.
20. F4: So Many Uses
* In some programs – repeats last action
* Use it to close any open applications
* Make sure the program you want to close is selected, press Alt+F4
* With one application that has many different docs in it, press Ctrl+F4 & just that 1 window closes instead of whole program
* Use F4 to shut down
* Make sure all programs are closed - press Alt+F4
* Brings up "Turn off computer" box - proceed with normal shut down
* Pressing Alt + F4 is the same as Start, Turn off computer
*
21. To Open Recently Used File
* Alt + F
* 1,2,3,4, etc.
* Expand List – Tools, Options, General
22. MS Word – Title Slide
23. More Shortcuts
* Ctrl+ D – Brings up Font Dialogue Box
* Ctrl+ L - Align selection or paragraph to the left
* Ctrl+ E - Align selection or paragraph to the center
* Ctrl+ M - Indent paragraph or selection
* Ctrl+ H – Find/Replace
24. Unique Shortcuts
* Ctrl + Shift + W – Underlines text, but not spaces
* Ctrl + Shift + D – Double underlines text (& spaces)
* Ctrl + shift + A – All caps
* Ctrl + Enter – page break
25. More Word Shortcuts
* Ctrl + Zero – adds or removes 1 space before paragraph
* Ctrl+ 1 - Single-space all the lines in selection
* Ctrl+ 2 - Double-space all the lines in selection
* Ctrl+ 5 - 1.5-space all the lines in selection
26. Change Case (Word)
* Format - Change Case options - make text all lower case, all upper case, sentence case, toggle case or title case.
* Shift + F3 – Change Case
* Two Different Types Of All Caps
* To change text to small caps, simply highlight the text to be changed and then press Shift+ Ctrl + K
27. Quick Tips – Jump to It
* Say you’re on page 17, but forgot something on pg 1
* Instead of scrolling to page 1 & then scrolling back..
* Go to the first page (Ctrl + Home)
* Hold down the Shift key and press F5
* The cursor will automatically jump to the exact place where the cursor was before you moved it
* Even better - still on pg 17 - save & close doc- when you re-open it, cursor is at very top of first page -Press Shift+F5 again - you’ll immediately jump right back to where you were on page 17 or wherever
28. Copy & Paste from Web
* Here's a neat copy-and-paste trick for Word XP
* After pasting stuff from a Web page into a Word document, Word XP pops up an object
* It‘s usually on the right side of the pasted text in the form of a little square with a clipboard icon within the square
* Click the icon and choose Keep Text Only
* This does away with all the formatting that's dragged along from the Web site (and graphics)
* Can also use Match Destination formatting
29. Other Methods to Remove Formatting
* Ctrl + Space bar (after selecting all text CTRL + A)
* Ctrl Q – Removes paragraph formatting
* Ctrl + Shift + N – returns to “Normal” style
30. Doing the Backstroke
* Some people tap the backspace key continually to delete text
* Could use mouse to highlight text and delete it with a single keystroke
* Or hold down the CTRL key, and then hit backspace a few times to take out one whole word at a time (Ctrl + Del deletes forward)
* Holding down shift key and using the arrows allows you to select text
* Shift + CTRL changes this from a single character to an entire word at a time
31. Selecting Text
* Difficult to select more than a few paragraphs of text at once using only the mouse, particularly if you have a fast PC, as the text will shoot past before you notice
* Select large amounts of text by clicking where you want your to start, then go to the end of the selection using the mouse wheel or scroll bars
* Hold down Shift and click again to select the block of text
* If you have already selected a portion of text and realize that you have selected too much, hold down the SHIFT key and click on the point where you want the selection to end
* The unwanted text will not be selected any longer, while the rest of the selection will remain
32. More Text Select
* Double-click to select a word
* Select a whole sentence by double-clicking anywhere inside it while pressing the Ctrl key
* CTRL key + any number of additional text selections, even if they are not adjacent to your original selection - (then format, delete, whatever)
* At left of each paragraph is a skinny, invisible selection-strip area- your cursor becomes an arrow pointing to the right
* Once it's there, a double-click selects entire paragraph
* Three clicks there selects the whole document
33. Select What You Want
* If you start selecting a piece of text in the middle of a word and stop in the middle of another word, Word will guess that you also wish to include the beginning few letters of the first word and the end few letters of the last word in the selection,
* Holding down CTRL-SHIFT and then selecting your text will bypass the automatic word selection feature in Word and will select the text precisely to the nearest character
34. Select Vertically
* We usually select text horizontally
* Want to select vertically instead?
* Just hold down the ALT key and start dragging open a selection rectangle until you have covered the information you wish to select
* If the Research pane appears - Release the [Alt] key before you let up on the mouse button
* Word should retain the selection
* If you hold down [Alt] but release the mouse button, Word thinks “[Alt]-click” and opens the Research pane in response.
35. Double Your Pleasure
* Double-click a number in a numbered list – Opens numbered tab in Bullets & Numbering dialog box
* Double-click a bullet in a bulleted list – Opens the Bulleted tab in the dialog box
* Double-click frame of a text box – Opens the Format Text Box dialog box
* Double-click the Title Bar – toggles between maximized and restored window size
* Double-click the vertical ruler (Page Setup-print view only)
* Or Double-click the gray (maybe) area of horizontal ruler
36. Neat Text Boxes
* Change the look of boring rectangular text boxes
* Create a text box and select the border
* Make sure Drawing toolbar is displayed, - View, Toolbars, Drawing
* Drawing toolbar, - Draw, Change AutoShape, Basic Shapes -select Rounded Rectangle shape
* How about a text box with a folded corner
* Draw arrows, stars, cartoon bubbles, flowchart items, shadows, 3D shapes, etc...
37. Cool Brackets
* How do you insert cool brackets that allow you to group items?
* There's one on the keyboard, but not one that can be manipulated
* Try selecting them from the Drawing toolbar – Autoshapes – Basic Shapes
38. Create Blank Lines in Lists
* In middle of numbered/bulleted list - want to insert a blank line to make the list more readable?
* Pressing ENTER, just adds another list item
* Press ENTER twice, your cursor moves out of the list, which is not what you want
* Press SHIFT-ENTER - cursor stays in list -moves down a line w/out inserting another bullet or number
* Press ENTER and a new bullet or number will form
39. Scraps
* You can create 'scraps' which are small blocks of text from a document
* Highlight text in open document and drag to Desktop, - you will see it appear as a document scrap
* Can arrange and rename scraps on Desktop, and drop back into Word docs as you need them
* Scraps can be pasted into most other applications too
* Can also do this in PowerPoint
40. Need to Leave in a Hurry?
* Why bother closing and saving all your files individually if you have a lot open
* Press the Shift key as you open the File menu
* You've just changed the Save command to say Save All, and the Close command to say Close All
41. Word Calculate?
* Choose Tools – Customize
* Click the Commands tab and choose All Commands from the Categories list box
* Click in the Commands list box and scroll down to select ToolsCalculate
* Drag the ToolsCalculate item to the toolbar where you want it to appear
42. Word Calculate - picture
43. How to Use it
* Once you have access to the Calculate command, highlight a series of numbers (either horizontally or vertically) and click your Tools Calculate button
* Word will display the sum in the status bar
* It will also place that sum on the clipboard, so if you need to paste it into a document, just click in the desired spot and press [Ctrl]V or click Paste
44. Picture
45. Table Tips
* Pain in the neck to delete columns and rows in a table?
* Just select and use Backspace, not Delete
* Enter - Add a space to the top of a table
* Tab - Add a row to the bottom of a table (you need to be in the last table cell)
* Ctrl + Shift + Enter – Split a table (click in the row above which you want the split to occur)
46. Table Shortcuts
* Alt + Shift + Page Up/Page Down -Selects from the current cell to the top or bottom of the column
* Alt + Shift + Home/End – Selects from the current cell to the beginning or end of the row
* Alt + double-click within table selects it
* Alt + click in column selects column
* Alt + click in column + Ctrl Alt selects non-adjacent columns
47. Sorting in Word
* Select the list to sort (make sure there is a return after each item)
* Go to Table – Sort
* Check if it has a heading
* Go to Options if need more sort options (ex. First and last name sorts)
48. Out of Sorts?
* You can cut and paste or you can retype the information… OR
* Click inside the row you want to move
* Hold down ALT + SHIFT keys - use up and down arrows on keyboard to move row to new location
* Also use these keystrokes to reorder paragraphs, bulleted lists and numbered lists
* Can sort whole list of items (Table, Sort)
49. Mouse Tricks
* Have a scroll wheel mouse - use wheel to enlarge or shrink screen size of doc or worksheet
* Hold down
* You may need to enable this feature to make it work properly; Tools – Options – General - Check
50. Mouse Magic
* Trouble locating your mouse pointer on the screen
* Windows XP has a nifty little 'mouse sonar' option available, which will cause your mouse pointer to pop-up a little concentric ring around itself to show you where it is
* Go to 'start\control panel\mouse'
* Choose the 'pointer options' tab
* Check the 'show location of pointer when I press the control key' box
51. Scroll Along
* With a mouse with scroll wheel, press your finger directly down on the wheel and see what happens
* Once you do that, you should see a big double arrow appear
* You can then just move your mouse up and down and it will do an "automatic scroll" for you
52. PowerPoint
*
* Home – First slide
* End – Last slide
* B – Black slide
* F5 – Starts slide show
* Shift + Normal View Icon – Master View
* During Slide Show, Press F1 for shortcuts
* Alt + Shift + Arrow Keys – promote/demote
* F2 –Selects text box
* Ctrl + M – New Slide
* Ctrl + G – activate guides/grid
* Ctrl + T – font menu
* Ctrl + D - Duplicate
53.
54. Text Boxes and Shapes
* Just type in the shape
* No need to overlay a text box
* Format – auto shape - text box
55. Add Pictures to AutoShapes
* This can look really nice if you use pictures within circles or stars
* Select your Auto shape such as a circle or a star
* Select the Fill Color button found on the Draw Toolbar usually found at the bottom of the screen
* Then select Fill Effects > Picture and then select Picture and Insert
* You probably also want to select Lock picture aspect ratio to keep the picture in proportion
56. Select Multiple Objects
* Click/hold/drag mouse to form a box around the objects
* Now you can move them, group them or nudge them
57. Easy Copy – (works in most apps)
* To copy an object on your page quickly and easily instead of using cut & paste, try this instead
* Select the object you want to copy by clicking on it
* Hold down the "CTRL"
* Click (with the left mouse button) and drag the object to the new position
* Try it again but press the "Shift" key at the same time as the CTRL key
* This will keep the objects aligned
* Great for making diagrams etc
58. Compress Your Presentation
*
* Click File - Save as
* Click Tools drop down menu
* Select Compress Pictures
* Select All Pictures in document
* Web/Screen unless you need to be able to print the presentation in high quality
* Select Compress pictures and Delete cropped areas of pictures
* Click OK
* Confirm you want to Compress Pictures (if the dialog appears)
* Save presentation to a new file name
* Click Save
59.
60. Show View and Slide View
* Ctrl + Slide Show View
* Adds a tiny preview window of current slide in Slide Show view
* Esc – ends slide show
61. Excel
* F2 – Edit in cell
* HOME – Go to column A of Active Row
* END – Go to edge of the spreadsheet
* Ctrl + Home – Go to A1
* Ctrl + End – Go to last cell in used range
62. Shortcuts
* Ctrl + Shift + ~ - Apply the general number format
* Ctrl + Shift + $ - Turn numbers into dollars
* Ctrl + Shift + % - Make numbers a percentage
* Ctrl + Shift + & - Apply a border
* Ctrl + ‘ – Repeat data from cell above
63. More Excel Shortcuts
*
* Ctrl + ; - Current date
* Ctrl + Shift + : - Current date and time
* Ctrl + Spacebar - Select columns
* Shift + Spacebar - Select rows
* Ctrl + 1 - Display Format Cells dialog box
* Backspace - Erase data in current cell
* Ctrl + Shift + * - selects a block of data
* F8: expands or extends a selection by using the arrow keys
* F7 - Check spelling of titles or words within cells
64. Excel Tips
* When typing a date into Excel, just enter the month, slash, day such as 7/15 and then press Enter
* No need to type the year
* Excel assumes that it is the current year
* The display of the date depends on the formatting of the cell
65. Worksheet Options
* Right-click on any sheet tab (Sheet1, Sheet2, etc.) for a shortcut menu of worksheet options
* This is a quick way to rename, delete, add, change colors, copy, and more
* Double-click to rename quickly
* Ctrl + Page Up/Page Down – switch between worksheets
66. F4 in Excel
* If insert row or column using Insert menu, hit F4 - get a second row or column inserted
* Could also move to another part of wrksht, hit F4 - have new row or column inserted in new location
* Repeatedly hitting F4 will continue to repeat the last action - allows you to insert multiple rows or columns quickly and efficiently
* Trick works with almost any action you use, like bolding, underlining, cell format type, justification, etc.
67. Reverse Columns and Rows
*
* Click first cell of data range such as A1
* Shift-click the last cell of the range.
* Click Edit menu - Copy
* At bottom of page, click tab for blank worksheet such as Sheet2 (insert new one if needed)
* In blank worksheet, click cell A1
* Click Edit menu - Paste SpecialClick checkbox for Transpose
* Click OK
68.
69. How Can You Remember All These
* Most programs can show you the shortcut keys for any given toolbar button (if they exist):
* Choose "Tools", then "Customize“
* When the "Customize" multi-tabbed dialog box appears, choose "Options“
* Check "Show shortcut keys in Screentips“
* Press "Close“
* Now, move your mouse over a toolbar button, Word tells you what the keystrokes are
70. Show Your Shortcuts - picture
71. Make Word Your Own
* Create your own shortcuts
* Customize toolbars
* Customize right-click menus
72. Create Your Own Shortcuts
* Click Tools, Customize, - Keyboard button
* Categories, select menu where function is located
* Commands - click item for which you would like to make a shortcut
* Click Press New Shortcut Key field - then press desired key combo
* Be careful not to override other shortcuts you commonly use, such as CTRL-S, CTRL-P, or F7
* Click Assign - Close
* Click Close again
73. Change Your Right Click Menus
* Tools - Customize
* Click Toolbars tab
* Select Shortcut Menus checkbox
* Click a category on Shortcut Menu - click shortcut menu to modify - may need to explore categories to decide which shortcut menu you should modify
* Open Customize dialog box, click Commands tab
* In Categories, click a Category
* Drag command from Commands box to spot on the shortcut menu where you want it to reside
* Drop it! (Release the mouse!)
74. Find Shortcut Keys & Tips
*
* Google –Keyboard Shortcuts, Tips
* Application Help Menus – Type Shortcuts (keyboard)
* Key XL - http://www.keyxl.com/
* www.softwarepro.com
* www.internet4classrooms.com/
* http://del.icio.us/poochiesan
OneNote 2003 Tips & Tricks
OneNote 2003
Tips & Tricks
Tips & Tricks
Capturing Notes
- Sections – Are the major unit of organizing in OneNote, like tabbed sections in a binder. File/New to create new sections in the new task pane. Right click section tabs at top to set to one of 16 colors. Sections can be opened and closed as needed with File/ Open or Close. Move Sections by selecting a Section tab, right clicking, select Move.
- Pages – Exist in Sections. File/ New to create or click on blank New Page tab on right side. Click & drag to move within a section, right click to move to another section.
- Hide & Adjust Page Titles – To show page numbers in place of page titles on the page tabs click the show/hide button in lower right hand corner of the screen. To show longer page titles click & drag to the left of tabs to adjust tab width.
- Typing Anywhere – Click & type to enter notes anywhere on a page. Notes are stored in Note Containers. Move text in Note Containers with selection handle on the left.
- Formatting Text – Format/Font to select font attributes in task pane, or from format bar, which shows font examples.
- Highlighting Text – Choose from 15 highlight colors in format toolbar & apply to selected text.
- Numbered Lists – Create as you type or apply to existing lists by selecting Numbering button in Toolbar. Sidebar lists more numbering styles. Numbering automatically activated when lists are typed beginning with 1., A., a), etc. followed by a space.
- Bulleted Lists – Similar to numbered lists, apply to selected text with Bullets button in toolbar. Sidebar lists more bullet styles. Lines beginning with asterisk & space are automatically converted into bullets.
- Inserting/ Removing Writing Space – To add or remove writing space from a page select the Insert Extra Writing Space button in Standard toolbar, click in document & drag down to add space, drag up to remove space. Also accessible by right clicking in the document.
- Extending the page – To add writing space at the end of a document click the Make Page Grow button at the bottom of the vertical scroll bar.
- Drawing – Line drawing is available in thin, thick & highlight styles in four colors. Select Pen buttons in Standard or Drawing toolbar. Eraser will remove line drawings. Tools/Drawing and Writing Tools/Pens/Customize Current Pen to change Name, Color & thickness of pen.
- Printing Notes – File/Print to print notes. Default setting is page group. File/Print Preview to preview and select print options including print range, paper size, orientation and footer formatting.
- Side Notes – To open a mini OneNote window click on the OneNote icon in the taskbar. Note window stays on top with minimal interface. Enlarging window adds full interface and no longer stays on top. Nice for taking notes from other applications.
Organizing Notes
- Note Flags – View/ Toolbars/ Note Flags to see toolbar. Select text & click note flag buttons to apply flags to notes. Flags include questions, check boxes, and other symbols.
- Custom flags - Create custom flags with Customize My Note Flags Task Pane. Format/ Note Flags/ Customize My Note Flags or click Customize My Note Flags on Note Flags toolbar. Also apply & remove note flags with Ctrl+1, 2, 3, etc.
- Outlook Tasks & Meeting Details – Send notes to Outlook 2003 as Outlook Tasks with Format/ Note Flags/ Create Outlook Task, or click Create Outlook Task on Note Flags toolbar. Import Outlook meeting details with Insert/Outlook Meeting Details, select the meeting & Insert Details. Other Outlook actions found under Tools/Create Outlook Item for new Appts, Contacts & Tasks.
- Note Flags Summary - View/ Note Flags Summary to see task pane listing all Note Flags in search range. Search scope includes: This page, this section, entire notebook, today’s notes, yesterday’s notes, etc. List is linked to notes. Options include grouping by flag type: checked, unchecked, questions, etc.
- Note Flags Summery Page – In Note Flags Summery task pane select Create Summery Page to make page listing selected Note Flags.
- Search – Edit/Find to search for text. Sidebar menu lists search scope. Task pane lists matches with links to notes.
- Page Header – A non scrolling region of a page. Type page title in Title field. Click & type or drag note container into Page Header for additional text. Click & Drag the bottom border of header to adjust size. Also use Ctrl+Shift+> or <>
- Renaming the Page & Changing the Date – Change the text in the Page Title field in the header, the page tab is updated. To change date stamp on page click date or time & select time & date pickers
- Graphics in the Page Header – Add graphics by inserting picture, drawing, or pasting images into the page header.
- Hiding Page Header – View/ Page Header to hide & reveal page header.
- Moving Pages – To move page within a section select the page tab, drag sideways until triangle appears, drag & drop the page tab to new position. To move to a new section, right click page tab & select Move Page to: Another Section. Edit/ Move Page To/ Another Section.
- Subpages – Subpages are pages grouped under a page and share the same Page Header. They are handy for making extra pages rather than a long scrolling single page. Create by clicking on the new subpage tab or right clicking on a page tab and selecting New Subpage. Subpages can be promoted to full pages, Drag & drop a subpage tab left & to a new position to ungroup and make a page. Pages can also be converted, or grouped, by dragging under an existing page tab.
- Stationary – Preformatted note page templates including fields and designs. Select with File/New, select stationary under Change Stationary in New task pane. File/New to show stationary. More Stationary available on Office Online.
- Custom Stationary – to create custom stationary, edit a page for stationary, File/ New select “Save current page as stationary” at bottom of task pane. Stored in My Stationary.one -
- Page Setup - File/Page Setup to set options in task pane including page size, orientation, rule lines, margins, page color, background images and option to save as stationary. Set rule lines in View/Rule Lines. Includes ruled & grid lines.
- Page List – Show list of pages sorted by section, title, and date. View/ Page List, select sort order and search scope.
- Outlining Vertical – View/ Toolbars/ Outlining to show toolbar. Indenting items in a numbered list applies outline levels. Adjust outline levels with; drag & drop by handle, right click, indent buttons in outline toolbar, or Shift+Alt+Right/Left arrow. Drag & drop to move elements up & down in a list.
- Collapsing, Expanding, Selecting Outlines – Outlines can be collapsed & expanded by double clicking on outline handle or using Expand and Collapse on the Outline toolbar. Alt+Shift+1, 2, 3, 4, 5 are keyboard shortcuts for showing levels. Outlines can be hidden below selective levels with Edit/ Select/ At :Level 1,2,3 etc.
- Customizing Numbering – Format/ Numbering to show Numbering task pane. Choose from several formats or select Customize Numbering at bottom of task pane.
- Pasting Outlines into Word – When a OneNote outline is pasted into Word it picks up outline properties in Word. Word outlines also retain some outlining properties when pasted into OneNote.
- Adjusting Text Containers – Adjust text container width by dragging double arrows in title bar or adjusting the right side. Tools/ Options/ Display to adjust the shading level of text containers for editing.
- Merging Text Containers – Dragging text containers near each other will merge their contents into one container. Hold down the ALT key to prevent container merging.
- Pictures & Screen Clipping - Insert/Picture to insert picture from file or scanner or camera. Insert/Screen Clipping to minimize OneNote and select region of screen to clip image. Clipped image is inserted in OneNote with time stamp. Right click the OneNote icon in task bar to activate screen clipping. .
Sharing Notes
- Selecting All – Edit/ Select: All, Page, or Page Group to select various pages for copying, printing, emailing or saving to web page. Also Ctrl+Shift+A to select a page, then Ctrl+A to select all subpages and Ctrl+A again to select all in a section. Also double click on page tab to select whole page, and click again to select subpages. Ctrl+Click to select individual pages.
- Publishing Web Pages – Save OneNote pages so users without OneNote can still read them. File/ Publish Pages to save as HTML document viewable in browser.
- Send to Email – Share notes by emailing in Outlook 2003. File/ E-mail will send notes as HTML content to any recipient and include OneNote file as attachment for OneNote users.
- Send to Word – Selected note pages can be sent to Word as a word document with File/Send to/ Microsoft Office Word. You can also save directly to Word format with File/ Save As/ Save As Type: Word Document with .DOC. Also copy selected notes or pages and paste into any Office program. Edit/ Copy, then paste to target application.
- Real Time Sharing – Share your notes with others for viewing or editing in real time. File/ Share with Others, Start A Session, assign a Password and Select Pages to share. Option to send email invitation or connect with a shared address. All participants retain a copy of the shared notes.
- Data from Excel – Copy & paste spreadsheet range into OneNote. Paste options include; pasting with formatting (editable), pasting as text (editable), and pasting picture (non editable). Formulas are not retained; numbers are displayed in tabular format. .
- Data from Word – Copy & paste text into OneNote. Paste options include paste with formatting and paste as picture. Continuous numbered lists pick up list formatting in OneNote. Best fidelity is paste as picture though it is non editable.
- Data from PowerPoint – Individual slides can be copied and pasted into OneNote as images
- Document as Picture - To annotate Word, Excel & PowerPoint documents choose Insert/ Document as Picture to create Images of pages in OneNote. Resulting Images are not editable but can be annotated.
- Web Content – Copy & paste or drag & drop content from web page into OneNote. Web content appears with hyperlink to source page.
- Pocket PC and SmartPhone Notes – OneNote will read notes (.pwi) files of handwritten text, typed text, and drawings from a Pocket PC and import them into a “Copied from Pocket PC Notes” section.
- Audio & Video Recording – Tools/ Audio and Video Recording to record audio only or audio & video with your notes. Playback is linked to text. Recorded file is stored separate from notes file. Right click OneNote icon in taskbar for quick recording when OneNote is not open.
Important Details
- Ink Support – OneNote will only recognize ink as handwriting on the Tablet PC. While writing in ink a grey writing guide is displayed with thin corners indicating the writing space. Ink that is not recognized as text is displayed in a drawing canvas which has triangles of dots displayed as corners of the canvas.
- Ink to Text – Ink is searchable and converts to text. Right click on note selection handle/ Convert Handwriting to Text. On paste into Word handwriting is automatically converted to text. –
- Ink interpretations – Double click on handwriting to select a word and right click on ink to see possible text conversions. *Many OneNote users find it more efficient to take text notes using a keyboard and use the ink for diagrams and doodles.
- Drawings Conversion – With ink turned off drawing canvases appear with square handles. Smart tag can treat ink as handwriting.
- Password Protection - Sections with sensitive data may be password protected with File/ Password Protection. Protected sections are colored blue. By default an unlocked section relocks after 10 minutes. Tools/Options/Passwords to set options.
- File Organization – Each section is a separate OneNote file with a .ONE file extension. Pages are contained in the .ONE section files.
- File Storage – File are stored by default in My Notebook in the user’s My Documents folder. If you open a OneNote file from another location a shortcut to this file is created in the My Notebook folder. File location is set is Tools/ Options/ Open and Save.
- Saving Files – There is no save button in OneNote. Files are automatically saved every 30 seconds and when you exit OneNote. Welcome to the 21st century! File/ Save As or Ctrl+S will force a save.
- Backups – OneNote backs up all files and files with shortcuts in the My Notebook folder daily by default. Files are located in C:\Documents and Settings\ username\ Local Settings\ Application Data\ Microsoft\ OneNote\ Backup. Backup settings are in Tools/ Options/ Backup.
- Deleting & UnDeleting – Delete a page or subpage by selecting it and pressing the delete key, or right click & select Delete. To delete a section, right click on the Section Tab and select delete. To recover a deleted section, retrieve it from the Windows Recycle Bin on your desktop. Select the file in the Recycle Bin and click Restore This Item in the task pane. To recover a deleted page, retrieve it from the Deleted Items folder in OneNote. View/ Deleted Items folder or select the My Notebook dropdown left of the Section tabs. Select the deleted page, Edit/ Restore or right click, Restore.
- Tools Options – Note the new design of the old tabbed dialog box. Includes settings for Display, Editing, Default Font, Email, Audio compression, and other options.
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