tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26030939920398789042024-02-20T20:50:26.047-08:00Word Tips WorldThere are a TON of options in Word that make word-processing so much easier. You may have been using Microsoft Word for a long time, but are probably still going the long way round to get certain things done.
Here we reveal some really simple tips that should greatly speed up your use of the world's most popular word-processing package.markowehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01691087571429357848noreply@blogger.comBlogger30125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2603093992039878904.post-10017801608751540802010-09-30T01:05:00.000-07:002010-10-01T02:13:51.025-07:00How to stop losing files.<div style="float: right; padding-left: 6px;"><a href="http://www.jdoqocy.com/l7101iqzwqyDIFFGGIKDFELFEFIN?sid=losing-files-in-post-banner" target="_top"><br /></a></div><b>I want to tell you about a service that's for slackers like me who only think of making backups AFTER losing their files!</b><div><br /></div><div>Does that sound like you too? You say yeah, yeah, I know I need some kind of back-up in place - (I especially couldn't afford to lose all my extremely important, irreplaceable Word documents!) I'll get round to setting that up sometime. But it's just too much hassle right now, it's a lot of work to set up and anyway, what are the chances of my accidentally losing a file?</div><div><br /></div><div>You are probably like me. Maybe you have even just experienced <b>losing a file </b>and come here looking for a way to <b>stop it happening again</b>.</div><div><br /></div><div>Well, a service like <a href="http://www.anrdoezrs.net/f4103zw41w3JOLLMMOQJLKQTKNKN?sid=in-text-link-losing-files" target="_top">Mozy</a> was just what the doctor ordered for people like me (and, I suspect, you).</div><div><a href="http://www.dpbolvw.net/1o117nmvsmu9EBBCCEG9BAEEGAFJ?sid=mozy-button-in-post" target="_top"><span class="Apple-style-span"><br /></span></a><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.dpbolvw.net/1o117nmvsmu9EBBCCEG9BAEEGAFJ?sid=mozy-button-in-post" target="_top"><img src="http://www.lduhtrp.net/qb98iw-ousDIFFGGIKDFEIIKEJN" alt="Mozy" border="0" /></a></div></div><div><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><b>Stop losing files, dummy!!</b></div><div><b><br /></b></div><div>Now here's how I see backup - I am a keen mountain-biker. To me putting off getting a backup solution is like not wearing a helmet on my bike. When I finally need it (as I am falling off my bike), it's too late to put it on! It's the same with your precious files. AFTER losing a file it is <b>TOO LATE</b> to start thinking about backup</div><div><br /></div><div><a href="http://www.anrdoezrs.net/f4103zw41w3JOLLMMOQJLKQTKNKN?sid=in-text-link-losing-files" target="_top">Mozy</a> makes it about as easy as it can get to finally, automatically, easily get your files in a safe place and reduce the chances of losing a file to a minimum - <b>backup for dummies</b>, you might say (or the chronically lazy, like me).</div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: normal; "><div><b>How Mozy stops you losing files</b></div><div><br /></div><div>Mozy is a highly automated backup system that you can set up and forget! It will run in the background of your computer, transferring files to online storage, transparently to you, the user. You needn't even think about it - until you lose a file, that is!</div></span></b></div><div><br /></div><div>Mozy has a couple of interesting options:</div><div><br /></div><div><img src="http://www.tqlkg.com/1s122o26v0zKPMMNNPRKMLPQTLUM" width="1" height="1" border="0" />1) <a href="http://www.dpbolvw.net/s370ox52x4KPMMNNPRKMLPQTLUM?sid=unlimited-link-in-post" target="_top">Unlimited online backup for only $4.95 a month</a>, meaning you can literally store ANY amount of data you want (yes, as much as you want, or so they say!)</div><div><img src="http://www.tqlkg.com/gn122uuymsqBGDDEEGIBDCGFCHGJ" width="1" height="1" border="0" />2) A <a href="http://www.dpbolvw.net/af100js0ys-FKHHIIKMFHGKJGLKN?sid=2GB-free-link-in-post" target="_top">2GB free storage</a> option, which is basically like a free trial (though with no time limit), where you always have the option to upgrade if you run out of space. 2Gb isn't nearly enough for me, but certainly enough to get a feel for the system.</div><div><br /></div><div>So I decided to check it out. To begin with I signed up for the free package. I want to see how it works first. If it stops me potentially losing valuable files, I see NO problem paying a measly $5 a month, especially for unlimited storage! (do they KNOW how many files I have!?)</div><div><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></span></b></div><div><b><br /></b></div><div><b>Here is what happens when you sign up for the free 2Gb trial of Mozy:</b></div><div><b><br /></b></div><div>1) First you supply your email and choose a password (remember both!)</div><div><br /></div><div>2) Answer a few survey questions about the industry you work in. I guess that's a fair trade-off for the free storage!</div><div><br /></div><div>3) Wait for a confirmation email, which actually took unusually long for me - (well, about 10 minutes!) </div><div><br /></div><div>4) Click on the link in the email. This confirms your membership and also takes you to a download page for the MozyHome client.</div><div><br /></div><div>5) Download the MozyHome client appropriate to your system (Windows, Mac etc.) and install it.</div><div>6) You will be asked to enter the email and password you chose earlier.</div><div><br /></div><div>7) The program scans your hard disk for different types of file and then asks you which types of file you would like to back up (for example, you can just opt to back up documents). This is one bit I didn't like hugely, it's a little dumbed-down. I wanted to choose which folders to back up myself. If you do too, you should just quit this step and right-click on the new Mozy tray icon and choose settings. Then you can go to the File System tab and manually choose which folders to back up, making sure not to go over your 2Gb quota if you have opted for the free trial. There are lots of other interesting options, but the defaults are fine for now.</div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><b>...and that's it!</b></div><div>After this, <a href="http://www.anrdoezrs.net/f4103zw41w3JOLLMMOQJLKQTKNKN?sid=in-text-link-losing-files" target="_top">Mozy</a> will work away in the background, initially transferring all the files you selected to the online service. That can take a day or so at least, even for less than 2 gigs of files, due to our typically slow upload speeds.</div><div><br /></div><div>Mozy will then stay on your desktop, continuing to work in the background and only transferring those files that have changed, totally transparently to you. If anything goes wrong in your everyday work and you end up losing a file for some reason, then <a href="http://www.anrdoezrs.net/f4103zw41w3JOLLMMOQJLKQTKNKN?sid=in-text-link-losing-files" target="_top">Mozy</a> starts to really pay for itself - you can use the Restore Files option to download the file you lost from the online storage service (and you have a whole month to notice you lost the file, that's how long they keep them).</div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><b>Conclusion</b></div><div><br /></div><div>Easy as pie! I've got <a href="http://www.anrdoezrs.net/f4103zw41w3JOLLMMOQJLKQTKNKN?sid=in-text-link-losing-files" target="_top">Mozy</a> chugging away right now in the background as I type this, and I feel a lot better for it, let me tell you! I will almost certainly be upgrading to the Unlimited Storage option, as I have many gigs of files that I don't want to lose, and they are worth MUCH much more than <a href="http://www.dpbolvw.net/s370ox52x4KPMMNNPRKMLPQTLUM?sid=unlimited-link-in-post" target="_top">$4.95 a month</a>!</div><div><br /></div><div>There is plenty more to say than that, but I hope that gives you an idea of how Mozy can prevent you losing files ever again!</div><div><br /></div><div>Give it a go, you might as well, because the <a href="http://www.dpbolvw.net/af100js0ys-FKHHIIKMFHGKJGLKN?sid=2GB-free-link-in-post" target="_top">2GB free storage</a> option is free! Or maybe you want to go straight in with the <a href="http://www.dpbolvw.net/s370ox52x4KPMMNNPRKMLPQTLUM?sid=unlimited-link-in-post" target="_top">unlimited online backup option for only $4.95 a month</a> - you can always cancel if you are not happy, though I think you will be, especially the first time you recover a lost file!<div><a href="http://www.tkqlhce.com/aj103mu2-u1HMJJKKMOHJIMPQIIQ?sid=bottom-banner-in-post" target="_top"><br /></a><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.tkqlhce.com/aj103mu2-u1HMJJKKMOHJIMPQIIQ?sid=bottom-banner-in-post" target="_top"><img src="http://www.tqlkg.com/md117bosgmk5A7788AC576ADE66E" alt="The way Backup Should Be FREE!" border="0" /></a></div></div></div>markowehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01691087571429357848noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2603093992039878904.post-15536238805866999242010-09-26T05:55:00.000-07:002010-09-26T06:11:02.879-07:00Word 2003 bye-bye?If you have been following Word Tips World for a while you will know that I have religiously kept the tips limited just to those that are about Word 2003, which at the time I started the blog (2007) was still the most common version around. Word 2007 (Office 2007) had come out, but most people (including me) hated the new 'ribbon' and were perfectly happy using Word 2003 and earlier version.<div><br /></div><div>Times have changed gradually, Word 2007 has given birth to 2010 and to be perfectly honest, though I personally still don't like the 'Ribbon', I think I am ready to move over to Word 2010, at the same time I migrate to Windows 7. There ARE serious bugs in Word 2003 that affect my productivity and I guess clinging tenaciously to an out-of-date product just isn't the sign of a mature personality!</div><div><br /></div><div>But I don't want to take a final decision without asking you the reader. So come over to <a href="http://word-tips-world.blogspot.com">the site</a> (if you are an email or RSS subscriber) and leave a comment on this article, and also vote in the poll you see on the right-hand side, which will run for around a month, and let me know, which is it to be: <b>Yes</b>, Office 2003 should be put out to pasture and we should move on to Word 2010 or <b>No</b>, never, I would rather die than move over to Word 2010 and The Ribbon!</div><div><br /></div><div>I will consider your opinions and votes in taking a final decision. Thanks!</div>markowehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01691087571429357848noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2603093992039878904.post-1789055955780102662009-10-17T00:45:00.000-07:002009-10-17T01:03:07.219-07:00Copy-pasting text from web pages without messing up formattingPerhaps like me you often copy-paste text from web pages into your Word documents. For example, I am currently involved in a translation project that includes a lot of Bible verses. I am obviously not going to type these in from scratch every time, rather, I will copy-paste them from <a href="http://www.biblegateway.com/">Bible Gateway</a> of course.<br /><br />Only problem is, the verses on Bible Gateway are formatted in a different family and size of font from my Word document, so when I paste them in to my doc, it does so in the source font and I then have to change the font, size etc. which is a pain. Also, there is a danger when copying from a web page that you will also copy across HTML tags that won't be visible, but could play havoc with your documents later.<br /><br />So you need to use <span style="font-weight: bold;">Paste Special</span> instead of just CTRL-V (you DO use keyboard shortcuts to copy-paste I hope! CTRL-C to copy, CTRL-V to paste!). <span style="font-weight: bold;">Paste Special </span>is up on the Edit menu in "normal" versions of Word. If you are using 2007 onwards, sorry, can't help you, but I am sure it's there somewhere in the famous "ribbon"!<br /><br />Copy your text from your webpage, then go into your Word document and select <span style="font-weight: bold;">Paste Special</span>. You will see a dialogue come up and, without worrying too much about all the options, just select <span style="font-weight: bold;">Unformatted text</span> and <span style="font-weight: bold;">OK</span> (or just double click it). Hey presto, the text is pasted in the same font as the text you were working on at that moment. By the way, this tip applies to any source of formatted text, not just web pages.<br /><br />The only problem with this is that it is more cumbersome than just pressing CTRL-V, and there is no keyboard shortcut for "<span style="font-weight: bold;">Paste unformatted</span>" - you have to navigate up to the appropriate menu with the mouse, or learn the key sequence <a href="http://word-tips-world.blogspot.com/2007/04/word-keyboard-shortcuts-via-main-menu.html">as I explained here</a>. However, if you feel you are up to it, Microsoft's site has <a href="http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/help/HA010429611033.aspx">an article</a> explaining how to write a macro to do this.<br /><br />Happy pasting!markowehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01691087571429357848noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2603093992039878904.post-38561945217790664842009-01-17T03:33:00.000-08:002009-01-17T03:41:39.249-08:00Stop the annoying horizontal line in WordOne of the most-read tips on this blog is still "<a href="http://word-tips-world.blogspot.com/2007/06/get-rid-of-that-annoying-horizontal.html">Get rid of that annoying horizontal line in Word</a>", which means that problem is still bugging people out there.<br /><br />It's a "feature" of Microsoft Word, whereby annoying horizontal lines appear in your document and you can't get rid of them. The post above describes how to remove those lines, but there is also a way of stopping (some of) them from appearing.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">AutoCorrect</span> <span style="font-weight: bold;">creating The Line</span><br />Sometimes they are created by Word's often useful, sometimes infuriating <span style="font-weight: bold;">AutoCorrect </span>feature. If you type a line of 3 or more equals signs, underscores, minus signs, and probably a number of other chracters, Word automatically converts this to a line running across the screen, which isn't actually a line but a <span style="font-weight: bold;">border</span>, which is why we have trouble getting rid of it. You can just about see why someone might want to use this shortcut, but it seems to have caused more confusion among Word users than anything, all things considered.<br /><br />The way to stop this is simple - go to <span style="font-weight: bold;">Tools -> AutoCorrect Options</span> and select the <span style="font-weight: bold;">AutoFormat As You Type</span> tab. Uncheck the option <span style="font-weight: bold;">Apply as you type -> Border lines</span> and never see that feature again! (until you reinstall Office at a later date and forget what you changed!)markowehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01691087571429357848noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2603093992039878904.post-23665373224567896162008-03-19T01:00:00.000-07:002008-12-09T02:52:23.779-08:00The Word LifeSaver - never lose a Word document again!<div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">"Never lose a Word document again!" (hopefully)</span><br /></div><br /><div style="float: left; padding-right: 6px;"><a href="https://www.paypal.com/cgi-bin/webscr?cmd=_donations&business=mzdaniels%40gmail%2ecom&item_name=Word%20LifeSaver&item_number=lifesaver&no_shipping=0&no_note=1&tax=0&currency_code=USD&lc=US&bn=PP%2dDonationsBF&charset=UTF%2d8"> <img src="https://www.paypal.com/en_GB/i/btn/x-click-butcc-donate.gif" /></a><span style="font-size:85%;"><br /></span></div><span style="font-weight: bold;font-size:78%;" >If the Word LifeSaver saved your life, or at least your Word document, consider making a donation to help with the upkeep of this program. Thanks.</span><br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"> <span style="font-weight: bold;"><br /></span></div><a href="http://www.itsgottabered.com/wtw/WordLifeSaverInstall.zip">Download v0.3 of the Word LifeSaver here - FREE </a>(compatible with Word 2003 - not tested with other versions, please let me know if you have tried Word 2007 or others)<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">NOTE ADDED: 22nd July 2008 - <span style="font-style: italic;">there is a "slight" loophole in the program - you COULD still exit Word using </span></span><span style="font-style: italic;">File -> Exit, </span><span style="font-weight: bold;">or by clicking on the 'X' at the top right of the window. Thanks to a user for pointing that out. Unfortunately, I have not yet found a way of intercepting Word's Exit 'event' (actually, there seems to be no Exit event in Word Visual Basic - help programmers!) but if I manage to work it out I will post a new version of course. So, yes, this does diminish the functionality of the program a tad, but you could still find it a LifeSaver..!</span><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">The background</span><br />You know that moment? The moment when you are exiting Microsoft Word and the program asks you <span style="font-weight: bold;">Do you want to save? </span>In your haste you automatically press <span style="font-weight: bold;">NO</span>, realising a split second later, with horror, that you DID want to save, and that you have just lost 10 minutes's/an hour's/a day's work!<br /><br />Usually in this situation the document is <span style="font-style: italic;">lost for good</span>! I know you know about this because <a href="http://word-tips-world.blogspot.com/2007/05/forgot-to-save-my-word-document.html">this </a>is the most popular article on this site!<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Word LifeSaver - how it works</span><br />To stop this happening, you need the Word LifeSaver! It is a little routine which you install in Word which STOPS you from easily closing a document that you haven't saved. If you try to close a document with unsaved changes in it - and these can represent a few seconds typing, or a whole day's work! - Word will still ask you <span style="font-weight: bold;">Are you sure...? </span>If you go ahead and press <span style="font-weight: bold;">NO</span> the document will NOT close, losing all your work forever. Rather, you will be presented by this rather wordy but, I hope you will agree, useful dialogue:<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi7ixSH-sXBrkjm-tmofAATIIlLmgwZgLMyoO-qvKyy6kQAcSlE6uuNXPJl0HR1xvHfs-oxQbcbmBnt4U1jAdDP0BzP6yFh77Pp1m_a4XFfbQxYRNNm7jjL7FMxFjV4H7RuB85_YVyfaeQ/s1600-h/LifeSaver_in_action.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi7ixSH-sXBrkjm-tmofAATIIlLmgwZgLMyoO-qvKyy6kQAcSlE6uuNXPJl0HR1xvHfs-oxQbcbmBnt4U1jAdDP0BzP6yFh77Pp1m_a4XFfbQxYRNNm7jjL7FMxFjV4H7RuB85_YVyfaeQ/s320/LifeSaver_in_action.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5182107340864165650" border="0" /></a>This is your chance to say NO! and save your document.<br /><br />If you should press YES, well - there might just be one more chance, but let's hope you don't need that, eh?<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Word LifeSaver - how to install<br /></span>1) Hopefully you have <a href="http://www.itsgottabered.com/wtw/WordLifeSaverInstall.zip">downloaded LifeSaver v0.3</a>.<br /><br />2) Unzip it, but DO NOT run it.<br /><br />3) Open Word 2003. Go into Tools -> Macros -> Security and set the security level to <span style="font-weight: bold;">Medium</span> if it is set higher than that. You must do this - LifeSaver is written in Visual Basic and won't work otherwise!<br /><br />4) Now go to Open and find the file you unzipped - <span style="font-weight: bold;">WordLifeSaverInstall.dot</span>. Open it. If you are asked whether you want to enable macros, click Enable.<br /><br />5) Follow the on-screen instructions and... that's it! The rest is explained in the file, hopefully.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;"><br />How to uninstall</span><br /><br />1) Navigate via the toolbar through: <span style="font-weight: bold;">Tools -> Macro -> Macros -> Organizer<br /><br /></span>2) Choose the <span style="font-weight: bold;">Macro Project Items</span> tab and look at the list in the <span style="font-weight: bold;">In Normal:</span> box, on the left.<br /><br />3) You need to choose three macros from that list and delete them with the <span style="font-weight: bold;">Delete</span> button. These are:<br /><br /><ul><li><span style="font-weight: bold;">DoubleCheckSave</span></li><li><span style="font-weight: bold;">LifeSaver</span></li><li><span style="font-weight: bold;">SureCloseDialog</span></li></ul>Once these are gone, the macro should no longer work.<br /><br />Please read the instructions fully, as well as the disclaimer and the license. The program is free to use and distribute, <a href="https://www.paypal.com/cgi-bin/webscr?cmd=_donations&business=mzdaniels%40gmail%2ecom&item_name=Word%20LifeSaver&item_number=lifesaver&no_shipping=0&no_note=1&tax=0&currency_code=USD&lc=US&bn=PP%2dDonationsBF&charset=UTF%2d8">donations</a> are always gratefully received if this program helped you, and most of all I would love to hear if you found this program useful, or if you found any bugs in it (highly likely) - so let me know in the comments below.markowehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01691087571429357848noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2603093992039878904.post-38017927960537921802008-02-29T03:50:00.000-08:002008-02-29T04:36:05.707-08:00Inserting non-standard characters in Word using ALT-number padA while back I wrote a <a href="http://http//word-tips-world.blogspot.com/2007/12/inserting-symbols-in-word-continued.html">couple </a>of <a href="http://word-tips-world.blogspot.com/2007/11/symbols-in-word.html">articles</a> about inserting non-keyboard symbols in Word using the Insert Symbol function, and also by using some default shortcuts.<br /><br />Now we get onto the real voodoo - <span style="font-weight: bold;">using ALT and the number pad</span> to produce some non-standard characters. You do have a number pad, don't you? That was one of the essential features I insisted on when I got <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/search?ie=UTF8&keywords=B000RN3ERQ&tag=itsgotbered-20&index=blended&linkCode=ur2&camp=1789&creative=9325">my Toshiba laptop</a><img src="http://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=itsgotbered-20&l=ur2&o=1" alt="" style="border: medium none ! important; margin: 0px ! important;" border="0" height="1" width="1" /> - unless you REALLY need high portability, you ARE going to miss the number pad at times...<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">How to use ALT and the number pad to produce non-keyboard characters<br /></span>All the characters you need CAN be inserted into your document using the Insert Symbol function in Word - say the <span style="" lang="SR">² (squared) symbol, the µ (Mu or micro) symbol, or the ¼</span> and other basic fractions. But what if you use them frequently? You don't want to have to go into Insert symbol every time.<br /><br />Well, this is how you do it: first go into Insert symbol and select one of the above-mentioned symbols (this is by way of example - not all the symbols are inserted this way, so choose one of those for now). Click on the symbol once, say <span style="" lang="SR">µ . At the bottom it says: <span style="font-style: italic;">Shortcut key: Alt+0181. </span>What's that all about?<br /><br />It means: </span><br /><br />1) Make sure the NUM LOCK light is lit on your keyboard - if not, press it once to activate the number keypad<br />2) Press the LEFT "ALT" key (it doesn't work with the right!) and hold it down.<br />3) While still holding the left ALT key, type <span style="font-weight: bold;">0181 </span>in sequence on the number pad (it <span style="font-style: italic;">only</span> works on the keypad too!)<br />4) Let go of the ALT key and... the <span style="font-weight: bold;">µ </span>symbol magically appears!<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Other ALT codes</span><br />Many other symbols have these codes, and believe it or not, you CAN learn these by heart if you use them fairly regularly - you don't want to have to go back to Insert symbol every time, after all, that would defeat the object somewhat! I have a number of these codes that I use without thinking, such as the „ and ” I need in Serbian - you can't get those via the keyboard.<br /><br />Here are a few more symbol ALT codes:<br /><br />½ (half symbol) - <span style="font-weight: bold;">ALT+0189<br /></span>¾ (three-quarters symbol) - <span style="font-weight: bold;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">ALT+0190<br /></span></span>÷ (division sign) - <span style="font-weight: bold;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">ALT+0247<br /></span></span>† (dagger) - <span style="font-weight: bold;">ALT+0134<br /></span>§ (section) - <span style="font-weight: bold;">ALT+0167<br /></span>± (plus-minus) - <span style="font-weight: bold;">ALT+0177<br /></span>¥ (Yen) - <span style="font-weight: bold;">ALT+0165<br /><br /></span>Oh, and I'll let you into a little secret! These shortcuts are not exclusive to Word - in fact they work in all Microsoft and most Windows programs. In fact, I used them to type the symbols here.<br /><br />Thanks for tuning in to Word Tips World again, and for letting us into your inbox if you are an email subscriber. Stay tuned, for one more bit of symbol-inserting voodoo, coming soon!<span style="font-weight: bold;"></span>markowehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01691087571429357848noreply@blogger.com11tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2603093992039878904.post-50556176903057169522007-12-05T00:21:00.000-08:002007-12-05T00:40:05.933-08:00Inserting symbols in Word, continuedRecently I wrote about inserting <a href="http://word-tips-world.blogspot.com/2007/11/symbols-in-word.html">symbols in Word</a> using the <span style="font-weight: bold;">Insert symbol</span> function. I also mentioned that there are keyboard shortcuts for some common symbols, like © (copyright symbol) (<span style="font-style: italic;">ALT+CTRL+C</span>) and it's well worth learning them, it can really save you some time! Here are a few more:<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">® </span>(registered trademark symbol) - <span style="font-style: italic;">ALT+CTRL+R<br /></span><span style="font-weight: bold;"> ¢ </span>(cent symbol) - bit more tricky, hold <span style="font-style: italic;">CTRL</span> and press /, then press c whilst still holding CTRL!<br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">° </span>(degree symbol) - hold <span style="font-style: italic;">CTRL</span> and press @, then press space<br /><br />By the way, these can depend on what keyboard you have - mine is not an English one, so to get @ I have to press shift too!<br /><br />But we still haven't got onto those symbols that are inserted with ALT+xxxx (a four digit number) - we'll leave that for next time!<br /><p></p><br /><p></p>markowehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01691087571429357848noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2603093992039878904.post-16326312483391682842007-11-26T01:53:00.000-08:002008-12-09T02:52:24.706-08:00How do I convert a PDF to a Word document?In my translation business I often get PDF files which the customer wants translated and returned identically-formatted. The only way I can do this (partly because of the software we use to help us in translation) is to somehow convert the file to Word format and do the editing/translating there, and then convert back to PDF if necessary.<br /><br />You probably have a similar situation, where you have a PDF file that you need to convert into a Word file so you can then continue editing the document in Word for whatever reason, and you want formatting preserved.<br /><br />I have decided to test <a href="http://www.regnow.com/softsell/nph-softsell.cgi?item=8554-10&affiliate=95049">VeryPDF's PDF to Word software</a>, one of the solutions that are out there for converting PDF files into Word documents, and see how well a product like this really works.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.regnow.com/softsell/nph-softsell.cgi?item=8554-30&affiliate=95049"><img src="http://regnow.img.digitalriver.com/vendor/8554/pdf-to-word.jpg" align="absmiddle" /></a><br /><br />What I decided to do was get a PDF file and try converting it with <a href="http://www.regnow.com/softsell/nph-softsell.cgi?item=8554-10&affiliate=95049">PDF to Word</a> to see if it really does the job. I opted for a really exciting document, the <a href="http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/forms/sa100.pdf">British Government's SA-100 tax form</a>, which is full of nice formatting which ought to trip up the program. Here is a snapshot of the file (this is from page 2, click for full size):<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhFSXf9lsF_v_aLOjRIHSPyq4s0oUKjB926Hb2G5MHK1wLPodLGlfSm6F0oIsPG3GTFvtXyDurQUe126th6RhH734IYLFRodds4g1RMiv-2FKyT3ImDO47awAB3I3asOuAiUI2zyU6V7O8/s1600-h/original-PDF-document.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhFSXf9lsF_v_aLOjRIHSPyq4s0oUKjB926Hb2G5MHK1wLPodLGlfSm6F0oIsPG3GTFvtXyDurQUe126th6RhH734IYLFRodds4g1RMiv-2FKyT3ImDO47awAB3I3asOuAiUI2zyU6V7O8/s320/original-PDF-document.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5137132132352132322" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">The easy way</span><br />Of course, you could just open the file in Adobe Reader and copy/paste the text into Word. So let's try that.<br /><br />You basically get an unformatted text file, like so (click for full size):<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgjeShli-bVdTpWFbgs5KeWIO6Y34z0U3FgnNASn5Wfd6m533m4lWD8-0L8N2FAmrrKw706vQxzRvKMIYtkletb9Q6Ybjz6SMhAiGjF3MfJDJ19VUclZWvDC2WpIHXkXz1XLIgUHxUObqA/s1600-h/straight-copy-paste-from-Acrobat-Reader-to-Word.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgjeShli-bVdTpWFbgs5KeWIO6Y34z0U3FgnNASn5Wfd6m533m4lWD8-0L8N2FAmrrKw706vQxzRvKMIYtkletb9Q6Ybjz6SMhAiGjF3MfJDJ19VUclZWvDC2WpIHXkXz1XLIgUHxUObqA/s320/straight-copy-paste-from-Acrobat-Reader-to-Word.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5137132982755656946" border="0" /></a><br />As you can see, it's next to useless - there is no formatting preserved and you would have a real job trying to reconstruct the original document from this.<br /><br />Now, if Adobe Reader had an option like Save As -> Word Document... That would be nice, but they want you to buy the full Acrobat software for that, costing 100's of dollars! And having used it in the past, I was not overly impressed with its export to Word function, though this may have improved.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">The VeryPDF way<br /></span>I downloaded trial versions of several PDF converter programs, and they all did the job fairly well, but I eventually decided to demonstrate <a href="http://www.regnow.com/softsell/nph-softsell.cgi?item=8554-10&affiliate=95049">VeryPDF's</a>, mainly because it offers a fairly generous trial period - 99 tries and only a 5-page limitation in trial mode. Some of the other programs (such as <a href="http://www.regnow.com/softsell/nph-softsell.cgi?item=5160-23&affiliate=95049">this one</a>) seemed to do a good job, but obfuscated the results with asterisks and stuff. I understand they need to do to ensure sales of the full version, but it was very annoying and did not allow me to properly trial the program. <a href="http://www.regnow.com/softsell/nph-softsell.cgi?item=8554-10&affiliate=95049">VeryPDF's PDF to Word software</a> is very easy to use so I won't go into details - all you have to do is select the source PDF and name the target Word file and in a few minutes the job is finished. And here is the result (yes, this is a screenshot of the resulting Word file!):<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjavgu9n7p4cNAn9MYwAJSopvP01FXwLzqm-4hFIw92SZOM2DN2os2N13B6fpw5Kf1hwvXOOmx2VxR_DkZQivLLZnPA2sG9bwMvtDZN4pxn7rMFjO7TY8YAm8dHxcqmPJvB8gGoHW4lGNk/s1600-h/word-document-coverted-with-verypdf-convertor.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjavgu9n7p4cNAn9MYwAJSopvP01FXwLzqm-4hFIw92SZOM2DN2os2N13B6fpw5Kf1hwvXOOmx2VxR_DkZQivLLZnPA2sG9bwMvtDZN4pxn7rMFjO7TY8YAm8dHxcqmPJvB8gGoHW4lGNk/s320/word-document-coverted-with-verypdf-convertor.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5137133730079966466" border="0" /></a><br />I am impressed - I honestly wasn't expecting it to be that good! I expected some bits of the PDF to be converted to graphical elements in Word but they were not - every bit of the text is editable, as far as I can see. And the actual formatting is perfect. The only issue is the main font, where it didn't use a sans-serif font. I guess this is because the font was not a standard Windows one, and this little glitch may be fixable through the options, though I couldn't find anything like that.<br /><br />Also, of course, the results would be a lot different if the document contained scanned text. I can't show you the results of this because I tried it on a confidential document, but you should know that this program does not appear to OCR text that is in the form of a bitmap.<br /><br />All in all though, these are small niggles and I was most impressed with this program. I will have to seriously consider buying <a href="http://www.regnow.com/softsell/nph-softsell.cgi?item=8554-30&affiliate=95049">the full version</a> as it could give me a huge competitive advantage to be able to supply the customer with a translated AND fully-formatted Word/PDF document. At only $35, the product would pay for itself very quickly<br /><br /><a href="http://www.regnow.com/softsell/nph-softsell.cgi?item=8554-30&affiliate=95049">Buy the PDF to Word converter here.</a><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;"></span>markowehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01691087571429357848noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2603093992039878904.post-28048767734819396452007-11-24T04:13:00.000-08:002008-12-09T02:52:24.970-08:00Symbols in WordOK, reaaaaally simple, but it's amazing how many people do not know this. You often have a situation in word where you want to use a symbol that is not represented on the keyboard. For example ¥ (Japanese Yen), © (copyright) or µ (Greek symbol micro-).<br /><br />There ARE keyboard shortcuts to get these symbols, but your first port of call will probably be the <span style="font-weight: bold;">insert symbol</span> function (just go to <span style="font-weight: bold;">Insert </span>and choose<span style="font-weight: bold;"> Symbol</span>).<br /><br />You will be offered this grid of symbols which are contained within the font you are currently using, though you can choose another font from the drop-down menu, e.g. one of those Dingbats type fonts:<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiZfGMpVXStAU10jOimI7yqlhftdO08cA8noFJ1JIvSIXqTSrGJmq4y-1ssuqs_8dgfKq-32uf6KjxdNSZ4vtzPIEtceKI5uvL98SSnzIg0CuLllFMSVZ9CS5odcyhfURWPU3i1px_K1-w/s1600-h/symbols-grid-word.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiZfGMpVXStAU10jOimI7yqlhftdO08cA8noFJ1JIvSIXqTSrGJmq4y-1ssuqs_8dgfKq-32uf6KjxdNSZ4vtzPIEtceKI5uvL98SSnzIg0CuLllFMSVZ9CS5odcyhfURWPU3i1px_K1-w/s400/symbols-grid-word.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5136380607564612770" border="0" /></a>Just double-click on the symbol you want and it will appear in your text at the current cursor position. You can also see the list of recently-used symbols below the main grid, which will probably be a quicker way to find the symbol you are looking for.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Symbols Shortcut Key<br /></span>You will also notice that you can define a <span style="font-weight: bold;">shortcut key</span> by pressing the button that says... <span style="font-weight: bold;">shortcut key</span>! But most of the major symbols already have a predefined shortcut key. For example, the copyright symbol is inserted by pressing <span style="font-weight: bold;">ALT+CTRL+C</span>. However, in this example, the Yen symbol is inserted by pressing a strange looking combination,<span style="font-weight: bold;"> ALT+0165</span>. If you don't know what this refers to, then stick around because we will give you a quick explanation in a future article.<br /><br />Happy symbol-inserting..!<br /><span style="font-weight: bold;"><br /><br /></span>markowehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01691087571429357848noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2603093992039878904.post-61685954706539093972007-11-14T02:10:00.001-08:002007-11-18T06:15:40.007-08:00Using speech recognition in Word<div style="padding: 4px; float: left;"><iframe src="http://rcm.amazon.com/e/cm?t=wtwbody-20&o=1&p=8&l=as1&asins=B000H2049I&fc1=333333&IS2=1&lt1=_blank&lc1=445566&bc1=000000&bg1=C3D9FF&f=ifr" style="width: 120px; height: 240px;" marginwidth="0" marginheight="0" frameborder="0" scrolling="no"></iframe></div><p><a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/search?ie=UTF8&keywords=Dragon%20naturally%20speaking&tag=wtwbody-20&index=blended&linkCode=ur2&camp=1789&creative=9325">WORKING speech recognition in Windows, with Dragon NaturallySpeaking! Buy now!</a><br /></p><p>I have to briefly rave about this discovery, even though it's not directly related to Microsoft Word! Just watch the video and you will get the gist of it!</p><br /><div xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml"><p><object width="425" height="355"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/W3DhnpLIKCQ&rel=1"></param><param name="wmode" value="transparent"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/W3DhnpLIKCQ&rel=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" wmode="transparent" width="425" height="355"></embed></object></p></div><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Must be a trick!</span><br />Amazing, huh? Now, I have been using this product, <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/search?ie=UTF8&keywords=Dragon%20naturally%20speaking&tag=wtwbody-20&index=blended&linkCode=ur2&camp=1789&creative=9325">Dragon NaturallySpeaking 9</a> by Nuance, mostly in Microsoft Word, for a couple of weeks now, so I can give you a quick low-down.<br /><br />Well, in short, it really does work just like in the clip! Okay, so the people you see in the video are quite proficient in using the program, but the speech recognition really does work that quickly and accurately! It has really revolutionised my use of Microsoft Word - I'm involved in the translation business and for us, time, or rather typing speed, really is money. But there is an upper limit to how fast anyone can type, especially if they are a translator, since translators are not usually professional typists. Even for those who do type quite fast, like me, the hours per day we need to spend typing at high speed really do take their toll on our finger joints.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/search?ie=UTF8&keywords=Dragon%20naturally%20speaking&tag=wtwbody-20&index=blended&linkCode=ur2&camp=1789&creative=9325">Dragon NaturallySpeaking</a> has drastically reduced the amount of typing I need to do and now my most common bottleneck is the actual thought process involved in writing text, rather than the limit imposed by typing speed, which is how it should be!<br /><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">What's the catch?</span><br />Of course there are downsides. Although <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/search?ie=UTF8&keywords=Dragon%20naturally%20speaking&tag=wtwbody-20&index=blended&linkCode=ur2&camp=1789&creative=9325">Dragon NaturallySpeaking</a> has an exceptional dictionary, it cannot possibly cater for all possible proper nouns that one might wish to type. So for example in a historical text, you are likely to encounter the names of people, places and events which <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/search?ie=UTF8&keywords=Dragon%20naturally%20speaking&tag=wtwbody-20&index=blended&linkCode=ur2&camp=1789&creative=9325">DNS</a> simply can't cope with. You will probably need to enter those manually, though you can program in new words, which <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/search?ie=UTF8&keywords=Dragon%20naturally%20speaking&tag=wtwbody-20&index=blended&linkCode=ur2&camp=1789&creative=9325">DNS</a> then recognizes perfectly. It's just a question of whether you feel it's worth taking a few seconds (it's that quick) to train the new word, or just type it the few times it appears.<br /><br />Obviously, although you can talk very quickly when using the program, you do have to enunciate quite clearly, and any time you stumble over a word (which is quite often in my case) <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/search?ie=UTF8&keywords=Dragon%20naturally%20speaking&tag=wtwbody-20&index=blended&linkCode=ur2&camp=1789&creative=9325">DNS</a> gets confused. Also, I have a cold at the moment, and this has slightly affected accuracy!<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Conclusion</span><br />This is not intended to be a full-blown review, I just want to open up the possibility to you of using a speech recognition program such as <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/search?ie=UTF8&keywords=Dragon%20naturally%20speaking&tag=wtwbody-20&index=blended&linkCode=ur2&camp=1789&creative=9325">Dragon NaturallySpeaking</a>. Maybe you tried this program, as I did, a few years ago, and weren't very impressed. Now all I can say is, buy a decent microphone, make sure you do some of the training routines after installation, so that the programme is calibrated to your voice, and give it another try! I think you will be blown away!<br /><br />For the first time, it really occurs to me that we could be seeing the beginning of the end of the keyboard as a practical data entry device! I have no hesitation in recommending this amazing software, and at $160 for the standard version, it is a bargain! In my job, the increase in productivity that it brings means it could pay for itself in less than a week!<br /><br />Now you just have to think about how you are going to keep the people around you quiet while you are trying to type, or rather speak!<br /><br />P.S. Oh, I forgot to mention, this whole article was written using <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/search?ie=UTF8&keywords=Dragon%20naturally%20speaking&tag=wtwbody-20&index=blended&linkCode=ur2&camp=1789&creative=9325">Dragon NaturallySpeaking</a>. With the exception of a few minor corrections and alterations, the entire text was spoken by me and recognized by <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/search?ie=UTF8&keywords=Dragon%20naturally%20speaking&tag=wtwbody-20&index=blended&linkCode=ur2&camp=1789&creative=9325">DNS</a>.<br /><br />P.P.S. There are several versions of <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/search?ie=UTF8&keywords=Dragon%20naturally%20speaking&tag=wtwbody-20&index=blended&linkCode=ur2&camp=1789&creative=9325">Dragon NaturallySpeaking</a>. <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/search?ie=UTF8&keywords=Dragon%20naturally%20speaking&tag=wtwbody-20&index=blended&linkCode=ur2&camp=1789&creative=9325">Standard, Preferred and Professional</a>. Preferred is the most popular, and the one you will probably go for. Standard is a somewhat slimmed down version that seems to be intended for family use, while Professional is a fully featured, quite expensive version, with advanced scripting facilities which you would need to know why you need. Unfortunately, there does not appear to be a demo version, but I believe on-site demonstrations are available for potential corporate customers.markowehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01691087571429357848noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2603093992039878904.post-15970727295688964602007-09-28T04:29:00.000-07:002008-12-09T02:52:25.130-08:00How do I get rid of "limited menus" in Word?This is a real pain in the neck and I thoroughly recommend this be the first option you change when installing Word 2003 for the first time (no longer applies to Word 2007).<br /><br />You know what I am referring to? The drop-down menus like File, Edit, View etc. are abbreviated by default - set to only show SOME of the options on them, with a chevron at the bottom to show FULL options:<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEilAmW2xO_1rv7ZudE6ByZdlkQhRvDGwHoDZ53JNExS0a1xSGi9hTAtJpCYrffnj0b3ZGKnRQJL2FVV7rpLXvnC7jB-2AeYDdWXDQTtm7LC7YUD6jrx5hQ83r9SlNp7wOj-oR-BbXxoFw0/s1600-h/limited+drop-down+menus.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEilAmW2xO_1rv7ZudE6ByZdlkQhRvDGwHoDZ53JNExS0a1xSGi9hTAtJpCYrffnj0b3ZGKnRQJL2FVV7rpLXvnC7jB-2AeYDdWXDQTtm7LC7YUD6jrx5hQ83r9SlNp7wOj-oR-BbXxoFw0/s400/limited+drop-down+menus.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5115217122921027250" border="0" /></a><br />Somehow, this is supposed to HELP you, by not overwhelming you with options and only showing the ones you use most often. Trouble is, it never seems to show quite the ones you need, so you are forever having to click the "more" chevrons to get the rest of the options. Unless you are a total beginner in Word, this is just a pain in the neck.<br /><br />To turn this off, <span style="font-weight: bold;">right-click</span> the mouse somewhere on the drop-down menu bar (i.e. where it says File, Edit etc.) and then choose the <span style="font-weight: bold;">Customize </span>option at the bottom. Choose the tab, and there you will find an option <span style="font-weight: bold;">Always show full menus</span>. Tick this, and Bob's your uncle! You will always be presented with ALL drop-down menu options and you need never be patronised by Word again. Erm...markowehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01691087571429357848noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2603093992039878904.post-63816025789071309632007-08-29T03:22:00.000-07:002007-08-29T03:33:02.731-07:00Highlight whole document from or to a certain pointOK - another tip about highlighting using the keyboard in Microsoft Word (and other Windows applications). This is really handy!<br /><br />So you need to highlight (i.e. mark for some subsequent purpose, like copy/paste or something) some of a document, which is maybe 500 pages long. You only want to mark the first, say, 240 pages, or the last 110 pages. What do you do, position the mouse at page 240, and move it up the screen, scrolling through all 240 pages until you have marked the whole document? Do you know how long that can take?! I know you know, because we've all done it! It could take HOURS of scrolling! There is a MUCH simpler and quicker way.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Scenario 1<br /></span>I want to mark the first 240 pages in my 500 page document. I move the mouse pointer to the point TO which I want to mark my document, somewhere on the 240th page, and left click to position the cursor. Then I press:<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">CTRL+SHIFT+</span>...guess what? <span style="font-weight: bold;">HOME</span><br /><br />and voila! My whole document is marked, from the top right down to page 240. And it took about 14 milliseconds, not 14 minutes!<br /><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Scenario 2</span><br />I want to mark the last 110 pages of my 500-page document. Instead of starting at page 390, and scrolling laboriously down for minutes on end, I simply go to the page from WHERE I want to start and press (now I just know you've guess it already):<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">CTRL+SHIFT+END</span><br /><br />...and suddenly the last 110 pages are highlighted and ready for whatever it is you want to do with them!<br /><br />Don't make it difficult for yourself! Keep reading Word Tips World for more of the same! Or just buy a copy of Office for Dummies (see above) if you can't be bothered!<br /><span style="font-weight: bold;"></span>markowehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01691087571429357848noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2603093992039878904.post-82751902357052032932007-07-10T01:40:00.000-07:002008-12-09T02:52:25.577-08:00Synonyms in Word - say the same thing differenlyThe English language is blessed with a staggering number of words! I mean, there are a LOT of them! No-one really knows how many, but it is likely millions. Forget what anyone says - I once heard someone claim that the Eskimo language had more words than the English language, which is at least two fallacious urban legends rolled into one - the English language has more words than any other language, full stop.<br /><br />However, most people just do not use enough of them! That is why Word's synonym feature is so incredibly useful, especially if like me you do a lot of creative writing or translation.<br /><br />Why use the word "nice" (which should be banned anyway) in a composition, when you can use "pleasant", "good", "kind", "polite", "fine" or "lovely"? Or use "hot" when you can say, "burning", "scorching", "boiling", "blistering", "sizzling", "searing"?<br /><br />You should have a synonyms dictionary or thesaurus close at hand when you are working, but Word's synonym feature makes it much quicker to substitute a different word to the one you were planning to use! And as far as I know this feature is available for other languages too, provided Word has a dictionary installed for that language.<br /><br />It's easy to use - as you are typing, simply highlight the section of the word you want a synonym for (not necessary if you want the full word, but it doesn't work that well with past tenses etc.) and right-click.<br /><br /><img src="file:///C:/DOCUME%7E1/Mark/LOCALS%7E1/Temp/moz-screenshot.jpg" alt="" /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhiI58KxOQkA9GiUgjIdWCsrcQ_32mEjCDsFar4LWGH3I75jiqr3ag_yuqyFBbPpLqVYN2Sv1CaPmMKyxJTDJMGblEaOIgZ0AyknZJuJoD9pMVV5BCYwITfyoAXp3yg4CNutoaCRVwKqAA/s1600-h/word-synonyms.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhiI58KxOQkA9GiUgjIdWCsrcQ_32mEjCDsFar4LWGH3I75jiqr3ag_yuqyFBbPpLqVYN2Sv1CaPmMKyxJTDJMGblEaOIgZ0AyknZJuJoD9pMVV5BCYwITfyoAXp3yg4CNutoaCRVwKqAA/s320/word-synonyms.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5085488285224271682" border="0" /></a>The resulting context menu has a Synonyms option and, navigating on, you will be presented with a sub-menu with a list of synonyms. Choose one and the word will be replaced with the synonym! Hey - as we like to say here so often - presto!<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi24k5xiYiFQcmwtZDXT8mbuMklJg-ecXyFbjaF4tvvdG6p7Yiz_ask7PcS7fdKdL6bOd4AVJ8oN2R-91YdXhodPr9Nou5qaU0OLZQHWkhuo03ldHZ48jGTt-iFBWj-bhNXLYlxZHphssk/s1600-h/Word-synonym-result.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi24k5xiYiFQcmwtZDXT8mbuMklJg-ecXyFbjaF4tvvdG6p7Yiz_ask7PcS7fdKdL6bOd4AVJ8oN2R-91YdXhodPr9Nou5qaU0OLZQHWkhuo03ldHZ48jGTt-iFBWj-bhNXLYlxZHphssk/s320/Word-synonym-result.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5085489844297400146" border="0" /></a><br />A few provisos:<br /><br />1) the best use of this facility is when you already <span style="font-style: italic;">know</span> the words that Word suggests, but just couldn't think of them! It is a great reminder, but I wouldn't recommend you simply use any word that sounds good - you could end up sounding stupid, and nobody wants that!<br /><br />2) the Synonym does NOT appear on the context (right-click) menu in certain, well, contexts. For example, if there is a spelling or grammatical mistake, underlined in red or green, then it will first want to correct the mistake before showing the Synonyms sub-menu, which can be annoying if the mistake is not really a mistake, like an uncapitalised first letter which you WANT that way.<br /><br />3) as mentioned earlier (in parentheses, now THAT is bad style!), forms other than the basic, infinitive or singular form of the word are not always handled that well. In particular, when you have a plural, say <span style="font-weight: bold;">theories, </span>it will suggest "theory" as the synonym, which is a bit strange. So you may at times need to type in the basic form of the word and then right-click it.<br /><br />I use this synonyms feature a GREAT deal! It does not imply that Microsoft somehow has a better grasp of the English language than I do. Rather, this is a little bit of help in unlocking all those vast stores of passive language you have up there in your brain/mind/noggin/grey matter.markowehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01691087571429357848noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2603093992039878904.post-8545022000731704662007-06-08T05:03:00.000-07:002008-12-09T02:52:26.038-08:00Get rid of that annoying horizontal line in WordHave you had this happen? It especially likes to rear its irritating head in other people's documents that you receive.<br /><br />I am talking about a mysterious horizontal line that appears in the middle of your Word document, like I had recently in a document I was working on. In this case, I had scanned the page in, and the optical character recognition (OCR) program had put it in there itself.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjyuTuFuTnBscblDG6L7ctYgJZOUbqr-htWzDmfeeH-UeaIxike6r76YpnIUEaHHnil9s-d3yyV79AflC_CwCwfpx7lFC_54OsubI91vMSXU6XOwKYBU9suL_B6fcs9H74PNvGXz1frDgw/s1600-h/Annoying-horizontal-line-in-Word.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjyuTuFuTnBscblDG6L7ctYgJZOUbqr-htWzDmfeeH-UeaIxike6r76YpnIUEaHHnil9s-d3yyV79AflC_CwCwfpx7lFC_54OsubI91vMSXU6XOwKYBU9suL_B6fcs9H74PNvGXz1frDgw/s320/Annoying-horizontal-line-in-Word.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5073665228326955650" border="0" /></a><br />It's not a regular line, drawn with the graphic tools, you can't find any option for it in the menus, right-clicking on it does nothing, and when you pass the mouse over, it merely gives you the slider pointer icon, used to indicate that you can move it up and down.<br /><br />Well, no need to tear your hair out! This line is actually... Wait for it...! A border! Don't ask me how it got there, but all you need to do is highlight the section around the line (just left mouse, and pull a nice big block round the area, provided there are no tables nearby where you want to preserve a border). Then just go up to the border-line selection icon in the toolbar and choose the one that clears all borders:<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjfr0MXNjAhoaX8QZ0So-TzF5AtziA_VKuNfk1zjGmrfKhRb_9xuXUOf0AFcL5SmXKQBFV1TCug9yJ5of-_ZaFu4fm0XGd1h4O7rLElHAwRoMfd431zttFllCbbGBDbAw_o-XnPyrLGN5c/s1600-h/border-line-icon-word.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjfr0MXNjAhoaX8QZ0So-TzF5AtziA_VKuNfk1zjGmrfKhRb_9xuXUOf0AFcL5SmXKQBFV1TCug9yJ5of-_ZaFu4fm0XGd1h4O7rLElHAwRoMfd431zttFllCbbGBDbAw_o-XnPyrLGN5c/s320/border-line-icon-word.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5073666692910803602" border="0" /></a>Hey presto (I say that a lot round here!), that pesky line should disappear! If it doesn't then, well, blame aliens!markowehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01691087571429357848noreply@blogger.com279tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2603093992039878904.post-64809005513254458972007-06-01T02:31:00.000-07:002008-12-09T02:52:26.319-08:00Highlight any square block of text in Word using ALTNow this tip is really nice, almost like magic if you have never used it before!<br /><br />Normally when you use the mouse to highlight text, it will automatically highlight sentences and paragraphs across the screen, like this:<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhgrb_z_nmaocJlm_rcngW0SmL2EVGpiFSJmhHrRJH0sa_Rle4aUj1FAOITuZKkym3GwlQVvmbWimpNGeMOIGR8Dj_tNqJdYUswespkUC1Ei6LJ-Ph8yBg8kIF3P8wJ47Ju0DnHjB2Xsbk/s1600-h/highlight-without-ALT.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhgrb_z_nmaocJlm_rcngW0SmL2EVGpiFSJmhHrRJH0sa_Rle4aUj1FAOITuZKkym3GwlQVvmbWimpNGeMOIGR8Dj_tNqJdYUswespkUC1Ei6LJ-Ph8yBg8kIF3P8wJ47Ju0DnHjB2Xsbk/s400/highlight-without-ALT.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5071029635454665970" border="0" /></a>But you don't want it to do that, especially in a case like this, where you have two columns separated with tabs (<a href="http://word-tips-world.blogspot.com/2007/03/do-not-use-spaces-to-format-text-in.html">though this is not the best way to format this text</a>!!). You want to select a square block which will, say, only highlight one vertical strip of text, like this:<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhjwxCCOgh7fffj6FiUym8LqGaxpJZauCXiUY5_Aq39E5euKs7jky1ELX__tPtt5Pe4iyU-dEwimXaJgpgdX5VEClax4VRvW47WTuIjFwgi1TzbRfJiqUpFa7SXYV34NjmqUkXaC4xRjDY/s1600-h/highlight-with-ALT.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhjwxCCOgh7fffj6FiUym8LqGaxpJZauCXiUY5_Aq39E5euKs7jky1ELX__tPtt5Pe4iyU-dEwimXaJgpgdX5VEClax4VRvW47WTuIjFwgi1TzbRfJiqUpFa7SXYV34NjmqUkXaC4xRjDY/s400/highlight-with-ALT.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5071030112196035842" border="0" /></a>This is easy to do! Just press <span style="font-weight: bold;">ALT</span> and hold it down, then select using the left mouse button like you normally would. You will find that instead of Word "snapping" to words and whole lines, it will highlight a rectangular section of any size and dimensions you want, as in the picture above! Then you can copy and paste just the vertical section you have anywhere you want.<br /><br />You can even cut a section right out of the middle of a text. Say, from the above paragraph, like so:<br /><p style="font-style: italic;"></p><blockquote><p style="font-style: italic;">Just press <b>ALT</b> and hold it do</p> <p style="font-style: italic;">mally would. You will find th</p><p style="font-style: italic;">will highlight a rectangular se</p> <p style="font-style: italic;">ure above! Then you can copy</p></blockquote><p style="font-style: italic;"></p>I am sure you would know why you wanted to do that! This tip is incredibly useful though - yet another Word Tip from Word Tips World, designed to get you up there with the pros! Be sure to let us know if you found this tip useful, and what you used it for!markowehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01691087571429357848noreply@blogger.com10tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2603093992039878904.post-57624610979282129882007-05-30T09:00:00.000-07:002007-05-30T09:06:11.817-07:00Highlight individual letters not a whole wordJust a quick tip to answer a question by an anonymous reader - how to stop Word automatically highlighting the whole word when you just want to highlight part of it?<br /><br />Well, for this tip I think there is no choice but to use the mouse (though see <a href="http://word-tips-world.blogspot.com/2007/04/highlighting-text-in-word-using-mouse.html">this post about highlighting without using the mouse</a>). The reason Word is highlighting whole words instead of individual letters is probably because of an option here:<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Tools -> Options -> Edit [tab]</span> and uncheck <span style="font-weight: bold;">When selecting, automatically select entire word</span> option and press <span style="font-weight: bold;">OK</span>.<br /><br />This should do the trick - now you ought to be able to use the mouse to highlight individual letters.markowehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01691087571429357848noreply@blogger.com12tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2603093992039878904.post-11155998555577222972007-05-25T04:31:00.000-07:002010-10-11T08:09:39.818-07:00Forgot to save my Word Document!!<div style="text-align: center;"><a style="font-weight: bold;" href="http://www.regnow.com/softsell/nph-softsell.cgi?item=8241-4&affiliate=95049">Try to recover lost or accidentally deleted files with WinUndelete</a><br /><br /><br /></div><span style="font-weight: bold;">Last updated: 14th April 2010</span><br />This is a post following on from a previous article called <a href="http://word-tips-world.blogspot.com/2007/04/good-word-habits-save-save-save.html">Good Word Habits - Save Save Save!</a> and aims to <span style="font-style: italic;">try</span> to help you if you <span style="font-weight: bold;">didn't</span> follow the advice in the article.<br /><br />In other words, you <span style="font-weight: bold;">forgot to save your Word Document or accidentally deleted it</span>!! Arrghhh! OK, it happens to us all at some point - there are other creative ways of losing a Word document too, I might share them with you sometime! But you want to know what to do if you forgot to save that document you spent 4 hours on!<br /><br />OK, first I have to prepare you for something. I think you need to swallow, digest and accept this fact <span style="font-style: italic;">now</span> before we get into any potential solutions:<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;"></span><div style="text-align: center; font-weight: bold;"><blockquote><span style="font-size:100%;">Your Word document is probably lost forever.</span></blockquote></div><br />Please go back and read this statement again and reconcile yourself to the probable fact that if you closed down Word without saving your document <span style="font-style: italic;">even once, </span><span style="font-weight: bold;">there is no way to get it back</span>. Face that awful fact now, and then if we DO manage to do anything to get it back it will be a pleasant surprise. OK?<br /><br /><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">How to <span style="font-style: italic;">maybe</span> get your document back</span><br /></div>How do people usually lose their documents, and what are the options for retrieving your valuable file? <span style="font-weight: bold;">First, before you do anything, as one visitor pointed out, check your Recycle Bin! </span>You never know, if you simply accidentally deleted it, it might actually have served its purpose for once! Be on the lookout both for .doc files, and .asd files, as described below in 3.i). Heck, even look out for a <span style="font-weight: bold;">.tmp</span> file in there, these get saved by Word too and there might be something salvageable in one of them. But here are the typical scenarios, if this doesn't bear fruit:<br /><br />1) <span style="font-weight: bold;">SCENARIO: Forgot to save the document at all, even when exiting Word/closed Word without saving! </span>This is the worst case scenario - when you worked for <span style="font-style: italic;">minutes or even hours</span> in Word without EVER saving the document even once, hence it still bears the name Document1. When you exit Word it will always ask you whether you want to save the document and, without thinking, you press<span style="font-weight: bold;"> </span>NO.<span style="font-weight: bold;"><br /><br /></span><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiCVRop5TltGACvHZojz-jAthXrDL2L2mneQcSby_FPTZwCBxsNd6Oo3_XmO2LEd95YT6nVjurABQ5SEepEo9z8QWfuibrN15vuJvCWBSVx1VwlIeyriMbZrlroN3jtUg1JyWZ8RwoNE08/s1600-h/save-yes-or-no.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiCVRop5TltGACvHZojz-jAthXrDL2L2mneQcSby_FPTZwCBxsNd6Oo3_XmO2LEd95YT6nVjurABQ5SEepEo9z8QWfuibrN15vuJvCWBSVx1VwlIeyriMbZrlroN3jtUg1JyWZ8RwoNE08/s400/save-yes-or-no.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5068467507073975490" border="0" /></a><span style="font-weight: bold;"><br />To the best of my knowledge</span><span style="font-weight: bold;">, if you press NO at this point there is no way to retrieve the document</span> <span>(I will GLADLY be corrected on this point)!</span> Word assumes, fairly reasonably, that you do not want it anymore and deletes it both from any temporary files and the Autorecover file that it may have been saving regularly while you were working. And it's no good looking in the Recycle bin, because it won't be there either.<br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">SOLUTION: <span style="font-weight: bold;">weep quietly, or try some of the following solutions in case you got very very lucky.<br /><br /></span></span>2) <span style="font-weight: bold;">SCENARIO: Computer, Windows or Word crashed while you were working before you had time to save</span>. You may not have saved the document at all, or you did save it, but not a recent copy.<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgUCiKXzKheVCmtQplj5ajBn37pXR-jUe0BQHVfA1nEJN22Bbbr64mQ-jxbddJe6KtA1ZjJyPvF4ESRyYS4-eaEY4wYx2REQX6-3mrmiV3U9qIjPNi7FGu68fBiLrMFSXQIeHlxgrFPiEU/s1600-h/word-autorecovery-panel.JPG"><img style="margin: 5pt 10px 10px 5pt; float: left; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgUCiKXzKheVCmtQplj5ajBn37pXR-jUe0BQHVfA1nEJN22Bbbr64mQ-jxbddJe6KtA1ZjJyPvF4ESRyYS4-eaEY4wYx2REQX6-3mrmiV3U9qIjPNi7FGu68fBiLrMFSXQIeHlxgrFPiEU/s400/word-autorecovery-panel.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5068467889326064850" border="0" /></a><span style="font-weight: bold;">SOLUTION: </span>This is a much better scenario - Word should be set up to regularly save your document using the AutoRecover feature, and (as of Office 2003, or maybe one before, I can't remember) when you restart Word, a panel should appear at the side of the screen showing which documents you were working on when the crash happened. You should look at the time saved to check to see which is the more recent saved version of your document - is it the one YOU saved (if you saved at all), or the one AutoRecover saved. Click on the file and save it under a different name, just so you are sure you have a salvaged version.<br />In the examples, the last versions saved of these two documents were both saved by me, since Autorecover is usually set up to save every 10 minutes (<span style="font-weight: bold;">Tools -> Options -> Save tab -> Save AutoRecover info every: </span>[choose your interval]). So remember, you are ALWAYS going to lose all your work done AFTER either a) your last manual save or b) the last AutoRecover save, so make sure one or the other is frequent!<br /><br />3) <span style="font-weight: bold;">SCENARIO: I haven't managed to recover my document using the above suggestions - HELP!</span> Like I said, I hope you are reconciled to the probable loss of your document and that you will take my advice to <a href="http://word-tips-world.blogspot.com/2007/04/good-word-habits-save-save-save.html">save, save, save</a> in future. Also, it wouldn't harm to have a backup solution in place that helps prevent you losing files by making regular, automatic backups to an online service, so you don't even have to think about it. I wrote about <a href="http://word-tips-world.blogspot.com/2010/09/how-to-stop-losing-files.html">one such backup service here</a>,<a href="http://word-tips-world.blogspot.com/2010/09/how-to-stop-losing-files.html"> check out the article</a>. Otherwise, you <span style="font-style: italic;">could</span> try one of the following:<br /><br />i) Look under <span style="font-weight: bold;">Tools -> Options -> File locations tab</span> in Word and see where Word saves its AutoRecovery files. By default it is something like: <span style="font-weight: bold;">DRIVE:\Documents and Settings\[your windows username]\Application Data\Microsoft\Word\</span><br />In that directory there MAY be some files with the extension <span style="font-weight: bold;">.asd </span>which are really just Word files. If by some amazing chance Word didn't delete the temporary file, it may be there called <span style="font-weight: bold;">AutoRecovery</span> <span style="font-weight: bold;">save of... [your filename]</span>. Simply copy it to somewhere safe and rename it with a <span style="font-weight: bold;">.doc</span> extension instead of an <span style="font-weight: bold;">.asd </span>extension and it will load fine into Word. Frankly though if you find your file this way someone must be smiling on you, because like I already said, Word deletes those files if they are not claimed before Word is closed...<br /><br />ii) Try a specialised "undelete" tool, like <span style="font-weight: bold;"><a href="http://www.regnow.com/softsell/nph-softsell.cgi?item=8241-4&affiliate=95049">WinUndelete</a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: normal;">, which will also help you if you accidentally deleted the file</span></span>. You will have to shell out a bit of money, but it is a product that ought to pay for itself, because it will deal with all kinds of lost files, not just Word files. However, although I am happy for you to buy WinUndelete through my site, because I get a few modest pennies in commission, I have to be frank and say there is no guarantee that this will recover your file. Word just seems to obliterate the file you were working on. All I can suggest is, give the trial version a go and see if it saves your bacon - I believe it lets you search for lost or accidentally deleted files, but only the full paying version lets you actually recover them, which is fair enough I suppose, you can see if your file is there without actually paying for the software.<br /><br />That about wraps it up. I am sorry to paint such a bleak picture, but I think it is realistic. If you have any additional tips I will be happy to hear them and include them, but the message once again has to be <b>save, save, save!</b> And if you have trouble doing that, this suggestion on <a href="http://word-tips-world.blogspot.com/2010/09/how-to-stop-losing-files.html">how to stop losing files</a> may help you too.<br /><span style="font-size:85%;"><br /><br />Also, you could <a style="font-weight: bold;" href="http://www.regnow.com/softsell/nph-softsell.cgi?item=8241-4&affiliate=95049">try to recover lost or accidentally deleted files with WinUndelete</a></span><br /><a href="http://word-tips-world.blogspot.com/2007/04/good-word-habits-save-save-save.html"><span style="font-weight: bold;"></span></a>markowehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01691087571429357848noreply@blogger.com86tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2603093992039878904.post-30173717338259049442007-05-22T02:27:00.000-07:002007-05-22T02:37:05.766-07:00Using Home and End to navigateAnother much-overlooked function, which again is available throughout Windows not just in Word, is the use of the Home and End keys to navigate around a document.<br /><br />Once again, if this is blindingly obvious to you, then feel free to move on! But even as an experienced user of Word, I did not get into the habit of using Home and End till fairly recently!<br /><br />It's simple:<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Home</span> takes you back to the beginning of the line you are on<br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">End </span>take you to... wait for it...! You've guessed, haven't you!<br /><br />This can save you lots of time or needless keypresses. I use it when I have had to go back in the line of text I was working on to change something (<a href="http://word-tips-world.blogspot.com/2007/04/skipping-words-with-ctrl.html">skipping words with CTRL, of course</a>) and now I want to return to the end of the line again and continue typing. One press of <span style="font-weight: bold;">End</span> and you're there!<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Advanced stuff:<br /><span style="font-weight: bold;"></span></span>Once you have got into the habit of using these keys, try them in combination with <span style="font-weight: bold;">CTRL</span>.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">CTRL+Home </span>takes you to the beginning of the entire document<br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">CTRL+End</span> takes you... Well, I won't insult your intelligence<br /><br />Why not give these shortcuts a try now, and see how quickly you get into the habit of using them?<br /><br /><font size="2">P.S. Apologies to subscribers for the recent lack of Word Tips - my excuse is <a href="http://www.itsgottabered.com/MTB-Serbia/serbia-mountain-bike-trek-2007-kopaonik-to-tara/">a big cycling trip around Serbia</a>. Mobile bike blogging took it all out of me!</font>markowehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01691087571429357848noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2603093992039878904.post-48287167187256827322007-04-25T03:58:00.000-07:002007-10-25T06:09:24.284-07:00Word 2007 drop-down menus - GONE!<span style="font-weight: bold;">UPDATE: I am still in two minds about the new "ribbon" menu in Word 2007 - I have personally found it easier to use in some ways, but I am very proficient in the use of Word 2003 so it takes some getting used to. In the meantime, if you are sick of the "ribbon" and you want to use old-style Word 2003 menus, there is a little bit of software out there called <a href="http://www.regnow.com/trialware/download/Download_Setup_WordMenu_DR_Trial.exe?item=14174-6&affiliate=95049">Classic Menus for Word 2007</a> from AddInTools which is supposed to customize Word 2007 so the menu looks like the old 2003 one. I cannot vouch for this software, but you can download the <a href="http://www.regnow.com/trialware/download/Download_Setup_WordMenu_DR_Trial.exe?item=14174-6&affiliate=95049">trial version</a> and see if it solves your ribbon-related woes. And let me know what you think.</span><br /><br />This site is still mostly concerned with the most common, previous versions of Word, but just a note regarding Word 2007, recently out as part of the Office 2007 package. It concerns the implementation of drop-down menus. Well in short, they are GONE!<br /><br />We will be testing Word 2007 here on Word Tips World soon and will update when we have got a better idea of how it works, but the new interface is quite radically new, and might well pose some problems for existing users until they get used to it. First impressions are that the new replacement for drop-down menus, the "Ribbon", as Microsoft have dubbed it, IS a more logical approach - a kind of context-sensitive tab system. A bit like in Macromedia Dreamweaver, if you have used that.<br /><br />I will just give you a quote from the Microsoft site for now (link to full article below):<br /><br /><blockquote><span style="font-size:85%;">"The primary replacement for menus and toolbars in Office Word 2007 is the Ribbon, a component of the Office Fluent user interface. Designed for easy browsing, the Ribbon consists of tabs that are organized around specific scenarios or objects. The controls on each tab are further organized into several groups. The Office Fluent Ribbon can host richer content than menus and toolbars can, including buttons, galleries, and dialog box content."</span><br /></blockquote><br />We will get back with a full overview once we have trialled the new replacement MS Word interface and see what the implications are for the world of Word Tips!<br /><br />Microsoft Reference article: <a href="http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/word/HA100625841033.aspx">Locations of Word 2003 commands in Word 2007</a>markowehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01691087571429357848noreply@blogger.com15tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2603093992039878904.post-82995088337210217162007-04-19T05:04:00.000-07:002007-04-19T05:17:31.617-07:00Increase or decrease font size in Word using keyboard shortcutsYou want to increase or decrease the size of the font in Word from, say, 10 to 12. What do you do? Reach over for the mouse and select a new font size from the drop-down menu? You should know better by now!<br /><br />Highlight the text whose font size you want to increase/decrease (perhaps using some of the <a href="http://word-tips-world.blogspot.com/2007/04/highlighting-text-in-word-using-mouse.html">text highlighting tips</a> I talked about previously!) and press the key combination<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">CTRL + SHIFT + > </span>to increase font size by 1 point<br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">CTRL + SHIFT + < </span>to decrease font size by 1 point<br />(the <span style="font-weight: bold;"><</span> and <span style="font-weight: bold;">></span> symbols MAY be on different keys depending on your keyboard layout - they are the two keys to the right of the <span style="font-weight: bold;">M</span> key)<br /><br />On some versions of Word you can also use <span style="font-weight: bold;">CTRL+ [ </span>and <span style="font-weight: bold;">]</span>, which is even simpler!<br /><br />This is such a simpler way of changing the font size, especially by just a few points, you'll wonder why you ever used the mouse. And the other cool thing is that you can use this to increase the font size by the same increment <span style="font-weight: bold;">across your whole document</span> - even if you have different font sizes in there they will be increased by the same amount, retaining relative sizes.markowehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01691087571429357848noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2603093992039878904.post-13668976005806408672007-04-18T04:37:00.000-07:002007-05-25T05:43:47.175-07:00Good Word habits - save save save!<a style="font-weight: bold;" href="http://word-tips-world.blogspot.com/2007/05/forgot-to-save-my-word-document.html">Forgot to save your Word document?</a><span style="font-weight: bold;"> You could try </span><a style="font-weight: bold;" href="http://word-tips-world.blogspot.com/2007/05/forgot-to-save-my-word-document.html">my article</a><span style="font-weight: bold;"> on this subject, but read the following advice first, and be prepared for the worst...</span><br /><br />A habit I strongly recommend you get into is VERY regular saving of your Word document. I don't mean every hour, or once a day, I mean every other sentence!<br /><br />What? That's a bit over the top, isn't it? Well, all I can say is that it is a LONG time since I lost anything more than a few sentences of a Word document, and I am happy to keep it that way! Ever lost a few hours' (or more) work because you forgot to save? You know what a downer that can be!<br /><br />Sure, Word has an Autosave/Autorecover feature, which is supposed to bail you out, but for some reason it seems always to let you down just when you need it most! It's probably wise to make sure YOU are saving your document on a VERY frequent basis.<br /><br />So how do we make sure we are saving our Word Documents regularly? My advice is get to know the keyboard shortcut <span style="font-weight: bold;">CTRL+S</span><span> <span style="font-style: italic;">very</span> well! As soon as you create a New Document (using <span style="font-weight: bold;">CTRL+N</span>, of course!), <span style="font-style: italic;">even before you type ANYTHING in,</span> press <span style="font-weight: bold;">CTRL+S</span>! You will be prompted for a filename and you can save your document immediately, before you run off 20 pages and forget to save it at all. Yes, it is quite OK to save an empty document, nothing bad will happen!<br /><br />Now, this is the bit you need to turn into a habit: press <span style="font-weight: bold;">CTRL+S </span><span style="font-style: italic;">as often as you can</span> while typing your document in! Like I say, I do it practically after every sentence, and after a while it becomes second nature, to the extent you don't realise you are doing it anymore! This will ensure a very recent version of your document is always saved, and will drastically decrease the chances of your losing a large amount of work! It only takes a second for Word to save, it will not interfere with your work, and the <span style="font-weight: bold;">CTRL+S </span>shortcut is, again, much much quicker than using the mouse and clicking the toolbar button or (heaven forbid!) the Save option from the File menu.<br /><br />Happy saving!<br /><br /><span style="font-style: italic;font-size:85%;" >DISCLAIMER: Look, I can't PROMISE this will absolutely protect you from losing a document, so please do not rely solely on this method. You need to take all possible precautions, it's your responsibility to save regularly, and make regular backups, and you cannot later blame me, or say "Word did it by itself"! OK?! Also, a reminder of my article </span><span style="font-size:85%;"><a href="http://word-tips-world.blogspot.com/2007/05/forgot-to-save-my-word-document.html">Forgot to save my Word document</a></span><span style="font-style: italic;font-size:85%;" >, which </span><span style="font-size:85%;">might<span style="font-style: italic;"> help in a pinch.</span></span><br /></span>markowehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01691087571429357848noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2603093992039878904.post-86864069304650533092007-04-16T04:09:00.000-07:002007-04-25T04:16:03.449-07:00Word keyboard shortcuts via drop-down menu<span style="font-size:85%;">Note: if you came here looking for information about drop-down menus in the new Word 2007, or the lack thereof, have a <a href="http://word-tips-world.blogspot.com/2007/04/word-2007-drop-down-menus-gone.html">look here</a>! This article is about, er... something else!</span><br /><br />A lot of commands in Word do not have a specific shortcut, unless you actually make one, or it is tricky to remember. But there is a way to eliminate excessive RSI-inducing mouse movement (and just stick to keyboard induced-RSI!) even with commands that you DON'T know the shortcut too.<br /><br />One example is <span style="font-weight: bold;">Insert comment</span>. You do use this, right? Well, comments are used more often when, like me, you often edit or write (or translate) texts which are not for direct publication but are going to be read by others before they are finalised. The comments are not part of the text themselves, but float in a bubble, or appear at the bottom, depending on which View mode you are in, <span style="font-weight: bold;">Print Layout</span> or <span style="font-weight: bold;">Normal</span>.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Insert comment quickly with a "shortcut"</span><br />The default shortcut to <span style="font-weight: bold;">Insert comment</span> is <span style="font-weight: bold;">CTRL+ALT+M</span>, but you can do it like this too:<br /><br /><ol><li>Press <span style="font-weight: bold;">Alt</span>. A menu item is highlighted at the top of the page, and you can't type now - if you do, you will find yourself selecting menu items you didn't want! Accidental pressing of Alt, followed by other keys, is actually a common cause of the complaint "<span style="font-weight: bold;">Word keeps doing things I didn't tell it to!</span>"</li><li>Now press <span style="font-weight: bold;">I</span>. You will see that the drop down menu with the underlined <span style="font-weight: bold;">I</span>, i.e. <span style="font-weight: bold;">Insert, </span>appears. This works all over Windows by the way - the underlined letters are shortcuts of a sort! More about that another time maybe.<br /></li><li>Now press the underlined letter for the <span style="font-weight: bold;">Comment</span> option, that being not <span style="font-weight: bold;">C </span>(who knows why, probably <span style="font-weight: bold;">C </span>is in use by some other menu item), but <span style="font-weight: bold;">M</span>.</li></ol>Hey presto! (I say that a lot here - it's not <span style="font-style: italic;">really </span>magic or anything!) You have inserted a comment! Once you use the quick key sequence<span style="font-weight: bold;"><br /><br />Alt -> I -> M<br /><br /></span>a few times it becomes second nature and saves a whole load of time and mouse movement, which is what we are trying to achieve here!<br /><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Do a word count quickly!</span><br />Here is another example, maybe you need this more often - press the sequence:<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Alt -> T [Tools menu] -> W [word count]<br /><br /></span>Abracadabra! (There's another useful magic spell!) You have done a <span style="font-weight: bold;">word count</span> 50 x (at least!) quicker than hunting for it around the menus.<br /><br />Many commands have a shortcut in Word, but even if you don't know it, you can use this method to navigate the menus at the top, select just about anything, and save on using the mouse. Just use <span style="font-weight: bold;">ALT</span> to activate the top menu, and then use the underlined letter of the menu option to select what you want.<br /><br />Like all shortcuts and hints, it is much easier just to not bother with this, and keep doing things the way you always have, which is fine I guess, but with a little effort you can hugely improve your skill and speed in using <span style="font-weight: bold;">Microsoft Word</span> and other Windows applications and starting looking like a pro user!markowehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01691087571429357848noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2603093992039878904.post-16868301177132526282007-04-11T02:34:00.000-07:002007-04-11T02:46:51.421-07:00Highlighting text in Word using the mouse, WITHOUT tracing the whole textHere is another thing I see people doing in Microsoft Word and other applications all the time. They want to highlight a block of text using the mouse (we covered doing it with the keyboard for short, local sentences/words - <a href="http://word-tips-world.blogspot.com/2007/04/using-shift-and-ctrl-together-in-word.html">here, so check this out too</a>). They dutifully position the mouse at the beginning of the text they want to highlight, hold down the left mouse, and then sort of TRACE the whole text along until they get to the end!<br /><br />In this video you can see, in the first part, an example of how people do this (oh wait, that's you!), and in the second half how do do it much quicker just by MOVING the mouse to where you want!<br /><br /><object height="350" width="425"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/jzqFWI2q3GM"><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/jzqFWI2q3GM" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" height="350" width="425"></embed></object><br /><br />See?! You DON'T have to trace along with the mouse, you can just move it to the end, or even move it about wherever you want! You won't break it, really! And this is true for any Windows application - you don't actually need to highlight each letter in turn, Windows is clever like that, it knows you want to highlight everything between the start and end too!<br /><br />Once again, if you think this is blindingly obvious, well, you're reading the wrong blog then - go and read Word Genius World!markowehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01691087571429357848noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2603093992039878904.post-92165863507760275812007-04-04T23:57:00.000-07:002007-04-05T00:17:12.049-07:00Using SHIFT and CTRL together in Word to highlight whole wordsOK, this is where it gets exciting! If you've just joined us, WTW's mission is to serve up basic, but incredibly useful tips on using Microsoft Word. The goal is to help people who may have been using Word, maybe even for years, but have never really gone beyond <a href="http://word-tips-world.blogspot.com/2007/03/do-not-use-spaces-to-format-text-in.html">using SPACE to format things</a> (a really nasty habit!) There are lots and lots of time-saving hints on using Word of which advanced users will say, "that's obvious!", but I assure you, it isn't!<br /><br />Today I want to combine two previous tips: <a href="http://word-tips-world.blogspot.com/2007/04/skipping-words-with-ctrl.html">Skipping words with CTRL</a> and <a href="http://word-tips-world.blogspot.com/2007/04/highlighting-words-with-shift-in-word.html">Highlighting words with SHIFT</a>. If you didn't catch those, check them out now, and then come back here!<br /><br />Again, what I see an awful lot of people doing is using the mouse unnecessarily (it slows you down and can cause back and arm trouble in the long term!), in this case to highlight words, even if these words are ones in the same sentence, or nearby. You don't need to! As we learned, you can<br /><br />1) Quickly reach the word you want using CTRL + cursor keys<br />2) Highlight letters using SHIFT + cursor keys.<br /><br />Well, now try both together! Type a short sentence, then press CTRL + SHIFT and, say, the left cursor key.<br /><br />Abracadabra! Your text gets highlighted a whole word at a time, and you can either hold down the cursor, which can rapidly highlight multiple words, or press it repeatedly, to highlight one word at a time.<br /><br />Either way, this is a really simple, but incredibly useful way to copy/paste text that you have recently typed. Go on, try it now! Do it a few times, and it will become second nature, trust me!markowehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01691087571429357848noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2603093992039878904.post-41583164302671677492007-04-03T23:35:00.000-07:002007-04-03T23:43:09.039-07:00Highlighting words with Shift in WordYou can use the Shift key in Windows (and Word of course) to highlight letters and words, without reaching over for the mouse. Really simple, but again, not a lot of people know it!<br /><br />Just press Shift at the point you want to start highlighting and move the cursor keys! Voila! Your words get highlighted letter by letter, which is great if you need to highlight the word you were on and far quicker than using the mouse.<br /><br />Next time we are going to combine this with another recent tip, making it even more usable! Stay tuned!markowehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01691087571429357848noreply@blogger.com1