How to Control text flow in Word with linked text boxes

 

It can be time- and labor-intensive to format columns so the text flows evenly from one column to another, when you've already typed and formatted the article text in another Word document, and also formatting a newsletter which is to include the headline article on page one with a picture that takes up most of the page. You would also like to include an events calendar in the right hand corner, with the article continuing on page two. To use text boxes to lay out this newsletter, follow these steps:

1. Open a blank document in Print Layout view, right-click the Standard toolbar, click Drawing.

2. Click the Text Box tool in the Drawing toolbar and click and drag across the top of the page where you wish to insert the picture.

3. Underneath the picture text box, insert two vertical text boxes: one for the article text and a second for the events calendar.

4. Insert a hard page break. On page two of your document, insert two vertical text boxes -- one on each side of the page.

5. Click the first vertical text box on page one. Right-click the Standard toolbar and click Text Box.

6. On the Text Box toolbar, click the Create Text Box Link tool.

7. Move the pointer (which is now shaped like a pitcher) to the second vertical text box on page two. When the pitcher turns into a pouring pitcher, click the second text box to link it with the first.

8. Click the second text box, which you linked to the text box on page one. Click the Create Text Box Link tool.

9. Move the pointer to the third vertical text box on page two. When the pitcher turns to become a pouring pitcher, click the third vertical text box.

When you copy and paste the article into the first vertical text box on page one, the text will automatically flow into the next linked text box when the first text box is filled. Likewise, when the second box is filled, the article text will automatically flow to the third linked box.

How to Prevent Outlook from adding the country field in Word

 

When you write letters in Word, Outlook automatically inserts the country that matches your PC's regional settings in the Country/Region field for that record (unless you include a country in the address). Consequently, when you click the Insert Address button in the Envelopes And Labels dialog box and choose Outlook as your Address Book, Word automatically inserts the full address, including whatever is in the Country/Region field. For example, if you are located in India, Word will insert India. To prevent Word from automatically entering a country in your letters, follow these steps:

1. Open Outlook.

2. Open Outlook's Contacts folder.

3. Go to View | Arrange By | Current View | By Location.

4. Scroll down until you see the first record with United States of America in the Country/Region column.

5. Delete United States of America from the Country/Region cell of that record.

6. Select all remaining records with United States of America in the Country/Region column.

7. Click the Country/Region cell of one of the selected records and drag it to the empty Country/Region cell created in step 5.

Now when you insert an address using Word's Insert Address button, no country name will appear for the records where the field is blank. When adding new records to your Outlook address book, be sure to delete the country name by clearing the contents of the Country/Region field in the Check Address dialog box for that record.

What are the 10 Windows Application Linux should have.

Many Window applications can be run in Linux using wine, but it would be far better if they are made as native Linux application.

Here is my list of probable 10.

1: Photoshop

Photoshop is, without a doubt, the de facto standard for image editing. It’s also the application that users most often claim they’d like to see ported to Linux. Yes, there are plenty of other image editing applications for Linux (some of which are quite good), but none can compare to the power and versatility of Photoshop. Back in early 2000, it was thought that the head of Adobe simply wasn’t a fan of the open source movement. But then, a few years later, a developer from Adobe came forward to say that the company was more concerned with standards in the area of fonts, color management, and printing. Well, those areas have certainly followed standards (Freetype, OpenIcc, and Cups), so the reasons for not porting are growing slimmer and slimmer.

2: Quicken

Quicken is another application that people still depend upon, even though there are many alternatives. Whether it’s for home or small business use, Quicken takes care of financial needs that many of the open source alternatives can’t match — such as the ability to seamlessly integrate with tax applications, like Turbo Tax. And since Quicken is problematic when you try to run it with Wine, a port will be the only option (outside of running in a virtual machine — which doesn’t count in this instance).

3: AutoCAD

AutoCAD is yet another proprietary Windows application that has many alternatives for the Linux desktop, none of which completely fulfills the needs of the serious professional. There are good Linux CAD tools (such as NX, from Siemens), but for most users the very name AutoCAD is synonymous with CAD. So until AutoCAD is ported, professional designers who employ CAD applications will not be migrating to Linux. Ironic that AutoCAD was originally run on *NIX.

4: Dreamweaver

Dreamweaver is one of the more popular of web design applications. And, of course, there are plenty of web design tools for Linux. But very few tools can stand up to the tool that all others are judged by. Now Dreamweaver is one of the tools that can be run Via WINE, but as anyone who has used applications with WINE knows - it is not the same.  I would have to say that porting the standard web design tool to Linux makes perfect sense, seeing as how so many web sites are run on the Apache web server. A marriage made in IT heaven.

5: iTunes

iTunes is currently the only application that will allow you to sync your iPhone or iTouch. I hesitated to put this sofware on the list, but more and more business users are relying on their mobiles for connectivity. And seeing as how the iPhone is the current standard in the smartphone arena, it only makes sense that iTunes should be ported to the Linux operating system. There are currently tools (such as ifuse) that allow read-only access to the iPhone/iTouch, but there is no way to fully sync with the hardware.

6: QuarkXpress

QuarkXpress is a must-have for many users, and none of the equivalent applications is as powerful or standard as Quark. I use Scribus for PDF creation, but it can’t import Quark proprietary files, nor can it edit PDF documents (it can only create them). Scribus is an outstanding application, but Quark is one of the mainstays for larger business use.

7: Microsoft Outook

Outook is here for only one reason — Exchange. Yes, there are Linux clients that can connect to an Exchange server, but none of them enjoys full Exchange support. For the home user, this isn’t such an issue. But for the business user it is. Many businesses depend upon Exchange and (in some cases) allow only that software for serving email and sharing calendars. If Evolution would finally get to the point where full Exchange integration is a reality, Outlook could be removed from this list.

8: Intuit QuickBooks

QuickBooks is Quicken’s big brother. This version of the tool ups the ante, taking it to big business and enterprise computing. In the Linux, open source world, there really is no equivalent software that will get your business up and running as easily (and globally) as QuickBooks. You could cobble together a few open source tools to equal it, but is the time and effort worth it? Better would be a real port of QuickBooks to Linux.

9: Corel Home Office

Corel Home Office evokes a bittersweet memory of when the Corel Word Processor was ported to Linux. The tool worked well, and everyone saw signs that Linux was going to get all of the necessary tools for a powerhouse operating system. But the rug was pulled out from under the feet of the penguin, and Corel stopped producing the Linux version. Now Corel has a home office suite, but only for Windows. Is this a necessary tool when there are so many outstanding alternatives, such as Microsoft Office and OpenOffice? Maybe not so much. But Corel once supported Linux, and a move to restore that support could initiate support from other companies. And remember, at one point, the WordPerfect word processor was the king of the hill.

10: World of Warcraft

World of Warcraft is a game. I hesitate to include any game on this list, but World of Warcraft is a completely different caliber. It is THE game and will remain THE game for a long time. At one point, Blizzard was one of the companies that supported Linux. You could get Diablo and Diablo II working on Linux. Now the games require Cedega to run. If WoW were to be ported to Linux, there would be a large number of migrations — simply to play a game. Many apps and ship-jumpers would quickly follow.

How to Insert voice comments into a Word document

We use Word to share information and ideas via the written word, but there’s more to Word than that. When something doesn’t lend itself well to the written language, you can insert a voice comment. For instance, you might want to include a personal greeting or clarify a point.

This feature is dependent upon the creator and the recipient having the appropriate hardware, so it won’t work for everyone. The creator needs a microphone and the recipient needs speakers. If you can’t control the recipient’s hardware, you might want to skip this option. It won’t help to insert a voice comment the recipient can’t hear.

Hardware issues aside, inserting a voice comment is easy:

1. Display the Reviewing toolbar: From the View menu, choose Toolbars and then select Reviewing; or right-click the background of any toolbar and select Reviewing.

2. If the Insert Voice icon isn’t visible, add it: Click the Reviewing toolbar’s drop-down arrow (at the right end) and choose Add Or Remove Buttons. Then, select Reviewing and select Insert Voice. In Word 2007, click the Office button and then click Word Options. Select Customize and then select Commands Not In Ribbon from the Choose Commands From drop-down list. Select Insert Voice and click Add and then click OK.

3. After you add the Insert Voice button, you’re ready to record a comment. Position your cursor where you want to insert the comment or highlight a word or phrase if you want to attach the comment to content.

4. Click the Insert Voice button.

5. When Word displays the Sound Object dialog box (which seems to take a while the first time), click the Record button (that’s the red button at the right end).

6. Start talking.

7. When you’re finished, click Stop (that’s the rectangle to the left of the Record button).

8. Close the Sound Object dialog box .

Word will insert a comment balloon that looks just like any other comment. However, instead of text, the comment balloon will display a speaker icon. To play the voice comment, simply double-click that icon.

How to get a free PDF creator.

Using doPDF you can freely convert documents to searchable PDF files from any Windows application. It installs as a printer driver and helps you generate the PDF files by simply selecting the "print" command from any application (you can convert your Word documents, Excel sheets, PowerPoint presentations, AutoCad drawings, company's reports, contracts, workflows, agreements, marketing plans, forms, products list, price list, charts, emails or web pages). The resulted PDF files can be viewed on any computer with a PDF viewer (reader) installed. doPDF has a lot of features that allows you to: modify the paper size, modify the resolution (from 72 to 2400 dpi), change page orientation (portrait, landscape), and change the quality settings.

Change the Windows 7 logon screen wallpaper

Nearly everyone who works on a computer likes to customize his or her experience. Whether it's about productivity or merely cosmetic, we like to change things to suit our work habits and tastes. alas, we can make very few changes to the logon screen through the normal Windows interface.However, if you know where to look and aren't afraid to make a few Registry tweaks; you can customize the Windows logon screen.(all credit to Greg Shultz). As always, backup your registry before you make any change to it.


Unlike in some previous versions of Windows, Microsoft built-in the ability to change logon screen wallpaper so that it would be easier for OEMs to customize Windows 7 for their customers.End users and IT pros can use this same trick. Perhaps you want to put your company's logon on the logon screen or a picture of your family or your pet or me.


1. Open Regedit in the Search box. Then, select the appropriate result and press [Enter].
if User Account Control pops up, click the Yes button.



2. locate and right-click on HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE key and select the Find command.
type OEMBackground in the text box and make sure that only the Values check box is
selected.

find the following key: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Authentication\LogonUI\Background

3. locate and double-click the OEMBackground value. When you see the Edit DWORD dialog
box, change the value data from 0 to 1.

(If the OEMBackground value doesn't exist in the Background key, you'll need to create
it by pulling down the Edit menu from that key and select New | DWORD (32-bit) Value.)

4. Click OK to close the Edit DWORD dialog box, and then close the Registry Editor.

After editing the Registry, you'll need to create a couple of folders.

5. To begin, launch Windows Explorer. Then navigate to the C:\Windows\System32\Oobe folder.

6. Once you access the Oobe folder, click the New Folder button in the Windows Explorer toolbar. Click Continue in the confirmation dialog box and name the new folder "info."


7. Now, open the info folder, click the New Folder button again and name the second new folder backgrounds.

8. Pick an image for your new logon screen wallpaper. Any image can be used, but there are a few requirements.

(a) It must be in JPG format
(b) The file can't be larger than 256K
(c) Its dimensions should match your current screen resolution
(d) you must name the file backgroundDefault.jpg


9. Copy this image to the Windows\System32\Oobe\info\backgrounds folder, you'll encounter a confirmation dialog box. Click Continue to complete the process.


10. You may find that the shadowing on the logon screen buttons and text doesn't really work with your new background. This also can be changed..Microsoft made it easy to adjust or disable the text and button shadows to accommodate your particular image with another quick registry tweak.

11. relaunch the

Registry Editor and navigate to the key: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Authentication\LogonUI

12. Once you open the LogonUI folder, create a new DWORD value called ButtonSet. You can then configure the shadow by setting the value data to one of the following numbers:

0 -- Light shadow

1 -- Dark shadow

2 -- No shadow

and thats it.

Also, if you ever want to go back to the logon screen's original wallpaper, you can reverse the steps outlined. or simply rename your image file to anything other than backgroundDefault. Both of these should do the trick.

How to Edit a Word document in Print Preview

Print Preview displays a document as it will appear in printed form. It displays formatting, columns, pictures, AutoShapes, and even header and footer text, giving you a complete look at your document. You may have noticed that in Print Preview, the insertion point marker turns into the Magnifier. Clicking with that marker zooms in and out, but you can’t edit the document. That’s a shame, you think, because it certainly would be helpful if you could edit a document in Print Preview, wouldn’t it?
But we can edit a document in Print Preview. How you do so isn’t obvious, but it is simple. To edit a document in Print Preview, click the Magnifier icon on the Print Preview toolbar. Doing so disables that tool and the insertion point marker reverts to the I-beam you’re use to seeing in Normal view. Now you can edit away! When you want to zoom, just click Magnifier again. (In Word 2007, uncheck Magnifier in the Preview group on the Print Preview toolbar.) Any edits you make in Print Preview will become part of your document; Word retains those edits when you return to Normal view.
Viewing a document in Print Preview is convenient, but editing the document while in Print Preview can be even more convenient. Just remember to click the Magnifier tool to toggle between the Magnifier and the normal insertion point marker.