Office 97 Tips

SEND TO POWERPOINT

If you like to write your PowerPoint outlines in Word, here's a tip you can use. If you add PowerPoint to your Windows 95 Send To folder, all you have to do to get your Word outline into PowerPoint is right-click on the file and then choose Send To|PowerPoint.

Here's how to set it up. Open Windows Explorer and locate the PowerPoint.exe file (depends on where you put it during installation--the default is C:\Program File\MS Office 97). Now double-click on the Windows folder in Explorer's left pane and scroll down so you can see the Send To folder. Now use the right- mouse button to drag the PowerPoint.exe icon to the Send To folder. When the icon is over the folder, release the button and then choose Create Shortcut(s) Here.

BLACK-AND-WHITE SLIDES

When you create a PowerPoint slide show, you'll often find it convenient to print the slides, perhaps for handouts, and perhaps just for your own use. In any case, most of us end up printing the slides on a black-and-white laser printer.

If you'd like to see how your slides will look when printed in black and white, choose View|Black and White. This toggle command turns the entire slide show into black and white. When you select the command again, the color will come back.

You may find the black-and-white slides somewhat disappointing. Some may be too dark to print well. If this is the case, right-click on the offending figure and choose from one of the options. Light Grayscale is a good first choice.

Changes you make via this method will not have any effect on your color slides. When you choose View|Black and White again, the full color returns.

MICROSOFT GRAPH IN POWERPOINT

If you're working in PowerPoint and would like to insert an existing chart into a new presentation, here's how: When you create a new slide, PowerPoint displays the New Slide dialog box to let you choose the type of slide you want. There are 24 slide layouts available, and three of them include chart placeholders. These three have a chart graphic on them. If counting from left to right in the New Slide dialog box, they are slides number 5, 6, and 8. After you select one of these three slide formats, you can insert a chart by simply double-clicking inside the chart graphic.

INSERTING A CHART IN AN EXISTING SLIDE

In the last tip, we told you how to insert a chart in a new slide (click on New, select slide number 5, 6, or 8 from the New Slide dialog box and double-click on the chart graphic). There are times when you might like to place a chart on an existing slide. To do this, choose Insert, Chart and then place and size the chart to suit the slide.

COUNTING THE DAYS

If you'd like to know how many days left until Christmas, run Excel and type
="12/25/97"-"11/01/97"
(or whatever the current date is) into a cell. Excel will return the number of days (54) between the two dates. The trick here is to remember the quotes. If you don't use quotes, you'll get some very strange results.

SPECIAL FIND AND REPLACE

You know how to use Find and Replace to locate and change words in Microsoft Word. We've even discussed using Find and Replace to replace styles. If you take a close look at the Find and Replace dialog box, you'll see that you can also use it to locate and change other document features.

Let's take a look. Run Word and load a document. Press Ctrl-H to open the Find and Replace dialog box. Now click on the More button to get to the expanded feature list and click on Format. As you can see from the menu, you can find and replace fonts, paragraphs, tabs, languages, frames, styles, and highlights.

This offers some possibilities for those documents under development. For example, you could highlight a sentence or paragraph that isn't thoroughly researched. The highlighting will remind you to do the research; and if you need to make changes later, you can use Find and Replace to locate (and perhaps make changes) to the highlighted text. When finished, all you have to do is remove the highlighting.

A NEW OUTLOOK ON MAIL

If you're already using an e-mail program, you might want to consider switching to Microsoft Outlook. Since you can use Outlook to keep track of your contacts and appointments, and to keep track of all your mailing addresses, why not go ahead and consolidate all the features by using Outlook for e-mail?

Assuming you already have an Internet connection, open Microsoft Outlook and choose Tools, Services and click on Add. >From the list choose Internet Mail. Click on Properties and set up all parameters as required by your ISP and click on OK. Back in the Services dialog box, click on OK again.

Give Outlook a try; you can use it to consolidate much of your business dealings.

LANCELOT LINKED

We get a lot of questions about the difference between linked and unlinked objects in Microsoft Office programs. Let's take a look.

When you link an object to a program's document, any changes you make in the linked object will be reflected in the document. To try this, open Excel and create a simple worksheet--perhaps a worksheet that sums three or four numbers. Save your Excel worksheet and open a new Word document.

In Word, choose Insert, Object and click on the Create From File tab. Now select the Link To File check box and click on Browse. Locate and select the file and click on OK. When you get back to the Object dialog box, click on OK again and your worksheet will appear in the Word document.

Now switch to Excel and make a change in the worksheet. When you go back to Word, you'll see that the linked worksheet in Word has changed to reflect the change you made in Excel.

ART LINKLETTER

In the last tip we described how to link to Office documents. (Choose Insert, Object and click on Create From File. Select Link To File and click on Browse to locate the file you want to link.) There are other ways to insert a linked object into a document. Using a simple worksheet, select the portion of the worksheet that you want to link to your Word document. Choose Edit, Copy to copy the selected area to the Clipboard. Now switch to your Word document and choose Edit, Paste Special. When the dialog box opens, select the Paste Link radio button and then select Microsoft Excel Worksheet Object and click on OK. This pastes the worksheet as a linked object and any changes you make in the worksheet will be reflected in the Word document.

If you don't care about updating future changes in the Word document, you can choose Edit, Paste instead of Edit, Paste Special and the object will be pasted in as an unlinked object. Changes made to the worksheet will not appear in the Word document.

MANUAL ANIMATION IN POWERPOINT

Although you can automate almost everything in a PowerPoint slide, you may prefer to initiate some action manually. The problem with using all automatic animation is that you're tied to the timing of the slide show. When you need to allow some flexible time for questions and comments, you should consider triggering some of your slide animation manually.

Let's say that on a particular slide, you'd like for an object to move into the slide from the left. Right-click on the object you want to animate. When the menu opens, choose Custom Animation. Click on the Effects tab and choose the animation effect that you want to apply to the object. Now click on the Timings tab and select the Animate and the On Mouse Click radio buttons. Click on OK to close the dialog box and record your changes. Now choose View, Slide Show and click on the mouse button to initiate the animation.

A NEW SIGN

PowerPoint does a great job with slides. But you're not limited to only slides. PowerPoint can be quite a sign maker too. To use PowerPoint for signs, you should choose File, Page Setup and then click on the arrow at the right side of the Slides Sized For list box to expand the list. Select Letter Paper. Click on OK to close the dialog box and store your changes. Now go ahead and make your sign. If you have a color printer, you can produce some especially cool stuff.

You can also use PowerPoint to make banners. Just choose File, Page Setup and then select Banner from the Slides Sized For list box. Now click on OK and make your banner.

GROUP HUG

Grouping of objects isn't limited to PowerPoint. In fact, it's a good idea to group objects in Word too. Grouping them keeps them together and easier to deal with.

Let's say you've inserted several ClipArt objects into a Word document. You've placed these objects just where you want them in relation to the page and to each other. You don't want to lose this relationship, so click on the first object and then press and hold down the Shift key while you select the remaining objects.

If the Drawing toolbar isn't available, choose View, Toolbars, Drawing. Now click on the Draw button in the Drawing toolbar and choose Group. Your objects will become one.

ENVELOPE PROBLEMS

Some things seem like they were easier in the good old days. For instance, many people have a problem when trying to print envelopes. Often the default condition will make the return address appear too far from the edge of the envelope. To correct this, choose Tools, Envelopes and Labels and click on Options. Now you can set both the delivery address and the return address positions. Use the Preview envelope as a guide. After you make the adjustments, click on OK and then click on Print.

PASTING FROM POWERPOINT

In previous tips, we've discussed linking (and pasting) objects from Office programs into other Office programs using the Paste Special command. For example, you can link Excel worksheets to Word documents by copying the worksheet and then choosing Edit, Paste Special in Word. However, you can't link PowerPoint files to another program's documents by using the Paste Special command.

If you select and copy a PowerPoint slide, you can move to a Word document and choose Edit, Paste, or Edit, Paste Special. If you choose Paste Special, you'll notice that linking is not an option. So you might as well just save time and choose Paste.

If you want to link a PowerPoint slide to a Word document, choose Insert, Object, and click on Create From File. Select Link To File and then click on Browse to choose the file. Select the file and click on OK. When you get back to the Object dialog box, click on OK to insert the file and close the dialog box.

MAKE A FOLDER TOOLBAR

If you're working in Word (or one of the other Office programs), you might find it handy to keep the contents of a particular folder available for use at all times. One way to do this is to make a toolbar of the folder.

To make a folder toolbar, right-click on the Office toolbar (MOM) and choose Customize. When the Customize dialog box opens, click on the Toolbars tab. Now click on Add Toolbar and select the radio button labeled Make Toolbar for this Folder and click on Browse. Select the folder you want to add to the MOM toolbar and click on Add. Click on OK, and OK again.

SAVE IT ALL

If you're working with more than one document in Word, you'll find that you have a new command on the File menu. The command is Save All; to see it hold down the Shift key and choose File.

You can hold down Shift and choose File, Save All to save all the currently open documents. This can be a bit of a time saver, especially when you have a large number of named documents. Any documents that haven't been saved before will prompt you for a name.

TOOLBARS YOUR WAY

Would you like to change the icon of one of the existing toolbar buttons? No problem in Office 97. Choose View, Toolbars, Customize. When the Customize dialog box opens, click on the Commands tab. Now go to the toolbar and click on the button you'd like to change. Now click on Modify Selection and choose Change Button Image. You can now select a new image and then click on OK. When you return to the Customize dialog box, click on Close to close the dialog box and save the changes.

You can also edit the icon images. To do this, follow the procedure described here, select the button, click on Modify Selection, and this time choose Edit Button Image. Now you can do whatever you want with the icon. You can use this opportunity to make a whole new image if you like. When you're finished, click on OK. When you get back to the Customize dialog box, click on Close.

Note that some buttons cannot be modified. If you select one of these, the Modify Selection button will remain grayed out.

MORE ON TOOLBAR ICONS

If you'd like to use some special icons in your Office 97 toolbars, try this. Locate an image that you think would make a good icon. You might be able to locate some images by inserting ClipArt into a PowerPoint slide. Once you've copied the image to the Clipboard, choose View, Toolbars, Customize. When the Customize dialog box opens, click on the Command tab, and then go to the toolbar and click on the icon you want to replace. Next, Click on Modify Selection and choose Paste Button Image. This will paste your copied image into the toolbar button. Click on Close to close the dialog box and record your change.

IN SUMMARY

Want to quickly sum a row of numbers in Excel? Enter all the numbers and then click on the cell in which you want the sum to appear. Now click on the Sum button in the toolbar. Use the mouse to select the numbers you want to sum and then press Enter. The sum appears immediately and you didn't even have to type in a formula.

SAVING YOUR WORDART

People often use WordArt to create a logo. You can keep the logo by simply saving the document in which the WordArt appears. However, if you'd like to save only the logo to use in other locations, you might want to consider saving the art in a separate .BMP file. To do this, right-click on the WordArt and then choose Copy from the pop-up menu. Now open Paint and choose File, Paste. Once you've pasted the WordArt object into Paint, you can size it and save it as a .BMP file. Now you can use it anywhere at all. You can even copy it to the \Windows folder and use it as wallpaper.

HEADS UP

Do you sometimes need to generate a document with a repetitive style in Word? Perhaps you need a header, followed by text, then another header, etc. If so, this is a perfect time to use AutoFormat. Try this: Type in a header. Now press Enter twice-- rapidly. The sentence should magically appear in Heading 1 style. If this doesn't happen, choose Tools, AutoCorrect and click on AutoFormat as you Type. Make sure Headings is selected and click on OK. Now try again. Press Enter two times in rapid succession. You have to develop a touch for this

LET'S TABLE THAT

In the last tip, we discussed using AutoFormat to produce headings in Word (type in a line and press Enter twice rapidly). This time, let's consider how you can add a table using AutoFormat.

If you'd like to use AutoFormat to generate a table, try this: Type a plus sign (+). Next, type 30 or so minus signs (-) followed by another plus sign. Now press Enter. There's your table.

To create a table with more than one column, use plus signs to show where the columns go. For example, if you type
+--------------------+--------------------+--------------------+
and press Enter, you'll get a three-column table. There will be a column divider at each plus sign. To create a new row, press Tab.

WORDART FILES

When you insert WordArt into an Office 97 document, you can save the WordArt along with the document of course, but what if you'd like to save the WordArt as a separate file? To do this, right- click on the WordArt object you'd like to save and choose Copy from the pop-up menu.

Now open Microsoft Paint and first choose Image, Attributes. For Width and Height type in 10 pels and click on OK. Now choose Edit, Paste to paste your WordArt into Paint. Paint will ask if you want to enlarge the bitmap. Tell it Yes. This will make sure that your new image in Paint is the minimum size.

Now you can save your new image as a bitmap file (.BMP). You can use these files for wallpaper, or even icons, if you wish.

FILL IT UP

Excel's Fill option can save you lots of typing and headaches. Let's say you need to make a list of a series of dates. And what you really need is a list of workdays--Monday through Friday.

Select the first cell and enter the start date. Let's say you enter Monday November 3, 1997 (11/03/97). Now use the mouse to select the first cell and the other cells you want to fill with the dates. If you're going to enter dates for the entire month of November, you need to select about 22 cells. If you select more than you need, you can delete the extras later.

With all the cells selected, choose Edit, Fill, Series. Now select Date and Weekday and click on OK. The column will fill with the series of dates that represent weekdays in November.

SPECIAL WORDART EFFECT

You know that WordArt allows a large number of special effects. But, along with the special effects that you can see, there are others that aren't quite as obvious. For example, if you change the width of your text's border lines, you can create a whole new effect.

To check this out, insert some WordArt into a Word document by choosing Insert, Picture, WordArt. After you size and place your new WordArt, click on it and then click on the Format WordArt button in the WordArt floating toolbar (it looks like a bucket pouring paint). When the Format WordArt dialog box opens, click on the Colors and Lines tab.

Not all the WordArt selections have lines. If you happened to choose one of these, just click on OK to close the dialog box and go back to the beginning to select a WordArt style that has lines.

When your sample WordArt uses lines, you'll see line color, style, and weight listed. Increase the weight. Try something rather heavy, perhaps 2 or 3 points. Click on OK.

After you see how the new border looks, you might want to try a new line color. Select the WordArt and click on Format WordArt again. This time select a new line color and click on OK.

This is one you can experiment with. Sometimes a combination of color and line widths can produce some very striking effects. Don't hesitate to try some very wide line widths. We've seen some very good effects produced by using as much as 4.0 point lines.

AUTOMATICALLY NUMBERED LISTS

If you want to let Word handle numbered lists for you, here's how you can stay in control of what type of numbers you get.

Would you like to use Roman numerals? If so, enter I followed by a period, followed by a space, followed by the text. When you press Enter, the next Roman numeral will appear. It should look like this.
I. This is the first line
II. This is the second line
III. And this is the third line

If you want standard numbers, enter 1 followed by a period, a space, and your text. Now you'll get this:
1. This is first
2. This is second
3. This is third

Want to use letters? Type A followed by a period, a space, and text. Like this:
A. This is first
B. This is second
C. This is third

You can also automatically create bulleted lists. Let's say that you'd like to use a round bullet. Type o or * (asterisk) followed by Tab and your text. When you press Enter, the bullet for the next item in the list will appear.

If you'd like to use a fancy greater than sign (>), type > followed by Tab and your text. Press Enter.

AUTOFORMAT BORDERS

A quick way to create borders is to let AutoFormat do it for you. If you'd like to have a border line above and below a group of text, type three minus signs and press Enter. A line will appear. Click in the area below the line and add your text. After you finish adding text, type three minus signs and press Enter again. This will draw the bottom line for you.

If you need to add more text inside the borders, click on the desired location and add your text. Each time you press Enter, the bottom line will drop down. To get out of the box defined by the upper and lower border line, press the Down key in the number pad of your keyboard. To create a double border, use three equal signs in place of the minus signs.

DROP-DOWN FORMS

If you need to generate a form for people to fill in, you might want to consider using drop-down lists. This makes it easy for you to read the results because it forces certain responses of your choosing--eliminating the possibility of answers that have nothing to do with the questions.

As an example, let's consider an age entry. You could ask for age and let people fill in the blank. But if the age group is more important to you than a specific age, you can use a drop-down list.

First, choose View, Toolbars, Forms to place the Forms toolbar in your Word window. Now click where you want the list to appear and then go to the toolbar and click on the Drop-Down Form Field button (the icon resembles a drop-down list).

After you insert the form, click on the Form Field Options button (it's the next button to the right of the Drop-Down Form Field button). When the dialog box opens, enter the first age group and click on Add. Repeat until all the age groups are entered. When you're finished, click on OK.

To get your form to work, click on the Protect Form button (it looks like a padlock). To edit your form, click on the Protect Form button again.

EDITING WITH STYLE

If Word's Normal style is almost what you want--almost, but not quite--you can edit the style to make it do exactly what you want. Click on some text that's assigned the Normal style. Now choose Format, Style. When the Style dialog box opens, click on Modify. In Modify Style, select Automatically Update and Add to Template.

Now, let's say you want to change the font. Click on Format and then click on Font. Make your selection and click on OK. Click on OK again and then click on Apply. Your new font will remain part of the style until you modify it again.

MANUAL FORMATTING (AND UNFORMATTING)

Although the styles recorded in Normal.dot will be used throughout your document, you can change a single paragraph's style, or even a single word's style if you like.

When you want to change the style for a section of your document, just choose Format, Font (or whatever you want to change), make your selection, click on OK, and start typing.

If you later decide that you should have used the standard formatting for a paragraph, select the paragraph (including the paragraph mark) and press Ctrl-Spacebar to remove special character formatting and Ctrl-Q to get rid of paragraph formatting.

USING TABLES IN POWERPOINT

You use tables in Word. Why not use of some of those attractive, and very clear, Word tables in your PowerPoint slides?

Let's say you're working on a presentation and you already have a table in a Word document that describes a particular operation. There's no point in spending a bunch of time redoing the whole thing for your PowerPoint presentation.

Get the table just the way you want it. Use AutoFormat to choose the most attractive format. You might want to change the format because what looks good on paper might not look as good as a slide. Now select the table and then press Ctrl-C to copy it. Now open your PowerPoint slide and press Ctrl-V to paste the table into the slide.

Once you've pasted the table into the PowerPoint slide, you can use the mouse to size and place the table.

FLIPPING OUT

When you draw objects in PowerPoint (or other Microsoft Office 97 applications) you can add interest to your slides by rotating or flipping some of the objects. Let's say you have one of your own drawings on a PowerPoint slide. If you'd like to show the same object or alter the slide using a different view, you can select the object, choose Ctrl-C to copy it, and then move to a new slide and choose Ctrl-V to paste it.

Now that your object is in place on the new slide, click on it to select it and click on the Free Rotate tool in the Drawing toolbar (it's a circle with a green dot in the center). Now you can grab a corner of the object to rotate it.

If you'd like to flip the object, select it and choose Draw, Rotate or Flip and then choose the type of Flip you want to apply.

You'll notice that you can't rotate or flip ClipArt objects because you can only work with PowerPoint objects. As we've mentioned before, you can convert ClipArt to PowerPoint objects. To do this, select the object and choose Draw, Ungroup. You'll be asked if you really want to covert the object. Say yes.

Now, leave the object selected and choose Draw, Group. The object is now a PowerPoint object; you can flip it or rotate it to your heart's content.

MAKE IT PROPER

Here's an Excel function that you may not have seen. It's called Proper, and its job is to turn text into words with initial capital letters.

Why would you need Proper? If you purchase mailing lists, you know that many of them come in all caps. This is OK, except that you might like to convert them to a more standard (and more attractive) form before using them on a mailing label, or in a letter.

This is where Proper comes in. Of course, its most efficient use is in a macro, but you can check it out without writing a macro. Press the Caps Lock key and type something into cell A1. Perhaps
THIS WILL DO FOR AN EXAMPLE.

Now move to cell A2 and type
=Proper(A1)
and you'll get
This Will Do For An Example.

Proper doesn't deal only with all caps--any text you present to Proper (uppercase, lowercase, mixed) will come out with the initial character of each word capitalized.

TEXT BOXES AND OTHER SHAPES

To place a text box in Excel, you need the Drawing toolbar. So first, choose View, Toolbars, Drawing. Now click on the Text Box button in the Drawing toolbar (its icon resembles a printed page). Use the mouse to draw the text box in your worksheet.

Once you've drawn the text box, you probably want to choose the font and font size for the text. Click on the text box and choose Format, Text Box. When the Format Text Box dialog box opens, choose your font, font size, and even color and click on OK. Want the text centered in the box? Click on the Center button in the Formatting toolbar. Now, type your text.

When you save the worksheet, the text box and all its parameters are saved with it. When you open the worksheet again, the text box will appear just as you left it.

You're not limited to placing text in a text box; you can also add text to a shape you create using AutoShapes. To do this, click on the AutoShapes button in the Drawing toolbar and then choose a shape from the expanded list. Use the mouse to draw the shape.

POWERPOINT'S OUTLINE VIEW

When working with a slide show, you may find that the Outline View is a handy tool. When you choose View, Outline, PowerPoint produces an outline that consists of the titles of the slides in the show. Note that only titles appear. If you use WordArt as a slide's title, the WordArt won't appear in the outline. All slides are listed in the outline, but you'll get text only with the slides that contain an actual text title.

You can visually check each slide in an outline by clicking that slide's icon in the outline list. A miniature of the slide will appear in the window. If you double-click on the icon, PowerPoint will navigate directly to the selected slide. To close the outline and go back to slide view, choose View, Slide.

FEELING INSECURE?

If you use PowerPoint slides on the Web, you might be interested in downloading a patch from http://www.microsoft.com/powerpoint/pptiefix.htm

According to Microsoft, there is a security "issue" that "involves the potential misuse of a PowerPoint 95/97 feature that allows an application to be run from within PowerPoint without warning the user." This problem can occur in browsers that support viewing of PowerPoint files from the browser.

ANOTHER APPROACH TO ANIMATION

We've often described methods that you can use to add animation to your PowerPoint slides. Here's another one that you might like to try.

You can create animation using PowerPoint's cropping feature. First, open a new slide and insert a picture. Choose Insert, Picture, Clip Art and insert the one of your choice. Now size and position the picture.

Click on the picture to select it and then press Ctrl-C to copy it. Press Ctrl-M to create a new slide and press Ctrl-V to paste the picture into the new slide. Now select the picture and choose the Cropping tool from the Picture toolbar. Grab the picture by the top and drag down until you've cropped as much as you want. Once again, make sure the picture is selected (click on it if it isn't) and press Ctrl-C to copy the cropped picture.

Next, press Ctrl-M again to create a new slide and then press Ctrl-V to paste the copied picture. Keep repeating this procedure until you've created all the incremental views of the cropped image. When you view the slide show, the full image will appear on the first slide and then slowly disappear from the top down as the show runs.

Of course, you can also crop from the bottom up or from one of the sides. Or you could start with a cropped image and make it appear more fully in each slide. All you have to do is reverse the sequence--or use Slide Sorter to rearrange the slides you created.

HYPERLINKS AND YOU

When you add a Web address to a Word 97 document, Word displays it as a hyperlink. You can click on the hyperlink to navigate to the addressed Web site. All this is well and good, but what if you don't want Web addresses to appear as hyperlinks?

To turn off this feature, choose Tools, AutoCorrect. Now click on the AutoFormat As You Type tab in the AutoCorrect dialog box. Now deselect the check box labeled Internet and Network Paths With Hyperlinks. Click on OK to close the dialog box and save your changes.

SLIDE SHOWS ON THE WEB

If you'd like to see what you can do with PowerPoint in the way of Web publishing, check this out. Run PowerPoint and choose File, New. Now click on the Web Pages tab and then double-click on Sample Banner1.pot. Now choose Slide Show, View Show to see how the show looks in PowerPoint. At this point, you can save your new file. Choose File, Save As, give the file a name, and click on Save.

To make an HTML file, choose File, Save as HTML. When the wizard opens, click on Finish. After the files are saved, you can use your browser to view the files. Load Index.html.

MAP IT

If you commonly create Word 97 documents that contain a large number of headings, you can make use of Word's document mapping feature. Let's say your documents get rather long at times, so finding what you want can often be time-consuming. Just choose View, Document Map.

With Document Map active, all your headings will appear in a separate pane at the left side of your document window. To get to one of the topics all you have to do is click on the heading and Word will take you there.

If your documents have subheadings, a small plus sign will appear at the left of the headings that contain a subheading. Click on the plus sign to expand the list and display the subheadings.

For Document Map to work, you must use Word's default headings and subheadings. If you make your own heading styles, Word won't know what to call a heading.

HOW TO FOOL DOCUMENT MAP

In the last tip we discussed how to use Word 97's Document Map (choose View, Document Map). Since Document Map won't work unless you use standard headings and subheadings, you may think you can't use it for those special documents that use a nonstandard template.

If you're forced to use a special template and would like to use Document Map, go ahead and use the standard headings. Then when you finish working with the document, use Find and Replace to replace all those headings with your special heading styles.

For example, suppose you need to use a heading style named MyHead1 and you substitute Heading 1 so you can use Document Map. After you finish, press Ctrl-H to open the Find and Replace dialog box. Click on the Find What text entry box to select it. Click on More and then click on Format and choose Style. Now locate MyHead1 and click on it. Now click on the Replace With text entry box and click on Format, Style again. This time, locate and click on Heading 1. Now click on Replace All and Word will substitute your special heading for all the occurrences of Heading 1.

DRAW!

Some Office 97 users wonder why you'd want to use Draw Table rather than just using Insert Table. They point out that it's easier and quicker to insert a table since Word does most of the work for you. They are correct--except when you need rows with different numbers of cells.

Let's say you need a table with four cells in the top row and six in the bottom row. Choose Table, Draw Table. Now use the drawing tool to draw the outline of your table. Then use the tool to draw a horizontal line in the table. Now draw three vertical lines in the top row and draw five vertical lines in the bottom row.

TEXT WRAPPING

Text wrapping in Word 97 is much better than in any of the previous versions. For example, you can now wrap text around non- rectangular objects. To check this out, choose Insert, Picture, Clip Art and choose a picture (try to find a triangular one). Size the picture and move it into place. Now right-click the picture and choose Format Picture. When the Format Picture dialog box opens, click the Wrapping tab and then click the image labeled Tight. Next, drop down to the next row and click the image labeled Both Sides. Click OK. The text should wrap around your new object now.

WRAPMASTER

Here's something you may run into if you wrap text around a large number of pictures in your documents: When you change a picture, the wrapping for the old picture may remain in place.

To check this, choose Insert, Picture, Clip Art and insert an oddly-shaped picture (something triangular will do fine). Now set the wrapping as we described in the last tip and move the object into some text. The wrapping should take place just as you expect.

Now double-click the picture and choose another one with a much different shape. You may find that the old wrapping is still in effect and that some of the text appears over your new picture. Be sure to look closely when you change pictures.

ANCHORS AWEIGH

When you insert an object into a paragraph, you may want to make sure that the object stays with its paragraph. To do this, position the object where you want it. Now right-click the object and choose Format Picture. Click the Wrapping tab and set the wrap conditions that you think will look best. Next, click the Position tab and select the Lock Anchor check box and the Move With Text check box. Click OK.

WHEN IS CONTIGUOUS CONTIGUOUS?

Excel will let you select rows and columns of cells whether they be contiguous or noncontiguous. Let's look at how this works.

To check out Excel's selection options, first open a new sheet. Now start at cell A1 and type 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 moving downward (that is, enter numbers in cells A1, A2, A3, A4, and A5. Repeat those entries in cells D1 through D5 and cells E15 through E19.

Now use the mouse to select cells A1 through A5. Hold down Ctrl and use the mouse to select cells D1 through D5. Choose Edit, Copy. Go to cell F1 and press Ctrl-V. Excel will paste the values in the selected cells into cells F1 through F5 and G1 through G5. So there's one use for the technique-- you can eliminate unnecessary spaces between entries.

Now use the mouse to select cells A1 through A5 again. Hold down Ctrl and select cells E15 through E19. If you now choose Edit, Copy, you'll get an error message telling you that you can't use the command on multiple selections. Obviously, this message isn't entirely accurate--we just used it on multiple selections. The message really means that you can't use Copy on multiple non-contiguous selections.

If you select columns that have spaces (cells) between them, Excel considers them contiguous if they are adjacent. For example, cells A1 through A5 and F1 through F5 are adjacent. However, cells A1 through A5 and F2 through F6 are not adjacent. Also, cells A1 through A5 and A15 through A19 are adjacent. You can select them and then choose Edit, Copy. Then you can move to a new location (perhaps H1) and press Ctrl-V (or choose Edit, Paste). This will paste all the numbers into cells H1 through H10.

A SCATTERING OF LOGOS

If you have special logos that you use frequently in your Word documents, you can use AutoText to make inserting them quick and easy.

To store a logo in AutoText, open a Word document and choose Insert, Picture, From File. Choose the file you want to use as a logo. Once the picture is in the Word document, size it. Now right-click the logo and choose Format Picture. Click the Wrapping tab and then click Tight and Both Sides. Click OK.

Next, choose Insert, AutoText, New. Type in MyLogo and click OK. Now your new logo (and its formatting) is stored in AutoText. To insert the logo, place the cursor where you want to insert the logo. Choose Insert, AutoText, Normal, MyLogo, and the logo will appear in the text. Use the mouse to drag it into the correct position.

OFFICE SPILLS THE BEANS

Want to know all about your system? Open one of the Office 97 applications and choose Help, About *program name*. When the About... dialog box opens, click System Info.

Now you can select any of the items listed in the left pane of the System Info window to find out more than you're likely to ever want to know about that topic.

A QUICK CONVERSION

The world has tried for years to settle on one system of measurement. But if you live in the United States, you'll find that you have to deal with more than one system. If your work requires you to publish figures in more than one system, you need Excel's Convert feature.

PICTURES, PICTURES, EVERYWHERE

You can put pictures into your headers and into the body of a document, so why not put them on the envelopes as well? The way to do this isn't as obvious as inserting pictures into headers and documents is, but that doesn't mean you can't do it.

Suppose you'd like to print a company logo on all your envelopes. Here's how. Create a new Word document and enter your return address. Now click where you want the picture to appear and choose Insert, Picture, From File. Locate the picture you want to use and select it.

Once the picture is in place in the Word document, resize it if necessary and then click it once to select it. Choose Insert, AutoText, New. Type in EnvelopeExtra1 and click OK. Now the envelope will include the new picture.

DO IT ALL AT ONCE

If you often need to open more than one Word document when you start a work session, here's an easy way to do it. Choose File, Open. When the Open dialog box appears, click a file that you want to open. But don't click Open yet. Instead, hold down Ctrl and click another file you'd like to open. Then keep the Ctrl key down while you click yet another file--you can hold down the Ctrl key and click as many files as you want to open. "Now" click Open, and all the files will load.

PLAYING THE BLUES

Do you ever get tired of looking at black text on a white background? If so, Word will give you some relief. All you have to do is choose Tools, Options and click the General tab. Now select the "Blue background, white text" check box and click OK.

Now you can spend your time looking at white text on a blue screen. Sorry, no other colors are offered.

DON'T DELETE THAT TEXT

When Word starts, it defaults to inserting text rather than typing over existing text. This leads many users to always delete a word or group of words when they really just need to replace them. What we usually do is click where we want to start the new entry, type it in, and then delete the old entry.

However, if you like, you can click where you want to start replacing text and then press the Insert key so that your new text will simply replace the old text. Don't forget to press Insert again when you've entered the new text.

ANOTHER SELECTIVE SERVICE

You can select text with the mouse, you can hold down Shift and use the arrow keys, you can double-click, triple-click, and you can click in the margin. Do you need another way to select text? Probably not, but here it is anyway.

Click at the beginning of text you'd like to select. Now look at the bottom of the Word window. See the button marked EXT? Double-click EXT and it will become active (you'll see this when it happens). Now you can use the arrow keys to select text. You don't have to hold down anything while you do this. When you're finished, press Esc.

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