Tips and Tricks : Office XP

Edit Screen Shots with Photo Editor

Microsoft Photo Editor enables you to crop or edit a screen shot prior to pasting it into your Office document.

To edit a screen shot with Photo Editor:

1. First, capture your screen shot by pressing the PRINT SCREEN button. (To capture the active window only, press ALT+PRINT SCREEN.)
2. On your Windows desktop, click the Start button, point to Programs , point to Microsoft Office Tools , and then click Microsoft Photo Editor .
3. On the Edit menu, click Paste as New Image .
4. To select only a portion of your screen shot (the portion you want to copy to your Office document), click Select on the Standard toolbar, and then drag your mouse pointer over the area you want to select.
5. On the Edit menu, click Copy .
6. Open the document you want to copy the selection into.
7. On the Edit menu, click Paste .

To format the image:

1. Right-click the image and then click Format Picture .
2. In the Format Picture dialog box, choose the formatting options you want.
3. Click OK .

Editor's Note : If Microsoft Photo Editor isn't listed under Microsoft Office Tools on your Start menu, you can install it from your Office XP installation CD.

Enhance Your Work with the Web

Get the latest product updates, or download clip art, templates, add-ins, and more, using Office Tools on the Web. Here's how:

• Make sure you're connected to the Internet.
• On the Tools menu, click Tools on the Web .

Editor's Note: You can open the Tools on the Web site from the Tools menu of all Office XP programs except Microsoft MapPoint®, Microsoft Publisher, and Visio.

Use the Floating Task Pane

One of the most exciting additions to Office XP-the task pane-can be resized and repositioned to fit the way you work.

• To adjust the width of a docked task pane, move the pointer over the left edge until the pointer changes to a double-headed arrow. Then click the edge, and drag to the desired width.
• To make the task pane float, double-click its title bar. You can then move it to any position on the page. To return the task pane to its docked position, simply double-click the title bar again.
• To adjust the size of a floating task pane, move the pointer over any edge until the pointer changes to a double-headed arrow. Then click the edge, and drag to the desired size.

Save Time When Creating Hyperlinks in Office Documents

Office programs enable you to create hyperlinks to external Web sites. Here's a quick way to insert a Web site address:

• Highlight the text you want linked, and press CTRL+K.
• In the Insert Hyperlink dialog box, make sure the insertion point is in the Address box.
• Start your browser, and open the Web site you want to link to.
• Switch back to the Office document. The Web site address will automatically appear in the Insert Hyperlink dialog box; there's no need to type it in or copy and paste from your browser.
• Click OK .

Editor's Note: This tip works in all Office programs except Microsoft Publisher. Also, this tip works in Outlook only if you use Word as your e-mail editor.

Edit Web Content with Office Programs

You can easily save Web content to a Microsoft FrontPage®, Word, or Excel document and customize it as necessary. Here's how:

• In Microsoft Internet Explorer 6, navigate to a Web page that contains the information you want to customize.
• On the Standard toolbar, click the down arrow next to the Edit button, and then select the program you want to use to edit the content (for example, click Edit with Microsoft Excel ).
• In the Office program you've selected, edit the content, and then save the document.

Editor's Note: The Edit button can be unavailable on some Web pages and offers different options in earlier versions of Internet Explorer.

Create a Menu of Most-Used Commands

Whichever Office XP program you work with, you can make it work even better for you. Microsoft Word, Microsoft Excel, Microsoft PowerPoint®, and Microsoft Outlook® all give you the option to create a custom menu of the commands you use most. Here's how:

1. On the Tools menu, click Customize , and then click the Commands tab.
2. In the Categories box, click New Menu , and then drag New Menu from the Commands box to the location on the menu bar or toolbar where you want it displayed.
3. Right-click the new menu, and then give it whatever name you want by typing in the Name box on the shortcut menu. Press ENTER.
4. To add a command to your new menu, select a category from Categories box, and then drag a command from the Commands box to your custom menu.

Tidy up Your Taskbar

If you work with a number of documents open at once, the Microsoft Windows® taskbar can become cluttered, displaying an icon for each document. To unclutter your taskbar, change your settings so that only a single icon is displayed on the Windows taskbar for each Office program.

On the Tools menu in your Office program, click Options , and then click the View tab.

Clear the Windows in taskbar check box.

Editor's Note: This option is not available in Microsoft Windows NT® 4.0.

Open the Smart Tag Menu with This Keyboard Shortcut

You can save even more time with smart tags by using them along with this keyboard shortcut. When you type text that is recognized and labeled with a smart tag, a faint dotted line (the smart tag indicator) appears under the text. Using the arrow keys, move the cursor to the tagged text, and then press ALT+SHIFT+F10. Select an action from the menu of actions that appears.