Self Help / Teach Yourself / Step by Step / Computer Training Books about Microsoft Office 2007, E.C.D.L. and M.O.S Certification, at the Hughan Smith store.

Mr. Smith Speaks on Microsoft Office 2007

• Creating A Valentines Day Card In 10 Steps using Microsoft Word

  2008 Feb 12

  The following exercise is intended to show Microsoft Word’s capabilities insofar as Desktop Publishing goes. The following exercise applies to Microsoft Word 2000 to 2003.
  
  Start by preparing a rough sketch of the card you want on a letter size piece of paper that you turn to Portrait and then fold in half.
  
  (1) Turn page from Portrait to Landscape - File on the menu, Page Setup, Margins tab. Under “Orientation” choose Landscape and then click OK.
  Note: At 100% zoom you cannot verify that you have done this, so switch to “Whole Page” to see.
  
  (2) Add two columns - Use the Column tool on the Standard toolbar.
  You can also use Format on the menu - Columns and then choose two columns.
  
  (3) Lay your design flat-out on your keyboard with the front page showing, to understand how the page and columns lineup. The front of the card is the right column.
  Our design calls for a Text box in the left column and then the front page in the right column.
  Start the design by entering the information in the left column - that would be the Text box with the words Designed by “Your Name”.
  Insert the Text box by clicking the tool on the Drawing toolbar. If the Drawing toolbar is not showing, right click any tool or menu and then select it.
  
  Format the text box by
  Adding a thicker line style using the Line Style tool
  Adding color to the line using the Line colour tool
  Adding a single color or Fill Effect for the inside using the Fill tool
  Adding a shadow using the Shadow Style tool
  All those tools are available on the Drawing toolbar.
  
  (4) After you have formatted the Text box, take a column break to move to the next column. Do this by first doing Ctrl + End so that the Text box does not move with the break, and then take the column break by doing Ctrl+Shift+Enter.
  You can also take a column break by clicking Insert on the menu - Break - Column Break - OK
  
  (5) Once you have taken the column break and your cursor is in the other column, begin to type your text such as “Happy Valentine’s Day To The One I Love”. Type this in one straight line.
  Highlight the text and then use the keyboard shortcut Ctrl +] to increase the font size to close to the size it looks like on your design. Use Ctrl + [ if necessary to decrease font size. Add a color.
  Note: After you have increased the size you can have a line begin where you want by clicking the cursor in front of the word and then hitting the Enter key.
  
  For example if you want the words to appear in the following manner:
  
  Happy Valentines Day
  To
  The One I Love
  
  After you have increased the font size to the point you want click in front of the “To” and then hit Enter.
  Likewise click in front the “The” and hit Enter.
  
  (6) Place a graphic - a shape in this case.
  Click Auto Shapes on the Drawing toolbar, move to Basic Shapes to the Heart shape. Click and drag to draw shape. Size the shape to the appropriate size.
  Format the shape as you did the Text box. I have used a Fill Effect by clicking the Fill tool and then selecting Fill Effect and then choosing Two Colors, using Red as the first color and White as the second, align from the Center.
  
  
  (7) After you have done so and are ready to move on, take a page break to move to the next page of your design.
  Do this by first doing Ctrl + End to keep the graphic from moving with the break and then take the page break by clicking Ctrl + Enter.
  You can also take a page break by clicking Insert on the menu - Break - and then click the Enter key.
  
  (8) Once you have taken the break and the new page appears take a column break Ctrl + Shift + Enter to move to the right column. It is not necessary to first do Ctrl + End because there is no graphic to prevent from moving to the next column.
  Check your font size and switch to size 12 if it is not that size. Also click the Align Left tool or use the keyboard shortcut Ctrl + L.
  Hit the Enter key four times to move the cursor close to the middle of the page
  Enter the text from your plan.
  
  (9) Create a Drop cap in the first line of the text by doing the following:
  Click the cursor anywhere in the line
  Click Format on the menu - Drop Cap - Dropped - OK.
  
  (10) Use Zoom to switch to Two Page View to see your card.
  
  The same can be accomplished using Microsoft Word 2007.
  Switch to Page Layout tab
  In the Page Setup group of tools click the Orientation down arrow and select Landscape.
  In the same group of tools click the Columns tool down arrow and select two columns.
  Switch to the Insert tab
  In the Illustrations group of tools, click the Shapes down arrow and select and draw the heart shape under the Basic category.
  After having drawn a shape into the document the action brings up the Format ribbon. In the Shapes Styles group of tools click the down arrow of the Shape Fill tool and then select a Gradient, Texture or Pattern. If the highlight has been removed, double click on the shape to bring up the Format ribbon.
  You may add a Shadow by clicking the Shadow tool in the Shadow Effects group.
  To insert the first Column break, switch back to the Page Layout tab and in the Page Setup group of tools click the Breaks down arrow and select Column.
  Likewise to take a Page break, in the Page Setup group of tools click the Breaks down arrow and select Page.
  Switch to Insert tab in order to do the Drop cap.
  Switch to the View tab to select Two Pages.
  
  

• Allthe Microsoft Word Shortcuts You Will Ever Need

  2007 Dec 11

  I have always been a firm believer in keyboard shortcuts and in my training have always given them equal billing to using the mouse. As I do workshops and Training seminars I am always amazed at how underutilized those shortcuts are, given their usefulness. The use of those shortcuts has become even more important, particularly in light of the revamping that Microsoft Word 2007 has undergone compared to the previous versions.
  The following shortcuts work in Word 2007 as well as previous versions, so if you are still using Word 2000 or 2003 and you are contemplating upgrading to 2007, you will be at a great advantage learning the following shortcuts. I dare say that your Microsoft Word efficiency will improve more than a couple of notches if you can master all those shortcuts. So take my advice and learn them.
  There are many more keyboard shortcuts available in Word; the list is intended to be what I deem most useful for the average user of the program.
  Ctrl + A To highlight All, Ctrl + B To Bold, Ctrl + C To Copy, Ctrl + D The Font Dialog box, Ctrl + E To Center, Ctrl + F To Find, Ctrl + G To Go To, Ctrl + H To Replace, Ctrl + I To add Italics, Ctrl + J To Justify, Ctrl + K To add a Hyperlink, Ctrl + L To Left align, Ctrl + M To Indent test, Ctrl + N To open a New document, Ctrl + O To open an existing file, Ctrl + P To Print, Ctrl + R To Right align, Ctrl + S To Save, Ctrl + U To Underline, Ctrl + W To close open window, Ctrl + X To Cut, Ctrl + Y To Redo, Ctrl + Z To Undo, Ctrl + 1 To Single Space, Ctrl + 2 To Double Space, Ctrl + 5 To One and a half space, Home To the Beginning Of Line, End To the End Of Line, Ctrl+Home To the Top Of Document, Ctrl + End To the End Of Document, F7 To open Spellchecker, Shift + F7 To open Thesaurus, Ctrl+Enter To do a Page Break, Ctrl + Shift + Enter To do a Column Break, Ctrl +] To Increase Font By 1 Point, Ctrl + [ To decrease Font By 1 Point, Esc To cancel a command, F1 To get Help, Shift + F1 To get Point and click help, Ctrl + Alt + C To create the Copyright Symbol©, Ctrl + Alt + T To create the Trademark Symbol(™), Ctrl + Alt + R To create the Registration Symbol(®), Ctrl + = To Superscript, Ctrl +Shift+ = To Subscript, Ctrl + Backspace Deletes word to the left, Ctrl + Delete Deletes word to the right, Ctrl + Drag To Duplicate, Ctrl + Esc To display Start Menu, Ctrl + Shift + C To Copy Like F-Painter, Ctrl + Shift + V To Paste Like F-Painter, Ctrl + Shift + A To get All Caps, Ctrl + Shift + K To get Small Caps, Ctrl + Alt + F To Insert a Footnote, Ctrl + Alt + E To Insert an Endnote, Ctrl + Shift + F5 to Insert a Bookmark, Ctrl + Alt + 1 To change to Heading Style 1, Ctrl + Shift + F To Change Font, Ctrl + F2 To Print Preview, Ctrl + F 3 To Spike Text, Ctrl + Shift + F3 To Paste Spike Text, Ctrl + Page Up To top of the previous page, Ctrl +Page Down Top of the next page, Ctrl + Shift + X T open “Mark Index Entry” box, Ctrl + Shift + L To Insert Bullets, Ctrl + F9 Inserts “quotes” for Fields, Shift + F3 To change Case, Shift + F5 To move to the last 3 places edited, Shift + F10 To display Shortcut menu, Alt + F3 To create an “Auto Text”, Alt + F4 To close an open Program, Alt + F8 To display “Macros”, Alt + Tab (or) Alt + Esc To circle open Programs, Alt + Shift + D To insert the Date, Alt + Shift + T To insert The Time.
  
  
  

• Highlighting in Microsoft Word: Every which way you can.

  2007 Nov 07

  When you use Microsoft Word there are several ways to highlight within the program. If you are one who thought that click and drag was the only way to highlight in Microsoft Word, several of them are hardly used here are 26 different ways to do so.
  1. Use the leaning mouse right arrow to select a line. (If you move the mouse pointer to the far left hand side of the screen the pointer will change from the I shaped mouse to a hollow arrow pointing to the right.)
  2. Use the I shaped mouse to select two or more words.
  3. Use either of the above methods to click and drag- meaning to click on the first line with the leaning right arrow, or the I - shaped mouse, keep your finger pressed on the mouse, then drag down to highlight the text.
  4. Double click a single word to highlight it
  5. Place the leaning mouse right arrow at any line then press the Ctrl key then click, to select the entire document.
  6. Triple click the leaning mouse right arrow to highlight the entire document.
  7. Use Ctrl + A, to select the entire document
  8. Edit on the menu – “Select All” command to select the entire document. (Not 2007)
  9. Click with the “I” shaped mouse where you want the highlight to begin, hold down the Shift key, and click where you want the highlight to end - this will highlight the entire range, which you selected.
  10. Click with the “I” - shaped mouse where you want the highlight to begin, hold Shift Key down, and use the right keyboard arrow key to expand highlighted selection to the point you want it. Use the other arrow keys to highlight in other directions.
  11. Place cursor / insertion point anywhere within a sentence, hold down the Ctrl key, and then click, to highlight that sentence.
  12. Triple click in a paragraph to select the entire paragraph.
  13. To highlight / select a picture, object, chart, word art, text box or an auto shape, click on it.
  14. Click where you want the highlight to begin, double click the Ext (Extend Selection) button on the Taskbar, click where you want the highlight to end. You may continually change the highlighted range, by clicking to a new range. To end, and return cursor to normal mode, double click on the Ext button again, or Esc.
  15. Press the F8 function key to enter “Extend Selection” Mode, press it again to highlight the word to the right, press it again to highlight the sentence, press it again to highlight the paragraph, press it again to highlight the entire document. To end, and return cursor to normal mode, double click on the Ext button again, or Esc.
  16. Shift + Home, to select from Cursor / Insertion point, to the beginning of the line.
  17. Shift + End, to select from Cursor / Insertion point, to the end of the line.
  18. Shift + Ctrl + Home to select from Cursor / Insertion point to the beginning of the document
  19. Shift + Ctrl + End to select from cursor / insertion point to the end of the document
  20. Shift + Ctrl + Right Arrow to select word to the right of the cursor
  21. Shift + Ctrl + Left Arrow to select word to the left of the cursor
  22. Click the 4 headed arrow to top left of a table to select entire table
  23. Use the leaning mouse right arrow to select an entire line in a table
  24. Use the thick black arrow above the columns, to highlight a column(s), in a table
  25. Use the thick black arrow to highlight a cell in a table
  26. Use the Alt key and click and drag to highlight a rectangular range.
  
  

• SOME OF THE COMMON FEATURES WHERE HAVE THEY GONE?

  2007 Jul 20

  Making the transition from previous versions of Microsoft Word to the latest version Word 2007 can be sometimes troublesome to find simple functions that you previously had no difficulty with and were considered routine even for a basic user. Finding some of those features can now proof to be troublesome.
  In previous blogs I have provided the quick fix to those problems, to reiterate the positions which I previously mentioned to combat this:
  
  1. Customize the Quick Access Bar
  2. Learn to use the common keyboard shortcuts
  
  My previous blogs supplied details on both items.
  Let us look specifically at items such as Clip Art, Pictures, WordArt, Symbols, Text Boxes and Shapes.
  In the previous versions such as Word 2000 – 2003 all of those mentioned features except Symbols were available as tools on the Drawing toolbar, or if you preferred you could have accessed all of them using the Insert menu. By now we all know or we should all know that in Word 2007 menus have been replaced by Ribbons.
  While new names such as Home, Page Layout, Reference, Mailings and Review which did not exists in previous versions, the Insert and View names have been retained and now exists as ribbons.
  The Insert ribbon now contains the Shapes, Pictures, WordArt, Symbol, and ClipArt tools.
  Other items such as Page Breaks (Ctrl + Enter), Page Numbers, Date (Alt + Shift + D) and Time (Alt + Shift + T) , Objects, File, Bookmarks, Cross-References and Hyperlinks (Ctrl + K) which were previously found on the Insert menu can now also be found on the Insert ribbon. You may also insert a Field into a document by using the Insert ribbon, the feature has now been bundled in a new feature called Quick Parts. Click the down arrow of the Quick Parts tool and select Field.
  Some features previously found under the Insert menu have now been moved to other ribbons; specifically the “Comment” feature has been moved to the Review tab.
  Footnotes, Captions, Cross Reference and the Index and Tables feature consisting of Index, Table of Contents, Table of Figures and Table of Authority have also been moved to another ribbon namely the Reference ribbon.
  The all common features such as New (Ctrl + N), Save (Ctrl + S), Save As (F12) Open (Ctrl + O ), Print (Ctrl + P) and Close (Ctrl + W) which previously existed under the File menu can now be found under the File or Microsoft Office button located to the top left hand corner of the screen.
  
  
  

• Making Microsoft Word 2007 look Like Word 2003

  2007 Jun 25

  In my previous post I listed essential shortcuts that you should learn in order to quickly master Microsoft Word 2007 particularly for those making the transition from Word 2003 and earlier versions..
  I also promised to show you how to make Word 2007 look like Word 2003. Well it is not so much the looks as it is an easy way to see and of course use the tools that you have become accustomed to using in the earlier versions of the program.
  What I am talking about here is what is called the Quick Access toolbar. Here is an excerpt from my book Microsoft Word 2007 To The Point.
  Customizing the Quick Access Toolbar
  The Quick Access Toolbar contains four tools namely Save, Undo, Repeat and Print. It however can be customized to contain just the tools that you want placed in it. You can add any tool to the Quick Access toolbar by right clicking the tool and then choose Add to Quick Access Toolbar.
  Likewise you can add an entire group of tools to the Quick Access Toolbar by right clicking on the group name and then choose Add to Quick Access Toolbar. Because of the ability to customize the toolbar, the feature should be used to arrange it to your liking, that is to say you can place the tools or group of tools in the order that you want them.
  Use the toolbar to place tools or the groups of tools that you use with some regularity which may be hidden, or to place the tools on tabs other than the Home tab ribbon so that way if you are working with the Home tab you do not have to switch tabs to get to the features you want, instead you access the feature(s) on the Quick Access Toolbar.
  For those making the transition from an earlier version of the program this can be a worthwhile suggestion to consider, because the Home tab tools contain for the most part tools that were previously found on the Standard and Formatting toolbars, so that way you are already familiar with most of them.
  To fully customize the Quick Access Toolbar click the File button and then click Word Options to bring up the Word Options dialog box, click the Customization tab to display theCustomizing the Quick Access Toolbar window .
  
  Click the down arrow of the “Choose commands from” area to view and select the various ribbons such as Home, Insert, Page Layout and so on. There are also a variety of other heading categories including the “All Commands” heading.
  When you select a tab it displays the various tools that come with it. Select the one that you want and then click the "Add" button to have it added to the Quick Access Toolbar. Likewise you can select a tool and then click the "Remove" button to remove it from the Quick Access Toolbar.
  You can rearrange the order of a tool by selecting it and then using the "Move up" or "Move down" arrow to the right of the dialog box to alter the tool in the direction you want.
  You can also choose the position of the Quick Access Toolbar selecting to place it Above or Below the Ribbon.
  You can also click the Customize button to customize the keyboard shortcuts.
  
  
  
  
  

• Microsoft Word 2007 Very Different yet still the same

  2007 Jun 20

  Much has been made of the new Microsoft Word interface, the new Ribbon, the lack of menus and how different it is from previous versions of the program. All you have head is true, in fact my first reaction was resentment to the drastic change. I have since settled down and as of this writing I have already written three books on the subject Word 2007 To The Point, Teach Yourself Word 2007 and The Little Black Book of Answers Word 2007.
  I have also written three books each on Excel 2007 and PowerPoint 2007 with the same titles.
  If you were a previous user of the program understand that the menus are gone, that’s right no menus. Personally I have never been a fan of menus; I have always preferred the tools on the toolbars and keyboard shortcuts. My approach to teaching the computer has always been to know your toolbars; after all the toolbars were always meant to represent the functions that you wish to perform.
  I have always found it strange why anybody would click File on the menu and then click Save or Save as to save a file when you can click the Save icon on the toolbar, or for that matter why not use the keyboard shortcut Ctrl + S. The same holds true for most of the tools. With Word 2007 keyboard shortcuts have become even more important.
  The closest thing to the old fashion menu is what is called the File button located at the top left hand corner of the screen. Click that button to access commands like a New document, Open, Save, Save as, Print and Close.
  Once again good old keyboard shortcuts can come to the rescue.
  Ctrl + N for a new document
  Ctrl + O to open an existing file
  Ctrl + S to save a new file
  F12 to save a copy of an existing file
  Ctrl + P to print
  Ctrl + W to close an open window
  Ctrl + F4 to close down the program
  Call it what you want but the Home Ribbon is essentially the extending of what use to formally be known as the Standard and Formatting toolbars, it is still intended to place the more commonly used commands at your disposal.
  Here are some of the commonly used tools that are on the Home Ribbon and the corresponding keyboard shortcuts.
  Paste – Ctrl + V
  Cut – Ctrl + X
  Copy – Ctrl + C
  Bold - Ctrl + B
  Italic – Ctrl + I
  Underline – Ctrl + U
  Increase Font Size – Ctrl + ]
  Decrease Font Size – Ctrl + [
  Font – Ctrl + Shift + F
  Font Size – Ctrl + Shift + P
  The Subscript Tool - Ctrl + =
  The Superscript Tool - Ctrl + Shift + =
  Ctrl + D brings up the Font dialog box
  The Change Case tool, - Shift + F3.
  Format Painter – Ctrl + Shift + C
  Single Spacing – Ctrl + 1
  Double Spacing – Ctrl + 2
  Space and a half – Ctrl + 5
  Left Align – Ctrl + L
  Right Align – Ctrl + R
  Center Align – Ctrl + E
  Justified – Ctrl + J
  Find – Ctrl + F
  Replace – Ctrl + H
  Go To - Ctrl + G
  Part of this drastic change in Word 2007 for the absence of menus was to place the remaining commands under different tabs such as the Insert Tab, the Page Layout Tab, the Reference tab, The Mailings Tab, the Review tab, and the View tabs.
  For example to insert a Hyperlink you must switch to the Insert tab unless you happen to know that Ctrl + K is the keyboard shortcut.
  The Spell-check, Research and Thesaurus features are all found under the Review tab, you can however use the keyboard shortcut F7 for Spell-check, Shift + F7 for Thesaurus and Alt + Click for research.
  Increasing you knowledge and use of keyboard shortcuts is the first step toward mastering Word 2007.
  From here on in I will be posting excerpts from my books. Next posting I will show you a way to make Word 2007 look just like the older versions so that if you are making the transition you can be up and running in no time.