A fast way to access frame options

Have you ever placed a frame around text or a graphic and then decided you wanted to remove the frame? Or maybe you've needed to take a quick peek at a framed object's size and position settings to see why you weren't getting the desired results. After a few trips to the Format menu to choose the Frame... command, you might appreciate a shortcut: Just double-click the hatchmarked border surrounding your frame. When you do, Word will open the Frame dialog box, just as if you'd issued the Frame... command. You can then review or revise your frame settings (or remove the frame altogether).

Edit in Print Preview

When you click the Magnifier button on the Standard toolbar, you'll see your document as it will actually print. This is a great function in Word because you have the opportunity to look at your document layout to make sure everything is positioned correctly. But, what if you find something that isn't right? Well, you don't have to leave Print Preview to fix it. Simply click the Magnifier tool on the Print Preview toolbar to toggle to the editing mode. Then, make your document edits just as you would in a
normal Word view. You can enter and format text, size tables, move objects, resize graphics, adjust drawings, and so on. The great advantage to making edits in Print Preview is that you see the print results immediately. When you're done, you can either print the document or switch back to a normal view.

Turning off drag and drop

Sometimes you may want to disable Word's drag-and-drop text-editing feature. Being able to move information so easily is handy, but it can also be a little hazardous, especially if you (or another user editing your documents) aren't too experienced with the feature. With just a few movements of the mouse, well-organized information can quickly become scrambled. If you want to turn off Word's drag-and-drop feature, first choose Options... from the Tools menu to open the Options dialog box. Then,
click the Edit tab, deselect the Drag-and-Drop Text Editing option, and click OK. Once you turn off drag and drop, keep in mind that you (and anyone else) won't be able to move or copy text using the mouse until you activate the option again.

Browse Object command

One of the great new features in Word 97 is the Browse Object command. This feature enables you to navigate through your document by specific objects you can select from the Browse Object menu. There are 12 valid objects that include the following: Go To, Find, Edits, Heading, Graphic, Table, Field, Endnote, Footnote, Comment, Section, and page.
To navigate through a document using this new feature, click the Browse Object button on the vertical scroll bar to open the Browse Object menu.
Then, click the button for the type of browsing you would like to do. When you do so, the double arrows (up and down) change color to indicate you are
now browsing by an object other than the page. To stop browsing by an object, click the Browse Object button and select Page.

Autosummarize feature

Managing multiple documents can be frustrating when you can't remember what each document is about. But you can make your job easier by using Word's AutoSummarize feature. This feature automatically summarizes the key points in a document. Word analyzes your document, determines the most important sentences, and gives you a custom summary based on this analysis. To open the AutoSummarize dialog box, choose Tools/AutoSummarize... and select one of the four summary options. You can highlight the key points, insert a summary at the top of the document, create a new document and paste the summary there, or you can hide everything but the summary without leaving the document. You can also customize the length of the summary and update the document statistics so you can access the summary through File/Properties.

Drop caps

Use the Drop Cap option in Word to create large capital letters for the first letter in a paragraph (Think back to children's fairy tales where almost every one began with "O" on "Once upon a time" dropping ornately into the text below). In business, you can make a powerful statement with a bold capital letter capturing the readers attention. From the Format menu, click on Drop Cap. You will have the option of choosing any font available and also if the capital letter is to be hanging into the text or in the margin.

AutoFormat As You Type feature

You may have noticed that when you begin a new document, Word makes formatting changes to your text as you type. Many times, these changes may
not be something you want. This happens because Word uses a feature called AutoFormat As You Type. This feature automatically formats headings,
bulleted and numbered lists, borders, numbers, symbols, and so on as you type. AutoFormat can also automatically insert text, graphics, and symbols.
Fortunately, you can turn off either all of the changes that AutoFormat As You Type makes or you can choose specific changes.

To make changes to the AutoCorrect feature, choose Tools/AutoCorrect... and then click the AutoFormat As You Type tab. To clear the options you don't
want, simply click the box to de-select the item. To automatically correct options, click the box to select the individual items. If you decide you don't want Word to make any formatting changes as you type, clear all of the options and click OK.

Setting automatic hyphenation as the default

To turn on automatic hyphenation for a document, you choose Language from the Tools menu and then select the HyphenationÉ command. When Word opens the Hyphenation dialog box, you just select the Automatically Hyphenate Document check box and click OK. But unlike some Word options, automatic hyphenation is document-specific. In other words, after you turn on hyphenation for the current document, you'll still need to turn it on for
any other document you want Word to hyphenate.

If you know you'll always want Word to hyphenate a particular type of document, you might want to set automatic hyphenation as the default for the template you use to create those documents. To do this, open the template (not just a document created from the template). Next, turn on hyphenation as you would in a document. Then, close the template and save your changes. From now on, new documents you create from that template will be set for automatic hyphenation. If you create a document and decide you don't want it hyphenated, just open the Hyphenation dialog box and deselect the Automatically Hyphenate Document check box.

A good way to keep track of your AutoText entries

If you frequently store text or graphics as AutoText entries, you may eventually reach the point where you're not sure what items you've created.
One efficient way to keep tabs on all your entries is to periodically print a list of all the items.

To produce an AutoText list, first choose the Print... command from the File menu to open the Print dialog box. Then, click on the Print What
dropdown list and select AutoText Entries. Click OK, and Word will print a list of all the global entries you've created.

If you want to print nonglobal AutoText items (that is, items you've saved in a template other than Normal), be sure to open a document that's
attached to the template before printing the list. Word will include both the global and template-specific items.

Activating a document from the Window menu

When you work with multiple open documents, trying to activate a particular window can be time-consuming. Although you can cycle through open documents using the [Ctrl][F6] shortcut, you might want to zero in on a certain document without having to activate several other documents first.

The quickest way to accomplish this is by choosing the document name from the Window menu. If you don't want to stop and pick up the mouse to make this selection, just press [Alt]W to pull down the Window menu, then press the number that corresponds to the document you want to open. For example, if you have seven documents open and the document you're after is listed third on the Window menu, just press 3. Word will then take you right to that document.

Finding Visual Basic equivalents for your WordBasic code

If you're used to creating macros in versions of Word prior to Word 97, you probably know your way around the WordBasic language pretty well. However,
when you sit down to write a VBA macro, you could be in for some frustration: You might know exactly which WordBasic statements you could use to perform a certain task-but VBA doesn't recognize them.

Fortunately, you can "translate" the WordBasic commands you're familiar with into their VBA equivalents. When you're working in the VB Editor, press [F1] to open the Visual Basic Reference window. Then, click the Help Topics button and click the Index tab. Now, simply type visual basic equivalents in the text box at the top of the tab and click Display. This will bring up a screen containing an alphabetized listing of WordBasic commands along with the corresponding VBA code for each one.

A Fast Way to Pick Up Where You Left Off

Nothing is more frustrating than being interrupted while you're in the middle of a major word processing project. It's bad enough that you lose your concentration-you may also lose your place in the document.

While Word can't help you mentally regroup, it can take you back to the text you were working on before you closed your document. When you reopen
the document, press [Shift][F5] before you do anything else. The shortcut executes Word's Go Back command, which moves the insertion point marker to your most recent editing location.

Using desktop shortcuts to create specialized documents

If you often create documents based on a particular template, you may have wished for a speedy way to start a new document without wading into the New dialog box to locate and select the template. One of the best ways to streamline this process is to create desktop icons for any templates you
use on a regular basis. The default action for the Word template file type is New--which means that double-clicking a template icon will create a new
document based on the template instead of opening the template itself.
To create a shortcut, start by right-clicking on the desktop and choosing New, followed by Shortcut to launch the Create Shortcut Wizard. Next, click
the Browse... button and find the folder containing your templates (typically Program Files\Microsoft Office\Templates). Open the Templates folder and select All Files from the Files of Type dropdown list. Then, select the desired template and click Open. At this point, you can simply click Next to advance to the Wizard's final screen, where you can specify a custom name for your shortcut, if you want. Click Finish, and Windows will place the new shortcut on the desktop.

Formatting text with Word's Strong and Emphasis styles

Word offers a couple of handy built-in character styles: Strong and Emphasis, which work in conjunction with the AutoFormat feature. To see how
the styles work, you first need to make sure the appropriate AutoFormat option is activated. Just choose AutoCorrect... from the Tools menu and
click the AutoFormat as You Type tab. Then, in the Replace as You Type panel, select the Bold and Underscore with Real Formatting check box (if it
isn't already selected) and click OK.

When this option is turned on, you can automatically apply the Strong style by typing an asterisk, the text you want to format, and another asterisk.
As soon as you type the second asterisk, Word will remove both asterisks and apply bold formatting to the text you typed between them. To apply the
Emphasis style, you type an underscore, your text, and another underscore. Word will then remove the underscores and italicize the text.

Opening multiple documents

If you need to work with more than one document at a time, Word makes it easy to open multiple files at once. Just click the Open button on the
Standard toolbar (or choose Open... from the File menu). Then, hold down [Shift] and click on the names of the files that you want to open. If the
filenames aren't next to each other, use the [Ctrl] key instead of [Shift] to select them. (If you accidentally click on the wrong filename, continue
holding down [Shift] or [Ctrl] and click on the filename again to deselect it.) Once you've selected all the files you want to open, click Open. You
can also open the files in another way--just right-click on the files once you have selected them and choose Open from the shortcut menu.

Although this technique is handy, keep in mind that it has a catch: All the files must be in the same directory. You can't select a couple of files in
one directory and then change to a different directory and select additional files.

Convert a table to text, and vice versa (95, 97)

If you've ever created a table and then later realized you'd prefer to have plain text, there's no need to cut and paste or drag and drop. To convert your table to text, simply select the entire table and then choose Table/Convert Table To Text. Choose the appropriate option (Paragraph Marks, Tabs, Commas, or Other) from the Separate Text With panel of the
resulting dialog box and click OK. Word quickly converts the table to plain text.

You can also use this option to convert text to a table. Just select the text you want to put into a table and select Table/Convert Text To Table.

Edit in Print Preview (95, 97)

When you click the Magnifier button on the Standard toolbar, you'll see your document as it will appear when printed. This is a great function in Word because you have the opportunity to look at your document layout to make sure everything is positioned correctly. But, what if you find something you want to change? Well, you don't have to leave Print Preview to fix it. Simply click the Magnifier tool on the Print Preview toolbar to toggle to the editing mode. Then, make your document edits just as you would in a normal Word view. You can enter and format text, size tables,
move objects, resize graphics, adjust drawings, and so on. The great advantage to making edits in Print Preview is that you see the print results immediately. When you're done, you can either print the document or switch back to a normal view.

Edit text in print preview

1. In print preview, display the page you want to edit.
2. Click the text in the area you want to edit.
3. Click Magnifier. When the pointer changes from a magnifying glass to an I-beam, make your changes to the document.

To return to the original magnification, click Magnifier, and then click the document.

Repeat last action (95, 97)

When you execute an action, you can repeat it by clicking the Repeat action button (if you've added it to a toolbar) or you can choose Edit/Repeat action. However, there is a quicker way to repeat your last action and it only involves pressing a function key. Say for example, you apply Bold formatting to some text and you want to repeat that action.
Select the text you want to make bold and press [F4]. It's a quick way to repeat an action without leaving the keyboard to do so!

Aligning a table on a page (97 only)

Working with tables can often be tricky, especially when it comes to positioning the table on the page. Word 97 allows you to align a table on a page using the Align Left, Center, and Align Right buttons; however, to do this successfully, you must first select the entire table. If you select only a portion of the table, Word only aligns the table's contents. 
To align a table on a page using Word's alignment buttons, first select Table/Select Table from the menu bar, or press [Alt]5 using the numeric keypad. Then click the alignment button of your choice on the Formatting toolbar.

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