How do I arrange for the current date to
always magically appear in the right place when
I open a file I call Letterhead?Welcome to Blaisdell's Little
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Microsoft Word 97 & 2000 Vol. VI
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Office Index II
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| This site was Updated on 03/01/2006 | |
@ Back to Word Page 5 To the Office Index PageH To Word Page 7 E
Consistent
Sentence Spacing
Try this VBA Macro Script
Adding
Parentheses
Use this VBA Macro
What to do if Recent File List is grayed out in Tools | Option | General Tab
Word Document Closes When you Click on Hyperlink to Another Document or Webpage Document
Place A Break In A Numbered Or Bulleted List (Word 2002| 2003)
Get The Sage English Dictionary and Thesaurus 1.0.5 - It is freeware.
Let Word's Equation Editor format your mathematical text
Do your Microsoft Word documents often contain mathematical formulas—that you have to enter manually? If so, ease your workload by letting the Equation Editor format the text for you.
If you spend a lot of time typing Microsoft Word documents with mathematical formulas, let the Equation Editor format the text for you. For example, to type the formula A=h(b1+b2)/2 with the Equation Editor, follow these steps:
1. Click where you want the equation to appear in your document.
2. Select Insert | Object
3. Under the Create New tab, scroll to and select Microsoft Equation 3.0 and click OK.
4. Type A= at the prompt.
5. Click the Fractions And Radical Templates button in the second row of the Equation toolbar and select the first template.
6. Type h at the prompt.
7. Click the Fence Templates button in the toolbar and select the first template.
8. Type b.
9. Click the Subscripts and Superscripts button in the toolbar and select the second template in the first row and type 1.
10. Press [Right Arrow] key and type +b.
11. Click the Subscripts and Superscripts button in the toolbar and select the second template in the first row and type 2.
12. Press [Down Arrow] key and type 2.
13. Click outside the Equation working area.
The resulting formula can be selected, copied and moved like any embedded object. To edit the equation, double-click it to bring up the MS Equation 3.0 toolbar.
Display blocks of text in your Word documents
You're in the final stretch of writing a massive document when you realize that a block of text, such as Company Confidential, needs to appear in the right margin of each page of your Word document. Learn how Word's Header and Text Box features make it easy to add this text to your documents.
When you need to display the same block of text (e.g., Company Confidential) on every page, you can place it in a header or footer. However, it becomes more complicated if you want to display the text in a specific section of the pages, such as the right margin or the middle of every page.
Microsoft Word's Header and Text Box features make this task quite simple. Follow these steps:
1. Go to View | Header And Footer.
2. Click within the Header window, then go to Insert | Text Box. Press [Esc] to remove the drawing canvas.
3. Click and drag the mouse pointer in the Header window to create the text box.
4. Click within the text box and enter the text.
5. Point to the text box border and right-click.
6. Select Format Text Box.
7. Click on the Layout tab and select In Front of text button and click OK.
8. Click and drag the text box border to the right margin where you want to display the text.
9. Click the Close button in the Header and Footer toolbar.
Now Company Confidential will appear in the right margin of every page in your document. If you need to make formatting changes to the text, you must first go to View | Header And Footer. Then right-click the text box and select Format text box to make the necessary changes before closing the Header window. You must also open the Header window before you can delete the text box from the document.
Link to another file in your Word document
If you insert text from a another file into one of your Microsoft Word documents, there may be cases when you want to be able to update the text when changes are made to the source file. This tip explains how you can use field codes to keep inserted text up-to-date.
When you go to Insert | File, Microsoft Word lets you navigate to a folder, select a file, and insert it into the current document. The result is a static copy—the inserted text won't change unless you edit it. In most situations, this is probably the result you want. But in other cases, you may want to insert a dynamic copy of the file instead—one that stays linked to the external file and displays the most current version of the text.
An inserted link is a Word field, which means that when you select it and press
[F9], the link displays the most current version of the external file. For instance, suppose your company prints a standard disclaimer at the end of all business correspondence. If the text of that disclaimer is subject to frequent revisions, you might want to link to the disclaimer's source file.
Go to Insert | File, and navigate to the file you want to link to. Select the file, click the drop-down arrow on the Insert File dialog box's Insert button, and choose Insert As Link. When you do, Word inserts a field in the following form:
{INCLUDETEXT "<drive>:\\<path>\\disclaimer.doc"}
This field inserts the most current text from the file. (If you see this Word field instead of the text, press
[Alt][F9] to toggle field codes.)
Next, open the external file (in our example, disclaimer.doc), make a change to the text, and save and close that document window. Return to the document where you inserted the link, select the linked text, and press
[F9] to update. When you do, changes made to the external file will show up in the linked text
How to use the mouse to change your Word document's margins
When using the mouse and the ruler to change margins in Word documents, users often confuse the ruler's document margin markers with the paragraph indent markers. Learn how to find and move the correct marker to change the left and right document margins with your mouse.
When users try to use the mouse to change the margins of their Microsoft Word document, they often make the mistake of moving the right or left indent markers on the ruler. (If the ruler isn't displayed in your document, go to View | Ruler.)
For example, they might move the left indent marker to the 1 inch mark on the ruler, thinking they have set the margin to 1 inch—in actuality, they just indented the selected paragraph one inch from the margin.
To change a document margin using your mouse, you need to find and then move the margin marker. For example, to change the left margin from the default 1.25" to 1", move your mouse across the dark grey area of the ruler until the pointer becomes a double-headed arrow and the Screen Tip "Left Margin" appears. Press the [ALT] key while dragging the left margin arrow to the left. Stop pressing down on your mouse and release the [ALT] key when 1" is displayed.
This same method can also be used with the top, bottom and right side margins as
well.
Create and format picture bullets in Word
Are you looking for an effective and visually appealing way to set off text in your Word documents? Then check out how easy it is to create and format picture bullets using Word's AutoFormat feature.
An effective and visually appealing way to set off text in your Word documents is to use picture bullets. However, if you want to create a custom bullet in Microsoft Word from a picture, you have to go through the Bullets And Numbering menu and add the picture to the Picture Bullet gallery. Then, you follow the menu prompts to insert the picture bullet into your text.
This method takes quite a bit of navigation through the menus. If you are only going to use a bullet once, it probably doesn't warrant all the work involved to add it to the gallery. A faster method may be to let Word's AutoFormat feature create the bullets for you.
Follow these steps to quickly insert a picture from your clip art:
1. Position the pointer on the line where you want your first bullet to appear.
2. Insert | Picture | Clip Art. Click the picture you want to insert.
3. Resize the picture to a height only slightly larger than the font size of the bulleted text.
4. Press [Tab], type the text following the bullet, and then press [Enter].
Now, each time you press [Enter], your custom bullet will be inserted on the next line.
Sorting Paragraphs
And More Using Microsoft Word
Sorting Paragraphs And More Using Microsoft
Word, the rest of the story.
You are probably aware that Microsoft Excel can be used to put all of your data
in order, but Microsoft Word has some pretty powerful sorting capabilities of
its own, as long as you know how to enter the information into Word in a format
that it can understand.
A New Way Of Looking At Paragraphs
A paragraph to Microsoft Word isn't the same as it was to your elementary
school English teacher. You probably think of a paragraph as a group of
sentences that both state and support a single idea. However, to a word
processor, a paragraph is where you press the Enter key. Therefore,
Microsoft Word looks at each new group of characters followed by the Enter key
as a paragraph. You may type only one word or you may type 300 words
before you hit Enter, but nonetheless, each of those groups of letters is a
paragraph.
More Than Just Letters
As you know, you're not limited to just typing letters into Microsoft Word.
You can also enter numbers, symbols, and spaces. Word will sort each of
these in groups using basic rules of alphabetizing and numerical ordering.
Symbols will appear first, followed by spaces, followed by letters and then
numbers. Let's take a look at a simple set of "paragraphs" to
see this in action.
The list
twelve
sixteen
eighteen
$twenty
Will become this list after sorting:
$twenty
eighteen
sixteen
twelve
Now let's give a few simple and a few more advanced options a try.
The Sort Dialog Box
You sort paragraphs using the Sort dialog box which is under the table menu
in Microsoft Word. Don't let the fact that the Sort option is listed under
the Tables menu. While it can be used to sort information in a table, the
feature is definitely not limited to use with data in a table. To sort a
set of paragraphs, simply select the paragraphs and then select Table > Sort
to bring up the dialog box. You'll notice that the Sort dialog box has
several different selection boxes - we'll get into those in a minute. For
now, just be sure that "No Header Row" radio button is selected
(assuming your list has no header row) and then click OK. Your list should
now be sorted. Try the following list:
The paragraphs
one
two
three
four
five
will appear like this after sorting:
five
four
one
three
two
The basic sort feature using text is incredibly useful for alphabetizing lists
of names such as in a reference list or for making a list of names more easily
readable.
If you transcribe the words in the resulting list into numbers, then you can use
word to re-sort the list back into numerical order
5
4
1
3
2
will be sorted back into numerical order. When you open the sort dialog
box to perform this sort, you should find that Word has automatically changed
the "Type" box to Number for you so you don't have to select this.
Clicking OK will place the list of numbers back into numerical order. If
you've ever wanted to quickly reorder five or six different written paragraphs
without having to drag and drop or cut and paste each one, this can be a helpful
feature. Just put a number in front of each paragraph symbolizing the new
order in which you want them to appear, select the paragraphs, and then choose
Sort and change the type to number. The paragraphs will appear in the new
order and all you have to do is delete your numerical labels from the front of
each paragraph.
The sort above will yield the same results regardless of whether you choose
"Text", or "Number" from the "Type" box. The
same is not the case if you're using numbers with varying numbers of digits.
To see the differences in the way Word sorts numbers when using the Text or
Numbers feature, let's look at an example. Consider the group of numbers:
23
185
42
3887
We could easily sort these back into their correct numerical order manually, but
instead we'll have a bit of fun with Word's sort feature. If you select
these four paragraphs and then choose Table > Sort, again the Type box should
automatically default to Number. You can go ahead and perform the sort and
get the expected result of:
23
42
185
3887
However, if you change the sort type back to Text you will get some
unexpected results:
185
23
3887
42
Notice that Word sorts by first digit. That's because alphabetic sort
rules are being used rather than numerical sort rules. When we
alphabetize, we sort by first letter. When two words have the same first
letter we sort by second letter and so on. You'll notice that this is
exactly what word has done with the numbers.
The third data type that can be used in a Microsoft Word sort is date.
Microsoft Word will recognize dates entered using forward slashes (/), hyphens
(-), periods (.), or commas (,) as separators between each part of the date.
When sorting by date, Word will read the year first, then the month, and then
the day and will give you a properly sorted list of dates.
Sorting Paragraphs And More Using Microsoft Word, the rest of the story.
What's A Delimiter
To separate fields / columns, you will need to use a delimiter.
'Delimiter' is one of those geeky terms but all it means is what character
separates one field / column from the next. What character you use
depends on the software you are using and what data is in the fields.
You can't have the delimited character also in the data - for example if you use
the comma to separate fields you can't have commas in the data too (because
there's no way for the software to tell the difference between the two).
Therefore you need to choose your delimiter carefully.
For example consider these two address details.
Name, Address, City
Fred Dagg, 12 Clarke St, Auckland
Bruce Bayliss, Chez Bruce, John Rd, Taupo
The first line has three fields, separated by commas. But the second one has a
comma in the Address and would look to a program like four fields. 'John
Rd' would be considered the City and 'Taupo' ignored.
Thankfully using tables in Word or an Excel worksheet will save you worrying out
old-fashioned delimiters. I'd suggest using tables wherever possible
because it gives you maximum flexibility over time.
To quickly change paragraphs in Word without having to rearrange or drag-and-drop paragraphs, simply set the cursor to the paragraph that you wish to move and use the combination Shift + Alt + (Up or Down). Up will move the paragraph up in order; down will have the opposite effect.
Kill Words Automatic Bullets & Numbering
Reader Jim writes: It is a nuisance to me to have Word (2000) automatically assume that I want "bullets" or numbers. I have quite a bit of trouble with this. I would like to permanently turn them off.
I know how to create bullets/numbers when I need them. I don't need the software to assume I need them.
Answer: Turning off bullets and numbering is easy. Use the Tools |
AutoCorrect Options in Word 2002 or 2003
(use Tools | AutoCorrect in Word 2000), then select the "AutoFormat As You
Type" tab.
In the middle of the dialog box you'll find the "Apply as you type" section. Turn off the desired option by un-checking the "Automatic bulleted lists" and/or "Automatic numbered lists" boxes. Now, when you type a pair of "two hyphens and some text," Word won't turn the items into a bulleted list.
Security Update For Word
2000, 2002
Two new Knowledge Base articles released last week explain a new, critical
problem involving Word.
Security Update for Word 2000 (Knowledge Base article 895333) and Word 2003
(Knowledge Base article 895589) both address a security vulnerability in which
Word allows arbitrary code to run when you open a maliciously modified document.
To automatically update your copy of Word with the fix, go to
http:| |
officeupdate.microsoft.com
and click on the Check for Updates link (at the top center of the page).
A frustrated word user writes:
How do I arrange for the current date to
always magically appear in the right place when
I open a file I call Letterhead?
The easiest way is to insert a field for the current date.
1. Open the Letterhead file,
2. Move to the position where you want the date to appear, and use the Insert | Field command.
3. Choose the Create Date field, choose a format, and click on OK.
4.
Now, as long as the date is supposed to be the date the file was created,
you're fine.
If you insert the Date field, you'll run into a problem --
whenever you open the file, the field is automatically replaced with the current
system date. Thus, if you open the
file you create today in two weeks, the letter will show the later date and you
lose the original date the letter contained when you mailed it.
Talk about a nightmare.
There's a keyboard shortcut that is often promoted to enter
the current date:
Alt + Shift + D.
It's just as problematic. In fact,
all this shortcut does is insert a Date field into the document. You lose the
"original date" if you ever open this file in the future.
Excel has a
Paste | Special | Value
command that replaces a formula with a value.
In Word, a field is similar to a formula, and the equivalent technique is
to copy the date field (that is, swipe your mouse over the date that is
displayed in your document), then with the current date still selected, use the
Edit | Paste Special command
Place A Break In A Numbered Or Bulleted List (Word 2002| 2003)
Reader Tom writes:
I spend a large portion of my day typing in Microsoft
Word. One thing I have never figured out is how to add a note in the middle of a
bulleted or numbered list. Normally I would turn of the list and waste some time
messing around with it. Is there a way of adding a break within a list any
easier? ~ Tom
Sure Tom, try this little jewel:
Instead of turning off the list, simply press Shift + Enter. Normally after you have typed in a list item you would press Enter and another bullet or number will automatically appear. To insert the break, press Shift + Enter after typing in your list item. A break will appear where you can type in your note. Then press Enter again and the numbered or bulleted list will continue. How nifty is that?
Reader John Writes:
How
can you change the font size of line numbering? I have tried changing the
default font, I've tried removing line numbers then changing the default and
re-adding the line numbers with no luck. Any help you can give me would be
good. ~ John
Sure John, here is how:
Here is The Easy Way:
Or is it?
- Switch to Print Layout view (use the View | Print layout command or click on the Print Layout button on your toolbar),
- Then select the area you want numbered, use the File | Page Setup command, select the Layout tab, and
- Click on the Line Numbers button.
- That brings up a dialog box with all the controls for line numbering -- except how to control the font!
- It's actually quite easy.
With the line-numbered document displayed:
In Word 2002, 2003:
1. Use the Format| Styles and Formatting command. From the Task Pane at right, find Line Number in the "Pick formatting to apply" list. When you hover your mouse over that style, Word displays a down-pointing arrow to the right of the style name.
2. Click that down-pointing arrow and choose the Modify option.
3. Click the Format button, then choose the Font option from the menu.
4. Change the font properties and choose OK when you're done.
In Word 2000:
1. Use the Format| Style command.
2. Choose Line Number from the Styles list.
3. Click on the Modify button.
4. Choose the Format button. Choose Paragraph from the pull-down list.
5. Make your changes to the font.
Note: You can make the font exceptionally large in Word, and you might think that that would change the line spacing in the body of your document. It doesn't. Instead, it lops off the top and bottom of the line numbers, so be sure to choose a font that's the appropriate size.
One comment I keep getting from folks, is that the below method is easier. Unfortunately we must remember this is a Template Document not a regular document.In the Insert Menu, click on Date and Time. Select the format you want. This is a normal practice. Below that, Word provides an option called "Update automatically." If this check box is checked, then the current system date gets automatically updated in the Word document replacing the original date. It is preferred that the check box is not checked and Word automatically retains the older and original date.
Unfortunately, the above solution doesn't work with new documents built from template files. If you paste in the current date into the template, that's the date all new documents based on the template will have. The original request was for the current date to be inserted and then not changed.
Making Autocorrect - Correct For You.
All the recent versions of Office have Autocorrect features - changes are made
as you type. In this issue we'll give you an overview of how it works and
then some tips to make this feature work better for you.
For this article we'll focus on Word because that's where most Autocorrecting is
done. Keep in mind that similarly acting features are in Excel and
Powerpoint.
Word Is Watching You.
Every letter you type, every word you write - Word is watching you.
AutoCorrect makes changes as you type.
Strictly speaking AutoCorrect only acts when you press space, a punctuation
character or Enter. If what you just typed matches one of the character
combinations stored in the Autocorrect list, it will be changed to whatever has
been set as the replace text.
Capitals At Last!
Office AutoCorrect has various capital letter related
features that might have frustrated you no end!
These options are controlled at Tools | AutoCorrect |
AutoCorrect:
TWo INitial CApitals
A common problem is holding the shift key down a bit too long. This
feature will fix that automatically.
First letter of table cells | sentences
This will automatically capitalize sentences and anything you type in a table
cell.
Names of Days
monday becomes Monday etc.
cAPS lOCK fix
If you accidentally leave the caps lock key on you can get mixed-up case like
the last line. Autocorrect can fix that text automatically AND switch off
the caps lock setting.
Exceptions
In particular for the capitalization there are cases where you don't want
AutoCorrect to get involved. At Tools | AutoCorrect | AutoCorrect
then the Exceptions button.
You'll see many exceptions already inserted for you. For example under
'First Letter' there are many common abbreviations that end with a fullstop|
period
like " occas. " is left unchanged.
Add You Own Changes
You can add your own AutoCorrect changes, depending on what typing problems you
have.
One of things my typing fingers can't get right is MP# instead of MP3 - just
can't get that shift key up in time for the last character.
To fix that I added an entry to AutoCorrect:
1. Tools | Autocorrect
2. In 'Replace' type the text you want to change from - in this case MP#
3. In 'With' type the text you want to see afterwards - eg MP3
4. Leave the option as 'Plain Text' unless there is specific formatting you want.
5. Finally, click on Add (or Replace if you're updating an existing entry)
Quick Short Text
AutoCorrect isn't just for changing mistakes, for you can also use it to
insert blocks of text quickly.
You might have some standard text that's commonly used. Word has an
AutoText option which is intended for that but it can be clumsy to use.
The alternative is to create a shortcut code, probably a few letters and link
that code to the expanded text.
To do this type the full text you want inserted then select | highlight that
text. Then go to Tool | AutoCorrect and you'll see the selected
text is already copied into the 'Add' field for you. Add a shortcut code
in 'Replace' and add the entry.
For example, you might work for a city's Department of Vehicle Registrations,
and a suitable entry in Word's Autotext would allow you to type DOVR (and
Enter) and DOVR would be replaced by the words "Department of Vehicle
Registrations", saving you many keystrokes.
Quick Email Signatures
A favorite place to use that feature is with email signatures. Since
Outlook can use Word as the email editor you can leverage the features of Word
for your email.
I've always found the email signatures support wanting. The biggest
problem is that, like many people, I have multiple personalities - personal,
business, professional and maybe sub-divisions of that. One signature
isn't appropriate for all of them. You can have multiple signatures in
most email clients but selecting the right one is a pain.
AutoCorrect gives you an alternative. Create each signature then assign it
to a shortcut code. I prefix all my signature shortcuts with the letters
'lb' so that:
lbb - gives a personal signature
sge - inserts an Editor in Chief signature
and so on.
I chose 'lbb' not only because it's a shortening of 'Larry Bo Blaisdell'
but also those two letters followed by others don't spell any commonly used
word.
Using a common prefix for all signatures also means they will all show up
together in the AutoCorrect list - which only sorts alphabetically.
De-Abbreviate Abbreviations
Another use for AutoCorrect is to expand common abbreviations into their full
form.
For example, you might type FBI most of the time but occasionally want to enter
the full name of the famed bureau.
Obviously you can't use FBI as the AutoCorrect trigger because that would change
the abbreviation every time.
The solution is to add a letter or character before or after the abbreviation.
For grouping purposes (as mentioned above) I add the character before.
My choice is F for full. So typing ffbi will convert to
Federal Bureau of Investigation. fcia become Central
Intelligence Agency etc. But you can chose whatever character you like
- some people prefer a non-alphabetical character such as ~ or #.
The same idea is handy for ensuring exact and consistent phrasing. There
might an exact company name you have use and AutoCorrect can help you. For
example fow could become Blaisdell’s Little Corner of the Web.
(est 1997, a Unencorperated).
Go Back, Jack
If you're typing and Autocorrect jumps in where it isn't wanted you can undo the
fix just like anything else you do in Word. An AutoCorrect change is
recorded in the 'Undo' feature as a separate action so all you have to do is
press Ctrl + Z (the Undo shortcut) and what you type is restored.
Text Boundaries
See also: Converting Text
Boxes Continued:
When I work with Word, I typically try to keep the document display clean. I
don't show paragraph or spacing marks, for example, because they clutter up my
screen. If I need to see the left and right margins -- well, the left margin is
pretty clear, and the right margin is visible in the ruler bar just above the
document.
In addition to showing the size of the left, right, top, and bottom margins, the
text boundary feature can show you column margins -- a handy feature if you're
preparing multi-column brochures or newsletters.
Converting Text Boxes
Continued:
One surprising fact about text boxes is that they don't show up in Word's Normal
view, which is enough for some people to steer clear. The alternative is
'Frames' which show up in all screen views.
You can convert a text box to a frame. Right-click on the edge of a text
box and choose 'Format Text Box'. Under the Text Box tab choose 'Convert
to Frame'.
It is a good alternative but may not be what you need. The option of just
copying the text out of the box then deleting the empty text box might be
enough.
Add Numbers To Your Outline In Word
When you view your document in Outline view, the headings are not usually numbered. If you want, you can configure Word to number the headings in your outline. This can be accomplished by completing the steps below.
1. Within Word, click Bullets and Numbering from the Format menu. The Bullets and Numbering dialog box appears.
2. Click the Outline Numbered tab.
3. Select the type of numbering style you want to use. If none of the styles appeal to you, click the Customize button.
4. Under Number Format, choose the heading level you want to modify the numbering for.
5. Make the necessary formatting changes.
6. Click OK.
7. Click OK to close the Bullets and Numbering dialog box.
Removing the numbers from your outline is just as simple. Complete steps 1 and 2 as described above. From the Outline Numbered tab, click None. Once you click OK, the numbering will be removed from your outline.
Word Document Closes
When you Click on Hyperlink to Another
Document or Webpage Document
Word 97
Reader Joan writes:
A hyperlink is a "hot spot" that allows you to jump to another location. The location can include another file on your hard disk or company's network (such as a Microsoft Word document or a Microsoft Excel worksheet), an Internet address (such as http:| | www.uninets.net| ~blaisdel| Index.htm or a location such as a bookmark or slide. The field includes display text, which is often blue and underlined, that the user clicks to jump to the specified location.
You can use the \n switch to prevent the document from closing but in Word 97 the only way for this to work correctly is to insert the hyperlinks using Insert| Field and add the switch there. If you just add the \n to the existing hyperlink field then the document will close after clicking the link. If there are a lot of hyperlinks that need to be corrected then here's the steps you need to do:
Otherwise, if the document is dirty then it will not close when you click a hyperlink.
Versions after Word 97 do not exhibit the same behavior - they modified it due to user feedback. Bet you thought that they don't pay any attention to those huh? This is strike one for open source they do put pressure on Microsoft. Mr. Gates may not like it, but for the rest of us, competition is a good thing.
If you are using Word 97, see: Word 97 Hyperlinks Update
Prevent Pictures From Moving In Word
If you have ever inserted a picture into Word, placing it exactly where you want it, only to find out later that it is now in a different
place can be frustrating. Hey, what can I say? Understatements is a gift. Well believe it or not, you do have complete control over where your picture is located and where it stays.
If you are working in Word 2002 and later, use the steps below to position your graphic.
If your using earlier versions, click
here.
1. Insert the picture into your document.
2. Click the picture once so it is selected.
3. From the Format menu, click Picture. The Format Picture dialog box appears.
4. Click the Layout tab.
5. Choose any of the available Wrapping options (except In Line With Text).
6. Click the Advanced button.
7. Verify that Picture Position is selected.
8. Under Horizontal choose Absolute. Set the picture to be the desired number of inches to the right of Page.
9. Under Vertical choose Absolute. Set the picture to be the desired number of inches below Page.
10. Verify that the Move Object with Text check box is not selected.
11. Close any open dialog boxes.
In previous versions of Word, the steps are going to be slightly different.
1. Insert the picture into your document.
2. Click once on the picture to select it.
3. From the Format menu, click Picture.
4. Select the Position tab.
5. Use the drop down arrow under Horizontal to specify the desired number of inches from the Page.
6. Use the drop down arrow under Vertical to specify the desired number of inches from the Page.
7. Clear the Move Object with Text box
8. Close any open dialog boxes.
Word Section Breaks And Page Formats
Working with Section Breaks and Multiple Page Formats
You no doubt know how to adjust a document's margins, paper orientation (portrait or landscape), and paper size.
What happens if you want to use different margin or orientation settings in the same document?
For example, what do you do if you want one page of your document to appear in portrait orientation and another to appear in landscape orientation?
You can apply different page formatting in the same document by using a section break. A section break allows you to use different page formatting elements-such as the margins, page orientation, headers and footers, and sequence of page numbers-in the same document. This lesson explains how to apply section breaks to use different page formats in the same document.
First, you need to specify where you want to insert a section break.
1. Move the insertion point to the very beginning of the Assessment heading.
This is where you want to insert a section break.
2. Select Insert | Break from the menu.
The Break dialog box appears, The Break dialog box lets you insert page, column, and section breaks. You need to insert a section break, so you can apply multiple page formats in the same document.
3. Under "Section break types," select Next Page, and then click OK.
Selecting the Next Page option will create a page break before the new section. See Table 4-2 (below) for other break options. Now that you have two sections, you can add different headers, footers, and page formatting to each section. You will be changing the page orientation of the second section (where the insertion point is currently located).
4. Make sure the insertion point is located on the second page of the document and select File | Page Setup from the menu. Click the Margins tab if it isn't currently in front.
The Page Setup dialog box appears with the Margins tab in front. Change the orientation of the page in the second section from portrait to landscape.
5. Under the Orientation section, select Landscape. Make sure the Apply To text box says This Section.
All the pages in the second section will have landscape orientation, while the pages in the first section will still have portrait orientation. You can also adjust margin settings for pages in a section.
6. Change the Top, Bottom, Left, and Right margins to 0.5". Click OK.
The page in the second section is reformatted with landscape orientation and half-inch margins.
7. Click the Print Preview button on the Standard toolbar.
Word displays the document on the screen in preview mode, giving us a better view of the paper formatting changes you've made. Let's look at the page in the previous section.
8. Scroll up to the previous page.
Word displays the first page, in the first section, in preview mode. Notice how the page formatting -- the orientation and the margins -- is unchanged.
9. Close the document without saving any changes.
You probably noticed there were other break options listed in the Break dialog box, besides the Next Page Section break you used. Table 4-2 explains what these other options are.
Break Type| Description
Page Break: Inserts a simple page break at the insertion point.
Column Break:
Only used when working on a document with multiple newspaper-type columns. Inserts a column break at the insertion point.
Next Page Section Break:
Inserts a section break at the insertion point and inserts a page break so the new section starts at the beginning of a new page.
Continuous Section Break:
Inserts a section break at the insertion point and starts the section immediately, without inserting a page break.
Even Page Section Break:
Inserts a section break at the insertion point and starts the next section on the next even-numbered page. If the section falls on an even-numbered page, Word leaves the next odd-numbered page blank.
Odd Page Section Break:
Inserts a section break at the insertion point and starts the next section on the next odd-numbered page. If the section falls on an odd-numbered page, Word leaves the next even-numbered page blank.
Did you think that the only printing options available to you were those from the printer options menu or the printer's own Properties dialog? Many do. In fact, recently, we have been inundated with questions about printing. I suspect that the April 15 deadline has something to do with it. That's right, the Tax Man Cometh!.
First, if an option is not available in the printer's property sheet, don't despair. Most likely you'll find what you want the program to do by going to Word's Tools | Options | and then switch to the Print tab.
You will find a ton of stuff there. If there is something you're not so sure about, simply click the Question (?) Mark at the upper right hand corner of the dialog and then click on an option you aren't so sure about. Most likely you'll find something there which can help make your print job what you really wanted it to be.
Then of course, we should get back to the printer's dialog as well. Some things you want to do, most likely are there, you just don't know how to use them. The help file isn't going to be of much help either. Seems Microsoft would like to keep this stuff a secrete...who knows why! Microsoft has information about these options, but you'll have to go to the Microsoft Help Center and look through the Knowledgebase articles to find them.
Lets see if we can debunk some of those cryptic Gates won't tell secrets shall we?
Page Ranges Reverse:
Order Printing pages in reverse order is easily done by simply putting
the larger page number first 33-27 will print page 33 first then 32 and so on to
page 27. You will find this under File | Print | look in the Print Range section
From ____ To ____ section.
Out Of Order Printing Pages don't have to be printed in order from lowest to highest - you can mix n match to your hearts content, separated by commas for each sequence. For example: 15, 5, 7, 9-14,
Here To The End And Vv:
If you wanted to print from a particular page to the end of the document
you could enter, say, 50-99, into the Page Range field. As long as the document
was under 100 pages Word would print to the end of the document without
complaining. If the document was over 100 pages then enter 999 instead.
Turns out I'm showing my age from using earlier versions of Word. These days all you have to do is type 50- and Word will print from page 50 to the end of the document.
Incidentally the reverse also works -50 will print from the start to page 50. Sorry, had a Duh moment there!
Section Printing:
You can print whole sections of a document if you have inserted section breaks,
naturally.
s7 will print only section 7
s5-s7 will print from section 5 to section 7 inclusive
s5p4-s5p7 prints section 5 pages 4 to 7 inclusive
s5p4-s6p8 prints from section 5 page 4 to section 6 page 8
and so on.
Selection Printing:
Of course you can also print selections of a document by highlighting what
you want to print, then under the Print Range section select the radio button for,
Selection. If there are more than one selections of the document you want to
print, simply highlight the first part of the selection while holding down on
the Ctrl Key, then place your cursor
to the first word of the next selection while holding down on the Ctrl
Key, then hold down on the Shift key and place your cursor at the end of
the selection you want to print. If there are multiple selections in a document
simply follow this step for each selection. Once done, all of the selections you
wanted to print should be highlighted and ready for you to choose the Print
Range | Selection radio button.
What to do if Recent File List is grayed out in Tools | Option | General Tab
A reader asks: I have a strange problem. In MsWord 2000 the Tools | Options | General Tab recent file list is grayed out. How do I resolve this issue?
Answer: The reader is referring to the option you can find by using the Tools | Options menu command, opening the General tab, and looking for the "Recently used file list" option (it is used to control the number of files displayed in the File menu).
It turns out that the reader found yet another problem that occurs because there's a problem with the Registry. The solution: Open the Registry editor (regedit), back up the registry, and find this key:
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\ Policies\Explorer\
Change the value for NoRecentDocsHistory to 0.
To learn more about the System Registry and the Registry Editor, please see: Bo's Tweaky Clean Windows
Sometimes it is handy to see a list of commands supplied with Word, along with how they are invoked. Word includes a real handy macro that allows you to do this automatically. To create such a list, follow these steps:
1. Choose the Macro option from the Tools menu, and then choose Macros from the resulting submenu.If you are using Word 95, you just need to choose the Macro option from the Tools menu.) 2. In the Macros Available In drop-down list, choose Word Commands. 3. In the list of commands, choose the ListCommands entry. 4. Click on Run. You are asked whether you want the list to include. Make your choice, as desired. 5. Click on OK.
Word creates a new document that contains the desired information. It shows commands in one column, shortcut keys to invoke those commands, and the menus from which they are available.
Adding Parentheses
Use this VBA Macro
See Also:
Normally, you add parentheses around your parenthetical remarks as you type your text. There may be times, however, when you want to add the parentheses at a later time. For instance, while editing your document you may select some text and then want parentheses added around the selected text. If you are using Word 6 or Word 95, you can use the following macro, AddParens:
Sub MAIN
If SelType() = 2 Then
T$ = Rtrim$(Selection$())
Insert "("
Insert T$
Insert ")"
End If
End Sub
This macro first checks to make sure you have selected some text. If so, the selected text is replaced with the proper text within parentheses.
Additionally, you may want to add quotes:
Normally, you add quote marks to your text as you type. There may be times, however, when you want to add the quote marks at a later time. For instance, while editing your document you may select some text and then want quote marks added around the selected text. If you are using Word 6 or Word 95, you can use the following macro, AddQuotes:
Sub MAIN
If SelType() = 2 Then
T$ = Rtrim$(Selection$())
If ToolsAutoCorrectSmartQuotes() Then
BQuote$ = Chr$(147)
EQuote$ = Chr$(148)
Else
BQuote$ = Chr$(34)
EQuote$ = Chr$(34)
End If
EditClear
Insert BQuote$
Insert T$
Insert EQuote$
End If
End Sub
This macro first checks to make sure you have selected some text. If so, then it determines the proper type of quote marks to use, based on whether you have SmartQuotes turned on or note. The selected text is then replaced with the proper quoted text.
Consistent Sentence Spacing
Try this VBA Macro Script
There is an unwritten rule in typesetting that there should only be one space after the end of a sentence. This provides the best visual appearance on a printed page, particularly when using proportional typefaces. (If you are using monospace fonts, as you would on a typewriter, then you should use two spaces after the end of a sentence.) The problem is that it is easy to add additional spaces at the end of a sentence without even realizing it. The following VBA macro, CheckSpaces, is a tool you can use to double-check the end of your sentences.
Sub CheckSpaces()
Call MakeChanges("Normal", ".")
Call MakeChanges("Normal", "!")
Call MakeChanges("Normal", ":")
Call MakeChanges("Normal", Chr$(34))
End Sub
Sub MakeChanges(StyName As String, PuncMark As String)
Selection.HomeKey Unit:=wdStory
Selection.Find.ClearFormatting
Selection.Find.Style = ActiveDocument.Styles(StyName)
Selection.Find.Replacement.ClearFormatting
With Selection.Find
.Text = PuncMark & " "
.Replacement.Text = PuncMark & " "
.Forward = True
.Wrap = wdFindContinue
.Format = True
.MatchCase = False
.MatchWholeWord = False
.MatchWildcards = False
.MatchSoundsLike = False
.MatchAllWordForms = False
End With
Selection.Find.Execute Replace:=wdReplaceAll
Selection.Find.Text = PuncMark & " "
Selection.Find.Execute Replace:=wdReplaceAll
End Sub
CheckSpaces will only take extra spaces out of paragraphs formatted with the Normal text style. This ensures you won't mess up formatting in tables or other design elements where you may want extra spaces after periods. If you want to change the type of punctuation searched for, or search in different style paragraphs, add additional calls to MakeChanges after the fifth line in the macro.
Putting the List of a Folder's Contents into Word
Reader Jeff Writes: Is there a way to copy a list of filenames in a folder, as viewed in Windows Explorer, into a Word document without having to copy and paste each filename individually? If you open a folder and then highlight and copy a list of pictures, for example, and then paste into Word, all of the pictures are actually inserted. I want to copy just a list of the filenames of the pictures instead.
Yes, you can do it with a little help from the Command Prompt. First open the folder in Windows Explorer. Highlight its name in the Address bar and copy it to the clipboard. Now launch Command Prompt from the Start menu. Type CD " (that's C, D, space, double quote), then right-click, choose Paste, and press Enter. If the folder of pictures is on a different drive from the Windows drive, type the drive letter and a colon and press Enter. The prompt string in the Command Prompt window should be displaying the name of your folder; for example, "G:\Photos\Concert>". Now enter the command below exactly as shown:
DIR | ON | B *.* > C:\folderlist.txt
The | ON switch means Order by Name; in other words, sort the listing. The | B switch yields a "Bare" listing of just the filenames without the size and date| time stamp. And the "greater than" sign redirects the output of this command into the file C:\folderlist.txt. Open the folderlist.txt file in Word and you've got just what you were looking for.
Copy Word Document Without Hidden Text
Reader Joe Writes: I have a Microsoft Word document with hidden text, but when I highlight the document and paste it into a Microsoft Outlook Express e-mail, the hidden text is no longer hidden. How can I keep the hidden text from appearing in the e-mail? I don't want to remove the hidden text permanently, but I need to send the document, and I don't want to share that hidden text.
You're going to have to remove all the hidden text temporarily before you copy| paste and restore it afterward—but that's easier than it sounds. Start by saving the current version of the file, just in case. Press Ctrl+H to bring up the Find and Replace dialog, and click on the More button to show the additional options. Click on the Format button and select Font from the menu that appears. Check the Hidden box and click on OK. At this point both the "Find what" and "Replace with" boxes should be empty, and the word "Hidden" should be displayed below the "Find what" box. Click on the Replace All button and all of the hidden text will disappear, replaced with nothing. Copy and paste the document into your e-mail message. Now press Ctrl+Z to undo the removal of the hidden text. Or simply close the document without saving and revert to the previously saved version.
You may want to choose Tools | Options, click on the View tab, and check the "Hidden text" box to make Word show hidden text onscreen, so you'll remember when you need to remove it. When hidden text is made visible in this way, Word sets it off with a dotted underline.
Change Spaces into Actual Indenting
Reader George writes: I have a tool that exports text with outlined bullet points to Microsoft Word. But instead of using Word's indent feature, the tool indents each bullet point in the outline by padding it with spaces. Text at outline level 0 has 0 spaces, level 1 has 3 spaces, level 2 has 6 spaces, and so on. Is it possible to convert the spaces to Word indent levels? I tried using Find and Replace and looked at the options under the More button, but they do not seem to include the ability to replace characters with indentation.
Yes, this is possible. Start with the deepest level of indentation—let's say you have levels 0, 1, and 2. Press Ctrl+H to bring up the Find and Replace dialog. In the Find what box, type 6 spaces. Leave the Replace with box empty, but click in it. Then click on More, click on Format, click on Paragraph, and enter the desired indentation—we'll use 1 inch for this level. Click on the Replace All button and Word will apply the formatting. Now, to get rid of the spaces themselves, click in the Replace with box, click on the No Formatting button, and click on Replace All again. Repeat the above process, searching for 3 spaces and setting the formatting to an indentation of 0.5 inch. You now have a document in which the space-padding has been replaced by actual indentation.
Reader Tracy asks: Is there any way that I can type the word "Attention" on the lower left of the envelope with Microsoft Word? The Envelopes and Labels window does not give me that option.
Actually, the Envelopes and Labels dialog does allow you to customize an envelope—it's just not obvious how to do so. As usual, choose Tools | Letters and Mailings | Envelopes and Labels. Enter the recipient's address and, if it's not already present, the return address. Select any other formatting options that you wish. Then, instead of clicking on Print, click on the Add to Document button. This will insert your envelope in a separate section before the start of your current document. Select View | Print Layout from the menu to see just how the envelope will look.
Click within the envelope and choose Insert | Picture | WordArt from the menu. Select a WordArt style and click on OK. Enter Attention, select a typeface and font size, and then click on OK. Right-click on the newly inserted item and choose Format WordArt from the menu. Make any changes you like to the fill color and line color. Click on the Layout tab, choose the In front of text option, and click on OK—this allows you to move the WordArt wherever you want on the envelope. You can now move it, stretch it, and even rotate it.
To print the custom envelope, insert an envelope in your printer in the usual fashion. If you don't remember the correct orientation, choose Tools | Letters and Mailings | Envelopes and Labels, check the orientation pictured in the box titled Feed, and click on Cancel. Now choose Print from the File menu and click on Pages in the Page range panel—enter 0 for the page number. When you click on OK, Word will print your custom envelope.
Return to the Index on
this page
Replacing Ordinals And Superscripts
If you've ever typed an ordinal number (an adjective that describes the numerical position of an object) as text (first, second, third, etc.), you probably have no problem. But when that ordinal number uses a numeric digit, such as 1st or 2nd, and you're using Word's defaults, you'll end up with the "st" and "nd" portion of the ordinal as superscripts.
1st
2nd
That's easy to turn off: use the Tools| AutoCorrect menu option from the main menu. Select the AutoFormat As You Type tab, then in the "Replace as you type" section, uncheck the "Ordinals (1st) with superscript" option. (Alternatively, use the Undo command -- shortcut Ctrl + Z) immediately after the AutoCorrect takes place.)
Those steps are fine for new documents, but what about a document you receive from someone else? What happens if a colleague hasn't changed their AutoCorrect settings and you have to convert this superscript to normal text?
The answer is to use Find and Replace. Use the Edit| Replace command from the main menu (shortcut: Ctrl + H). If the full dialog box isn't shown, click on the More button.
In the "Find what" box, click inside the entry area. Then click on the Format button at the bottom of the Find and Replace dialog box and select Font.
In the Font dialog, you'll notice that the checkboxes in the Effects section are all grayed out. Click on the Superscript button once; the checkbox background changes from light gray to white, the checkbox for Superscript is checked, and the checkbox for Subscript is now empty (unchecked). Click on OK.
Click in the "Replace with" box, then click on the Format button and choose Font. This time, in the Effects section, click the Superscript box twice so that the box is unchecked. Click on OK to return to the Find and Replace dialog box.
Now use the Replace| Replace All| Find Next buttons to replace the superscripts with "normal" text. If these ordinal number problems are the only superscript text in my document, you simply click on Replace All and you're done.
Unfortunately (at least in this case), the formatting properties in the Find logic are sticky. That is, if you open the Find or Find| Replace feature again, it remembers the superscript| normal settings. To clear those settings, open the Find and Replace dialog box (Edit| Replace or Ctrl + H). Click inside the "Find what" box and click on the "No Formatting" button at the bottom of the dialog box. Click inside the "Replace with" box and click the "No Formatting" button.
If you perform the find| replace command in a macro, consider using this code to reset your parameters:
The Macro:
Clear settings from Find and Replace dialog to prevent unexpected results from future Find or Replace operations
To prevent the user from having to change the settings in the Find and Replace dialog after running your macros, make sure you call the following procedure after doing any Find and Replace operations in VBA.
Sub ClearFindAndReplaceParameters()
With Selection.Find
.ClearFormatting
.Replacement.ClearFormatting
.Text = ""
.Replacement.Text = ""
.Forward = True
.Wrap = wdFindStop
.Format = False
.MatchCase = False
.MatchWholeWord = False
.MatchWildcards = False
.MatchSoundsLike = False
.MatchAllWordForms = False
End With
End Sub