Tuesday, May 21st, 2013
Word 2010 & 2013 Tip – What Format is THAT?!
Learn more about the formatting applied to text in your document with this handy Keyboard Shortcut
If you want to quickly find out what formatting has been applied to any piece of text, click in the text and press Shift + F1. A task pane will open in the right of Word window. This Reveal Formatting task pane displays details about the text format being used for the word that your insertion point is closest to.
With this task pane open you can click on any piece if text to learn more about its formatting.
Labels: 2010, 2013, Combination, F1, format, formatting, insertion, key, keyboard, Microsoft Office, Microsoft Word, pane, point, Reveal, Reveal Formatting, right, shift, shortcut, task, text, tip, trick, Word
Wednesday, May 15th, 2013
Use More Templates in Google Docs
When creating a new presentation or document in Google Docs, you might find that the default templates don’t provide the theme you want. Fortunately, Google provides an easy way to find the perfect template for your situation, from baby photo albums to résumés. To find a template suitable for you, simply visit https://drive.google.com/templates?view=public. You can search by name, category, and popularity to quickly find whatever you need.
Once you’ve selected a template you like, simply click the Use this template button and a new document will automatically open with the chosen template, ready for use.
Labels: google docs, new, resume, search, templates
Monday, May 13th, 2013
Max Out Editing Space in Google Docs
If you like working with the cleanest view possible, Google Docs makes it easy for you. First select View > Full screen. This will remove all menus from the screen, so make sure you don’t need to access any buttons while using this view. Now you can make your browser itself full screen. In most browsers you can accomplish this by pressing F11. With these options you will see absolutely nothing but the page you are typing on.
To undo these options, press F11 again to eliminate the browser full screen, then esc to eliminate Google Doc’s full screen mode.
Labels: full screen, google docs, maximum, space
Monday, May 13th, 2013
Word 2010 and 2013 Tip – Misssing Page Numbers
Finding and Fixing Page Numbers that Can’t be Seen and/or Won’t Print
If you have included page numbers at the foot of a page and find that they’re missing from your printouts the problem lies with your page settings. The footer text is being forced to print so far down the paper that your printer is ejecting the paper before this point is reached.
Solve the problem by selecting the Page Layout tab, click the Margins dropdown list, and click Custom Margins. Now, in this dialog select the Layout tab. Finally, increase the From edge: Footer measurement slightly. Experiment to find the smallest increase which will allow your page numbers to print.
Labels: 2010, 2013, Custom, Find, fix, footer, From edge, layout, locate, margins, measurments, Microsoft Office, Microsoft Word, Number, Page, Page Layout, print, tip, trick, Word
Sunday, May 5th, 2013
Word 2010 and 2013 Tip – Back to Where You Were
Get to Your Previous Insertion Point with This Shortcut
When you move around a Word document it can be time consuming to find the place you were previously. Word records the last places you worked and you can return to them at any time by pressing Shift + F5. Press this combination four times and you’ll be back to your current position and along the way you’ll have visited three previous editing positions.
Labels: 2010, 2013, F5, insertion, key, key combination, Keyboard Shortcuts, place, point, previous, record, Return, saver, shift, time, tip, trick, Word
Tuesday, April 30th, 2013
Word 2010 and 2013 Tip – Quickly Move Paragraphs
Move a Paragraph, at Any Time, with Ease!
To quickly move a whole paragraph up or down a Word document, click in the paragraph and press Shift + Alt + Up Arrow (or Down Arrow).
The same key combination will move an entire table row up or down a table and, when the top or bottom of the table is reached, it detaches the table row from the table to create another table which will continue moving through the page. This is a quicker and simpler way to split a table.
This tip works in just about any version of Word.
Labels: 2010, 2013, Alt, bottom, down, down arrow, key, key combination, Keyboard Shortcuts, Microsoft Office, Microsoft Word, move, moving, Paragraph, quick, row, shift, split, table, tip, top, up, Up Arrow, Word
Wednesday, April 24th, 2013
Word 2010 and 2013 Tip – Creating a New Page… Instantly
How to make a New Page (or Page Break) When and Where you Want
To create a new page in a Word 2010 and 2013 document before you’ve reached the end of your current page, simply press CTRL + ENTER. This places a ‘…Page Break…’ in your document exactly where your insertion point was. It also moves the insertion point onto the top of the next page. You can see the page break marker if you select the ‘¶’ button on the Home tab of the Ribbon.
Lastly, if you need to, you can delete the page break by positioning the insertion point immediately in front of it and pressing Delete.
Labels: 2010, 2013, create, CTRL, ENTER, instantly, Microsoft Office, Microsoft Word, new, Page, Page Break, tip, Word
Tuesday, April 16th, 2013
Word 2010 and 2013 Tip – Return Address Labels
Using Word to Create Multiple Return Address Labels
Create your own return address labels in Word 2010 or 2013 by selecting the Mailings tab and clicking the Labels button. Type your address into the text area under Address.
Alternately, select the ‘Use return address’ checkbox and select the address to use from your address book or from your Outlook contact list.
Select the ‘Full page of the same label’ option button and select Options to select your paper from the list.
Select New Document to create a document full of your labels or click Print to send the job straight to the printer.
Labels: 2010, 2013, Address, Full page of the same label, Label, Mailing, Microsoft Office, Microsoft Word, option, print, Return, tip, Use Return Address, Word, Word 2013
Thursday, April 11th, 2013
Word 2010 and 2013 Tip – Drop Caps
Drawing Attention with a Drop Cap
One easy and fun way to add visual interest to a text heavy page is to use a Drop Cap. A Drop Cap is when the first letter of a paragraph is increased in size and, more often than not, put in a more ornate font.
To create a Drop Cap, place your insertion point in the paragraph you wish to start with a Drop Cap. Then, choose Insert on the Ribbon, click Drop Cap > Drop Cap Options. The ‘Drop Cap Options’ allows you to either insert the Drop Cap into the paragraph, with ‘Dropped’, or place it separate from the text, with ‘In margin’. If you’re unsure what to use, I would suggest ‘Dropped’ and increase the ‘Distance from text’ setting to .3cm and the ‘Lines to drop’ setting (which affects the Font size of the actual Drop Cap) to 5 and click OK.
To change the font of the Drop Cap, you can either select the font you want directly in the ‘Drop Cap Options’ window or highlight the letter (which appears in a Frame) afterwards and changing it. You could even use Format, Borders and Shading, Shading tab to fill the frame with colour.
Labels: 2010, 2013, big, Cap, Distance from text, drop, Drop Cap, first, format, letter, Lines to drop, Microsoft Office, Microsoft Word, Office, tip, Word
Saturday, April 6th, 2013
What to do when your PowerPoint 2013 templates go missing
You need to set up PowerPoint 2013 so it can find and save your templates.
I encountered a problem recently with PowerPoint 2013 not being able to save templates to the correct location much less find my new templates once I had created them.
The problem appears to be with the PowerPoint 2013 setup so first go to PowerPoint and choose File > Options > Save and make sure that you have your Default Personal Templates location set up in this box. For me it is c:\Users\Helen\AppData\Roaming\Microsoft\Templates\. You will replace Helen with your own <user name>.
Once you set up this location, in future when you go to save a file as a template you will choose File > Save As, click Computer and then click Browse. From the Save As Type drop down list, select PowerPoint Template (*.potx) as the type of file to save and type a name for your template.
PowerPoint will automatically go to the folder that set as your Default Personal Templates location so all you need to do now is to click Save and save your template.
In future when you choose File > New you will see that both FEATURED and PERSONAL options appear below the Search box. Click PERSONAL as that is where you will find the templates that you created and saved. If you had personal templates stored for use in PowerPoint 2010 these will be in this same location.
Unfortunately Office 2013 doesn’t make it clear where templates are stored or how you can get to your own templates so hopefully this will help you in PowerPoint.
I haven’t had the same difficulties with Microsoft Word 2013 but then my Default Personal Templates location was already set up in Word 2013. If you have trouble finding your Word templates then I suggest you try the same process as shown here for PowerPoint but do it in Word 2013. Set up your Default Personal Templates location in Word – in this case my folder is c:\Users\Helen\AppData\Roaming\Microsoft\Templates\Custom Word Templates\.
Labels: configure, default personal templates location, options, PowerPoint 2013, save a template, save as type, template folder
Sunday, March 31st, 2013
Excel – Create a button to move to another sheet in the Workbook
Create a button in Excel to move the user to another worksheet
It is easy in Excel to create a button on a worksheet that you can click to go to another sheet in the workbook. It is also a fun way to get started with macros in Excel if you have never made one before.
To do this, first decide which sheet will contain the button and which sheet you will select when you click, the button. We’ll add a button to sheet1 to take us to sheet3. So, click in Sheet 1 and, from the Developer tab on the Ribbon, choose Record Macro. If the Developer tab is not visible click here to find out how to display it.
Type the Name GoToSheet3 (a macro name must be all one word) and from the Store Macro in List choose to store the macro in This Workbook and click Ok.
Click the tab for Sheet 3 and then click Stop Recording on the Developer tab. The macro will be recorded and stored automatically for you.
To add a button to Sheet 1 that will run the macro, first return to Sheet 1 and from the Developer tab on the Ribbon select the Insert option and click the Button (Form Control) option at the top of the drop down list. You must choose the Form Controls and not the Active X Controls.
Drag a button onto the worksheet and when the Assign Macro dialog appears, click the GoToSheet3 macro and click Ok.
Select the text on the button and type Click to go to Sheet 3.
Click outside the button to unselect it and then click on the button to see it at work. When you click it you will be taken automatically to sheet 3.
If you need to make changes to the text on the button right-click on it to get access to the text. You can’t click it to select it because clicking it runs the macro attached to it.
Labels: assign macro, Excel, Form control, record maco, run macro from a button
Monday, March 25th, 2013
Excel – What to do when PivotTables won’t total
When Excel won’t total a PivotTable there is a reason why – and a workaround
When you are working with a PivotTable in Excel and if the data you are looking at comes from two different columns in the original worksheet you won’t be able to create automatic totals for it in the PivotTable.
So, as much as you ask Excel for totals, you’ll be disappointed.
However, you can create manual totals. To do this, click in the table and from the Options tab choose Fields, Items & Sets > Calculated Field. In the dialog, click in the Name box and type the name Overall Total. Click in the Formula box and write a formula that totals the fields you want to total. In our example it will be Net Hardware Sales plus Consulting.
To write the formula click next to the = symbol in the Formula box. Click Net Hardware Sales in the Fields box and click Insert Field. Add a + symbol to the formula, then click Consulting in the Fields box and click Insert Field.
The resulting formula will read: = ‘Net Hardware sales’ + ‘Consulting ‘
When you are done, click Ok and the calculated field will be added to the table and it will be visible alongside the other fields in the PivotTable.
Labels: create custom calculated fields, create custom totals, Excel, manual totals, pivot table, pivottable
Tuesday, March 19th, 2013
Excel – Sum a cell in all sheets but this one
Try this quick Excel formula to sum a cell in all the sheets except the current one
In Excel sometimes you’ll want to sum a cell value in all the sheets except the one that you’re currently working on. You might do this if you have a series of quarterly results that you want to add together to create a yearly total in the total sheet.
You can do this by typing the sheet name and cell for each cell to add but that would be very cumbersome. It will be a nuisance too if you try to select each cell in turn. Luckily Excel has a special feature that will help you do this. So, to sum all the values in, for example, cell C3 of every sheet in the current workbook except for the sheet you are currently working on, use this formula:
=SUM(‘*’!C3)
The ‘*’! part of the formula tells Excel that it should total all the sheets in the workbook except the current worksheet. When you press Enter Excel expands the formula so it will refer to the first and last sheets in the workbook. So, if you are summing that cell in a workbook that has sheets called YearTotal, Quarter1, Quarter2, Quarter3, and Quarter4 the formula will be expanded automatically so it reads:
=SUM(Quarter1:Quarter4!C3)
Be aware that if you add additional sheets to the workbook which appear inside the range of the sheets that are refered to in the formula then those additional worksheet cells will be included in the total.
If you don’t want this to be the case then make sure that any new sheets that you add appear outside the range of sheets that are included in the formula.
Labels: all sheets, automatic sum, Excel, formula, sum
Friday, March 15th, 2013
Motion charts in Google Docs
Gadgets allow you to do things with Google Docs that would be time consuming if not beyond most people’s skills to create in a program like Excel. In this article I’ll demonstrate how to create a motion chart in Google Docs spreadsheet.
Prepare the data
In the first column of a new worksheet type the name of the item you’re charting such as office locations – we’ll use City and Bayside. In the next column, type the period that the data is for – this needs to be a time field such as year, week or quarter. The data needs to conform to ISO8601 so use 2011 for a year, 2011W08 to enter week eight of 2011 or 2011Q2 for second quarter 2011.
In the next column, type the data to plot such as Profit. The next columns are optional but we’ll add one which records units sold. To have some data to work with, add at least five years of data for the two offices.
Add the Gadget
Select over the entire range (including headings), and choose Insert > Gadget > Charts and scroll to find the Motion Chart and click Add to Spreadsheet. In the dialog which appears, the range should already cover the selected range, leave the Default State empty for now and type a title for your chart such as 5 Year Office Comparison and click Apply & Close.
The chart appears on the screen but requires some customisation to work. From the fly out menu of Y axis options on the left select Profit and then from the X axis dropdown list select Time so you plot Profit against Time.
From the Color dropdown list, select Unique Colors and from the Size dropdown list, select Units Sold.
Click the Play button and the chart will play showing the change in your data over time. The Y axis movement shows movement in Profit and the size of the bubble shows change in Units Sold.
The tabs change the chart from a Bubble to a Column or Line (this is not a motion chart).
If you click the office checkboxes and Trails you will see additional labels on your data and to the right of the Play button is a slider which controls playback speed.
Save the default
Wind the play button back to the beginning. Click the Settings button and click Advanced and Advanced again. Double click the state string to select it, right click and choose Copy. Click the chart title to display the chart menu, click Edit Gadget and paste the string into the Default State textbox. Save the worksheet and the chart will appear whenever the worksheet is viewed and it will be configured as you set it up to look.
Labels: animated, charts, default, Excel, google docs, motion, save, spreadsheet
Wednesday, March 13th, 2013
Change your Windows 8 Lock Screen image
Change your Windows 8 Lock screen and other personal settings
It isn’t easy to find but you can change the images you see on your Lock screen and start screen in Windows 8 by pressing the Windows logo key and I and choose Change PC Settings.
Click Personalize and you can view different options for your Lock screen, Start screen and account picture.
Yeah! No more Seattle Space needle for me!
Labels: change image, configure, lock screen, personalize, setup, start screen, Windows 8