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Technology Tips




Spell Check

To go to the next mispelled word, press ALT + F7 or double click the spelling icon on the status bar.
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Adding a "Sticky Note" to your Document

When reviewing a printed document, many people like to scribble comments in the margin or add a "sticky note" on top. Word 97 lets you place electronic sticky notes on documents as you go. Select the text you wish to comment on, select Insert/Comment, type your remark in the window that appears, and click Close. The text appears highlighted.
To review comments, click the Next Comment icon in the Reviewing toolbar (right-click any toolbar and select Reviewing to bring it up). Hold the cursor over the highlighted text, and a box pops up with your comment inside. Note that online comments, previously called Annotations, let you see the reader´s comments in place, without having to open another window.
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Tab Stops

To get information about your tab stops, press ALT and click a tab stop on the ruler.
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Extending Toner for Laser Printers

The life of a toner cartridge can be extended by operating your laser printer with the print density adjustment dial set on a higher number (for light print), also known as Economode. Refer to the printer User's Manual for the location of the print density control.
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Storing Toner Cartridges

Keep the toner package away from direct sunlight, heat, and moisture. The recommended temperature range for storage is between –4 and 104 degrees Fahrenheit
(-20 and 40 degrees Celsius).
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Reusing Format of Existing Letter

If you want to reuse the format and/or text of an existing letter, Word 97´s Letter Wizard makes it easy. Open the document you want to emulate, then select Tools/Letter Wizard from the menu bar. When applied to an existing letter, the Letter Wizard ´reads´ the document and displays a tabbed dialog box that lets you change only the key parts of the letter (such as the sender and recipient info). You aren´t forced through every step of the Wizard.
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Move/Copy Text Between Documents

To move or copy text between two open documents, choose WINDOW - ARRANGE ALL. In the target document, display the location to recieve the text. In the source document, select the text to move or copy. To move the text, drag the selection to the target location. To copy the text (Ctrl-Drag) the selection to the target location, release the mouse button, then release Ctrl.
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Background Printing

To suspend background printing in a Microsoft Office program:

Click the Tools menu in the toolbar.
Select Options.
In the Options dialog box click the Print tab.
Deselect Background Printing.
To return to background printing just reverse the above operation and select Background Printing.

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Cents Sign

Create a cents sign: Press Control +/ and then "c".

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Undo/Repeat

To undo or repeat several actions at the same time, click the arrow next to the undo button or redo button.
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Type Size

Type size includes an imaginary blank space above and below the characters. This is a carryover from metal type days, when type size measured the piece of metal that held the character, not the character itself.
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Free Stuff from Microsoft

To get add additional templates, clipart, animated cursors, sound files and other utilities, choose Microsoft on the Web from the Help menu and then click "Free Stuff."
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Adding Numbered Captions to Figures

To add numbered captions to figures and other items, click Caption on the Insert menu, and then click the AutoCaption button.
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Selecting Text

To select the text between the insertion point and the beginning of the document, press CTRL + SHIFT + HOME.
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Quick Switching Between Documents

Switching between open documents: To switch quickly between open documents use Control + F6 for the next document, Control + Shift + F6 for the previous document. (This works in other Office apps as well)
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Moving Text/Graphics on a Page

To move text or a graphic anywhere on a page, enclose the item in a textbox. Select the item and click "Text Box" on the Insert Menu.
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Selecting Text

To select a large block of text, click at the beginning of the text, press SHIFT and then click at the end of the text.
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Un-doing Formatting

Occasionally, you´ll run across a document with over-zealous formatting. To un-do all paragraph formatting, use Ctrl-Q. To undo character formatting, (for example bold, underline, superscript) use Ctrl-Spacebar. These commands remove extra formatting, leaving it formatted in the base style.
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Moving from Word to Word

To move to the previous or next word in your document, press CTRL + LEFT ARROW or CTRL + RIGHT ARROW.
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Text Flow

To control how Word breaks text across pages, click "Paragraph" on the "Format" menu, and then clock the "Text Flow" tab.