Archive for September, 2009

Microsoft Publisher: Drop Caps

Tuesday, September 29th, 2009

A drop cap in a publication is a fancy way to draw the eye to the beginning of a story. Publisher makes it easy for you to create fancy drop caps.

  • Click in the text box that holds the article where you want a drop cap. Choose FORMAT / DROP CAP to open the dialog box.
  • Look through the available options, and choose the one that you like. You’ll see a preview within the dialog box so you have an idea how it will look when applied.
  • Click OK to apply the drop cap option.

If you don’t like any of the options available, you can choose CUSTOM DROP CAP and create your own style. You are able to choose the position, size and text appearance.

For more fun tips in Microsoft Publisher, join us for a class! We’re saving a seat just for you.

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Microsoft Word: Paragraph Control

Friday, September 18th, 2009

Instructors are often asked what Widow and Orphan control mean in Microsoft Word. These options show up under Paragraph Formatting, and can be confusing for users who don’t have a typesetting background.

A “widow” is a single line at the top of a page, while an “orphan” is a single line at the bottom of a page.  To prevent these single lines, turn on WIDOW/ORPHAN CONTROL.

Other paragraph formatting options are:

  • Keep With Next – this forces a paragraph to appear with the paragraph immediately following. It’s often used when you want to make sure a heading stays with the paragraph it belongs to, and doesn’t get left alone on a previous page.
  • Keep Lines Together – this option prevents a paragraph from breaking across two pages.
  • Page Break Before – A page break will appear before the paragraph. This option is used to force new chapters to begin on their own page.

If you want to find out how to use Microsoft Word to full capability, join us for our next Word class. We offer 3 levels, as well as a half-day class!

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PowerPoint 2007: Writing on Your Presentation

Tuesday, September 15th, 2009

When giving a Microsoft PowerPoint 2007 presentation, you may find yourself wishing you could draw on your slide to make your point, or to emphasize a certain topic. Well, you can!

When you have a PowerPoint slide show running, you can right-click on the screen and the shortcut menu will pop up. You will see pointer options — which include ARROW, BALLPOINT PEN, FELT TIP PEN and even HIGHLIGHTER.  Click any of these options, and your mouse will work like a pen on the slide.  You can even choose different colors, by clicking on the INK COLOR option.

If you want to erase any of the ink on your slide, right-click again and choose your ERASER.  The eraser will erase each stroke you made with the pen pointer.

PowerPoint refers to this as ANNOTATION, and will prompt you at the end of your presentation whether you want to save the annotation or not.  Most of the time, the things you write on the slides come up as a result of each individual presentation, so you don’t save the ink drawings.

You can also access the pens and erasers by choosing the PEN option in the lower left corner of the screen, or by pressing CTRL + P.  To remove the pen and have the arrow pointer again, press CTRL + A. You can access the eraser by pressing CTRL + E.

For more PowerPoint tips & tricks, attend our next Microsoft PowerPoint training class!  We offer two levels to meet all your needs.

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Adobe Illustrator: Importing Text

Sunday, September 6th, 2009

When creating documents with Adobe Illustrator, there will be times when you want to include paragraphs of text. Instead of typing (or re-typing) the text into text boxes within Illustrator, you can easily import text from any plain text or Microsoft Word document.

To import text, follow these steps:

  • Choose FILE / PLACE. The PLACE dialog box will open.
  • Locate and choose the file you want to import. Click PLACE.
  • If the file is a Microsoft Word or .RTF file, the MICROSOFT WORD OPTIONS box will open. For plain text, the TEXT IMPORT OPTIONS box will open.
  • Choose the options that apply to your needs. If you want to keep the formatting, un-check REMOVE TEXT FORMATTING.
  • Click OK. Your text will appear in a rectangular text box. Format as necessary.

To learn more tips and tricks about using Adobe Illustrator, register for an upcoming class.  We look forward to seeing you soon!

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Excel 2007: New Functions

Saturday, September 5th, 2009

There are 340 functions built into Microsoft Excel 2007. That number reflects six new functions that were added in the latest version in response to user requests.  The new functions are:

  • AVERAGEIF – calculates the average of cells within a range that meet set, single criteria
  • AVERAGEIFS – calculates the average of cells within a range that meet multiple criteria
  • SUMIFS – calculates the sum of cells within a range that meet multiple criteria
  • COUNTIFS – calculates the count of cells within a range that meet multiple criteria
  • RANDBETWEEN – provides a random integer between two integers that you specify
  • IFERROR – displays a custom message within cells that contain an error

There are probably 10-12 functions that you use regularly within Microsoft Excel, but it’s a good idea to check out more functions when you can.  Anytime you find yourself creating a complicated formula, there is a chance a function exists that can do the work for you.

While only 6 new functions were added in Excel 2007, expect about 30 to be added when Excel 2010 is released next summer!

To learn more about functions and Microsoft Excel, attend one of our many classes that focus on Excel.  We hope to see you at our training center soon!

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Announcing Our New Blog!

Tuesday, September 1st, 2009

Welcome to Executive Training Solution’s blog!  This blog will share some of the best tips, tricks and shortcuts we can find in order to help you be more efficient. We will also share information about specific classes, and even news that pertains to computers, software or training.

We are a full-service training company, specializing in software and business skills training.  Whether you are looking for Microsoft, Adobe or Quickbooks training — you’ve come to the right place!  Students love our instructors and give them the highest praise on a regular basis.

We also open our doors for classroom rentals, which helps companies who need a state-of-the-art training room, or just a place off-site to provide training for their employees.

Please feel free to comment and share your thoughts and questions through this blog!  I look forward to meeting all of you in clas someday.

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