Word Tips

WORD TIPS

TIP #1 - SHORTCUT TO CHANGE CASE (PC/MAC - All Versions)

To change the case of selected text, this shortcut will cycle around the various capitalization options available.

Change Case (PC) - Shift+F3
Change Case (MAC) - Shift+F3 or Command+Option+C

TIP #2 - PREVIEWING MULTIPLE WORD PAGES (All Versions)

When you want to use Print Preview to see how your Word document will look on paper, choose FILE/Print Preview. If you want to see multiple pages simultaneously, click the Multiple Pages button in the Print Preview toolbar. It's the button that has four tiny pages on it .

When you click the button, a dialog box showing six small pages opens. Here's how the dialog box is laid out. The top row provides pages 1 through 3. The bottom row provides two to the maximum, placing the pages both vertically and horizontally. You can adjust the number of pages in view by changing the zoom factor.

TIP #3 - FORMAT PAINTER (All Versions)

Here's a cool trick that many Word for Windows users overlook--format painting.

If there's a format in your document that you'd like to apply in some other part of the document, don't bother with a lot of fancy manipulations. All you have to do is click on a line that contains the format you want to use and then click the Format Painter button (it looks like a paint brush) in the toolbar. Clicking the Format Painter button will change the icon to a brush. Move to the text to which you want to apply the format and use the mouse to 'paint' over the text. That's all you have to do. Word will reformat your text.

TIP #4 - TRIPLECLICK - QUICK PARAGRAPH SELECTION (All Versions)

You probably know that you can select a single word in a Word document by double-clicking the word. One you may not know about is that if you triple-click anywhere in a paragraph, Word selects the entire paragraph.

TIP #5 - USING AUTOTEXT (All Versions)

This is a quick way to store text that you type over and over again

    Example: Sincerely,
                    Danna Jo Smith
                    Computer Support Assistant
                    Center for Electronic Design, Communications and Computing

Word version 97, 2000, 2002:

To store the AutoText

Highlight the text you would like to save to AutoText
INSERT/AutoText/New
Give the text a short name that's easy to remember (example for above: djs)

To insert the AutoText

Type the short name you chose (example from above: djs)
There are two ways to insert the AutoText in this version (97)

TIP #6 - HOW TO USE BOOKMARKS IN YOUR DOCUMENTS (All Versions)

You can use bookmarks in Word to mark a specific paragraph, location, or graphic that you'll need to refer back to on a regular basis. To use Bookmarks, select the item you want to bookmark. If you want to set a bookmark for an empty location in the document, simply click where you want the mark to apply.

Office 97, 2000, and 2002

Choose INSERT/Bookmark
Give your bookmark a name and click Add

To return to the bookmark later

Choose INSERT/Bookmark
Select the name and click Go To
The cursor will jump to the marked location. When you're finished with the Bookmark dialog box, click CLOSE

TIP #7 - HANG YOUR ART ON THE SPIKE (All Versions)

Suppose you're working in Word and you don't like the way you've placed a picture. In fact, you believe the best approach would be to finish all the text entry before you insert the picture. If you cut the picture, it gets put on the Clipboard. If you then cut something else, your picture is gone.

On a PC (all versions)

This is no problem is you use the Spike. Select the picture and press Ctrl+F3. Now the picture will remain on the Spike until you need it again.

To paste the picture and remove it from the Spike, click where you want the picture to appear and press Ctrl+Shift+F3. Remember that this will completely clear the Spike and paste all its contents into the document.

TIP #8 - MISSING MENU ITEM IN WORD (Version 97, 2000, 2002)

If you lose a menu item and wonder what happened, you can get it back by doing the following:

From menu, select TOOLS
Select Customize
Click Commands TAB

Be sure"Save In:" at bottom of window shows 'NORMAL.DOT'. On the left, scroll down and click on Built-In Menus. On the right, click what you're missing, and drag it onto your menu, locating it wherever you like. Click CLOSE

TIP #9 - INCLUDE THE PATH AND FILENAME IN A DOCUMENT (Versions 7.0, 97, 2000, 2002)

You can use fields to insert the filename, date, word count, and other information about your file. Fields can be set to update automatically when you print or save, so you don't need to modify the text when this information changes.

To insert the path and filename in a Word for Windows 95 or Word 97 document

Open your FOOTER and position the insertion where you want the filename to appear.
From the menu under INSERT, select Field.
From the list of fields, click Filename (for version 2000, click document information from the categories section and then click Filename from the field names section).

This will insert the filename of the document, but to include the entire path you need to add a switch.

For Versions 7.0, 97 & 2000:

With Filename selected, click Options to see a list of switches that pertain to the selected field.
On the Field Specific Switches Tab, click \p and then click Addto Field to include the path in the filename field.
Click OK to return to the Field dialog box, and click OK again to insert the field in your document.

For Version 2002:

check the 'Add Path to filename' checkbox

TIP #10 - TO SELECT A RECTANGULAR/COLUMN BLOCK OF TEXT (All Versions)

Hold the ALT key down and drag to highlight text with the mouse

TIP # 11 - TO CREATE A WATERMARK (All Versions)

You can have text, graphics, or borders appear on every page of a document like a watermark, but you don't need a macro to do it. You can create your watermark in Header and Footer view. That way your watermark appears on every page automatically, the way headers and footers do.

The following steps are for Word for Windows 95, Word 97 and Word 2000:

On the Standard toolbar, click the Drawing button to display the Drawing toolbar.
On the View menu, click Header and Footer.
On the Header and Footer toolbar, click the Show/Hide Document Text button to hide the text and graphics in the main document.
On the Drawing toolbar, click the Text Box button. (In Word 97, click the Insert Text Box button.)
Type the text that you want to appear on every page, format it, and click the Send Behind Text button on the Drawing toolbar. (In Word 97, go to the Drawing menu on the Drawing toolbar. Click Order, click Send Behind Text.)
To move the frame or text box, click the border and drag it to its new location.
To resize the frame or text box, click it and drag a sizing handle.
On the Header and Footer toolbar, click CLOSE.

Note: If the watermark interferes with the legibility of the body text, you can make it lighter. To do this, choose another color for the background text using the Font command on the Format menu. Drawing objects can be made lighter with the Drawing Object command on the Format menu. use other applications, such as Microsoft Paint, to modify imported graphics.

For Word 2002:

On the Format menu, point to Background, and then click Printed Watermark
Select Picture Watermark or Text Watermark (select or enter the text you want to appear).
Click Apply
Use print layout view to view the watermark as it will appear on the page.

TIP # 12 - Wrap Text Around Graphic Images (Version 97, 2000, 2002)

Version 97:

Select INSERT/Picture to import a picture into your document. Then size and position it as you would with any image.
Click the text wrapping icon on the picture toolbar
Select edit wrap points from the resulting pop-up menu.
If your image is a .wmf file, Word contours the text wrapping points around the image automatically. Otherwise, you'll need to do this manually: Click the crosshair pointer anywhere on the red dotted outline around the graphic and drag the outline to a new position. Repeat this as often as you need to, until the dotted red outline closely follows the contours of the image.
Once you've established all the contours, just click outside the image to resume editing and formatting text. Word will automatically wrap existing or new text around the contours you've set up, overwriting the graphics's background.

Versions 2000 & 2002:

Select the Insert menu and choose Picture
Click the text wrapping icon from the picture toolbar
Select a wrapping style
Word will automatically wrap existing or new text around the pciture.

TIP# 13 - AUTOMATING GRAPHIC INSERTS (All Versions)

Do you often insert a graphic such as a logo or signature, into your
documents? You can automate this process. Open a document containing the image, click the embedded graphic to select it, then select Tools/AutoCorrect.

You'll see part of the graphic displayed in the With window. Type a short abbreviation like mysig in the Replace box, making sure it's not a word you normally type, then click OK to add it to your AutoCorrect list. The next time you type the abbreviation, Word will automatically insert the graphic.

TIP #14 - PICTURES THAT GO WITH THE FLOW (All Versions)

When you add a picture to a Word document using the Insert/Picture command, the picture floats over your text by default. This arrangement is fine if you want to be able to move your picture to any position on the page or to any page in your document--but suppose you want to make sure your picture stays in the same place relative to text in your document. What can you do to make this miracle happen?

Just set the picture to flow with your text, as the following steps explain:

Right-click the picture and choose Format Picture from the shortcut menu.
Click the Position TAB (for version 2002, click the Layout tab)
Deselect Float Over Text (for version 2002, make sure 'In front of text' is deselected)
Click OK.
Drag the picture into the desired position, just as you would drag and drop text.

From now on, the picture will flow with the text of your document.

TIP #15 - MERGE CELLS TOGETHER BY HAND IN TABLES (PC - Version 97, 2000 & 2002 & MAC - Version 98)

If you've created even one Word 97 table, you probably know the most
common way to merge two cells: Select the cells and then click the
Merge Cells button. However, if you're more of a hands-on type, you
may prefer this method:

Word 97 for the PC

If the Tables and Borders toolbar is not displayed, right-click any toolbar and choose Tables and Borders from the shortcut menu.
Click the Eraser button.
Drag the eraser over the cell border you want to remove.

Tip #16 - Outlook Contacts not showing up as a Data Source when Merging with MS Word (Version 2002)

If you find that MS Word will not see your Outlook 2002 Contacts as a data source during a merge AND you have the Corel Suite (version 9) running on your PC, you can:

Open Outook, select Contacts from the Outlook Shortcut bar, and from the Tools menu, select Email Accounts.
This will open an Email Accouts Dialog box. Under the Directory section, select the "View or change existing directories or address book" option button. Click Next.
Highlight the "Corel Central Address Book 9" and click the Remove button. Click the Finish button.

Tip #17 - Convert Adobe Acrobat Reader (*.pdf) Files in Word (Versions 2000 & 2002)

Note: Text copied from Adobe Acrobat PDF Files into MS Word 2000 or 2002, will loose some formatting such as spacing and alignment.

Verify Selecting Text and Graphics is Allowed
Open the Portable Document Format (pdf) file in Acrobat Reader and using the File menu, choose Document Info and then click Secruity. Verify that 'Selecting Text and Graphics' is set to 'Allowed'. If so, you can copy the document's text and graphics and paste these into MS Word.

To Copy a Page from a Portable Document Format (PDF) file
Open the pdf file in Acrobat Reader and go to the specific page you want to copy. From the 'Basic Tools toolbar', click the 'Text Select Tool'. From the Edit menu, click 'Copy'. Open MS Word and from the Edit menu, choose Paste. The text should copy into your Word document.

To Copy the Entire Document
Open the pdf file in Acrobat Reader and from the View menu, choose Continuous. From the Edit menu, click Select All and from the Edit menu again, choose Copy. Open MS Word and from the Edit menu, choose Paste. The text should copy into your Word document.

To Copy a Graphic
Open the pdf file in Acrobat Reader. Press and hold the 'Shift key' and then click on the 'Text Select Tool' from the toolbar. Another menu will appear and from this menu, click the 'Graphic Select Tool'. Your cursor will change to a cross-hair icon and at this point, you can draw a rectangle around the graphic you want to copy. From the Edit menu, choose Copy. Open MS Word and from the Edit menu, choose Paste. The graphic should copy into your Word document.

Tip #18 - Instructions for Tracking Changes in Word Documents

2-10-04

(Good for editing our policies or other large documents)

To record your edits within a document:

1) The first step is to load your document and then to turn on the TRACKING feature. Do this by clicking on TOOLS on your menu at the top of the screen. Then click on: TRACK CHANGES and then click on HIGHLIGHT CHANGES. You will then see a dialogue open which says: TRACK CHANGES WHILE EDITING with a check box next to it. Make sure and check this box and then click OK.

2) To mark text for deletion, block the text to be deleted with your mouse and then press the DELETE key. This will place a “strike-through” in the text area and will turn it to a red color (or whatever default color you have set). To add text, simply type the text you want to add. As you type, the new text will automatically be underlined and will be in color.

3) If you want to turn off the editing feature, repeat step 1, but this time “uncheck” the box where it says TRACK CHANGES WHILE EDITING.

4) When you have finished making your edits, save your work.

When your edits are complete and you are ready for permanent changes to be made to your document, load the document and then:

1) Click on TOOLS, click on TRACK CHANGES, and then click on ACCEPT OR REJECT CHANGES.

2) This will open a dialogue box and will give you viewing options: CHANGES WITH HIGHLIGHTING, CHANGES WITHOUT HIGHLIGHTING, or ORIGINAL. You can click on the circle beside these options to see or not see the changes in your document. When you are ready to accept all of your edits, click on ACCEPT ALL. You will be asked a question “DO YOU WANT TO ACCEPT ALL REMAING CHANGES WITHOUT VIEWING THEM?” Click on YES and your edits are made automatically.

TIPS:

To change the deletion and inserted text indicators (i.e. the strike-through lines for deleted text or underlines for inserted text) of your edits or to change the color of this text:

1) Click on TOOLS, TRACK CHANGES, HIGHLIGHT CHANGES, and then click on OPTIONS.

2) Select a MARK and COLOR for each of the DELETED TEXT and INSERTED TEXT and click on OK.