Documents, Presentations, and Workbooks: Using Microsoft Office to Create Content That Gets Noticed ®
Stephanie Krieger
Published with the authorization of Microsoft Corporation by: O’Reilly Media, Inc. 1005 Gravenstein Highway North Sebastopol, California 95472 Copyright © 2011 Stephanie Krieger Complying with all applicable copyright laws is the responsibility of the user. All rights reserved. Without limiting the rights under copyright, no part of this document may be reproduced, stored in or introduced into a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means (electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise), or for any purpose, without express written permission of O’Reilly Media, Inc. Printed and bound in the United States of America. 123456789 M 654321 Microsoft Press titles may be purchased for educational, business or sales promotional use. Online editions are also available for most titles (http://my.safaribooksonline.com). For more information, contact our corporate/institutional sales department: (800) 998-9938 or
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[email protected]. Microsoft, Microsoft Press, ActiveX, Excel, FrontPage, Internet Explorer, PowerPoint, SharePoint, Webdings, Windows, and Windows 7 are either registered trademarks or trademarks of Microsoft Corporation in the United States and/or other countries. Other product and company names mentioned herein may be the trademarks of their respective owners. Unless otherwise noted, the example companies, organizations, products, domain names, email addresses, logos, people, places, and events depicted herein are fictitious, and no association with any real company, organization, product, domain name, email address, logo, person, place, or event is intended or should be inferred. This book expresses the author’s views and opinions. The information contained in this book is provided without any express, statutory, or implied warranties. Neither the author, O’Reilly Media, Inc., Microsoft Corporation, nor their respective resellers or distributors, will be held liable for any damages caused or alleged to be caused either directly or indirectly by such information. Acquisitions and Development Editor: Kenyon Brown Production Editor: Kristen Borg Production Services: Octal Publishing, Inc. Technical Reviewer: Kurt Schmucker Indexing: Lucie Haskins Cover: Karen Montgomery Illustrator: Robert Romano
978-0-735-65199-9
For Shauna Kelly—a talented and generous document expert, and a woman of great strength and grace. I wish I had gotten to know you earlier and better, but am honored to know you at all—and I’m just one of a great many people who are better for having met you.
Contents at a Glance Part I
1 2 3 4 5 Part II
6 7 8 9 10 11 12
Document Essentials Welcome to Office 2010 and Office for Mac 2011 . . . . . . . . . . 3 Collaborating and Sharing When and Where You Choose . . 25 Understanding Electronic Documents . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 59 Planning Your Documents . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 81 Doing More with Less Work: Key Cross-Program Features . 101
Word Building Easy-to-Manage, Robust Documents . . . . . . . . . . . Working with Text . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Styles . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Tables . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Managing Graphics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Sections . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Dynamic Content . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
139 161 181 223 257 295 317
Part III PowerPoint
13 14 15 16
Creating Presentations: From Theme to Master to Slide . . Creating Professional Presentation Graphics . . . . . . . . . . . . Creating Multimedia Presentations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Putting on a Show . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
363 431 487 505
Part IV Excel
17 Data-Based Documents: Formatting and Managing Worksheets . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18 Working with Data . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19 Data Visualization . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20 Charts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21 Powerful Reporting, Easier Than You Think: A PivotTable Primer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
523 547 581 607 643
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Contents at a Glance
Part V
Templates, Automation, and Customization
22 The Many Faces of Microsoft Office Templates . . . . . . . . . . 679 23 VBA Primer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 707 24 Office Open XML Essentials . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 769
Table of Contents Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . xix Companion Content . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . xxiii Support for This Book . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . xxiv Acknowledgments . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . xxv
Part I
1
Document Essentials Welcome to Office 2010 and Office for Mac 2011 . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3 Redefining Documents for a Connected World . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4 Introducing What’s New and Improved for Your Documents in Office 2010 and Office for Mac 2011 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5 Explore What’s New Across Both Versions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5 Explore Your Environment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6 Explore Key Exclusive Features in Office 2010 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11 Explore Key Exclusive Features in Office for Mac 2011 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12 Explore More New Word Features . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14 Explore More New PowerPoint Features . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15 Explore More New Excel Features . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15 Explore What’s New and Improved Across Both Versions . . . . . . . . . . . . 16 Understanding the Office Open XML File Formats . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16 Understand the File Types . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17 Choose Your Format . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17 Understand File Structure . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18 Understanding How the Office Programs “Think”: Documents 101 . . . . . . . . 19 Benefit by Being Lazy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19 Put Less Work In
Get Better Results Out . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20
Use Microsoft Office Effectively: Choose the Best Tools for the Task . . 22 Putting It All Together . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24
2
Collaborating and Sharing When and Where You Choose . . . . . 25 Moving Your Documents into the Cloud . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25 Introducing SkyDrive . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27 Introducing SharePoint 2010 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30
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Exploring Office Web Apps: What Can You Really Do with Them? . . . . . . . . . 34 Understanding the Benefits of Office Web Apps . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35 Getting Started with Office Web Apps . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36 Editing Documents in Word Web App . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41 Editing Presentations in PowerPoint Web App . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44 Editing Workbooks in Excel Web App . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46 Editing Notebooks in OneNote Web App . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48 Working Together Without Waiting Your Turn . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50 Going Mobile . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 52 Introducing Office Mobile for Windows Phone 7 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 53 Introducing OneNote Mobile for iPhone . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 55 Understanding Office Web Apps Mobile: The Office Mobile Viewers . 56
3
Understanding Electronic Documents . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 59 Creating Documents for Electronic Sharing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 59 Consider the Importance of Document Construction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 61 Understanding How Font Choices Can Impact What Recipients See . . . . . . . 64 Share Files Without Concern About Fonts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 68 Securing the Private Information in Your Documents . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 71 Know the Simple Truth About Document Metadata and Hidden Data . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 71 Managing Hidden Data . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 72
4
Planning Your Documents . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 81 Using the Best Tool for the Task . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 82 Using Word . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 82 Using PowerPoint . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 84 Using Excel . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 87 Using Programs Together . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 88 Don’t Forget About OneNote . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 89 Design Considerations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 90 How Will Your Document Be Delivered? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 91 Focusing On the Content . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 93 Making the Right Statement About You and Your Business . . . . . . . . . . 94 Content Planning . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 96 Making Choices About Content . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 96 Using Layout and Design to Organize Your Content . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 97 Linking Notes for Better Document Planning . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 99
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Doing More with Less Work: Key Cross-Program Features . . . . 101 Introducing Document Themes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 102 Understanding the Importance of Themes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 105 Exploring Theme Elements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 106 Understanding How Themes Work . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 113 Customizing Themes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 117 Mixing and Matching to Create Your Own Theme . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 118 Creating a Complete Custom Theme . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 119 Exploring the Advanced Picture Formatting Tools . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 124 Adjusting Images . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 125 Cropping Images . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 129 Using Picture Styles and Effects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 131 Replacing and Managing Images . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 132 Sharing Content Across Programs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 133 Using Microsoft Office As Your Toolbox . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 135
Part II
6
Word Building Easy-to-Manage, Robust Documents . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 139 Staying in Control: Be the Boss of Your Documents . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 142 Exploring the Three Levels of Word Formatting . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 142 Working with Objects and Stories . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 147 Finding the Simple Approach to Any Task . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 148 Bringing Yourself to the Document: Using Document Logic . . . . . . . . . . . . . 149 Working with Formatting Marks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 150 Using Views Effectively . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 152 Monitoring the Health of Your Document . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 154 Recognizing Document Corruption . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 155 Using Open And Repair . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 158 Creating Any Document with These Six Tools . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 159
7
Working with Text . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 161 Introducing What’s New for Text Formatting in Word 2010 and Word 2011 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 162 Introducing the OpenType Typography Tools . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 165 Understanding the Difference Between Feature and Feature Support . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 165 Exploring the OpenType Typography Features Available in Word . . . . 166
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Introducing Text Effects: The New Generation of WordArt . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 171 Differentiating Between Text Effects and WordArt . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 172 Using Font and Paragraph Formatting As Layout Tools . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 175 Using Character Spacing and Positioning to Adjust Layout . . . . . . . . . 176 Using Line and Paragraph Spacing to Simplify Layout . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 178 Using Line and Page Break Options to Manage Layout . . . . . . . . . . . . 179
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Styles . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 181 Understanding the Style Environment Today . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 182 Exploring the Styles Pane . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 186 Creating Effective Style Sets . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 188 Considering Built-In vs. Custom Styles . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 189 Benefits of Using Character Styles . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 193 Making Effective Use of Base and Following Styles . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 194 Understanding Linked Styles . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 198 Creating Styles That Make User-Friendly Documents . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 200 Using Quick Style Sets . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 201 Mastering Lists . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 204 Understanding Lists . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 204 Simplifying Your Work with Lists . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 206 Sharing Lists Between Documents and Templates . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 216 Working with Table Styles . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 217 Creating Table Styles . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 217 Setting a Default Table Style . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 219 Managing Styles . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 219 Using the Manage Styles Dialog Box . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 220 Inspecting Your Styles . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 221
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Tables . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 223 Getting Organized . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 224 Creating Tables That Work . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 225 Choose Between Paragraph Formatting and Table Formatting . . . . . . 227 Use Table Properties to Simplify Table Setup . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 237 Simplify Table Behavior with AutoFit Options . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 240 Creating Page Layouts Using Tables . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 241 Create an Effective Host Table . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 243 Understand Nested Tables vs. Text Wrap Around Tables . . . . . . . . . . . 245 Manage Nested Tables . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 247
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Formatting Financial Tables . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 248 Decimally Align Numbers and Currency Symbols . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 251 Managing Tables from Other Sources . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 255 Considerations for Tables That Originate in Excel . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 255 Considerations for Tables That Originate on the Web . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 256
10 Managing Graphics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 257 Introducing the New and Improved Graphics Tools in Word 2010 and Word 2011 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 258 Using the Best Program for the Graphic Task . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 261 Understanding Differences for Working with Pictures and Objects . . . . . . . 264 Linking and Embedding Objects Between Microsoft Office Programs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 265 Converting Embedded or Linked Objects to Pictures . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 269 Editing Linked and Embedded Objects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 271 Determining the Best Picture Type for Your Graphic . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 273 Simplifying Graphic Layout . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 278 Using the In Line With Text Layout . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 279 Using Table Cells As Graphic Placeholders . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 282 Using Text Wrap When You Must . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 282 Working in Publishing Layout View in Word 2011 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 287 Using the Features You Already Know . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 288 Using Features Designed Just for Publishing Layout View . . . . . . . . . . 290 Sharing Publishing Layout View Documents Online and Across Platforms . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 293
11 Sections . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 295 Determining Whether You Need a Section Break . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 296 Knowing When to Use a Section Break . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 296 Knowing When Not to Use a Section Break . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 297 Keeping Sections Simple . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 299 Understanding How Section Formatting Is Stored . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 301 Understanding Section Break Types . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 303 Using Headers and Footers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 305 Working with Page Numbers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 308 Managing the Different First Page and Different Odd & Even Pages Headers and Footers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 310 Understanding Link To Previous . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 312 Simplifying Book-Style Page Layout . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 313 Creating Watermarks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 315
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12 Dynamic Content . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 317 Working with Content Controls . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 319 Types of Content Controls . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 320 Using Content Controls . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 321 Creating Content Controls . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 322 Formatting Controls and Editing Properties . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 324 Nesting Controls . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 330 Understanding Document Protection Options for Content Controls . . . . . . 331 Grouping Content Controls . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 331 Using Restrict Editing Options . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 331 Using Document Property Quick Parts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 334 Understanding Building Blocks: The Evolution of Documents . . . . . . . . . . . . 337 Inserting Building Block Entries . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 341 Creating Your Own Building Blocks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 343 Managing Building Blocks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 347 Working with Fields . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 348 Understanding Field Construction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 350 Creating Fields . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 351 Editing Fields . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 357 Nesting Fields . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 358
Part III PowerPoint
13 Creating Presentations: From Theme to Master to Slide . . . . . . 363 Exploring What’s New for PowerPoint Presentations in Office 2010 and Office for Mac 2011 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 364 Sharing More Easily . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 365 Simplifying Slide Editing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 366 Understanding the Themes–PowerPoint Connection . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 368 Exploring the Evolution of PowerPoint Design Templates . . . . . . . . . . . 369 Examining Theme Structure . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 370 Creating Documents That Live in PowerPoint . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 373 Setting Up a Presentation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 376 Control the Layout—Don’t Let It Control You . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 376 Managing Page Setup . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 380 Understanding Headers and Footers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 386 Working with Masters and Layouts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 390 Exploring the Master–Layout Relationship . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 390 Managing Masters and Layouts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 393
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Customizing Slide Masters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 398 Customizing and Creating Slide Layouts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 400 Creating Effective Slides and Layouts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 406 Managing Slides and Slide Elements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 409 Working with Charts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 410 Working with Text . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 412 Working with PowerPoint Tables . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 418 Working with Embedded Objects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 420 Managing Slides . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 421
14 Creating Professional Presentation Graphics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 431 Exploring What’s New for Presentation Graphics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 434 Determining When to Use Office Art . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 436 Determining the Best Diagram for Your Content . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 437 Making Smart Choices with SmartArt . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 439 Creating a SmartArt Diagram . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 439 Selecting a Diagram Layout . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 440 Understanding and Using SmartArt Styles and Formatting . . . . . . . . . 445 Editing SmartArt Diagram Content . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 450 Using Drawing Tools to Their Fullest . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 454 Getting It “Perfect” Is Easier than “Close Enough” . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 455 Accessing and Managing Shapes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 458 Formatting Shapes Effectively . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 462 Sizing and Positioning Objects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 472 Organizing Content Precisely with the Arrange Tools . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 474 Using Drawing Guides . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 477 Editing Shapes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 478 Changing Shapes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 479 Edit Points to Create Virtually Anything . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 481 Getting Your Graphic into Other Programs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 484 Getting Your Vector Graphics into Microsoft Office . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 484
15 Creating Multimedia Presentations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 487 Embedding and Managing Media . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 488 Insert Video or Audio into Your Presentation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 491 Work with Linked Media Files . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 493 Compress Media and Improve Compatibility . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 495 Create a Video of Your Presentation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 499
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Formatting Videos . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 501 Adjust and Format Video Right on the Slide . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 501 Create Better Slides Using Video Poster Frame . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 502 Editing Video and Audio in PowerPoint 2010 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 503 Trim Video and Audio Files . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 503 Use Bookmarks to Navigate or Choreograph Your Media . . . . . . . . . . 504
16 Putting on a Show . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 505 Using Slide Transitions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 506 Working with Animations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 509 Introducing Animation Painter in PowerPoint 2010 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 514 Understanding Bookmarks and Triggers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 514 Using Animation and Transitions Effectively . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 515 Setting Up and Delivering Your Show . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 516 Presenting Your Show . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 519
Part IV Excel
17 Data-Based Documents: Formatting and Managing Worksheets . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 523 Formatting Documents That Live in Excel . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 526 Streamlining Worksheet Formatting . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 527 Working with Themes in Excel . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 530 Using Cell Styles . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 533 Formatting Ranges As Tables . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 537 Managing Page Layout Effectively . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 541 Treating Your Workbooks Like the Documents They Are . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 545
18 Working with Data . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 547 Crunching Numbers in Excel 2010 and Excel for Mac 2011: What’s New . . . 548 Excel 2010 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 549 Excel 2011 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 550 Using Tables As a Data Tool . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 552 Creating Formulas—Working with Functions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 558 If There’s Logic to It, Excel Functions Can Do It . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 559 Nesting Formulas . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 563 Defining Names and Using Structured References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 565 Managing Formulas . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 570 Simplifying Data Organization . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 573 Using External Data . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 578
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19 Data Visualization . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 581 Exploring What’s New for Conditional Formatting . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 582 Increasing Your Options with Conditional Formatting . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 585 Setting Additional Data Visualization Options . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 589 Managing the Rules in Your Workbook . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 597 Creating Sparklines: Power in a Small Package . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 598 Understanding Sparkline Types . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 599 Adding Sparklines to Your Data . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 599 Managing Sparklines . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 601 Customizing Sparklines . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 602
20 Charts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 607 Exploring Chart Creation Essentials . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 610 Formatting Fighter-Pilot-Cool Charts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 612 Using Chart Quick Styles . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 613 Customizing Chart Elements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 616 Combining Chart Types . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 626 Using Secondary Axes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 627 Adding Drawing Objects to Charts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 629 Timesaving Techniques for Adding or Editing Chart Data . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 631 Reorder Data Series and Set Data Display Options . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 633 Creating Advanced Chart Types . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 635 Creating Bubble Charts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 635 Creating Price/Volume Charts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 637
21 Powerful Reporting, Easier Than You Think: A PivotTable Primer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 643 Why Use a PivotTable? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 645 Creating a PivotTable . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 645 Setting Up Your Data . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 645 Creating the Table . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 647 Understanding PivotTable Field Areas . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 655 Managing PivotTables . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 657 Working with Field Settings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 657 Modifying Table Options . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 663 Formatting PivotTables . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 664 Slicing and Dicing Your Data: Introducing the PivotTable Slicer for Excel 2010 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 665 Exploring Slicer Essentials . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 667
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Using PivotCharts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 670 Creating and Using a PivotChart . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 672 Managing the Connection Between PivotTable and PivotChart . . . . . 673 Creating and Formatting a PivotTable: A Quick Reference . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 673
Part V
Templates, Automation, and Customization
22 The Many Faces of Microsoft Office Templates . . . . . . . . . . . . . 679 Understanding Template Types . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 680 Creating a Template File . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 683 Use Content Templates . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 685 Use Design Templates . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 686 Use Form Templates . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 687 Understand Feature-Specific Templates . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 689 Differentiate Between Automated Templates, Global Templates, and Add-Ins . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 696 Locate Template Folders . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 697 Considering Best Practices for Word Templates . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 699 Considering Best Practices for PowerPoint Templates . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 702 Considering Best Practices for Excel Templates . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 703 Sharing Themes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 704 The Office 2010 and Office 2011 Automation Story . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 705
23 VBA Primer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 707 Understanding When and Why to Use VBA . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 708 Introducing the VBA Language and Code Structure . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 709 Recording Macros . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 709 Reading VBA Code . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 711 Understanding Statements, Procedures, Modules, and Projects . . . . . 714 Using the Visual Basic Editor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 714 Introducing the Code Window . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 716 Introducing Project Explorer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 716 Introducing the Properties Window . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 717 Setting Up Your Workspace . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 717 Writing, Editing, and Sharing Simple Macros . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 718 Creating Modules and Starting Procedures . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 719 Learning the Language of Objects, Properties, and Methods . . . . . . . 720 Introducing Object Models . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 721 Using Auto Lists . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 724
Table of Contents
Understanding Variables . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 725 Using Constants . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 735 Understanding Collection Objects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 737 Grouping Statements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 740 Looping Code . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 744 Using Conditional Structures . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 750 Using Operators . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 754 Introducing Message Boxes and Input Boxes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 755 Running One Macro from Another . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 759 Setting Macros to Conditionally Stop Executing Commands . . . . . . . . 760 Running Macros and Compiling Projects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 761 Getting Help . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 763 Saving and Sharing Macros . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 764 Working with VBA: Next Steps . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 766
24 Office Open XML Essentials . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 769 Introducing XML Basics for Reading Your Documents . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 771 Reading a Markup Language . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 771 Understanding Key Terms . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 774 Selecting Your Tools for Editing Office Open XML . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 775 Getting to Know the Office Open XML Formats . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 777 Breaking In to Your Document . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 777 Understanding the Office Open XML File Structure . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 781 Taking a Closer Look at Key Document Parts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 784 Building a Basic Word Document from Scratch . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 788 Editing and Managing Documents Through XML . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 796 Understanding Units of Measure . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 797 Editing Text and Formatting . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 798 Working with the Office Open XML Formats: Next Steps . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 811
Index . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 813
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Introduction We come to the PCs and the Macs I am de ghted to be ab e to br ng you a resource for exper enced M crosoft Office users on both p atforms Whether you work on y w th M crosoft Office 2010 or on y w th M crosoft Office for Mac 2011, or you work across p atforms as I do, th s book s for you As a document consu tant and tra ner, I’ve often been frustrated by the ack of ava ab e resources that move beyond ‘c ck here’ or ‘po nt there’ to exp a n why th ngs work the way they do, wh ch best pract ces can make a rea d fference to your work, and what too s you may be m ss ng that cou d s mp fy your work and expand your poss b t es So when I began wr t ng books about M crosoft Office, t was exact y what I wanted to prov de For M crosoft Office 2007, I had the opportun ty to do that w th my book Advanced Microsoft Office Documents 2007 Edition Inside Out Now, a few years ater, I’ve updated and expanded on that book to br ng you Documents, Presentations, and Workbooks for both Office 2010 and Office for Mac 2011 Throughout th s book, you’ earn about new features n both Office 2010 and Office 2011 You’ a so earn about new techno og es and re ated too s ava ab e to users on both p atforms, such as M crosoft SharePo nt 2010, W ndows L ve SkyDr ve, and M crosoft Office Web Apps But th s book s not about new features What th s book is about s he p ng you to put what you a ready know together w th both new and ex st ng methods and concepts to work the way the experts do; he p ng you create the k nd of documents and temp ates you’ve a ways wanted; and g v ng you the too s to take fu advantage of the capab t es n these programs to find the s mp e so ut ons you’ve often wondered about In short, t’s about do ng ess work, gett ng better resu ts, and expand ng your poss b t es
Who Will Benefit Most from This Book You’re an exper enced M crosoft Office user and you don’t need to start from scratch Th s book takes you at your word, so the bas cs you a ready know are not repeated here Though a few chapters that are spec fic to advanced tasks (such as M crosoft Exce P votTab es) do start from the beg nn ng and move at an advanced pace, you’ find far more sts of key t ps, hands-on concepts, and advanced t mesav ng or troub eshoot ng methods n most chapters than step-by-step nstruct ons for us ng the bas cs of a feature Fo ow ng are a few examp es of what you’ find here n
In Part I of th s book, “Document Essent a s,” you’ find gu dance for p ann ng effect ve documents, presentat ons, and workbooks; shar ng content e ectron ca y; choos ng the best program for the task; and understand ng features that make a d fference to the content you create n mu t p e M crosoft Office programs For examp e, n Chapter 5, “Do ng More w th Less Work Key Cross-Program Features,” you’ earn about a few features, nc ud ng the ncred b y va uab e formatt ng funct ona ty known as themes But t’s not about how to c ck to app y a bu t- n theme to your document In that
chapter, you’ find a thorough ntroduct on to themes that exp a ns not just what they are, but why they are mportant and how they ntegrate w th features across M crosoft Word, PowerPo nt, and Exce You’ a so earn how to custom ze and create your own themes to more eas y mp ement your own formatt ng requ rements (such as corporate brand ng) across your documents, presentat ons, and workbooks n
In Part II, “Word,” you’ earn about the s x features that can enab e you to create any document you need and how to put the p eces together to create better documents more eas y For examp e, the Word chapter on sty es (Chapter 8, “Sty es”) does not wa k you through steps for how to use the New Sty e d a og box Instead, the chapter addresses the way that sty es are structured, how to create effect ve sty e sets, and how to manage sty es n documents and temp ates It a so prov des gu dance for more advanced tasks, such as how to s mp fy your work w th the often overcomp cated sts (bu ets, number ng, and out ne number ng)
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In Part III, “PowerPo nt,” earn how to craft great presentat ons that are as easy to ed t as they are powerfu to share, d scover how you can do more w th Office Art graph cs, and get he p for tak ng your presentat ons to the next eve For examp e, the PowerPo nt chapter on creat ng presentat ons (Chapter 13, “Creat ng Presentat ons From Theme to Master to S de”) does not step you through the bas cs of app yng a ayout or exp a n the d fference between add ng your ogo to a master or an nd v dua s de Instead, th s chapter exp a ns the re at onsh p between themes, masters, ayouts to he p you create presentat ons and temp ates that ook and behave the way you want It prov des best pract ces for creat ng and custom z ng ayouts, work ng w th var ous content types (such as charts or embedded Word tab es) n your presentat on, and t ps for manag ng and troub eshoot ng presentat ons
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In Part IV, “Exce ,” exp ore the documents known as Exce workbooks and the powerfu funct ona ty you can nc ude n them, from formatt ng worksheets and work ng w th data to us ng charts, tab es, data v sua zat ons too s, and P votTab es For examp e, the chapter on charts (Chapter 20, “Charts”) does not step you through creatng a bas c chart or exp a n bas cs such as what an ax s s Instead, the chapter g ves you the d rect on you need to create and custom ze charts effic ent y; t ps for creat ng more effect ve charts; he p for more advanced tasks such as manag ng data, comb n ng chart types, and work ng w th secondary axes; and step by step nstruct ons and troub eshoot ng for creat ng comp ex chart types such as pr ce/vo ume charts and bubb e charts
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In Part V, “Temp ates, Automat on, and Custom zat on,” get ready to take t to the next eve Here you can earn about creat ng and shar ng temp ates for Word, PowerPo nt, and Exce , but you can a so d scover new ways to both s mp fy and expand on your use of M crosoft Office
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In Chapter 23, “VBA Pr mer,” and Chapter 24, “Office Open XML Essent a s,” you get thorough, deta ed ntroduct ons to extend ng M crosoft Office us ng M crosoft V sua Bas c for App cat ons (VBA) macros and the techno ogy that under es the current Word, PowerPo nt, and Exce fi e formats, Office Open XML I strong y be eve that the programm ng capab t es that are bu t nto M crosoft Office can great y s mp fy your work and save you t me You abso ute y don’t need to be a deve oper to make use of th s powerfu funct ona ty That sa d, an understand ng of core features and exper ence work ng w th Office 2010 or Office 2011 s essent a to be ng ab e to cap ta ze on the ava ab e programmab ty and custom zat on opt ons n these vers ons of Word, PowerPo nt, and Exce So, those who have mastered the essent a s of comp ex document product on that are covered n Parts I through IV of th s book w get the most from Part V
Additional Resources for Reviewing the Basics At the beg nn ng of most feature-spec fic chapters throughout th s book, you see a reference to th s ntroduct on as the p ace to find recommendat ons of add t ona resources for those who want more bas c nformat on on a g ven top c The Step by Step book ser es s a good p ace to start for core bas cs w th Office 2010 n
Microsoft Word 2010 Step by Step, by Joyce Cox and Joan Lambert III
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Microsoft PowerPoint 2010 Step by Step, by Joyce Cox and Joan Lambert III
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Microsoft Excel 2010 Step by Step, by Curt s D Frye
For Office for Mac 2011, one good resource that starts at the beg nn ng s Office 2011 for Macintosh: The Missing Manual, by Chr s Grover Add t ona y, though M crosoft Out ook s not an app cat on covered n th s book, M crosoft Outook for Mac 2011 s a comp ete y new program that warrants a ment on So, f you’re ook ng for he p gett ng started w th Out ook for Mac, you m ght want to check out Microsoft Outlook for Mac 2011 Step by Step, by Mar a Langer For add t ona resources at a eve s, nc ud ng nks to b ogs and other webs tes from members of the M crosoft Office product teams for both W ndows and Mac as we as severa M crosoft MVPs, see the on ne compan on content for th s book, descr bed ater n th s ntroduct on
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What You Can Expect from This Book Th s book s a comprehens ve gu de to advanced document and temp ate product on, troub eshoot ng, and custom zat on us ng Word, PowerPo nt, and Exce n
Approx mate y 30 percent of th s book’s content covers Word top cs
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Approx mate y 20 percent each s devoted to PowerPo nt and Exce top cs
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About 15 percent each focuses on b g-p cture concepts that cross mu t p e programs (such as manag ng e ectron c documents and p ann ng documents) and programmab ty top cs (VBA and Office Open XML)
The most mportant d st nct on I want to make for those ventur ng nto th s book s that t’s not a genera gu de to Office 2010 or Office 2011 For examp e, you w earn how to ay out comp ex pages, create profess ona presentat on graph cs, and troub eshoot documents more eas y, but you won’t earn how to configure ema sett ngs or create a database here So, f you’re ready to take your work w th M crosoft Office documents to the next eve , read on, and we come to Office 2010 and Office 2011
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Companion Content A number of samp e fi es are ava ab e for work ng w th the tasks d scussed n severa chapters throughout th s book Add t ona y, the compan on content for th s book nc udes a se ect on of bonus content on top cs not spec fica y addressed n the book tse f You’ see references to the samp e fi es and bonus content where app cab e throughout the book, and a comp ete st fo ows To access and down oad the compan on content, v s t http://oreilly.com/catalog/9780735651999/ Chapter or Topic
Content
Chapter 3
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H dden Data Check st x tx
Chapter 6
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Fear ess docx
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Fear ess vsd
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Tab e exerc se docx
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Comp eted tab e docx
Chapter 10
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Adjacency Report dotx
Chapter 12
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Nested fie d samp e docx
Chapter 19
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Data V sua zat on Examp es x sx
Chapter 20
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Pr ce-Vo ume x sx
Chapter 21
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P vot Data x sx
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P votTab es x sx
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Samp e macros docm
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Pr merSamp es bas
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Copy XML txt
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Text ed t ng docx
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“Secur ng Access to Your Documents—Document Protect on Too s and Opt ons”
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“Shou d I Cons der M crosoft Pub sher for My Document?”
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“Reference Tab es and Too s”
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“V sua z ng Data w th Exce and V s o”
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“Manag ng VBA Errors”
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“Creat ng VBA UserForms”
Chapter 9
Chapter 23 Chapter 24 Bonus Content
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Support for This Book Every effort has been made to ensure the accuracy of th s book and the compan on content M crosoft Press prov des support for books and compan on content at the fo ow ng webs te http://www.microsoft.com/learning/support/books/ You can a so ook for updates and a st of errata at the fo ow ng webs te http://oreilly.com/catalog/9780735651999/
Questions and Comments If you have comments, quest ons, or deas regard ng the book or the compan on content, or quest ons that are not answered by v s t ng the s tes above, p ease send them to M crosoft Press v a ema to msp nput@m crosoft com
We Want to Hear from You At M crosoft Press, your sat sfact on s our top pr or ty, and your feedback s our most va uab e asset P ease te us what you th nk of th s book at http://www.microsoft.com/learning/booksurvey The survey s short, and we read every one of your comments and deas Thanks n advance for your nput!
Stay in Touch Let’s keep the conversat on go ng! We’re on Tw tter http://twitter.com/MicrosoftPress.
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Acknowledgments Wr t ng a book such as th s s anyth ng but a so e effort Many peop e contr buted to th s project n many ways I don’t th nk t’s poss b e to thank everyone I shou d But, here s a start n
To Kenyon Brown, acqu s t ons ed tor, deve opmenta ed tor, and ded cated shepherd of th s book Thank you for be ev ng n th s book and n me, and for your (tremendous) pat ence
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To Kr sten Borg, product on ed tor Thank you for your met cu ous care of th s book, your pat ence, and your k ndness
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To Kurt Schmucker, th s book’s techn ca rev ewer and one of the best peop e on th s p anet to work w th I am so ucky that you were w ng to be a part of th s project
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To Denn s Cohen, who stepped n and comp eted the techn ca rev ew of severa chapters
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To a of the many peop e at O’Re y and M crosoft Press who worked hard to br ng th s project to comp et on and he ped to make t a better book, espec a y copyed tor Rache Monaghan, ndexer Luc e Hask ns, ustrator Robert Romano, and des gner Mark Pag ett — as we as desktop pub shers Bob and D anne Russe at Octa Pub sh ng, Inc
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To Beth Me ton, for jump ng n to he p when you d dn’t have the t me
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To the many generous and wonderfu peop e on the Office 2010 and Office for Mac 2011 product teams who answer my ( ncessant) quest ons and contr buted many nva uab e t ps to th s book In part cu ar, thank you Marcus A u, Roger Baerwo f, B Barry, Adam Ca ens, Tr stan Dav s, Jod e Draper, Aman Ahmed Dye, Shawn Larson, Doug Mahugh, Chr s Ma oney, B a r Neumann, R ck Schaut, Derek Snook, Stuart Stup e, and Scott Wa ker
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To the many wonderfu peop e I have the p easure to work w th, espec a y those of you who have been so pat ent n the face of book dead nes these ast severa months, nc ud ng Natha e A fred, Chr s Bryant, Nancy Crowe , Er ka Ehr , Sabr na Goebe , Stephan e Hancock, Tess Kander, Courtney Kepp er, Ta Krzypow, Sharon Meramore, Steven M cha ove, Andrew Mo e, M chae P erce, Kurt Schmucker, Karen Shogren, He ena Snowden, Kenda West, Jenn fer W nters, and Ayça Yukse
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To Echo Sw nford, Adr enne Sam, and Stacey Barone, for mak ng t poss b e for me get everyth ng e se done, too
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To the M crosoft MVP program that I am so pr v eged to be a part of, and the many smart and generous experts w th n that commun ty who make me better at what I do
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To my fam y—Mom, Dad, E se, M chae , Ar , and Jared—for a ways be ev ng n me desp te rare y see ng me
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To the dear fr ends who are a ways there for me w th unwaver ng support and text-message therapy, espec a y A ex Jenn ngs, Dav d Rub n, and Stuart Stup e
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To Gay e G bbons Made ra, the azy operator herse f
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And to the two sma , furry creatures who prov de the da y joy that s better for stress re ef than a the avender and chamom e tea n the wor d, Jan e and Murphy
Part I
Document Essentials
1
Chapter 1
Welcome to Office 2010 and Office for Mac 2011 In this chapter, you will: n
Learn how Microsoft Office can help you create better content more easily
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Explore what’s new for documents in Office 2010 and Office for Mac 2011
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Get comfortable in your workspace
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Learn about the Office 2010 and Office 2011 file formats
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Discover how the Office programs "think"
Whether you work on Windows, Mac OS, or across platforms, the latest releases of Microsoft Office are all about giving you the power to create and share content more easily, with more flexibility, and with better results. So how is that going to change the way you work—and is that change good or bad? These are the questions that this chapter will answer. To begin, here is a bit about what you can expect from Office 2010 and Office for Mac 2011: n
New and improved features in Microsoft Word make it easier to manage long documents and give you more tools for crafting rich, professional content.
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New and improved features in Microsoft PowerPoint add power, flexibility and cinematic style to your presentations.
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New and improved features in Microsoft Excel give you more tools for analyzing and displaying data both beautifully and effectively.
There are changes to the environment—such as the new Ribbon in Office for Mac 2011 (but you can think of it as a much improved reimagining of the Elements Gallery) and the new Microsoft Office Backstage view in Office 2010 (but you can call it the return of the File menu). And there are changes to the ways in which you can work—such as the ability to save documents online (to the cloud, that is) from directly within Microsoft Office applications, the ability to edit documents online, and the ability to simultaneously edit the same document with others. You probably already know that Microsoft Visual Basic for Applications (VBA) has returned to Office for Mac in Office 2011. Additionally, cross-platform compatibility and application performance get some pretty impressive improvements in Office for Mac this time around.
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Chapter 1 Welcome to Office 2010 and Office for Mac 2011
If you’re migrating from versions earlier than Microsoft Office 2007 for Windows or Microsoft Office 2008 for Mac, the Office Open XML file formats (those file formats with four character file extensions like .docx), and the enormous amount of content formatting and graphics capabilities that they enable, will be new to you as well. This first chapter will introduce you to some of the key changes for document production in the Office 2010 and Office for Mac 2011 releases of Word, PowerPoint, and Excel and help you settle in and get comfortable with the new programs. It will also introduce you to some core concepts for simplifying complex document production. After that, new features will be covered as applicable—such as Chapter 2, “Collaborating and Sharing When and Where You Choose,” which is all about the new world you’ll find up in the cloud. But this book is not just about new features. It’s about helping you take Microsoft Office document production to a new level, whether that means finding better ways to work with the features you already know or introducing new tools into your routine.
Redefining Documents for a Connected World As recently as a few years ago, the word document might have conjured images of typewriters, steno pads, or that white correction fluid we all used constantly to paint over typos (well, some of you might be too young to remember that). Today, if you work a lot with documents, you probably think of anything from the typical interoffice memo to a budget planning workbook, a marketing pitch book full of complex financials and graphics, a multimedia slide presentation, or a set of automated forms and templates created for use across an organization. The days of slide carousels are long gone. You no longer have to outsource documents to a printer or a desktop publishing company because they include graphics or a complex page layout. In fact, it’s getting more likely every day that the recipient of your document will access it via a link on the web than by the use of a letter opener or even an email inbox. If you read my book Advanced Microsoft Office Documents 2007 Edition Inside Out (Microsoft Press, 2007), you saw some of the same comparisons in its first chapter. That’s because the world of content creation didn’t start changing yesterday. Rather, it continues to grow and evolve with each new version, bringing both new opportunities and changes that you may or may not like. In the previous versions, the introduction of the Office Open XML file formats opened a new world of content creation and formatting capabilities with tools like document themes and SmartArt graphics. But many features that were new in the previous versions are improved today. If you liked a feature then, you may like it more now. If you didn’t like it then, you might consider giving it another chance.
Introducing What’s New and Improved for Your Documents in Office 2010 and Office for Mac 2011
5
So, let’s get connected and get started. From your desktop to the cloud—from basic letters, slide shows, and worksheets to complex proposals, pitch presentations, and financial analysis— these aren’t your grandma’s documents.
Introducing What’s New and Improved for Your Documents in Office 2010 and Office for Mac 2011 Complex document production and development is what I do, so I always have a very particular set of expectations for a new version—changes I hope to see and a few that concern me. When I first met folks on the Microsoft Office product team some years ago—shortly after my Microsoft Office 2003 book, Microsoft Office Document Designer (Microsoft Press, 2004), was released—I came armed with those expectations. That’s when I learned what a luxury it is that I can determine whether changes are good or bad based solely on how they affect my daily work and that of my clients. The folks who make these products have the diverse requirements of more than half a billion users across the world to consider when deciding what features to add, what to change, and what to keep. And that’s a good thing for you and me—regardless of whether we’re happy with every change. The feature you wish would go away (the top items on my personal hit-list are the Click-andType and text frame features in Word, by the way) is critical to someone else, and the fact that the program designers even consider such diverse needs makes it easier for us to collaborate and share content with others, wherever they may be. Experienced Microsoft Office users have come to depend on features and methods that might have changed or, in a few cases, even disappeared. The more experienced you are, the more frustrating it can be to find and acclimate to the best new method available for a given task. But then again, you might be very pleasantly surprised with what you can do.
Explore What’s New Across Both Versions Note Th s sect on ntroduces a w de range of new and mproved features but not a of them
The focus here s to ntroduce you to those new or changed features that are key too s n the context of creat ng and manag ng your Word, PowerPo nt, and Exce content However, add t ona new and mproved features are addressed as app cab e throughout re evant chapters n th s book
See Also For lists of new and improved features in the Office 2010 and Office 2011 programs (including those that are not related to content creation), download the product guides from www.microsoft.com/downloads. Searching for “Office 2010 Product Guides” or “Office 2011 Product Guides” will take you straight to what you’re looking for.
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Chapter 1 Welcome to Office 2010 and Office for Mac 2011
One of the best improvements in these releases is not about how you create content but rather how you store, access, and share it. The beauty of the new and improved capabilities for saving content to the cloud is that they’re accessible to everyone. If your organization runs Microsoft SharePoint, excellent—you can save to SharePoint. If you’re a home, student, or small-business user, you can save to the free Windows Live SkyDrive. Either way, you can save directly from Word, PowerPoint, or Excel on either platform. Saving to the cloud also enables you to take advantage of the new Microsoft Office Web Apps for viewing and light editing of documents, and to use the new coauthoring capabilities, which mean (among other things) that you can simultaneously edit the same document, presentation, spreadsheet, or notebook with other people in different locations. PowerPoint users will also enjoy presenting their slide shows online from their own desks, right from PowerPoint, using the new Broadcast Slide Show feature. Note Coauthor ng s ava ab e from w th n Word 2010, Word for Mac 2011, PowerPo nt 2010,
and PowerPo nt for Mac 2011 Add t ona y, s mu taneous ed t ng of Exce workbooks s ava ab e through M crosoft Exce Web App and for M crosoft OneNote notebooks us ng e ther OneNote 2010 or OneNote Web App Even though OneNote s not part of Office for Mac 2011, Mac users can share and ed t OneNote notebooks us ng OneNote Web App
See Also To learn about using Office 2010 and Office for Mac 2011 with the new and improved cloud-related capabilities, see Chapter 2.
Explore Your Environment Before stepping into new features by program and by platform, take a few minutes to get comfortable in your surroundings. The following sections offer an overview of what’s new for the user interface in both Office 2010 and Office for Mac 2011.
Discovering the Office 2010 Interface If you’re a Windows user, you may already know the Ribbon, but now you can customize it for your own use. The Ribbon has also spread its wings and landed in all applications of Office 2010 (so it’s new to some programs, such as OneNote 2010 and Microsoft Visio 2010). The File menu is also back with a host of rich functionality and a flashy new name (Backstage view).
Introducing What’s New and Improved for Your Documents in Office 2010 and Office for Mac 2011 n
7
Right-click any tab name or command for the option to customize the Ribbon (or, in the Options dialog box, click the Customize Ribbon tab). As you see in Figure 1-1, you can choose to show or hide any tab, add your own custom groups to a tab (you must add a group to a tab to add commands to the tab), and even create your own custom tabs.
Figure 1-1 The Custom ze R bbon tab of the Opt ons d a og box, shown n Word 2010.
See Also Note that you can only customize the Ribbon for the entire application from within Office 2010 programs. Customizing the Ribbon for a specific document, template, or add-in still requires Office Open XML (but it also provides a great deal more flexibility). To learn about interacting with the Office Open XML behind your documents, see Chapter 24, “Office Open XML Essentials.” n
Backstage view, shown in Figure 1-2, is more than a File menu. Yes, you’ll see things there that you probably recognize as having been on the File menu for many versions. Then came Office 2007, where you clicked the funny little button bearing the Microsoft Office logo and no name. Well, fortunately, Office 2010 has returned to the age-old custom of giving things names, so go ahead and click the File tab now when you need to do file-related tasks like open, save, print, or share files.
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Chapter 1 Welcome to Office 2010 and Office for Mac 2011
Figure 1-2 The new Backstage v ew, shown n Word 2010.
There are nice, new little details: for example, on the Recent tab, files and folders pop to the top of the list and stay there after you click their pushpin icon (shown at left). Other tab names are simple and intuitive as well, helping you find things logically. For example, on the Info tab, you’ll now find Document Properties as well as information about potentially private content in your document (and how to remove it), document protection options, and more. Note It’s worth po nt ng out that the term "tab" s used to refer to severa d fferent parts
of the nterface There are R bbon tabs, Backstage v ew tabs, and d a og box tabs The concept s the same across a of these e ements; when you c ck on a tab n any of these env ronments, the nterface changes to d sp ay a d fferent set of opt ons w th n n the same space
In addition to what’s new in the Office 2010 user interface, there are a few features that were new in Office 2007 that warrant mentioning again: n
Keep in mind that you can customize the Quick Access Toolbar (the little toolbar that sits above the Ribbon by default). Right-click virtually any command in the Ribbon for the option to add it to the Quick Access Toolbar.
n
Right-click the Status bar for the option to customize it. For example, in Excel 2010, you can see the results of multiple functions for selected cells right on the Status bar, such as sum, average, minimum, and maximum.
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n
Keyboard users can take advantage of the advanced KeyTips functionality introduced in Office 2007. Just press the Alt key to see ScreenTips with a letter, number, or combination that represents the names of Ribbon tabs, Backstage view tabs, and Quick Access Toolbar commands. Press those keys to see further keystrokes for individual commands.
n
Click the dialog launch icon that appears in the bottom-right corner of many Ribbon groups to open dialog boxes with additional and advanced options.
Insider Tip: Can You Still Edit in Word Print Preview? There’s a lot to like about the new Backstage view. But if you frequently used Print Preview in Word to make last-minute touchups in your documents, the new Print environment that you get in Backstage view might leave you deflated. Sure, it’s nice to have print setup and preview side by side. But you can no longer edit documents in that view. Fortunately, you can add the classic Print Preview environment to your Ribbon, where you can still clear the Magnifier option to enter edit mode. In the Customize Ribbon dialog box, you’ll find Print Preview Edit Mode under All Commands (as shown earlier in Figure 1-1). You can access this same command from the Customize Quick Access Toolbar tab.
Tip Office com has created the Interact ve Menu To R bbon Gu des for users to whom the R bbons n Office 2010 are new You can use these gu des on ne or down oad them to your desktop These too s are a great start for users n compan es m grat ng to Office 2010 from vers ons ear er than Office 2007 (and even those m grat ng from Office 2007, because the R bbon s new to severa programs n Office 2010) See Also On Office.com, for the option to view these guides online or download them for use on multiple computers, see the article “Learn where menu and toolbar commands are in Office 2010 and related products,” available at http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/outlook-help/learnwhere-menu-and-toolbar-commands-are-in-office-2010-and-related-products-HA101794130. aspx?CTT=1.
Discovering the Office 2011 Interface Mac users have been hearing the term Ribbon from their Windows counterparts for a while now. So, there’s no doubt that the new Ribbon in Office for Mac 2011 causes many mixed emotions. Personally, I’m a fan of the Ribbon on both platforms—it gives you quicker access to more commands, period. But if you don’t like the new Ribbon in Office 2011 or you just don’t like change, don’t fear. The Office for Mac team has you covered: you still have the classic menus that you know and love, as well as core toolbars. This interface is not a carbon copy of Office for Windows. It is uniquely Mac.
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Chapter 1 Welcome to Office 2010 and Office for Mac 2011
There are, however, some nice details on the Office for Mac interface that take after their Windows sibling, such as the zoom slider tool on the Status bar and the fact that additional tabs (called contextual tabs) appear automatically on the Ribbon when you select certain types of content (such as tables and graphics). You also still have the ability to customize menus and toolbars for the application. Note The Office 2011 R bbons are not custom zab e, but you can configure many aspects of
them for a more custom zed exper ence On the menu, c ck Preferences and then c ck R bbon to see what you can show and h de ( nc ud ng a few we come add t ons you can make to the R bbon, such as deta ed themes too s n Word Pr nt Layout v ew and qu ck access n that v ew to the new and mproved OpenType typography features)
Figure 1-3 gives you a brief overview of the Office 2011 interface. This image shows Word 2011, but is consistent across Word, PowerPoint, and Excel. R bbon Standard too bar Menu bar
Contextua tab
Status bar
F nd
Zoom s der
Figure 1-3 E ements of the Office 2011 nterface, shown n Word 2011.
Two other major developments in the Office 2011 environment are frequently referenced throughout this book, so they warrant noting here:
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n
The template galleries (called the Word Document Gallery, PowerPoint Presentation Gallery, and Excel Workbook Gallery) open by default when you launch the corresponding application, giving you access to built-in templates, your own custom templates, the full collection of templates available on Office.com, and your recently used files. You get multipage previews of built-in templates and can even customize Word and PowerPoint templates before you create the document.
n
The Media Browser that you may know from other Mac OS applications is now available from within the Office 2011 applications. It lets you quickly access all of your media, including photos, movies, clip art, and more. See Also For more information about customizing documents and presentations from the template galleries, see Chapter 5, “Doing More with Less Work: Key Cross-Program Features.”
The Developer Tab Whether or not you’re a developer, if you’re an advanced user on either platform of Microsoft Office, you will want to enable the Developer tab of the Ribbon. This tab includes VBA options and access to managing templates and add-ins, as well as application-specific features such as content controls in Word 2010 for advanced form design. n
To find this option in Office 2010, in the Options dialog box, click Customize Ribbon. Under the Customize Ribbon list on the right side of the dialog box, select the Developer tab. If you previously used the Developer tab in Office 2007, note that you now enable this tab individually for each application in which you want to use it.
n
To find this option in Office 2011, in the Preferences dialog box, click Ribbon. Under the Customize heading, find the option to enable the Developer tab.
Explore Key Exclusive Features in Office 2010 Now, Windows users, it’s your turn to make your Mac friends a bit envious. (Don’t worry, Mac friends, you’ll get your turn next.) Here are a few exciting features—especially for those of us who use Microsoft Office to create content—that are exclusive to Office 2010: n
Recover unsaved versions. You can actually recover files that you closed without saving— even if you had never saved the file. See Also For more on this feature, which has already saved my day more times than I can count, see Chapter 5.
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Chapter 1 Welcome to Office 2010 and Office for Mac 2011 n
Paste with Live Preview. Well, technically, the entire Live Preview capability (which was introduced in Office 2007) is deserving of envy. Live Preview is the ability to point to formatting options (such as a theme, shape, or SmartArt graphic style) to see how they will look on your document before you even apply them. Now, in Office 2010, you can preview how content will look before you paste it. On the Home tab, in the Clipboard group, click the arrow beneath the Paste button to see options for available paste methods, as shown in Figure 1-4. Just point to a paste option to see how the content will look at the insertion point. When you do this, you also see a ScreenTip indicating what the option will do.
Figure 1-4 Paste opt ons appear at the top of the Paste menu on the Home tab.
Tip If you don’t have the pat ence to h t the R bbon before you paste content, you see a ScreenT p abe ed Ctr after you paste Press Ctr or c ck the ScreenT p to v ew paste opt ons You can st po nt to opt ons to see how your content w ook f you change your paste type se ect on See Also Paste with Live Preview can come in handy in several ways. For example, to see how this feature can help you manage graphics in Word 2010 documents, check out Chapter 10, “Managing Graphics.” n
Although there are some great new features in each program, PowerPoint 2010 is a strong contender for hero of the Office 2010 release. You can now embed video in PowerPoint on both platforms. But PowerPoint 2010 has the exclusive ability to edit those videos (including trimming them, adding fades, and bookmarking key points). PowerPoint 2010 also has the new and very welcome Animation Painter (which works just like Format Painter, only for copying sets of custom animation between objects). And you can create a high-quality video of your presentation—including media playback, transitions, animations, and narration—from within PowerPoint 2010.
Explore Key Exclusive Features in Office for Mac 2011 Well, now it’s your turn, Mac users, to dazzle and amaze your PC counterparts. Here are a few envy-inspiring features (you might just want to hide your MacBook):
Introducing What’s New and Improved for Your Documents in Office 2010 and Office for Mac 2011 n
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The feature name dynamic reordering might not give you chills, but viewing it just might. Instantly see a three-dimensional view of a PowerPoint slide or Word Publishing Layout page and drag to reorder content. It’s like opening the future of document editing. A black-and-white picture in this book wouldn’t begin to do this feature justice. Instead, to try this feature for yourself, start with a PowerPoint slide or Word Publishing Layout view page that contains more than one object. In Word, on the Home tab, click Reorder. Or, in PowerPoint, on the Home tab, click Arrange and then click Reorder Objects. See Also To learn about using this feature in Word 2011 Publishing Layout view, see Chapter 10; to learn about using this feature in PowerPoint, see Chapter 14, “Creating Professional Presentation Graphics.”
n
Providing the right view for the task, and the right tools for that view, appears to be a priority with new and improved Office 2011 features—namely, the new Full Screen view in Word 2011, the improved Publishing Layout view in Word 2011, and the improved Presenter view in PowerPoint 2011. ❑
Yes, Word 2010 does have Full Screen view, but it doesn’t look like this. Full Screen view gives you a beautiful, customizable environment for writing or editing text with a small selection of features customized to the task at hand. On the View menu, just click Full Screen.
❑
For people who create documents, Publishing Layout view is by far one of the most important Mac-exclusive tools in Microsoft Office. This view makes it exponentially easier to lay out the publication-style documents that Word was not originally designed to handle. Essentially, Publishing Layout view is a simple but powerful set of desktop publishing tools built directly into Word. This view was introduced in Word 2008 but is much improved in Word 2011.
❑
The improved Presenter view in PowerPoint 2010 is a customizable command center for your presentations. From one central location, you can manage what’s on screen, what’s coming next, your notes, presentation time, and more.
See Also Learn about Publishing Layout view in Chapter 10, and learn about Presenter view in Chapter 16, “Putting on a Show.” Although some features that are new to Office for Mac in this version are not exclusively Mac, they are still important to mention. For example, long-awaited picture compression is now available in Word, PowerPoint, and Excel (on the File menu, click Reduce File Size). Additionally, Excel for Mac 2011 has arrived. Unlike the sad state of incompatibility that was Excel 2008 (which you likely experienced if you tried to edit Excel 2007 workbooks in Excel 2008 for Mac), Excel 2011 is probably around 98 percent compatible with its Windows counterpart. You now have Excel tables, data visualization conditional formatting tools, and
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Chapter 1 Welcome to Office 2010 and Office for Mac 2011
support for document themes in worksheet content (rather than just graphics), among many other features. See Also To learn about capabilities for formatting worksheets, see Chapter 17, “Data-Based Documents: Formatting and Managing Worksheets.” To learn about working with Excel tables, see Chapter 18, “Working with Data.” And to learn about the advanced conditional formatting tools in the current versions of Excel along with other data visualization tools, see Chapter 19, ”Data Visualization.”
Explore More New Word Features Word on both platforms offers new tools for working with text and graphics. In fact, Word has now caught up to PowerPoint and Excel with most of the same tools for working with Office graphics—so much so that you can confidently create many types of graphic elements (such as charts, SmartArt graphics, shapes, and WordArt) directly in Word without forfeiting formatting or flexibility. Additionally, Word introduces support for several OpenType typography features. From ligatures (which were already supported in Word 2008 for Mac) to stylistic sets and number forms, font enthusiasts can rejoice. You can now flourish your fonts to your heart’s content. Word also gives you improved support for managing long documents: n
Word 2010 introduces the Navigation Pane, an improvement over the Document Map from earlier versions that makes it easier to browse and access the content you need in long documents.
n
Word 2011 has a similar tool called the Sidebar that gives you a selection of features for navigating and accessing document content. Additionally, Word 2011 introduces Visual Styles—color-coded, at-a-glance references to the styles applied in your documents. See Also To learn about OpenType typography support and text effects, see Chapter 7, “Working with Text.” For more about working with graphics in Word, see Chapter 10. For tips about working with the Navigation pane, the Sidebar, and the find tools that are integrated with both of these features, see Chapter 6, “Building Easy-to-Manage, Robust Documents.” And to learn about Word 2011 Visual Styles, see Chapter 8, “Styles.” Tip If you’ve a ready used Word 2010 or Word 2011 and were frustrated by the improved F nd too s (name y, by the comp ex ty of gett ng to the F nd And Rep ace d a og box that ets you access spec a characters, formatt ng, and other more spec fic search parameters), re y on some fam ar keyboard shortcuts Ctr +F (Command+F n Word 2011) w now take you to the ntegrated find and nav gat on too s But use Ctr +G (Go To) or Ctr +H (Rep ace) n Word 2010 (or Opt on+Command+G for the Go To command n Word 2011) to open the F nd And Rep ace d a og box to the Go To or Rep ace tabs, from wh ch you can qu ck y access the F nd tab of that d a og box w th one c ck
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Explore More New PowerPoint Features Stunning, 3-D slide transitions and more realistic animation effects are among the new and improved features common to both platforms of PowerPoint in this release. Additionally, PowerPoint 2010 gets a new tool that’s already familiar to PowerPoint for Mac users: smart guides, dynamic guides that appear as you move objects on a slide. PowerPoint 2011 gets improvements in tables and table styles that are already familiar to users of PowerPoint for Windows. One great new feature in PowerPoint is also the best-kept secret in PowerPoint 2010 and PowerPoint 2011. In fact, in PowerPoint 2010, you won’t even find it in the interface by default. And in PowerPoint 2011, it’s a bit hidden, to say the least. Custom shape actions (such as merging and combining shapes) are invaluable tools and easy to get to—once you know where to look. See Also To learn about new and improved transitions and animations, see Chapter 16. To learn about working with slide elements such as tables, see Chapter 13, “Creating Presentations: From Theme to Master to Slide.” And to learn about tools such as smart guides and custom shape actions, see Chapter 14, “Creating Professional Presentation Graphics.”
Explore More New Excel Features What is cooler than a tiny chart that sits right in a worksheet cell and takes just a couple of clicks to create? Well, your reply might be lots of things—Doctors Without Borders, no-kill animal shelters, the view from the Centre Pompidou in Paris, and Lady Gaga, just to name a few. But when it comes to spreadsheets, there’s not a whole lot cooler than the new sparklines feature in Excel. With sparklines (available in column, line, and win/loss bar styles), you can add tremendous visual impact to your data by charting worksheet data right in the table. As mentioned earlier, Excel 2011 offers great improvements and many new features, most of which were new to Excel for Windows in the previous version. But both Excel 2010 and Excel 2011 have their exclusive advancements as well. See Also To learn all about sparklines and see them in action, see Chapter 19. To learn about improvements in PivotTables on both platforms, including the new Slicer feature that is exclusively available in Excel 2010, see Chapter 21, “Powerful Reporting, Easier Than You Think: A PivotTable Primer.” And to learn about the new embedded formula bar in Excel 2011, see Chapter 17.
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Explore What’s New and Improved Across Both Versions This section wouldn’t be complete without mentioning the growing number of key formatting and content-creation tools that are common to Word, PowerPoint, and Excel on both platforms, making it easier to create and share consistent, professional content. n
Picture editing is greatly improved across Word, PowerPoint, and Excel on both platforms. You will love the improved cropping tools and can do quite a bit more to touch up and style your images. See Also For more on working with pictures in your documents, see Chapter 5.
n
Important formatting and graphics features you might know from the previous versions are improved in the current releases. ❑
For example, there are more built-in document themes to take advantage of (and, for Excel for Mac users, you can now apply themes to worksheet content, not just graphics).
❑
Additionally, the brilliant SmartArt graphics feature (which enables you to create professional-quality diagrams just by typing a bulleted list) now offers more layouts and some nice detail improvements (like the ability to convert a diagram to Office Art shapes or text).
See Also Themes are one of the most important formatting tools for documents across Word, PowerPoint, and Excel; and SmartArt graphics are a core part of the advanced graphics tools that were introduced to Microsoft Office in previous versions. For more about themes, see Chapter 5. For more about SmartArt, see Chapter 14.
Understanding the Office Open XML File Formats The Office Open XML file formats were introduced in Office 2007 and Office 2008 for Mac. However, because they might still be unfamiliar to you—and because of how important they can be to the work you do and the way you share that work—this section introduces them as if they are brand new. The Office Open XML Formats (that is, the Microsoft Office document file formats that use four-character file extensions such as .docx) provide a number of benefits, including easier management of hidden data, reduced file size, and improved customization and programmability options. So, what do you need to know to start using these new file formats? The answer is much easier than you might think.
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Understand the File Types The new file types use four-character file name extensions instead of the three-character extensions used by most software programs. Most of the new file types add either the letter x to the end of the extension to indicate a macro-free file or the letter m to the end of the extension to indicate a macro-enabled file (that is, a file in which you can store macros written in Microsoft Visual Basic for Applications, or VBA). The first three characters of most file formats are those you may know from earlier versions, such as .doc, .ppt, and .xls. For example, the default file format for Word documents in Office 2010 and Office for Mac 2011 is .docx. Note that when you save a file in the legacy format (that is, the format used by Microsoft Office versions 97 through 2003), the original three-character extensions are still used. Note Outs de Word, PowerPo nt, and Exce fi es, you m ght see other fi e types that use the
Office Open XML Formats and the r correspond ng four-character fi e extens ons, such as document themes ( thmx), SmartArt graph c ayouts ( g ox), and Exce chart temp ates ( crtx)
Choose Your Format By default, new documents are saved in the applicable Office Open XML macro-free file format for that program. To change this default or just to view all available file formats for the program, see the Options dialog box (Preferences dialog box in Office 2011) for that program.
In Office 2010
1. Click the File tab and then click Options.
2. On the Save tab of the Options dialog box, see the drop-down list labeled Save Files In This Format and change the default if desired.
In Office 2011
1. Click the menu and then click Preferences.
2. On the Save tab of the Options dialog box, see the drop-down list labeled Save Files As and change the default if desired.
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Chapter 1 Welcome to Office 2010 and Office for Mac 2011
Moving Forward with the Office Open XML Formats If your first response to the Office Open XML Formats is to set your default to save in the legacy formats, you might want to reconsider. Here are three good reasons to take a deep breath and go with the flow of change: n
Users of earlier versions of Microsoft Office will be able to use the files you save in the new XML file formats. File format converters are freely available for both platforms of Microsoft Office and need to be downloaded only once.
n
When you save your files in the current formats, they are easier to share in a couple of ways. First and foremost, you and those you share with can edit Office 2010 and Office 2011 documents online using Office Web Apps, regardless of which Microsoft Office version is installed on your computers. Additionally, the current file formats are a compressed format (as discussed in the following section, “Understand File Structure”), which often equates to smaller file sizes that can simplify sharing.
n
The new file formats opened the door for the Microsoft Office designers to add quite a bit of the formatting and graphics capabilities that are now core to creating great documents—for example, document themes and the new Office Art graphics engine for features such as SmartArt graphics and Excel charts. So, if you choose to stick with the legacy file formats, some of the best functionality will be unavailable.
You can easily tell when you’re working in a legacy document, because [Compatibility Mode] appears after the file name in the title bar. Note that, in Office 2010 and Office for Mac 2011, this warning will appear in the title bar even in Office 2007 and Office 2008 documents because the file formats have been updated with some improvements in the latest versions. You’ll find one-click options to convert your Office 2007 or Office 2008 documents to the latest file formats on the File tab in Office 2010 and the File menu in Office 2011. See Also Learn more about sharing Office Open XML documents with users of earlier versions and many other key tips for sharing documents electronically in Chapter 3, “Understanding Electronic Documents,” which also includes more information about the conversion tools available to users of earlier versions. To learn about using Office Web Apps, see Chapter 2.
Understand File Structure The new file formats are actually .zip folders in disguise. This means that if you change the extension of a document in the new file format to .zip, you can actually open the zipped
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folder to access and edit the folders and files that compose your Microsoft Office document (for example, XML files that describe the document content, and the actual media files for content, such as pictures that you insert in your documents). So, why should you care what’s going on under the hood? Although you need never see the XML content of your files if you prefer not to, you might be amazed at how much you can do there very easily. From troubleshooting documents to customizing formatting beyond what you can do from within the Microsoft Office programs, to creating custom content such as your own themes, advanced Microsoft Office users can take document production to exciting new levels by getting to know Office Open XML. See Also To learn how to interact with your Office Open XML files under the hood, and how to take that knowledge to the next level, see Chapter 24. In that chapter, you will also learn how to access the underlying XML for your documents without having to first change the file extension.
Understanding How the Office Programs “Think”: Documents 101 As you settle in and get comfortable with the programs, take a look at the way you work on documents in general. Office 2010 and Office for Mac 2011 are all about helping you create better content more easily. But no matter what version you are coming from, and how different these versions might look, the core concepts that have always worked for complex Microsoft Office document production are unchanged. Think about the way you approach documents and consider the following key concepts, which might save you time and effort as well as improve your results.
Benefit by Being Lazy One of my favorite examples about understanding how to work more easily in Microsoft Office is what I like to call the tale of the lazy operator. The best document production professional I know is a woman named Gayle. The first time I watched Gayle work, she was churning out pages for a Word presentation document. She spent just 15 or 20 minutes on each page, including financial tables, Excel charts, and even PowerPoint and Visio diagrams. Not only did every page look great in print, but it was also literally perfect on the screen. When I asked how she managed to create flawless, complex pages so quickly, Gayle said it’s because she’s lazy. She doesn’t like to do any more work than absolutely necessary, so she never puts anything in a document that doesn’t need to be there. That, she says, is why she gets along so well with Microsoft Office, and with Word in particular.
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The key to creating complex documents—which Gayle knows so well—is actually quite simple. When you understand a bit about how the programs “think”—that is, the reasons behind the way software features behave—everything you need to create becomes much easier.
Put Less Work In = Get Better Results Out The most common mistake I see people make when they’re working on documents is this:
1. Something unexpected and unwanted happens in your document.
2. You don’t understand what happened and don’t have time to figure it out, so you just keep going.
3. You’re frustrated because the program isn’t doing what you want it to do, so you use whatever workaround you can think of to keep moving forward because you have to meet a deadline. Sound familiar? If so, you’re in good company. Most people do the very same thing. The problem with this process, however, is that it can cause you to dig yourself continually deeper until your document stops working properly, its appearance is less than stellar, and you have a good chance of missing your deadline. If this has ever happened to you, ask yourself this: how long did it take you to fix or find workarounds for the problems in your document? Things often become cliché because they’re universally true, and in this case, doing it right the first time really is faster and easier than doing it over. Rule number one in Microsoft Office document production: if a task seems cumbersome, there is probably an easier way. When most people run into a software task they don’t know how to do, they usually assume the solution is complicated. In fact, people typically overlook the best solution because it seems too easy to possibly work. No matter what your timeline is or how much pressure you’re under to get the document done, making the effort to stay in control will always save you time. When something unwanted occurs in your document on screen, undo actions until you’re comfortable with what you see and then proceed again. The Undo command may just be the most important feature in any Microsoft Office program. In Office 2010, you can undo up to your last 1,000 actions per document in Word, 150 actions per presentation in PowerPoint, and 100 actions per workbook in Excel. In Office 2011, the numbers are the same for Word and PowerPoint, but Excel 2011 is limited to 16 undo actions. To undo the last action in an Office 2010 program, press Ctrl+Z or click Undo on the Quick Access Toolbar. To undo the last action in an Office 2011 program, press Command+Z or click Undo on the Standard toolbar.
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Maximizing the Power of Undo The undo cache is no longer cleared in Excel (on either platform) or in PowerPoint 2010 when you save, which means that you can undo actions that occurred before a save in both programs. Unfortunately, PowerPoint 2011 still clears the undo cache when you save. Of course, even in programs where the undo cache survives a save, you still can’t undo some actions (such as deleting a sheet from an Excel workbook). But you do get a separate undo cache for each open document in a given program. For example, if you have two presentations open in PowerPoint at the same time, you can undo up to the last 150 actions in each. Note also that you automatically get the maximum number of undos in Word and Excel, but the number of undos allowed by default in PowerPoint is 20. To change this number in PowerPoint 2010, in the PowerPoint Options dialog box, on the Advanced tab, find the Maximum Number Of Undos setting under Editing Options at the top of the pane. To change this number in PowerPoint 2011, in the PowerPoint Preferences dialog box, find the option on the Edit tab.
Planning Your Documents One of the most important document-related lessons is how to plan and maintain control of your document. Considering the document as a whole and taking a bit of time to plan can save you an enormous amount of time and stress later. One useful technique that illustrates this point is to approach your document as you would a golf game. What is the fewest number of steps you can take to get the job done? When you approach the tee to begin a game of golf, you don’t hit the ball without first looking to see where the green is located or planning the best way to get there. Approaching a document without any planning is as ineffective as thinking about only your next stroke in a golf game. Consider, for example, how you approach a Word document. If you create a style whenever the need arises without thinking about how it will be used or how it will interact with other styles, you’re likely to end up with too many styles, inconsistent styles, or the constant need to double-back and fix formatting. Instead, take a few minutes up front to think about what formatting will be needed and how styles will be used, and you can then create a set of styles that work together effortlessly. That small amount of planning enables you to format the bulk of your document with literally a few clicks. And, if you need to change the formatting later, the styles have been designed to work together, so making those changes is quick, simple, and seamless.
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Chapter 1 Welcome to Office 2010 and Office for Mac 2011
See Also Get detailed guidance for planning your documents, presentations, and workbooks in Chapter 4, “Planning Your Documents.” For specific best practices on creating effective style sets in Word, see Chapter 8. For a troubleshooting exercise on how to simplify your document work by planning, see the section “Formatting Financial Tables” in Chapter 9, “Tables.”
Use Microsoft Office Effectively: Choose the Best Tools for the Task When you think of documents, do you automatically think of Microsoft Word? Word is certainly the best home for most documents that are predominantly text—usually regardless of the complexity of the layout or graphic elements you might need to include. But do you consider all of your options when you prepare to create a document? More and more, features are available across multiple programs (like new and improved picture editing tools that you’ll find in Word, PowerPoint, and Excel on both platforms). And you’ll often benefit by using multiple programs together for the same document. But when it comes to determining where a document should live, consider not just whether you can accomplish the task, but also what will be the best tool for the task. Sure, you can do some calculations in Word, create text-heavy documents in PowerPoint, or draw diagrams in Excel, but despite their areas of overlap, each program still has its own forte. For all the ways that Microsoft Office changes from one version to the next, one key concept (and much of the functionality that supports it) remains very much the same: when you let the programs do what they do best, you will always do the least amount of work for the best results.
Word: The Organizer A place for everything and everything in its place. This 19th-century maxim is truer for 21stcentury Word than perhaps anything to come before it. Word “likes” things to be as simple and organized as possible. In fact, if you do more work than necessary, Word just might rebel. To “get along” with Word and keep your documents easy to manage, always use the simplest option for any task. For example, don’t use a table when a paragraph indent will do; likewise, don’t use a floating object or add a new section when a table will do. See Also Learn more about finding the simple solution for your Word documents throughout Part 2 of this book, beginning with understanding how Word organizes formatting in Chapter 6.
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PowerPoint: The Efficiency Expert If you think of PowerPoint as a graphic design program, you probably don’t like it very much. Though you can surely get creative with PowerPoint, it’s not about graphic design at all. PowerPoint is a presentation program—it’s about precision, efficiency, and displaying your important information professionally. In fact, with PowerPoint, getting things perfect is always faster and easier than getting them “close enough.” For example, use the Change Shape feature to change all the shapes in your diagram at once. No resizing, reformatting, or retyping needed. And what about the drawing guides? If the smart guides (dynamic guides) don’t get you where you need to be as you place objects, the Align and Distribute tools can help you position objects perfectly with a few precise clicks. And, when those tools won’t do what you need, use drawing guides to align with no trial and error, to measure distance, or to help lay out a slide. See Also Learn about slide layout tools in Chapters 13 and 14. Learn about many aspects of PowerPoint precision, as well as the program’s new multimedia power and increasingly flexible tools, throughout Part III of this book.
Excel: The Logician Whenever I’ve said that Excel can’t do something, I’ve been wrong. You don’t have to be a mathematician or an engineer to get more from Excel than you probably expect. Personally, I wouldn’t know what to do with an inverse hyperbolic cosine if it walked up to me and gave me a hug. But I have found functions, formulas, and assorted features that have saved me more times than I could possibly calculate. For example, here’s one of my favorite timesaving, troubleshooting miracles. If a complex chart with hundreds of rows of data (such as a price/volume chart) gets disconnected from its data source, there’s no way to reconstruct that data from the chart itself, right? Wrong. If the chart displays the data, the chart still knows the data. A simple macro will extract that data in no time. In fact, it’s so commonly used that a macro is available with step-by-step instructions in a Microsoft Knowledge Base article—no programming experience required. That said, you don’t even need a macro for so much of what you can do with Excel. From conditional statements to concatenation to interpolation, features that might sound complicated are surprisingly quick and easy to use. See Also Learn more about how to harness the power, logic, and simplicity of Excel throughout Part 4 of this book. For the macro to extract data from a chart, see the knowledge base article KB300643 at http://support.microsoft.com/kb/300643. (The article was last updated for Office 2007, but it works in both Excel 2010 and Excel 2011.) You can also find more information about this knowledge base article in the sidebar “How Can I Retrieve Lost Chart Data?” in Chapter 20.
24
Chapter 1 Welcome to Office 2010 and Office for Mac 2011
Putting It All Together The most important advance in Office 2010 or Office 2011 is not the cloud capabilities, the interface, or any individual feature, but rather the way in which features and programs integrate more effectively. As you learn about new features in the chapters to come, consider how a feature builds on or works along with others that you already know. For example, pay attention to how many features across Word, PowerPoint, and Excel integrate with themes (such as styles in Word and slide layouts in PowerPoint) and how much of the appearance of your documents you can affect by making a small change in a theme. Always consider new features and methods to ensure that you are using the best tool for the task. But remember that the goal is not to use as many shiny, new features as you can—the goal is to create better content with less work.
Chapter 2
Collaborating and Sharing When and Where You Choose In this chapter, you will: n
Explore options for saving and accessing your content online
n
Learn about what you can do with Office Web Apps
n
Learn about coauthoring across Office 2010 and Office for Mac 2011
n
Explore the benefits of Office Mobile applications
The phrase collaborating and sharing makes me feel like a trust-related, teambuilding exercise can’t be far behind. But don’t be alarmed. We’re not going to fall backward into the arms of coworkers or sit around a campfire and sing corny songs here. So, enough with the corporate-speak jargon—let’s get down to business. This chapter is about that big, new world up in the cloud that helps you get things done when and where it’s convenient for you. Today’s technology means that you don’t have to be tied to your office to be productive. You don’t have to route content from one person to the next to work together on a project. You don’t even need your own computer to make changes to your documents. When you store your Microsoft Office documents online (a.k.a., in the cloud), you can share them more easily, access them from almost anywhere, and work on them from almost any computer with an Internet connection (and maybe even from your phone).
Moving Your Documents into the Cloud The ability to store and manage documents online has been around for many years. But the change that this technology has recently undergone is surely the biggest one since we all first heard words like SharePoint or web server.
n
Whoever you are, wherever you work, you now have easy (even free) access to online document management.
n
You can now edit the documents you store online (many of them, anyway) right in a web browser.
n
Storing documents online, using either Windows Live SkyDrive or Microsoft SharePoint 2010, now enables new technologies such as the ability to simultaneously edit the document with other people in different locations.
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Chapter 2 Collaborating and Sharing When and Where You Choose
If you’ve not yet ventured into the cloud—even if online or simultaneous editing doesn’t pique your interest—there are many good reasons to explore your online options. From providing an online backup copy of important documents (if you’ve never had a hard drive that failed, you probably will one day, and it might just be your backup drive) to enabling you to more easily share large files (it’s easier to instant-message [IM], text, or email a link than a 20 MB file), online document management is an easy win-win option. What’s more, even free services like the wonderful Windows Live SkyDrive provide advanced document management tools like access control and versioning. Most of the capabilities discussed in this chapter are available when you save your documents online to either a SkyDrive folder or SharePoint 2010 library. So, what are your options? n
Large and midsize businesses can install Microsoft SharePoint 2010 in their organization to create a secure and powerful online Intranet solution that goes way beyond document management.
n
Businesses of any size can subscribe to Microsoft Office 365 for a Microsoft-managed online solution that goes well beyond SharePoint. Note At the t me of th s wr t ng, Office 365 was n beta and ant c pated to become ava ab e for subscr pt on ater n 2011
n
Home and small-business users can get a free SkyDrive account with 25 GB of online storage and many of the same tools that are available to SharePoint users.
Which Service Is Right for My Business? So why say that SharePoint 2010 onsite is for large businesses, and SkyDrive is for home or small-business users? Of course, any business that has the need can purchase and install SharePoint 2010 onsite. And nobody checks the size of your business when you sign up for SkyDrive (SkyDrive signup is available on an individual basis, not by company subscription). The classifications used here are based solely on what typically makes sense for user requirements. The benefits of installing and running your own SharePoint server (such as being able to manage everything related to your online presence entirely within your own firewall or creating custom online applications) often justify the costs of such an endeavor for larger businesses, but may be cost- (and resource-) prohibitive for smaller businesses.
Moving Your Documents into the Cloud
27
Similarly, anyone can sign up for SkyDrive, but most businesses have content management and communication requirements that exceed what such free services offer. Between these two options, the highly secure Office 365 hosted solution provides offerings for both large enterprise and small businesses that want powerful online business tools without having to install and manage them on their own. The sections that follow provide introductions for users on what you can do with SkyDrive and with SharePoint 2010. But you’ll also find some basics to help you determine the right cloud solution for your particular business requirements.
Introducing SkyDrive If you use Windows Live Hotmail or Windows Live Messenger, you may already be familiar with http://windowslive.com or http://live.com—the collection of Windows Live online services. SkyDrive is the service that lives at http://docs.live.com. Like Hotmail and Messenger, SkyDrive is free and available to anyone. You can store Microsoft Office documents as well as media files (photos and video) within the 25 GB of storage space that comes with your free account. You can also create Microsoft Office documents directly online from your SkyDrive account, edit your documents online using Microsoft Office Web Apps, or open your documents for editing in the Office 2010 or Office for Mac 2011 programs on your computer directly from SkyDrive (as shown in Figure 2-1 and detailed in the list that follows it).
Figure 2-1 A SkyDr ve fo der, where you can store, v ew, ed t, share, and even create
M crosoft Office documents.
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Chapter 2 Collaborating and Sharing When and Where You Choose n
Create multiple folders and set unique sharing permissions for each. You can make a folder public, share it with specific individuals, or keep it just to yourself. You can also assign specific permissions (full permission or read-only) to individuals with whom you share.
n
When other editors make changes to your files, SkyDrive automatically saves a new version so that you can easily manage which edits get made to files that you own.
n
You can edit documents online using Office Web Apps, including Microsoft Word Web App, Microsoft Excel Web App, Microsoft PowerPoint Web App, and Microsoft OneNote Web App. Note Even though M crosoft OneNote s not part of Office for Mac, Mac users can cre-
ate new OneNote notebooks n SkyDr ve and ed t them us ng OneNote Web App You can a so sync them w th OneNote Mob e for Phone, as d scussed n the sect on “Introduc ng OneNote Mob e for Phone,” ater n th s chapter
n
Saving a Word or PowerPoint file to a SkyDrive folder enables you to simultaneously edit that file with others who are using either Office 2010 or Office for Mac 2011. Additionally, you can simultaneously edit Excel workbooks and OneNote notebooks that are saved on SkyDrive with others by using Office Web Apps. Note S mu taneous ed t ng for Exce fi es s ava ab e on y n Exce Web App However,
you can s mu taneous y ed t OneNote notebooks w th others who are us ng OneNote Web App, OneNote 2010, or M crosoft OneNote Mob e for W ndows Phone 7
See Also Learn more about Office Web Apps and simultaneous editing capabilities across Microsoft Office platforms in the section “Exploring Office Web Apps: What Can You Really Do with Them?” later in this chapter. n
Hotmail integrates pretty nicely with SkyDrive and Office Web Apps as well. If you use Hotmail or receive mail for any account via your Hotmail inbox, you can view or edit Word, PowerPoint, or Excel email attachments online directly from your inbox. If you edit the attachment online, a copy of the file is automatically saved to SkyDrive and you can reply to the email directly with the changes you’ve made.
n
You can also save documents, presentations, workbooks, and (for Office 2010 users) notebooks directly from the Office 2010 and Office for Mac 2011 programs to your SkyDrive folders, as shown in Figure 2-2. ❑
For the option to save a file from an Office 2010 program to SkyDrive, click the File tab, click Save & Send, and then click Save To Web.
Moving Your Documents into the Cloud ❑
29
For the option to save a file from an Office for Mac 2011 program to SkyDrive, on the File menu, point to Share, and then click Save To SkyDrive.
Figure 2-2 Save To SkyDr ve opt ons, shown n Word 2010 (top) and Word for Mac 2011 (bottom).
Version control, access management, 25 GB of free storage space, online editing (including the ability to create new documents online), and email integration. Okay, so if SkyDrive is free to anyone, why would anyone pay for SharePoint?
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Chapter 2 Collaborating and Sharing When and Where You Choose
If you’re a consumer or managing documents online for any type of personal use, there probably is no reason at all. Windows Live provides a very good set of free tools that are easy to use and work well together. But for businesses of any size, there might be many reasons to consider SharePoint. Read on to learn more. Note A you need to get started on SkyDr ve s a free W ndows L ve ID If you don’t yet have an
ID, when you first go to the Save To SkyDr ve opt ons shown n F gure 2-2, you’ see the opt on to get one Or, you can s gn up at docs.live.com
See Also To learn more about what you can do on SkyDrive, visit http://windowslive.com/ skydrive.
Introducing SharePoint 2010 To hear many people tell it, SharePoint is a miracle product, an all-things-to-all-businesses solution that is the place to start for pretty much anything you want to do. Of course, hyperbole (and you might have heard a lot of it on this subject) doesn’t really tell you very much. So, if you’re like many people in organizations where SharePoint is new or soon to be available, you might be wondering what the heck SharePoint actually is and how it can help you. Essentially, SharePoint is a platform for online content management and collaboration. As a user of SharePoint, you can create and customize your own websites for everything from simple online document management to team projects to web databases, blogs, social networking, and then some, as shown in Figure 2-3. For example, as you see in that screenshot, a team site typically includes one or more document libraries along with lists for managing announcements, calendar items, tasks, and discussions. Setting up a SharePoint site is fast and easy—customization is optional. To access the dialog box shown in Figure 2-3, on the command bar at the top of your SharePoint site, click Site Actions and then click New Site. When you click Create in the dialog box shown here, SharePoint does the rest. Note To custom ze a SharePo nt s te after you’ve created t, on the S te Act ons menu, c ck S te Sett ngs
Moving Your Documents into the Cloud
31
Figure 2-3 SharePo nt users can create and custom ze a w de range of s te types.
SharePoint administrators can customize the types of sites that are available for their users and create custom site templates. Administrators can also customize features such as whether to allow users to create documents online and the templates to use when documents are created online. Implementations of SharePoint range from document libraries—where an administrator can manage things like document lifecycle, file size limits, and custom templates—to both internal and external websites where users can share content and interact with colleagues or customers. SharePoint also provides a platform for a wide range of business applications, such as portals with dashboards and scorecards for tracking financials or a database with dynamic online forms. Because this book is about documents, however, let’s stick with what you as a SharePoint user can do with documents. To begin, you can save your documents, presentations, workbooks, and (for Office 2010 users) notebooks to a SharePoint 2007 or later document library directly from the Microsoft Office programs.
From an Office 2010 Program
1. Click the File tab, click Save & Send, and then click Save To SharePoint.
2. Select a saved SharePoint location and then click Save As. Or, to add a new SharePoint location, click Browse and then click Save As.
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Chapter 2 Collaborating and Sharing When and Where You Choose
After you save a file to a SharePoint location once, that location is automatically saved and becomes available in all Office 2010 programs from which you can save files to SharePoint.
3. To enter a new SharePoint location, type the URL for the site or library in the Address bar of the Save As dialog box. When you enter this URL, do not include any details from the URL that fall after the name of the library. For example, if the URL that you see when viewing your document library in a web browser is http://MyTeam/Shared%20Documents/AllForms.aspx, in the Address bar of the Save As dialog box, type http://MyTeam/Shared%20Documents. Alternatively, you can leave off the http: and reverse the direction of the slashes to indicate a file path, as follows: \\MyTeam\Shared%20Documents. Also note that, if you open a document from a SharePoint library in one of the Office 2010 programs and save changes to it in that same location, the location is automatically added to your saved SharePoint locations. Tip Un ke sav ng to SkyDr ve, wh ch Office 2010 sees as sav ng to a web ocat on, Office 2010 treats SharePo nt as a ocat on on your network (wh ch s why t opens the same Save As d a og box for a SharePo nt brary that you see when sav ng to a oca or network dr ve) So, after you save to a SharePo nt brary, that save ocat on w become your defau t for the act ve app cat on sess on unt you save a fi e to another ocat on
From an Office 2011 Program
1. On the File menu, point to Share, and then click Save To SharePoint.
2. Select a location from the list of recent or saved locations, name the file, and then click Save. Or to add a new location, click the plus sign at the bottom of the dialog box.
3. After you click the plus sign to enter a new location, type or paste the URL of the SharePoint document library. Note that you must provide the URL of a document library rather than the URL for a site that contains libraries. For example, if your site is http://MyTeam, providing that URL will return an error. However, if you include the name of a document library within that site, such as http://MyTeam/Shared%20Documents, the library will be added as an available location. Once you add a location in any available Office 2011 program, it becomes available across Word, PowerPoint, and Excel. Also note that if you open a document from a SharePoint site in one of the Office 2011 programs and save changes to it in that same location, the location is automatically added to your saved SharePoint locations.
Moving Your Documents into the Cloud
33
What can you do with your documents once you get them on SharePoint? Consider the following: n
SharePoint document libraries include tools to create alerts for when documents are added or changed, set up workflows, check out documents for additional access control, and manage version history. You can also set permissions with custom access levels (such as read-only, contribute, or full access) and grant permissions by individual or by group.
n
When your document libraries are on SharePoint 2010, you can also view and edit documents online using Office Web Apps. And you can utilize the new Office 2010 and Office 2011 coauthoring capabilities discussed in the section “Working Together Without Waiting Your Turn,” later in this chapter.
See Also For information about the breadth of SharePoint capabilities, including examples of how companies are implementing SharePoint, visit http://sharepoint.microsoft.com and then, in the top menu bar, click Capabilities. Note If your organ zat on runs M crosoft Office 2010 Profess ona P us Ed t on, you a so have
M crosoft SharePo nt Workspace 2010, a desktop app cat on through wh ch you can sync your SharePo nt brar es for easy offl ne access to your documents See Also To learn about SharePoint Workspace, visit http://office.com/sharepoint-workspace.
What Is Office 365? If you’re a typical SharePoint user, it probably doesn’t matter to you in the least how your company delivers SharePoint to you. Regardless of where the actual SharePoint server is located or how your IT department manages it, you have SharePoint sites and libraries and pretty much the same capabilities within them. The difference to businesses is that Office 365 is a package of hosted online services. You might be familiar with the term BPOS (Business Productivity Online Suite); Office 365 is the newest version of that service (in beta as of this writing). It includes SharePoint 2010 (with Office Web Apps), as well as the following features: Note Because Office 365 s n beta at the t me of th s wr t ng, t’s poss b e that the offerng that becomes ava ab e for purchase (expected ater n 2011) may d ffer from what s sted here
n
Microsoft Lync Online (an online version of Microsoft’s enterprise instant messaging, conferencing, and communication tools).
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Chapter 2 Collaborating and Sharing When and Where You Choose n
Microsoft Exchange Online (an online version of Microsoft’s enterprise email management tools, including corporate email, calendaring, and contacts).
n
Document security and related tools such as automatically up-to-date antivirus and antispam protection.
n
The enterprise version of Office 365 also includes your Office 2010 desktop suite licenses (for Office 2010 Professional Plus Edition), along with the benefits of managed deployment and updates.
n
The small-business version of Office 365 also includes website creation tools.
What I find particularly interesting about Office 365 (perhaps because I’m an independent consultant) is that it offers packages for small businesses (from 1 to 50 users) as well as large. The intent of the small-business packages is to make enterprise-quality tools financially and administratively feasible for smaller companies. The intent of the large-enterprise options is to provide comparable capabilities to onsite installation while reducing much of the resource overhead. (Note that there are also educationspecific packages available.) See Also To learn more about Office 365, visit http://office365.microsoft.com. This site provides information for all business sizes, including information about the differences between installing and running SharePoint, Lync, Exchange, and Office 2010 onsite and delivering them via Office 365.
Exploring Office Web Apps: What Can You Really Do with Them? There is a lot of good news to tell you about Office Web Apps. But before we begin, it’s important to set expectations. Many people believe that Office Web Apps are a replacement for the Microsoft Office programs on your computer, but that’s incorrect. Office Web Apps are companions to your Microsoft Office programs. They do not replace your desktop applications unless your content creation needs are extremely basic (and considering that you’re reading a book about advanced document creation, that’s not likely the case). This section will introduce you to both the capabilities and the limitations of Office Web Apps so that you can approach them with the right expectations and reap the many benefits they offer. Note It’s a so mportant to po nt out that Office Web Apps are young app cat ons n the r first vers on, w th new features sure y st to come In fact, we’ve a ready seen some new features added n the months s nce the or g na re ease of Office Web Apps Any m tat ons d scussed n th s sect on are those that app y at the t me th s book was wr tten
Exploring Office Web Apps: What Can You Really Do with Them?
35
Are Office Web Apps Safe for My Documents? If you’ve been burned by online document editing tools that permanently destroy your custom formatting or even some of your content, you might be hesitant to try another suite of online tools. But perhaps my favorite thing about Office Web Apps is what they won’t let you do. The developers of these programs seem to have taken their lead from Hippocrates—first do no harm. That is, if the applications can’t confidently support a type of document content or formatting, you’ll see placeholders for that content when you open the document online for editing (in order to protect that content), or you’ll be prevented from opening the document online. So, you don’t have to worry about what you’re going to see when you next open the document in your desktop applications. That said, whether the software makes changes to your content isn’t the only factor that can affect the integrity of your content and formatting. If the file you’re going to open (regardless of where you’re going to edit it) is a career-making, life-changing document, keep backup copies just in case. For example, there is also the all-important human factor when you share files with others. So, if someone makes unwanted changes to your content or formatting—whether those changes were made online or in the desktop applications—just remember that if the file is stored on either SkyDrive or SharePoint 2010, you have version control and can probably restore a version of that document before the unwanted changes were made. The cloud comes to the rescue. Don’t you just love technology?
Understanding the Benefits of Office Web Apps I’m not usually much for scenarios of how to use a product. You know what you need from a software program; it’s my job to help you get things done more easily or more effectively. But considering that Office Web Apps are quite new as of this writing, I think it might be useful to provide some different scenarios in which these applications can be particularly handy. You are likely to have your own to add to this list before long. But here are a few examples of how I’ve already seen Office Web Apps used to save time or simplify work: n
If you’re traveling or your job takes you out of the office, storing your files (or a copy of them) online gives you easier access. With Office Web Apps, you can view those files and even make quick edits without opening them in the Microsoft Office desktop applications. So you can get things done from whatever computer happens to be handy.
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Chapter 2 Collaborating and Sharing When and Where You Choose n
When a company migrates to a new version of Microsoft Office, it can take time to move everyone over. In the past, migrations (especially in large companies) have caused a lot of pain and frustration when users in the same company are working on different versions and trying to share the same files. But if you have to share with users who are still using an earlier version of Microsoft Office, those users can edit your Office 2010 or Office 2011 files online.
n
On many group projects, particularly with people who don’t work in the same organization, being able to share and edit files online helps simplify tasks and save time. You don’t need to be concerned with what version of Microsoft Office others use, or even whether they have Microsoft Office on their computers. And the files are always accessible to everyone on the team.
n
When you don’t even have a computer handy and need to take a quick look at a document or find information in it, you can use the mobile version of Office Web Apps to access and view Word, PowerPoint, and Excel documents right from the browser on your smartphone. See Also For more about the mobile versions of Office Web Apps, see the “Going Mobile” section later in this chapter.
Getting Started with Office Web Apps It’s time to take a look at what you can do with Office Web Apps. Before we start looking at each application, there are a few more key points to cover about getting started and working with Office Web Apps as a whole. Note As ment oned ear er n th s chapter, when you save a Word document, PowerPo nt pre-
sentat on, Exce workbook, or (for Office 2010 users) OneNote notebook to a SkyDr ve fo der or SharePo nt 2010 brary, you can open those fi es to v ew or ed t them n Office Web Apps Note that, f SharePo nt 2010 s nsta ed ons te n your organ zat on, the organ zat on a so needs to nsta Office Web Apps n order for them to be ava ab e (The cense to nsta Office Web Apps s nc uded w th a vo ume cense ed t ons of Office 2010 and Office for Mac 2011 ) If your organ zat on uses Office 365 or you use SkyDr ve, Office Web Apps are automat ca y ava ab e to the documents you save on ne
Each Office Web App gives you the option to open a file for viewing or for editing. One especially nice thing about Office Web Apps is that the interface you see is quite consistent across the four applications, so it’s pretty easy to get comfortable as you get started. n
For each Office Web App, in Reading view (view mode), you see a command bar at the top of the screen that includes options similar to those you see in Figure 2-4 for Word
Exploring Office Web Apps: What Can You Really Do with Them?
37
Web App. All of the applications include the option to edit in the browser or open the file in the desktop application, and they also include a File tab. But there are a few unique features by program and even by platform. Of course, the ability to open the file in the applicable desktop application requires that you have a supported version of the desktop application installed on your computer. As of this writing, this feature works on Windows with Office 2003 or later and, on Mac OS, with Office 2011.
Figure 2-4 The command bar n Word Web App, as seen on SkyDr ve. ❑
The Share button that you see in Figure 2-4 is included on SkyDrive only and takes you to the permissions for the active document.
❑
The File tab includes a few unique options by program. All programs give you the option to download a copy of the file from this location. But Word Web App and PowerPoint Web App include the option to print the file. PowerPoint Web App also gives you access to view your presentation in Outline view from the File tab. And Excel Web App includes the option to download a snapshot of the file that contains just values and formatting.
Note At the t me th s chapter was wr tten, pr nt ng from the F e tab n PowerPo nt Web App v ew mode s ava ab e on y when you’re us ng PowerPo nt Web App v a SkyDr ve n
In addition to unique tools on the command bars, each Office Web App provides a few key features when you’re working in view mode. ❑
Word Web App enables you to change the zoom level, search for document text, and browse pages from the command bar in view mode. When you use the Find command shown in Figure 2-4, you get a pane showing search hits with highlighting throughout the document, similar to the advanced Find experience that is new to both Word 2010 and Word for Mac 2011.
❑
Excel Web App enables you to search for text, refresh data connections, and sort and filter data in tables and PivotTables when working in view mode.
❑
PowerPoint Web App enables you to show your presentation from the command bar in view mode. You can also browse through slides and view slide notes from a pop-up menu that appears at the bottom of the screen in this view.
❑
OneNote Web App gives you the option to view authors for specific pieces of content from the command bar in view mode. You can also right-click page tabs in view mode for the option to view previous page versions.
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Chapter 2 Collaborating and Sharing When and Where You Choose
Note that OneNote Web App opens by default in editing mode. To switch to view mode, on the View tab of the Ribbon, click Reading View. n
When you open a file for editing, you see a very familiar face. All Office Web Apps use the Ribbon, with similar organization to what you know from the Microsoft Office programs on your computer. Notice in Figure 2-5 that you see a File tab, a Home tab, an Insert tab, and a View tab. Additionally, you see contextual tabs when you select certain types of content—such as the Table Tools Layout tab shown in this example—just as you see in the Microsoft Office desktop applications. And you see common tools across all Office Web Apps, such as the Clipboard group on the Home tab, the Undo and Redo commands right above the File tab, and the option to insert a hyperlink (from the Insert tab).
Figure 2-5 The Word Web App R bbon show ng the Tab e Too s Layout contextua tab.
Note that only Word Web App includes the Save button. In the other Office Web Apps, content is automatically saved as you work. Also note that you can copy and paste text between an Office Web App and the Microsoft Office applications on your desktop, and can copy and paste between Office Web Apps as well (except for Excel Web App, which limits its clipboard content to Excel only).
Does the Browser I Use Matter with Office Web Apps? Office Web Apps look very much the same across browsers as well as across Windows and Mac OS (and Linux, for that matter). At the time of this writing, the following browsers were supported for use with Office Web Apps: n
Windows Internet Explorer 7 or later for Windows.
n
Safari 4 or later for Mac.
n
Firefox 3.5 or later for Windows, Mac, or Linux.
n
Office Web Apps on SkyDrive also support Chrome 3 and later for Windows.
What if your favorite browser isn’t on this list? Well, you might still be able to use Office Web Apps in your preferred browser, but keep one thing in mind. A supported browser is one that has been tested and confirmed to work well with these tools. So, while other browsers might be just fine to use, you could also potentially have unexpected or unwelcome experiences if you choose to use a browser that is not supported.
Exploring Office Web Apps: What Can You Really Do with Them?
39
Also keep in mind that this is the list of supported browsers at the time of this writing for using Office Web Apps on your computer. As discussed later in this chapter, you can use a mobile version of Office Web Apps to view the documents that you save in a SharePoint library or SkyDrive folder on many devices (such as your smartphone or iPad). The list of supported browsers for the mobile experience is different from those listed here. See Also For more about the mobile versions of Office Web Apps, see the “Going Mobile” section later in this chapter.
Insider Tip: Take Advantage of Multiple Web Browser Windows If you have a document open for editing online (or open for editing in the Microsoft Office programs on your computer), others can still view the document online using Office Web Apps. When editing online, you can also keep the same document open in two browser windows for ease of reference—one in view mode and the other in edit mode. This can be particularly handy with Word Web App, as you’ll see later in this chapter.
As mentioned earlier, when Office Web Apps don’t support a feature, they either provide placeholders for that content or prevent you from viewing or editing the file in order to protect your document. n
Almost all types of Office 2010 and Office for Mac 2011 documents can be opened for viewing in Office Web Apps. The only feature that will prevent you from opening a file for viewing in any Office Web App is if the document is protected using Information Rights Management (IRM). Other than this, only Excel Web App has a few additional limitations on files it will let you view—including workbooks with embedded files or embedded OLE (Object Linking and Embedding) objects.
n
There are, however, a handful of features that will prevent you from editing a document online. As you see in Table 2-1, this isn’t a long list. But it does include a few features that are likely to be present in many of your documents, particularly those you share with others—such as Word documents containing track changes and comments. Of course, you can always open the file in the desktop application to create a copy that doesn’t include the prohibited feature (such as accepting changes and deleting comments in a copy of your Word document) if you need to edit it online. Also notice the R notations under Excel in this table. For those features, Excel Web App prompts you with the option to save a copy directly online that is stripped of any prohibited features.
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Chapter 2 Collaborating and Sharing When and Where You Choose
Note As ment oned ear er, the capab t es and m tat ons of Office Web Apps as addressed n th s chapter are accurate at the t me th s book was wr tten So, for examp e, f you have a document conta n ng tems sted n Tab e 2-1 and you want to ed t that document on ne, g ve t a try Remember, Office Web Apps w e ther prevent you from open ng a document or prevent the content from be ng v s b e f the document content cannot be supported In other words, t doesn’t hurt to g ve t a try
Table key: File is not accessible. H this content removed.
Content is hidden. R
A copy of the file can be made with
See Also To learn about content that appears in placeholders when you’re editing files online, see the following section, “Editing Documents in Word Web App.” Content for which a placeholder is displayed is not listed in Table 2-1 as hidden. Table 2-1 Features
that prevent viewing or editing of files in Office Web Apps.
IRM protect on or encrypt on Password to mod fy
Word Web App
Excel Web App
PowerPoint Web App
OneNote Web App
View
Edit
View
Edit
View
Edit
View
Edit
Comments
H
R
Tracked changes
SmartArt
H
R
Ink
H
R
Macros
R
Embedded fi es
V deo
Aud o
H
R
H
S
Shapes and text boxes D g ta s gnatures
R
S gnature nes Mark as fina
R
Read-on y recommended
R
Document protect on
Images n headers and footers
H
R
Act ve X contro s or egacy form contro s
Embedded OLE objects
Read-on y embedded fonts
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Tip If you need to ed t a document that sn’t supported for ed t ng n Office Web Apps or you need to ed t content that can’t be ed ted on ne, t takes just a c ck (or two, f you count the browser secur ty message that may appear) to open the document n the M crosoft Office program on your desktop Open In s ava ab e from both the command bar n v ew mode and the Home tab n ed t mode n a Office Web Apps, as you can see n F gures 2-4 and 2-5, shown prev ous y Note that, because OneNote s not part of Office for Mac 2011, the Open In OneNote command s unava ab e when you access OneNote Web App on a Mac
Editing Documents in Word Web App The first time you open a document for editing in Word Web App, you might get a bit of an unpleasant shock. Where did your headers and footers go? Wait a minute, where did a lot of your formatting go—and your graphics and your page layout?! Relax. It didn’t go anywhere. If your bullets and numbering look different, your styles don’t appear to have all of their formatting, or you don’t see your table formatting, just save the document and then switch back to view mode (on the View tab of the Ribbon, click Reading View) to see your document in full fidelity, with all of your custom formatting intact, at any time. Word Web App edit mode shows you a view that is similar to the Draft view you have in Word, but with fewer content types visible, as you see in Figure 2-6. Bottom line—this is largely a text editor that preserves your rich content and formatting, and offers a few very handy additional features.
Figure 2-6 The same document seen n both v ew mode ( eft) and ed t mode (r ght) n Word Web App.
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Chapter 2 Collaborating and Sharing When and Where You Choose
Following is a summary of what you can do in Word Web App edit mode: n
Apply any paragraph or character style that is saved in the document, including your custom styles.
n
Apply basic font and paragraph formatting. Note that only a few bullet and numbering formats are available from the Home tab on the Ribbon in Word Web App. However, if your document already contains custom bullet and number formatting—including in styles that are saved in the document—that formatting is retained (even though it is not visible in this mode). You can apply your customized styles while editing in Word Web App and see the results when you view the document in Reading view or in Word on your desktop.
n
Use spell checking (including the red squiggly underscores for spell checking as you type, with right-click access to corrections) and set proofing language for selected text.
n
Insert tables and edit basic table structure.
n
Insert pictures and clip art. You can search through all available clip art on Office.com directly from the Insert tab of the Ribbon. And you can resize or add Alt Text to any image.
Figure 2-6 also illustrates a couple of key points about what you can and can’t edit: n
Placeholders are used for the SmartArt diagram, chart, and a content control. These are the same type of placeholders that you see for any content in the main body of the document that can’t be edited in Word Web App but won’t prevent the file from opening. Other such types of content include floating objects and some formatting marks (such as page breaks). Placeholders indicate to editors that something is there when the content itself can’t be displayed, and thus help prevent that content from being inadvertently deleted.
n
Notice that the table at the bottom of the page includes some reverse text (dark shading with white text). The text in those rows isn’t visible in the editor because it is white, and the cell shading does not appear. But the text is still there, and it is still editable.
After looking at the limitations, take stock of what you can do; it might be more than you think. Notice that all of your text (other than text inside content controls or inside a floating object) is visible and editable. Table structure is visible and editable. And pictures that are formatted as In Line With Text are visible as well.
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Note Some p cture types or p cture formatt ng may cause an mage to appear n a p aceho der
even f t s formatted w th the In L ne W th Text ayout These nc ude mages w th a pha channe s (such as PNG mages that a ow surround ng content to wrap to exact y the shape of the mage content w thout any background) and mages that are cropped to a shape (such as you get when you app y some M crosoft Office p cture sty es that crop to ova s) However, not ce n F gure 2-6 that mages formatted us ng many of the current p cture formatt ng too s are supported (such as beve , reflect on, and (a though you’re see ng t on y n b ack and wh te) p cture reco or ng—they just appear n ed t mode w thout the r snazzy sty es See Also For more about working with pictures in Word, see Chapter 10, “Managing Content.” For more about picture editing tools in Office 2010 and Office 2011, see Chapter 5, “Doing More with Less Work: Key Cross-Program Features.”
Caution Many of the bu t- n temp ates n both Word 2010 and Word 2011 p ace much of the
temp ate content n content contro s So, f you open a document for ed t ng on ne and see a bunch of p aceho ders where you expect to see text, that s ke y the reason In some of these temp ates, content contro s d sappear when you ed t the r content In others, you have to deete the contro To de ete a content contro n Word 2010, r ght-c ck the contro and then c ck Remove Content Contro To de ete a content contro n Word 2011 (wh ch m ght appear as text that becomes shaded when you c ck n t), de ete the p aceho der text and then press De ete one add t ona t me before enter ng your own text See Also To learn more about using content controls in both Word 2010 and Word 2011, see Chapter 12, “Dynamic Content.”
For Mac Users The Office Web Apps are equally accessible to both Mac and Windows users, but there’s one thing for Mac users to keep in mind when saving documents online for editing in Word Web App. Viewing in Word Web App is a great tool for any of your documents—your Print Layout view and Publishing Layout view documents alike will look great when viewed online. (If they don’t, it’s a good idea to make sure that Microsoft Silverlight™—a free download for either platform—is installed.) But editing in Word Web App is best for your Print Layout view documents. This is because virtually every bit of content in a Publishing Layout view document is a floating object. So, for example, a beautiful newsletter that looks stellar when viewed online will look like nothing but a row of placeholders when opened for editing online. See Also To learn about Publishing Layout view in Word 2011, see Chapter 10.
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Chapter 2 Collaborating and Sharing When and Where You Choose
Editing Presentations in PowerPoint Web App When you open a presentation for editing in PowerPoint Web App, your slides look much the same as they do in view mode. You can see all of your slide formatting, slide backgrounds, and slide content—including content that can’t be edited. PowerPoint Web App edit mode looks like a simplified version of the Normal view you know from PowerPoint, including a slides pane where you can browse through thumbnails and a notes pane where you can view or edit slide notes. Here’s a quick list of what you can and can’t do when you get there. n
Text, pictures, and SmartArt graphics can be edited in PowerPoint Web App. Charts are visible but cannot be edited, and media (video and audio) does not play. Picture formatting is limited to just changing picture styles (which you might not use much, since picture formatting typically comes from the slide layout in a PowerPoint presentation and is part of the theme formatting). But SmartArt graphics get one of the richest treatments across Office Web Apps in PowerPoint. You can insert a new SmartArt graphic on a slide that contains an empty content placeholder. You can edit text, apply SmartArt styles and colors, and change the layout of your graphic. And, of course, because a SmartArt graphic is a graphical representation of a bulleted list, you can add and delete shapes from your diagram just by editing text. When you double-click to edit an existing SmartArt graphic, the image disappears and you see just a text pane, as shown in Figure 2-7. Edit it just as you do a bulleted list. Then click outside the text area when done to see the changes to your diagram.
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Figure 2-7 A SmartArt graph c shown on s de ( eft) and wh e be ng ed ted (r ght), both n PowerPo nt Web App ed t mode. n
You can insert, delete, duplicate, and hide slides. When inserting a new slide, you can select from all layouts included in the active presentation—including any custom layouts.
n
Apply basic paragraph and font formatting. As with Word Web App, only default bullet and number formatting is available when you’re editing. However, when you’re using layouts with custom bullet and number formatting, your custom formatting is retained. You see your custom formatting while viewing the slide in either view mode (Reading view) or edit mode. But when you click into a text area to edit it, your bullets appear to be default formatting.
n
View your slide show. When viewed online, some animations and most transitions use defaults (such as fade for slide transitions), and dynamic content such as video and audio media does not play. But the view quality for content on slides is excellent.
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Chapter 2 Collaborating and Sharing When and Where You Choose
Tip When you create a new PowerPo nt presentat on on SkyDr ve, you can se ect from a number of bu t- n PowerPo nt themes, many of wh ch are the same themes ava ab e n PowerPo nt on your computer
Use Broadcast Slide Show to Show Your Presentation Online If you give presentations remotely, you probably use web meeting software, such as Microsoft Office LiveMeeting. PowerPoint 2010 and PowerPoint for Mac 2011 introduce a new option that enables you to give your presentation directly from PowerPoint: Broadcast Slide Show. The thing I love about the new Broadcast Slide Show feature, and the reason it’s mentioned in this part of the book, is that you give your presentation from PowerPoint and viewers can watch it online from almost any web browser, with no software installation needed. As you may have guessed, viewing a broadcast happens using PowerPoint Web App. But viewers don’t even have to have their own access to Office Web Apps set up for this to work. All they need is the URL you provide to them—the one the Broadcast Slide Show feature creates for you when you start it. So, you can call your client on his iPhone, for example, while he’s traveling in a taxi. And he can view your presentation right from the browser on his phone while you talk. Keep in mind the limitations of PowerPoint Web App slide shows when you decide to broadcast a presentation (such as the lack of media playback and defaults for slide transitions, as mentioned earlier), but take advantage of the flexibility of this feature when you can. You can broadcast your slide show free by using your Windows Live ID (where you can invite up to 50 attendees). Or, use the feature through SharePoint within your firewall (configured by your company’s SharePoint administrator). To use Broadcast Slide Show, on the Slide Show tab in PowerPoint 2010 or PowerPoint 2011, click Broadcast Slide Show (Broadcast Show in PowerPoint 2011), where you’ll see simple instructions for getting started.
Editing Workbooks in Excel Web App Not only can you edit your Excel 2010 or Excel for Mac 2011 workbook in Excel Web App, but you can edit it at the same time as other people in other locations. Simultaneous editing couldn’t be easier to use. Just start editing a workbook in Excel Web App. When someone else starts editing the same copy of the workbook in Excel Web App, simultaneous editing starts automatically.
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n
You don’t see where others are editing during a simultaneous editing session, so it’s a good idea to communicate with other editors to avoid conflicts.
n
It is easy, however, to see who else is editing the file. A pop-up on the status bar tells you how many people are currently editing and who they are, as you see in Figure 2-8.
n
Changes sync in near real-time, so as you work you see updates from other editors periodically.
Figure 2-8 See who e se s current y ed t ng your workbook on the status bar at the bottom r ght
of your browser w ndow.
Note S mu taneous ed t ng s not ava ab e, as of th s wr t ng, n Word Web App or
PowerPo nt Web App But you can s mu taneous y ed t e ther Word or PowerPo nt fi es us ng new coauthor ng capab t es n the Office 2010 and Office 2011 programs on your desktop, as d scussed n the sect on “Work ng Together W thout Wa t ng Your Turn,” ater n th s chapter (You can a so s mu taneous y ed t OneNote notebooks w th others us ng OneNote Web App, OneNote 2010, or OneNote Mob e for W ndows Phone 7 )
Following is a quick overview of what you can and can’t edit in Excel Web App whether you’re editing on your own or with others. n
Like the other Office Web Apps, Excel Web App lets you do basic font and paragraph formatting of cell content. But it also gives you some application-specific formatting for cell content, such as number format and cell text wrapping.
n
As in Excel Web App view mode, in edit mode you can sort and filter content in tables and PivotTables, refresh external data sources, and search for text in the workbook.
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Chapter 2 Collaborating and Sharing When and Where You Choose n
Insert and delete cells, rows, and columns.
n
Insert a new table (which takes on the default table style for the theme in your active workbook) and toggle heading and total rows on or off in a table (the latter is available on the Home tab, under Table Options). Other Excel table functionality is also available in Excel Web App. For example, type in the row just below a table (or the column immediately to the right of it), and the table automatically expands. If you type a formula in the column to the right of the table, Excel Web App automatically creates a calculated column (that is, a new column containing the same formula in all cells). See Also To learn about using Excel tables, see Chapter 17, “Data-Based Documents: Formatting and Managing Worksheets,” and Chapter 18, “Working with Data.”
n
Insert a new chart (from a selection of common chart types, including column, line, pie, bar, area, scatter, doughnut, and radar charts). You can also edit several aspects of a selected chart from the contextual Chart Tools Design tab, including switching row and column data, selecting data, and editing formatting of chart elements like titles, labels, and axes. Note that, at this time this chapter was written, creating and editing charts in Excel Web App was available only via SkyDrive.
n
Don’t be fooled by the fact that there is no Function command on the Ribbon. Just start to type a function (that is, type an equal sign followed by the first character of a function name in an otherwise empty cell), and you automatically see an IntelliSense list from which you can select the function you need.
My favorite feature of Excel Web App, however, is that you can even update content that you can’t otherwise edit. That is, dynamic content in your workbook—including sparklines, conditional formatting, PivotTable reports, and charts—updates in Excel Web App in near realtime when you edit the source data for content in that workbook.
Editing Notebooks in OneNote Web App Note If you’re new to OneNote, see the OneNote 2010 product gu de for an ntroduct on to the program, nc ud ng an overv ew of ts key features and where to find them (Mac users, note that th s ntroduct on can be handy for you as we , s nce the core concepts and many of the features are ava ab e n OneNote Web App )
See Also You can download this product guide (along with a Getting Started guide for OneNote 2010) as part of the free Office 2010 User Resources available from the Microsoft Download Center at http //down oad m crosoft com. Search for OneNote 2010 Product Guide or Office 2010 Product Guides to find the Office 2010 User Resources download options.
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Although it doesn’t have all the same functionality as OneNote 2010, OneNote Web App looks quite a bit like it. In fact, of all the Office Web Apps, OneNote Web App is the most similar to the desktop application. When editing a notebook in OneNote Web App, you can do the following: n
As mentioned earlier, simultaneously edit the same notebook with others who are using OneNote Web App, OneNote 2010, or even OneNote Mobile for Windows Phone 7. When you open a notebook for editing and someone else opens the same copy of that notebook at the same time, simultaneous editing begins automatically. Changes sync in near real-time, so you see updates from all editors periodically as you work.
n
Add or delete sections and pages. You can add sections and pages from the Insert tab of the Ribbon or when you rightclick a page or section tab in the navigation pane on the left side of the OneNote Web App window. Use the right-click options to delete sections and pages.
n
View authors for specific content on your OneNote pages and view previous page versions. Like OneNote 2010, OneNote Web App automatically saves versions of pages in your notebook when other authors make changes. (The only exception is if history has been disabled for the notebook, which can be done only from OneNote 2010.)
n
Apply font and paragraph formatting, including available OneNote styles. Just as in OneNote 2010, OneNote text styles are not customizable.
n
Insert note tags. You can insert but not customize tags from OneNote Web App. To customize tags, use OneNote 2010.
n
Get some of the same functionality for your notebooks that you see in Word Web App for your documents, including spell checking, AutoCorrect, the ability to set a proofing language for selected text, and the ability to insert tables, pictures, and Office.com clip art.
Although OneNote notebooks are not really documents, you might find them incredibly useful for planning your documents and projects, and for delivering some types of content that you might otherwise have included in a traditional document. If you haven’t explored OneNote before and don’t have it available in your desktop applications, check out OneNote Web App. I find OneNote great for brainstorming, storing research notes, and planning. For example, I’ve outlined every presentation I’ve given in the past several years (including every webcast) in a OneNote notebook. See Also Check out more about OneNote, including using the Linked Notes feature in Office 2010, in Chapter 4, “Planning Your Documents.”
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Chapter 2 Collaborating and Sharing When and Where You Choose
Working Together Without Waiting Your Turn If you like the idea of simultaneous editing in Excel Web App and OneNote Web App, you’ll love the new coauthoring capabilities that are available for Word and PowerPoint in both Office 2010 and Office for Mac 2011. Yes, that sounded like a sales pitch, but I can’t help it— this new technology is pretty impressive, very cool, and downright fun to use. Before we begin this topic, the most important thing to know about coauthoring is that it has one requirement in common with Office Web Apps. Coauthoring is available only to Word and PowerPoint documents that are saved to SkyDrive or SharePoint 2010. Note Coauthor ng s ava ab e for most Word 2010 and Word 2011 documents and a
PowerPo nt 2010 and PowerPo nt 2011 presentat ons The except on for Word s that Word 2011 Pub sh ng Layout v ew documents are not supported for coauthor ng
The heart of coauthoring is the ability to simultaneously edit the same Word document or PowerPoint presentation with other people who are using Office 2010 or Office 2011 (and yes, this works across platforms as well). But there is more to coauthoring in these programs than just simultaneous editing. n
While simultaneously editing a document or presentation, you can see where other editors are working in the file and you can initiate communication with them (voice, video chat, or—depending upon your software and hardware—IM) directly from Word or PowerPoint. In Figure 2-9, you can see a list of other editors on the status bar (in either Word or PowerPoint). In Word, you also see a ScreenTip where another editor is working, and in PowerPoint, you see an icon on slide thumbnails in the Slides pane when another editor is working on that slide; both applications are shown in Figure 2-10.
Note Depend ng on your ed t on of Office 2010 and your IM software, you m ght a so see other ed tors sted n Word 2010 and PowerPo nt 2010 on the Info tab n Backstage v ew
Figure 2-9 See who e se s work ng n your document or presentat on on the status bar at the bottom of the screen, as shown here n PowerPo nt 2010.
Working Together Without Waiting Your Turn
51
Figure 2-10 Locate where other ed tors are work ng n your fi e. See a ScreenT p n Word (shown n Word 2011, top) and an con on the s de thumbna n PowerPo nt (shown n PowerPo nt 2010, bottom).
During simultaneous editing, point to an editor’s name wherever you see it to access a contact card from which you can start a conversation. These contact cards typically show the availability status of other editors (called presence) by way of an icon, similar to what you see in your IM application (such as green for available and red for busy). Note that other editors have to be contacts in your default IM application for you to see their presence status and initiate communication with them from Word or PowerPoint while simultaneously editing. n
In Word, the paragraph in which each editor is working is blocked to others automatically, as shown in Figure 2-10. You can also block other authors from editing selected parts of the document. Find the Block Authors command on the Review tab. If you attempt to edit in a paragraph where someone else is working in Word, a ScreenTip will inform you that you must wait until that person is no longer editing in that location.
n
To see changes from other editors in Word or PowerPoint, save the file. This syncs the file to the server and updates your view with any changes that other editors have saved. Note that, in Word, new changes by other editors are temporarily highlighted after you save.
The other especially handy element of coauthoring is that you and your colleagues don’t all have to be online to take advantage of it. One of the nicest benefits of this feature is that
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Chapter 2 Collaborating and Sharing When and Where You Choose
you no longer get locked out of a document because, for example, a colleague opened it for editing and then left for the evening. If someone goes offline when she has the document opened for editing, you can still continue to edit it. When that person next comes online and saves (that is, syncs her changes), you see the changes she’s made. To get started using coauthoring in Word or PowerPoint on either platform, just open a document or presentation for editing in the applicable Office 2010 or Office 2011 program, from a SkyDrive folder or a SharePoint 2010 document library. When someone else opens the same copy of the same file for editing in Word or PowerPoint in either Office 2010 or Office 2011, you see a notification pop up on the status bar letting you know that an additional editor has opened the document (and who that person is). Note What about when ed t ng confl cts ar se? Ed t ng confl cts are very rare n Word, because the program b ocks you from ed t ng where another ed tor s work ng In PowerPo nt, however, there s no b ock ng, so mu t p e ed tors cou d be ed t ng the same p ece of content
Many cases of ed t ng confl cts n PowerPo nt w just resu t n the ast save “w nn ng” the ed t (so t’s not a bad dea to d scuss w th co eagues who’s ed t ng what) But w th some changes (such as f you ed t a shape that someone e se de etes at the same t me) PowerPo nt offers you a confl ct reso ut on v ew, where you can rev ew ed ts and dec de wh ch ones to mp ement Confl ct reso ut on appears automat ca y when ava ab e Of course, you now have Compare too s on the Rev ew tab n both PowerPo nt 2010 and PowerPo nt 2011, so you can compare vers ons of a presentat on and then rev ew changes at any t me (even when you’re not us ng coauthor ng)
Going Mobile As a reader of this book, you’re probably pretty comfortable with technology. So, considering today’s technology, it’s likely that there is a mobile device—be it a Windows Phone, an iPhone, a Blackberry or other smartphone, or maybe an iPad or other slate computer (or even a combination of the above)—that you depend upon and use for many things. Does that include your documents? n
If you use Windows Phone 7, you have access to Microsoft Office Mobile, including mobile versions of Word, PowerPoint, Excel, OneNote, Microsoft Outlook, and SharePoint.
n
As mentioned earlier in this chapter, with just about any mobile device that has a respectable web browser and Internet access, you can access files that you have saved to a SkyDrive folder or SharePoint 2010 site, and view them online using a mobile version of Office Web Apps.
Going Mobile
53
Note At the t me of th s wr t ng, Pad users get the mob e vers on of Office Web Apps Some
types of s ate or tab et computers may support the fu computer vers on of Office Web Apps A so note that SharePo nt users m ght be ab e to use a v rtua pr vate network (VPN) to connect to your s tes when outs de the company’s w re ess network, or you may requ re externa access to those s tes to access your SharePo nt brar es from the browser on your mob e dev ce Your company’s SharePo nt adm n strator contro s th s access
Introducing Office Mobile for Windows Phone 7 Microsoft Office Mobile for Windows Phone 7 includes mobile versions of Word, PowerPoint, Excel, OneNote, Outlook, and SharePoint Workspace. If you have a Windows Phone 7, you most likely already have these applications because they come preinstalled. It’s important to keep in mind that, even more so than the Office Web Apps, the mobile applications are not replacements for your Microsoft Office programs. These are fairly simple tools designed to let you take quick action when you’re away from your computer. The big story is access to your files and the ability to sync your files between the phone and the cloud. Functionality—particularly for the content creation applications—is light. But when you need to access your files or make quick changes, you might be very glad that you have them handy.
Accessing Files for Use with Office Mobile How does Office Mobile work with your content in the cloud? And can you access files that aren’t hovering overhead? Here’s a brief overview of how to access your Microsoft Office documents on your Windows phone: n
It all starts with SharePoint. The mobile version of SharePoint Workspace enables you to access your SharePoint document libraries. You can open and edit Microsoft Office documents, take the documents offline, or sync them back to SharePoint. How do you connect to SharePoint sites from your phone if you are outside the company’s wireless network? Depending upon your system security (corporate network access) settings, you might be able to connect through a VPN, just as you might do from your home computer to remotely connect to the corporate network. Note If you’re respons b e for mak ng these dec s ons and ook ng for a way to prov de
remote, mob e access to SharePo nt s tes for use w th Office Mob e, you m ght want to ook at a secure so ut on us ng M crosoft Forefront Un fied Access Gateway 2010 (UAG) Th s too enab es you to prov de remote access for your users w thout comprom s ng your secur ty po c es
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Chapter 2 Collaborating and Sharing When and Where You Choose
From the user’s perspect ve, I recent y worked on a project that used UAG to prov de access on W ndows Phone 7 to content nc ud ng OneNote 2010 notebooks and PowerPo nt 2010 presentat ons that were stored n a SharePo nt 2010 brary To access my SharePo nt brary for th s project, I prov ded credent a s once and was then ab e to access and sync my fi es as needed To earn about UAG or down oad a free tr a for your organ zat on, see http://microsoft. com/uag The tr a s a gu ded eva uat on for IT profess ona s, w th s gn ficant too s and resources to he p you get started n
If you use SkyDrive, you don’t get the same integration with all Office Mobile for Windows Phone 7 applications as you do with SharePoint. But you can still access your SkyDrive files and edit them using Office Mobile. Access your SkyDrive folders using the browser on your mobile device. When you open a document that is saved on SkyDrive, it will open in the applicable Office Mobile application. OneNote notebooks will sync between your Windows Phone 7 and SkyDrive. Note, however, that documents other than OneNote notebooks don’t sync back to SkyDrive with Office Mobile for Windows Phone 7—instead, a copy of the document is created on your phone.
n
Of course, any Microsoft Office documents that reside on your phone—such as attachments to Outlook Mobile email messages—can be opened and edited in the applicable Office Mobile applications as well.
Exploring What You Can Do with Office Mobile As you consider how to make use of Office Mobile, keep in mind that you are preparing to edit documents on a very small screen. So, though you can see much of your document content, layout for complex documents might appear compromised (such as content in tables wrapping to long, narrow lines or being visually cut off on the page). If, however, content is not supported for saving in the applicable Office Mobile application, you will get a warning and the option to make a copy of the file for editing on your phone—so you don’t have to be concerned about compromising your original document. That said, following is a brief summary of key features by program for the document-centric mobile applications: n
Word Mobile enables you to do basic font formatting as well as some direct paragraph formatting such as bullets and numbering. You also get a small but useful selection of content management tools, such as find, AutoCorrect, spell check, and undo. It’s also worth noting that you can create and save new documents using Word Mobile.
n
PowerPoint Mobile enables you to view your slides with quite good fidelity. However, as with PowerPoint Web App view mode, you don’t get playback for media. You do, however, get support for some animations and transitions on your slides—including motion path animations.
Going Mobile
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You can’t create new presentations on your phone, but you can edit text and notes on slides, hide or move slides, and zoom in on slide content. n
Excel Mobile enables you to view rich worksheet content, such as charts, and has a nice selection of basic editing functionality. For example, add or edit values and formatting in cells, add or edit formulas, and sort and filter worksheet content. You can use freeze panes to view multiple parts of a worksheet at once and access more than 100 common Excel functions. You can also create new workbooks.
n
OneNote Mobile enables you to access your existing notebooks that are stored on SharePoint or SkyDrive, or add new pages to a notebook that resides on your phone. You can view much of the rich content in your OneNote 2010 or OneNote Web App notebooks (such as tables and font formatting) and add text notes, voice clips, and insert pictures. You can also apply a small selection of basic font formatting along with bullets and numbering. few handy content management tools might also be useful, such as AutoCorrect, search, and the ability to open OneNote email attachments in OneNote Mobile.
In addition to program-specific features, Office Mobile for Windows Phone 7 provides some new and improved tools for ease of access and sharing for your Microsoft Office documents, including the ability to add and review comments, navigate Word, PowerPoint, and Excel files in a new Outline pane, and access all of your documents from a centralized Office Mobile hub.
Introducing OneNote Mobile for iPhone For its first mobile application foray beyond the Windows Phone, Microsoft released OneNote for iPhone. In its first edition, it is a simple application (and free as of this writing). If you’re a fan of OneNote or need an easy way to get notes from your phone to your computer, it’s also a pretty nice tool. OneNote for iPhone works via SkyDrive and requires a free Windows Live ID. You can save your OneNote 2010 notebooks to SkyDrive or create new notebooks on SkyDrive (particularly handy for Mac users who don’t have OneNote on your desktop), and then access them all from your phone. Much like Office Mobile for Windows Phone 7, if you do fairly complex work with documents, the feature set of what you can do in the applications isn’t really the impressive part. The major benefits of this application (and they’re pretty significant) are access to your files from almost anywhere and the ability to sync information between your computer and your mobile device. As for the feature set within OneNote for iPhone itself, its first edition (released while this book was being written) is even a bit lighter than OneNote Mobile for Windows Phone 7— primarily in that no font formatting is supported. You can add new pages, add a page title,
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type text with or without bullets, add active check boxes (such as for your grocery list), and insert photos. It’s a simple set of features but can work well for many purposes. For example, each time I review a chapter of this book after it’s been through editing, I read the chapter on my iPad and take notes on changes I want to make to it using OneNote for iPhone. The next time I sit down at the computer to make changes, my notes are already there. Following are just a few tips to help you get started with OneNote for iPhone: n
Section tab colors are supported in OneNote for iPhone but can’t be created on the phone or on the web. If you have OneNote 2010, just right-click a section tab for the option to change the section color.
n
When you exit a page back out to the active notebook section, OneNote for iPhone automatically syncs changes you’ve made to that page back up to SkyDrive. You can also perform a complete sync manually in the application settings. When the keyboard is closed, you see the Settings command at the bottom of the screen. Sync Now is the top command on the settings page.
n
When the keyboard is closed, you also see two nice and handy timesaving features: quick access to recently accessed pages, and a Quick Note command that creates a new page with just a tap. Note Sync ng w th th s app s pretty qu ck and genera y dependab e If you tr ed the app r ght after t was first re eased, you m ght have run nto a g tch w th th s—I d d But I use the app a ot, and the ssues seem to have been corrected by ear y updates If you want to check to confirm whether sync was successfu at any t me, the sett ngs page a so sts any sync errors
Understanding Office Web Apps Mobile: The Office Mobile Viewers If ever there was a poorly named product, it’s the Office Mobile Viewers. There’s nothing wrong with the name on the face of it, but it might lead you to believe that these programs are part of Office Mobile for Windows Phone 7 and require a Windows Phone, when that’s not at all the case. Office Mobile Viewers are actually another name you might hear for the mobile versions of Office Web Apps—and, unlike Office Mobile, they are accessible from most mobile devices that have a respectable web browser and an Internet connection.
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As mentioned earlier in this chapter, you can access the files that you save to SkyDrive or SharePoint 2010 using the browser on a mobile device and view those files with pretty good fidelity. A wide range of smartphone browsers is supported, including Safari 4 on iPhone (3G or later), Blackberry (4.x and later), and Internet Explorer 7 on Windows Phone 7, as well as others. You can’t edit files in the mobile versions of Office Web Apps, but you can view them and get some handy functionality, such as the ability to search for text in the file. To access the mobile versions of Office Web Apps, use the browser on your mobile device to navigate to either SkyDrive or your SharePoint 2010 site. For SkyDrive, you’ll see a mobile view of your SkyDrive folders and files by default. For SharePoint, access to your site is controlled by the SharePoint administrator in your organization. When you tap or click to open a file, it opens in the mobile version of the applicable Web App. Caution Some browsers may g ve you add t ona opt ons In some cases, those opt ons are
great (such as us ng the touchscreen copy and paste capab t es on your Phone to copy text from a document), but not a ways Some browsers (such as Internet Exp orer 7 on W ndows Phone 7) g ve you the usua y we come opt on to v ew fu vers ons of webs tes by defau t nstead of mob e If you do th s w th Office Web Apps n a mob e browser, they attempt to g ve you the fu exper ence However, th s scenar o s not supported, and I don’t recommend t L ke any software app cat ons, there are system requ rements for Office Web Apps, and mob e browsers don’t meet the requ rements for the fu Office Web Apps funct ona ty that you get n a computer browser It’s not the ntended Office Web Apps exper ence, and t’s just not good
Chapter 3
Understanding Electronic Documents In this chapter, you will: n
Explore considerations for sharing documents electronically
n
Understand the importance of font choices when sharing documents
n
Learn about potentially private information in your documents
n
Discover how to easily manage hidden data in your documents
In the age of typewriters, it didn’t much matter how we went about creating documents. All the recipient ever saw was the paper result. Then came along electronic documents, when we started to care more about how documents looked on screen because we were sharing content by email or on portable media such as CDs and flash drives. Today, not only are most documents shared electronically, but more and more documents live in the cloud for constant electronic access and collaboration. With the powerful tools at our disposal today, we can create far more professional and complex documents than ever before. But when we share documents electronically by any method, we’re actually sharing much more information than just the text, graphics, and formatting we add to the page. And the more hands that are on your electronic documents, the more important (and often more difficult) it becomes to keep those documents well crafted. In the wise words of Spiderman’s Uncle Ben, “With great power comes great responsibility.” Although building great documents is surely less difficult than battling archvillains, the power to create and share documents the way we do today does carry some important considerations. In this chapter, we’ll look at the differences to consider when sharing documents electronically— from differences that affect the professionalism of your finished product to those that make it easier to collaborate online with others to those that affect the security of your private information.
Creating Documents for Electronic Sharing Keep two principal areas in mind when creating a document that you will share electronically: the way you construct the document and the document content. The method of document construction is an important consideration because it can affect the message you convey as
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well as the success of your collaboration with others. Being aware of all content in the document is also important because you might be sharing more than you intend.
Insider Tip: Sharing Documents in the Office Open XML Formats Before you look at what you need to know about creating documents for electronic sharing, take a moment to think about the file itself. When you share files with users of Microsoft Office versions earlier than 2007 (for Windows) and 2008 (for Mac), don’t be afraid to share your files in their original Office 2010 or Office for Mac 2011 file formats (that is, the Office Open XML Formats). Free tools are available to users of Office 2000 or later on Windows and Office v. X and later on Mac to enable them to open and edit your files, and to see the vast majority of content you created in Office 2010 or Office 2011 exactly as you created it. Whether you save your files down to the legacy file formats before sharing or you share the Office Open XML Format file, the resulting appearance and functionality in earlier versions will be essentially the same. But when you save the file down to the legacy format, file size is likely to grow much larger and you lose some of the security benefits of the new file formats as well. What’s more, it can be more work for you when the document later comes back to you for editing. So when you need to share a live and editable version of the file, always stick with the current file format when you can. However, keep in mind that some of the functionality and formatting available to you will not translate back to the earlier versions that require file format converters to open your files. For example, if you use the new OpenType typography features in Word 2010 or Word for Mac 2011, most of those are not supported and will not be visible to users of earlier versions. If this feels complicated, relax. There’s a pretty short list of what users of earlier versions can’t do in your files, and you can easily retain the functionality in your files for editing when the file is returned to you. But you also have another option now that could make sharing your content with users of earlier versions much easier than before: Microsoft Office Web Apps. When you need to collaborate on content with users of other versions—depending upon what type of editing those users need to do in the documents—saving that document into the cloud so that everyone can view and edit the file online can often greatly simplify your work.
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See Also For an overview of what you can expect when users of earlier versions (including users of Office 2007 or Office 2008 for Mac) open and edit your Office 2010 or Office 2011 files, see Chapter 1, “Welcome to Office 2010 and Office for Mac 2011.” In that chapter, you can also get more information about the free file format converters for users of earlier versions on both Windows and Mac. For information about using Office Web Apps, see Chapter 2, “Collaborating and Sharing When and Where You Choose.” And for information about considerations for collaborating online using Office Web Apps, see the section “Ensuring Easy Editing Online,” later in this chapter.
Consider the Importance of Document Construction You may already know that using the simplest method for the task will usually give you better results with less work. But when it comes to sharing documents electronically, the way a document is crafted can also substantially affect the way your document content is perceived. Consider a basic Word document, for example. The pages shown in Figures 3-1 and 3-2 contain the same information and similar layout choices. In fact, the only difference between the two pages is the way they are constructed. Formatting marks, often called nonprinting characters, are visible in both figures. Which document would you prefer to claim as your own?
Figure 3-1 Even w th formatt ng marks v s b e, the content shown here s c ean, profess ona , and readab e.
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Figure 3-2 Th s content s the same as that shown n F gure 3 1, but t s constructed us ng formatt ng
workarounds.
Because the best features for each task—such as styles, themes, tables, and SmartArt graphics—were used to create the well-crafted page shown in Figure 3-1, it took much less time than the page created with workarounds, shown in Figure 3-2. Even more important, consider the impact of the information conveyed. Clearly, the version shown in Figure 3-1 makes a more professional statement. The construction choices in Figure 3-1 help ensure that the document is easier to edit and that what the recipients see (both on screen and in print) is exactly what the document author intended.
Making a Professional Impression If you’re thinking that the way a Word document looks with formatting marks doesn’t apply to you because you don’t turn on formatting marks in your documents, think again. Just because you don’t turn them on doesn’t mean the recipient or another editor of your document does not. Anyone who opens your Word document might do so with formatting marks visible. Imagine the work that went into both writing and creating the document in Figure 3-2. Isn’t it a shame that the reader has to muddle through the mess of formatting to get to the point? See Also Learn about the value of using formatting marks in Chapter 6, “Building Easy-toManage, Robust Documents.”
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But formatting marks are just one element of what makes Figure 3-1 so much more professional-looking than Figure 3-2. Many features across Microsoft Office exist to help you create better content more easily. If you don’t take advantage of the available tools, you do more work for inferior results. For example, notice the difference between the clean, readable table in Figure 3-1 and the collection of tabs, spaces, and other workarounds used to fake a table in Figure 3-2. Also note the difference between the SmartArt layout used to create the diagram in Figure 3-1 and the tremendously time-consuming collection of mismatched shapes used in Figure 3-2 to fashion a poor imitation of that diagram. When you look at these features, you can also easily see that this is not just about Word; think about similar content you might create in PowerPoint or Excel. In fact, the same principles apply to the content you create in any program. The more you take advantage of the tools Microsoft Office provides for creating well-crafted content, the more professional your documents will look and the easier it will be to keep them looking great regardless of how or with whom you share. Something as simple as paragraph indents that don’t line up perfectly or a sloppy chart that looks “close enough” to what you want can detract from your content and diminish the impact of your important information. Rudimentary workarounds—like an Excel formula that uses 20 plus signs to add up a column of numbers, or a bunch of manually positioned text boxes on a slide to fake a PowerPoint layout—make your content more difficult to edit and less likely to become the final product you really wanted.
Ensuring That What You Send Is What They See When your documents are shared by email, good construction isn’t just about a professionallooking result. It’s also about knowing what recipients will see when they receive your document. For example, when you send a document as a formatted email message, it is typically sent over the Internet in HTML format. Documents created in the Microsoft Office programs are designed to be able to translate well to and from HTML. However, if you’re fudging the layout and using workarounds for formatting, neither Outlook 2010 or Outlook 2011—or any other messaging program you might use—will know how to translate it. For example, when you fake the appearance of bullets or a table, as in Figure 3-2, the translator has no way of knowing that you were trying to approximate bulleted text or a table, so the layout could be distorted when the document reaches the recipient.
Ensuring Easy Editing Online You might still send some or even most of your documents by email, but there’s a good chance that you’ve at least started to store and share some content online. If you haven’t yet ventured into the cloud, check out Chapter 2 because you might be missing out on some very useful tools (like the freedom to get away from your desk and still get work done when you need to).
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If you are already sharing content “up there,” the most important additional consideration is what applications others will use for accessing and editing your content. For the most part, this isn’t different from any other electronic document sharing—users might open your file in Microsoft Office on either Windows or Mac, and they might use a current or earlier version of the programs as discussed earlier. But when you share documents for editing online using Office Web Apps, there are a few considerations to keep in mind: n
As mentioned in Chapter 2, one advantage of Office Web Apps is that you don’t have to worry about opening files for editing online. Unlike some online editors, Office Web Apps won’t let you edit content that the programs can’t properly support. So, don’t fret about what you can’t edit online using Office Web Apps; instead, be happy that you can edit a lot of content online without worrying about what the programs will do to that content. (Of course, because many factors can impact what happens when you share or edit content by any method, please be smart and save a copy of that critical, career-making document first.)
n
Because Office Web Apps protect your content by not letting you edit content or formatting that they can’t support, the difference you see when viewing versus editing files online can be significant. Files that render beautifully when viewed as a Word document, for example, might look like a collection of placeholders when you open them for editing online. So, the range of content you want to be able to edit online might even help you determine how to construct your file.
n
When creating files that you or others might want to edit online, be aware of what features will prevent you from collaborating with Office Web Apps so that you can avoid using them in those documents. For example, two of the most common collaboration features—track changes and comments—currently prevent a file from being edited in both Word and Excel Web Apps.
See Also Learn more about the viewing and editing environments in Office Web Apps and find a list of currently unsupported features for Office Web Apps in Chapter 2.
Understanding How Font Choices Can Impact What Recipients See One of the most basic components of formatting documents in any program is also often one of the most problematic: fonts. You can choose beautiful, creative, and interesting fonts, but if they are not standard fonts and do not exist on the recipient’s computer, your document might look entirely different to the recipient. When a font does not exist on a computer, the program in which you open a document (such as Word or Excel) will substitute the closest font available. Often the closest font has differently sized characters from your original font, which can alter alignment of complex layouts, change pagination, or distort graphics.
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Fortunately, there are ways to share your files that can help alleviate concerns about fonts, and those are addressed later in this section. But before we get there, it’s important to understand the limitations so that you can make font choices that provide the best results for your particular needs. n
A font may exist in the font list that you see in a given program on your computer, but that doesn’t mean that it was installed as part of Microsoft Office or that it will be available to recipients. Most software programs in which you can create content display all available fonts that are installed on your computer—whether they were installed by the active application, the operating system, or another application, or manually installed as a custom font.
n
Available Office 2010 fonts also vary by edition. In particular, Office 2010 Professional (a retail edition) and Office 2010 Standard and Office 2010 Professional Plus (the volume license editions) include many more fonts than Office 2010 Home and Student and Home and Business editions. This is because the Standard, Professional, and Professional Plus editions include Microsoft Publisher 2010, which provides a large number of fonts. If you share documents with users of earlier versions of Office for Windows, it might be worth noting that Office 2010 Standard Edition is the first version of Microsoft Office Standard to include Publisher (and thus the fonts that ship with Publisher). Table 3-1 shows an approximate list of Latin text fonts that are available to most Office 2010 users, regardless of edition. This list is based on a computer running Windows 7 Home Premium and Office 2010 Home and Student edition. Caution If you create content n anguages other than Eng sh, note that the font sts
prov ded here are nsta ed w th Eng sh anguage bu ds of M crosoft Office and W ndows Most of the fonts n the st are ava ab e n many other anguage bu ds as we , and support severa other Lat n text anguages, but not a A so note that a few of the fonts n Tab e 3-1 are des gned for spec fic scr pts n other anguages, such as Nya a and Raav , but they are nc uded here because they prov de support for Eng sh and some other Lat n text anguages To confirm that a font you want to use supports the anguages you need, v s t http:// www.microsoft.com/typography/fonts The product st s not updated for Office 2010 and Office 2011 as of th s wr t ng, but you can search for the font you need under the st abe ed Fonts By Fam y On the search resu t page, under the font name, c ck V ew Font Informat on to v ew anguage support deta
n
Office 2011 includes the same fonts in all of its versions (Home and Student, Home and Business, and the volume license edition). However, fonts do vary by platform. That is, Office 2010 and Office 2011 have many but not all of the same fonts.
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Table 3-2 provides an approximate list of Latin text fonts that are available in most Office 2010 editions and in Office 2011. This list includes far fewer fonts than you see in Office 2011 or in some editions of Office 2010. It is provided as a reference to crossplatform fonts that are available to most Office 2010 users. Table 3-1 Fonts available in Office 2010 Home and Student Edition running on Windows 7
Ar a
Frees aUPC
P antagenet Cherokee
Ar a B ack
Freesty e Scr pt
Pr st na
Ar a Narrow
French Scr pt MT
Raav
Ar a Un code MS
Gabr o a
Segoe Pr nt
Book Ant qua
Garamond
Segoe Scr pt
Bookman O d Sty e
Georg a
Segoe UI
Bookshe f Symbo 7
Impact
Segoe UI L ght
Brad ey Hand ITC
Ju ce ITC
Segoe UI Sem bo d
Ca br
Kr sten ITC
Segoe UI Symbo
Cambr a
Luc da Conso e
Sy faen
Cambr a Math
Luc da Handwr t ng
Symbo
Candara
Luc da Sans Un code
Tahoma
Century
Mar ett
Tempus Sans ITC
Century Goth c
M crosoft Sans Ser f
T mes New Roman
Com c Sans MS
M stra
Trebuchet MS
Conso as
Monotype Cors va
Verdana
Constant a
MS Reference Sans Ser f
Webd ngs
Corbe
MS Reference Spec a ty
W ngd ngs
Cour er New
MT Extra
W ngd ngs 2
Euphem a
Nya a
W ngd ngs 3
Estrange o Edessa
Pa at no L notype
Frank n Goth c Med um
Papyrus
Note Estrange o Edessa s the on y font shown n Tab e 3-1 that s not current y supported n Office Web Apps
Understanding How Font Choices Can Impact What Recipients See Table 3-2 Fonts
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available in Office 2011 as well as most Office 2010 editions
Ar a
Constant a
MS Reference Sans Ser f
Ar a B ack
Corbe
MS Reference Spec a ty
Ar a Narrow
Cour er New
MT Extra
Ar a Un code MS
Frank n Goth c Med um
Pa at no L notype
Book Ant qua
Gabr o a
Papyrus
Bookman O d Sty e
Garamond
P antagenet Cherokee
Bookshe f Symbo 7
Georg a
Symbo
Ca br
Impact
Tahoma
Cambr a
Luc da Conso e
T mes New Roman
Cambr a Math
Luc da Handwr t ng
Trebuchet MS
Candara
Luc da Sans Un code
Verdana
Century
Mar ett
Webd ngs
Century Goth c
M crosoft Sans Ser f
W ngd ngs
Com c Sans MS
M stra
W ngd ngs 2
Conso as
Monotype Cors va
W ngd ngs 3
Note The M crosoft Typography webs te sts fonts nsta ed by W ndows 7 You can a so find
sts of fonts nsta ed w th Office 2007 and Office 2008 on th s s te However, as of the date when th s book was wr tten, the s te s not updated for Office 2010 and Office 2011 S m ar y, the App e know edge base prov des a st of fonts nsta ed w th Mac OS X As of th s wr t ng, the most recent ava ab e st s for Mac OS X 10 5 (Leopard)
See Also Access the list of fonts installed with Windows 7 at www m crosoft com/typography/ fonts/product aspx?PID=161. Access the list of fonts installed with Mac OS X 10.5 at http // support app e com/kb/HT1642.
So what do you need to know about fonts for sharing files with users of earlier Microsoft Office versions? Some of the fonts in Table 3-2 were introduced in Office 2007 and Office 2008 (such as the default fonts Calibri and Cambria). Gabriola was introduced in Office 2010 and Office 2011. These recently introduced fonts are included in the Microsoft Office Compatibility Pack, mentioned earlier in this chapter, that is available for users of Office 2000, Office XP, and Office 2003 for Windows. For users of Office for Mac 2004, those fonts introduced in Office 2008 are installed with the File Format Converter for Mac. Additionally, for users of Office 2007, Gabriola is provided in Microsoft Office Updates. With the free compatibility pack and file format converter tools, users of earlier versions can open and work with documents that use the Office Open XML file formats.
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Note If you are runn ng an ear er vers on of M crosoft Office and you nsta ed the converters
some t me ago, t’s a good dea to check the down oad s te and confirm that you have the atest vers on For examp e, f you nsta ed the compat b ty pack to Office 2003 we before the reease of Office 2010, the converters have s nce been updated
See Also To download either of these tools, visit http://microsoft.com/downloads and search for Open XML File Format Converter. You will see both the compatibility pack and the file format converter at the top of the search results. You can also learn more about the Office Open XML Formats in Chapter 1.
Share Files Without Concern About Fonts If you’re running an edition of Office 2010 that includes Publisher, or you’re running Office for Mac 2011, you know that you have many more fonts than are shown in Tables 3-1 and 3-2. So how do you take advantage of that font flexibility without risking what recipients see in your documents? n
Your first thought might be embedding fonts. But this is not always a complete solution. Font embedding is available only in Word 2010 and PowerPoint 2010. It’s not available in Excel 2010 or in any Office 2011 program. However, embedding might be useful with another approach: if a font is embeddable and recipients will not need to edit your documents, you might want to send the file as a Portable Document Format (PDF). You can embed fonts in PDF files, giving you a way to share documents, presentations, and workbooks on either platform without font concerns. See Also For more about font embedding with Word and PowerPoint, as well as how to determine if fonts are embeddable, see this section’s upcoming sidebar, “Insider Tip: Understanding Font Embedding Options.” We’ll discuss creating PDF files from the Microsoft Office programs in more depth later in this chapter.
n
Instead of embedding fonts, however, remember that there is a way to share your file with recipients who use different editions or different versions of Microsoft Office on either platform, and know that they will see the document just as you do. You might have already guessed where I’m going with this: Office Web Apps. Office Web Apps support almost all of the fonts that ship with any edition of Office 2010. So when you save your document, presentation, or workbook to Windows Live SkyDrive or a Microsoft SharePoint 2010 site, you and those with whom you share can view and edit the file online, with your fonts intact. Of course, if you’re the author of an important document, it’s always a good idea to open it for viewing and editing online to make sure the results are what you expect before you share it. For example, you might be using a font that appears in the
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Microsoft Office programs but was actually installed by a third-party application on your computer and is not supported by Office Web Apps. Similarly, Office 2011 users can definitely take advantage of enhanced font compatibility when sharing online. But some fonts—such as some installed by Mac OS or thirdparty applications—might not be supported by Office Web Apps. So, save the file to the cloud and then take a look yourself before sharing it. See Also Considerations for sharing files online using Office Web Apps are addressed in the section “Ensuring Easy Editing Online,” earlier in this chapter.
Insider Tip: Font Embedding Options Font embedding is available in Word 2010 and PowerPoint 2010. It is not available in Excel 2010 or in any Office 2011 programs. So, if those users with whom you share documents only use Microsoft Office for Windows and your documents are in Word or PowerPoint, embedding might be a good solution when a particular document or presentation requires a custom font. But before you think about using embedded fonts regularly, you have several things to consider. It used to be the case that embedding would affect what recipients saw on screen, but the document might look much different when printed. This is no longer true with current printers. So, if recipients have bought a printer in the last several years, it’s probably safe for you to share documents containing embedded fonts with users of the same programs and not worry about the result on the other end. But it is also important to consider that font embedding can add substantially to the file size (from hundreds of kilobytes to over a megabyte per font). In addition, the licenses for some fonts might not permit editable embedding (that is, the license restriction renders a document read-only for recipients) or might disallow embedding altogether. So, between lack of compatibility and increased file size, embedding simply isn’t a complete solution for using a custom font on a regular basis. In fact, many large enterprise companies that use custom fonts for their branded content (such as their marketing collateral) select built-in, highly compatible fonts to use in their regular documents for ease of sharing. However, if you do need to embed a font for a particular Word or PowerPoint document, always embed all characters rather than just characters used in the document (despite the added file size) if the document may need to be edited on a computer where your custom font is not installed. Find embedding options in the Word Options or PowerPoint Options dialog box, on the Save tab.
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As mentioned earlier, whether you use embedding in Word and PowerPoint or in another application (for example, saving a copy of a file as a PDF), it’s important to know whether a font can be embedded. Using Windows 7 or Mac OS, it’s easy to find out. To do this in Windows 7:
1. In a Windows Explorer window (Windows Key+E), browse to your Fonts folder. By default, this location is C:\Windows\Fonts. Or, instead of browsing to a folder location, in the Control Panel, click Appearance And Personalization, and then click Fonts.
2. On the toolbar at the top of the window, in the Select A View list, click Details, as shown in Figure 3-3.
Figure 3-3 Whether you access the Fonts fo der by brows ng the fi e path or through the Contro Pane , you are st v ew ng fonts n a W ndows Exp orer w ndow
3. Right-click the column headings for the option to add more headings, and then click Font Embeddability. In the Font Embeddability column, you see one of the following settings for your font: ❑
Installable The font can be embedded and installed permanently on a recipient’s system.
❑
Editable The font can be embedded but only installed temporarily on the recipient’s system to allow for editing of the document.
❑
Print and Preview The font can be embedded but the document will be read-only on recipient computers where the font is not installed.
❑
Restricted license The font cannot be embedded.
Mac users can get information about embeddability using the built-in Font Book application. Just select a font in Font Book and then press Command+I (or, on the Preview menu, click Show Font Info). You see whether a font is embeddable at the bottom of the list.
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See Also For more information about working with fonts and exploring font properties, see Chapter 7, “Working with Text.” Note that Chapter 7 applies specifically to Word documents, but some information it contains about fonts applies to your documents across the Microsoft Office programs.
Securing the Private Information in Your Documents Do you know what information your document contains? If you answered yes, are you certain about that? When you share documents electronically, you might be sharing much more than the content you intended to share. Document metadata, and hidden data that you and other document editors can inadvertently add to documents, can result in your private information being shared. Fortunately, these issues are much easier to manage than you might expect. In a nutshell: there is no reason to fear your documents, and anyone who says otherwise is selling something. Document metadata (the term most commonly used to refer to underlying data in your documents) became such a hot topic a few years ago that the amount of misinformation about the subject is downright rampant. The truth is that this is an extremely important issue, but one that can be easy to manage. The best way to maintain control of your documents and help ensure that you do not share potentially private information is simply to be aware of the types of hidden content that can exist in your document and the steps you can take to manage them.
Know the Simple Truth About Document Metadata and Hidden Data Most of the potentially private hidden data in your documents is not actually metadata at all, but content you or other document editors have added to the document at some point. So, what then is metadata?
Defining Metadata Metadata, in computer terms, is information that a software program automatically stores in a file to enable some functionality. Virtually all software programs store some type of metadata in their files, the great majority of which is not a privacy risk at all. For example, the version of software used to create a document may be stored in the document as metadata. The more powerful a software program, the more metadata it is likely to store. Word, Excel, and PowerPoint store metadata such as the date the file was created and the author’s name. Most metadata is not visible in the document window, but can be found through a dialog box. For example, the create date is listed in the Document Properties dialog box.
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Defining Hidden Data Unlike document metadata, hidden data refers to content that you add to a document but might not see in the document window. Examples of hidden data include text in Word that is formatted with the hidden font attribute, unresolved tracked changes in Word or Excel, or comments in Word, PowerPoint, or Excel. Content added to commonly used areas of a document such as headers, footers, and footnotes can also be hidden data, depending on the way you view your documents.
Managing Hidden Data One of the most common misconceptions about document metadata and hidden data is that the number of potentially private hidden data types is infinite or somehow unmanageable. In fact, the possible types of document metadata or hidden data in your Microsoft Office documents make for a fairly concise list, and you can easily remove most of them yourself. What’s more, just because something is a potential privacy risk to someone doesn’t mean it will be to you. Review the list of possible hidden data types and decide for yourself what content types you want to check for and remove from your documents. Companion Content Find a Hidden Data Checklist in the Chapter3 sample files folder available online at http://oreilly.com/catalog/9780735651999. The Hidden Data Checklist lists common types of hidden data for both Office 2010 and Office 2011, and was created in an Excel template so that you can easily edit and share it. The options for removing metadata and other hidden data dramatically improved for users of Microsoft Office for Windows in Office 2007 with the introduction of the Document Inspector tool, and took another step forward for Office 2010 users with the Prepare For Sharing options in Backstage view. Additionally, the Office Open XML Formats make manually accessing and removing hidden data and metadata substantially easier for users of both Office for Windows and Office for Mac.
For Mac Users Although the Document Inspector and the new Prepare For Sharing options discussed in the following sections are not available in Office for Mac, it’s easy to remove unwanted metadata and hidden data. See Also For more information, skip to the section “Knowing What Data Is in Your Documents,” later in this chapter.
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Using the Document Inspector The Document Inspector searches for a wide range of potentially hidden content types, including both metadata and hidden data, and gives you the option to remove them from your document. See the Document Inspector options for Word in Figure 3-4.
Figure 3-4 Document nspector opt ons, shown here for Word, vary by program.
To access the Document Inspector in Word, PowerPoint, or Excel:
1. Click the File tab to open Backstage view.
2. On the Info tab, click Check For Issues and then click Inspect Document. The Document Inspector, like any tool that automatically removes hidden data, can be a bit heavy-handed. That is, it will remove either all or nothing of the content types it finds. So, when you’re using any tool for removing hidden data, the most important thing to remember is that just because something can potentially be private information doesn’t mean it is. Be aware of the content types you want to check for and the circumstances in which you consider content to be private information that you want to remove. For example, headers and footers are usually intentional content that you want to share. However, if you add content to a header or footer in a Word document and then disable that header or footer (such as adding content to a Different First Page header and then turning off the Different First Page feature), the content you added is still saved with the document unless you remove it. So, while it is unlikely that you would want to delete all header and footer content in your document, you might want to check to ensure that no private information is saved in disabled or otherwise unused headers and footers. See Also For tips on how to check for disabled or otherwise unused headers or footers, see Table 3-3.
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When you use the Document Inspector, in addition to simply being aware of what you choose to remove, you might want to keep in mind some other factors, covered in the following section, before removing content and considering your document ready to share. Note If you’re a M crosoft V sua Stud o deve oper or have access to a deve oper w th that
sk set, keep n m nd that the Document Inspector s extens b e You can add modu es to the Document Inspector to search for and manage exact y the content types you want
See Also Visit the Office Developer Center on MSDN at http //msdn m crosoft com/office and search for Document Inspector to access developer resources related to customizing this tool.
Checking Out the Prepare For Sharing Options The new Backstage view in Office 2010 now gives you at-a-glance information about potentially private information in your documents, as you see in the Word 2010 example shown in Figure 3-5.
Figure 3-5 To see the Prepare For Shar ng opt ons n Word, PowerPo nt, or Exce , c ck the F e tab to open Backstage v ew and then c ck Info
So, before you even get to the Document Inspector, you can see at a glance any features that you might want to address. Also notice that this pane doesn’t exclusively list potential privacy issues. The Check For Issues options also include checking for accessibility to people with sensory disabilities and checking for compatibility with earlier versions.
Knowing What Data Is in Your Documents Remember that the way you view a document can make a tremendous difference in what content you see. For example, in Draft view in Word, you don’t see several types of content—including headers, footers, footnotes, and page layout. Similarly, when viewing slides in PowerPoint, if you don’t have the Notes pane open, you don’t see slide notes.
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One solution is to change your view so that you do see all elements on a page, slide, or sheet, but Table 3-3 provides some other tips for addressing common types of hidden data with or without the Document Inspector, and whether you use Office 2010 or Office 2011. Table 3-3 Common
types of hidden data
Option
What you need to know
Document Propert es and Persona Informat on
In Office 2010, on the Info tab n Backstage v ew, you can v ew and access fi e propert es In Office 2011, on the F e menu, c ck Propert es
In Word, Excel, and PowerPoint
Custom XML Data
The nformat on you find here can nc ude propert es such as author name and create date You can remove much of the nformat on d rect y from the Propert es pane (2010) or d a og box (2011) ■
In Word 2011 and Exce 2011, you can a so use the opt on to remove persona nformat on from the fi e on save, wh ch w remove author names and ed t ng h story F nd th s opt on n the app cat on Preferences d a og box, on the Secur ty tab
■
In Word, PowerPo nt, and Exce 2010, the opt on to remove persona nformat on from the fi e on save s enab ed automat ca y f you use the Document Inspector to remove th s nformat on once However, n add t on to document propert es such as author name and create date, any custom document propert es saved n your document w be removed when you se ect Remove A for th s opt on n the Document Inspector Th s s mportant because many compan es use custom document propert es for a number of reasons, such as to enab e funct ona ty n add- n programs ke document management systems And you m ght use some document propert es n document content, such as the t t e or author name
The Document Inspector warns you f your Office 2010 document conta ns custom XML data Before you remove th s, remember that t can nc ude add t ona funct ona ty that your document requ res It’s a good dea to know what the custom XML data n your document s before remov ng t Or, as when remov ng any h dden data, just make a copy of the document first before remov ng th s content to be sure that you reta n a fu y funct ona copy of your fi e
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Option
What you need to know
Headers and Footers
As ment oned ear er, header and footer content s most often ntent ona and meant to be shared Whether or not the Document Inspector s ava ab e to you, that too s not usua y the best opt on for san t z ng potent a y pr vate content n headers and footers Instead of remov ng a header and footer content, you can take a few qu ck steps n e ther Office 2010 or Office 2011 to ensure that you have no nadvertent content n your document headers and footers ■
In Exce , v ew each sheet n Page Layout v ew or Pr nt Prev ew to v ew a header and footer content n the fi e The on y header and footer content you wou d not v ew n th s case wou d be content on h dden sheets or objects formatted to be nv s b e, both of wh ch you can address separate y e ther on your own or us ng the Document Inspector
■
In Word (where headers and footers a so ncorporate watermarks), f there s a poss b ty that the D fferent Odd & Even Pages or D fferent F rst Page sett ngs were used at some po nt n the document, turn these features on (or off, as app cab e) to check for content n unused headers and footers You’ find these opt ons on the Header & Footer Too s Des gn tab when your nsert on po nt s n the header and footer ayer of the document
■
Add t ona y, check for sect ons that conta n fewer pages than wou d be necessary to show a headers and footers—such as sect ons of ess than one page or sect ons of one page where D fferent F rst Page s enab ed The eas est way to do th s s to s mp y add page breaks n short sect ons and de ete them after check ng for h dden header and footer content
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In Word 2011, remember that documents n Pub sh ng Layout v ew can a so conta n header and footer content The header and footer ayer n th s v ew s ca ed Master Pages, but t can a so conta n D fferent F rst Page or D fferent Odd And Even content that s not d sp ayed n a g ven sect on See Also For more information about working with Master Pages in Publishing Layout view, see Chapter 11, “Sections.”
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The Document Inspector n PowerPo nt 2010 does not check for header and footer content But whether you use PowerPo nt 2010 or PowerPo nt 2011, you m ght want to do th s yourse f If you add header or footer content to any master, s de, or handouts and notes pages and then d sab e that content from appear ng, the content may be reta ned n the Header And Footer d a og box un ess you de ete t F nd th s d a og box on the Insert tab n PowerPo nt 2010 and on the Insert menu n PowerPo nt 2011 Fortunate y, d sab ed s de footer content s on y reta ned f t had been app ed to a s des, so you don’t need to worry f a 100-s de presentat on once had nd v dua footers for each s de that have s nce been d sab ed
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Option
What you need to know
Inv s b e Content
Inv s b e Content n the Document Inspector refers to objects that have been h dden us ng the Se ect on And V s b ty Pane, wh ch s ava ab e n Office 2010 but not n Office 2011 To access th s pane, se ect an object and then, on the Draw ng Too s Format tab, n the Arrange group, c ck Se ect on Pane Users of both Office 2010 and Office 2011 shou d, however, keep n m nd that other types of nv s b e content cou d ex st, such as text or objects formatted as wh te on a wh te background or otherw se formatted to be obscured Content that s p aced off s de n PowerPo nt, or float ng objects that are ocated off the page n Word, m ght a so be h dden from v ew
In Word H dden Text
For users of Word 2010, t’s mportant to note that th s Document Inspector opt on searches on y for text formatted w th the h dden font attr bute It w not find text formatted as wh te on a wh te background or otherw se formatted to be obscured For users of Word 2011 (or users of Word 2010 who prefer to find text formatted w th the h dden text attr bute), you can expose any h dden text n your document by turn ng on a formatt ng marks You can a so use the F nd feature to search for text formatted as h dden
Companion Content Table 3-3 does not include all types of potentially hidden data, but you can find a more complete Hidden Data Checklist in the Chapter3 sample files folder available online at http://oreilly.com/catalog/9780735651999.
Insider Tip: There’s More to Embedded Excel Objects Than Meets the Eye As you most likely know, when you paste any content from one program to another as an embedded object, recipients of your document can simply double-click to access the original object. However, when the object you embed originates in an Excel workbook, you actually embed the entire workbook from which the object originated. For example, say you have an Excel workbook containing tables with sales summaries for each of your customers. If you copy just the table relating to one customer and paste it as an embedded object into a Word document or PowerPoint presentation you are sending to that customer, the recipient can double-click that object to open the originating workbook—and thus can see the content related to your other customers as well. To protect private data, it’s a good idea to paste Excel objects into other programs as pictures unless you want to share all content in the originating workbook. If you have an existing embedded Excel object in a Word document, you can easily convert it to a picture because embedded objects are stored in Word as fields. To do this, just select the object and press Ctrl+Shift+F9. (In Word 2011, the keystroke combination
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is Command+Shift+F9 or Fn+Command+Shift+F9, depending upon your keyboard.) This shortcut strips any field result of its code, in this case leaving only a picture. In PowerPoint, a quick solution is to simply double-click to open the embedded object, copy what you want, and then return to PowerPoint and paste it as a picture. Fortunately, in both Word and PowerPoint in Office 2010 and Office 2011, you now have to go out of your way to embed an Excel object, and in most cases, the option makes clear that you are selecting the entire workbook. Note, however, that in the Paste Special dialog box in these programs, the option Microsoft Excel Worksheet Object will actually embed the entire workbook. See Also As you might already know, Excel charts no longer need to be embedded objects in Word and PowerPoint to be editable. For information about working with Excel charts in those programs, check out Chapter 20, “Charts.”
Saving to the PDF or XPS File Formats When you need a quick and easy solution to help ensure that your document contains no hidden content that could be a privacy risk, and the recipient of your document will not need to edit it, you might want to save your document to either the Portable Document Format (PDF) or the XML Paper Specification (XPS) format. The capability to save to PDF or XPS formats is built into Office 2010, and the capability to save as a PDF file is available in Office 2011. When you take just a few minutes to ensure that you are aware of all the content in your document, there is no reason to be concerned about sharing your document in its original format. However, when you just want a quick solution and the recipient won’t need to edit the file, PDF and XPS file formats can be a nice, simple alternative. XPS and PDF file formats do not carry over many types of metadata and hidden content, making them a good option for sharing files. However, when you save a copy of your document in one of these formats, file properties information is saved by default. To ensure that you are not sharing private information from file properties in the PDF or XPS formats, you can disable this setting in the Office 2010 programs and, in Office 2011, simply clear the fields as you save to PDF.
In the Office 2010 Programs
1. Click the File tab to open Backstage view and then click Save & Send.
2. Click Create PDF/XPS Document and then click Create PDF/XPS.
3. In the Publish As PDF Or XPS dialog box, select the Save As type (PDF or XPS) and then click Options.
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4. In the Options dialog box, you can exclude document properties from the published copy, specify a page range to publish, and more (options for XPS and PDF differ slightly).
5. Click OK and then click Publish.
In the Office 2011 Programs
1. On the File menu, click Print.
2. In the Print dialog box, click PDF and then click Save As PDF.
3. In the Save dialog box that opens, you can edit file properties information, including Title, Author, Subject, and Keywords. Then, click Save to create your PDF.
For Mac Users If the Office 2010 Document Inspector made you feel left out, now it’s your turn for a great, exclusive feature. When you save to PDF from the Office 2011 programs (including Word, PowerPoint, Excel, and Outlook for Mac 2011), you have the option to add passwords for restricting access to open, print, or copy content from the PDF. To access these options, in the Save dialog box (reached in the preceding step 3), click Security Options. Note, however, that if you save as a PDF from the Save As dialog box rather than using the preceding steps, you will not be prompted with these options.
Note Your or g na document s not affected when you save a copy to the PDF or XPS formats n e ther Office 2010 or Office 2011
Using the New File Formats to Manage Hidden Data One of the key benefits of the new Office Open XML file formats is that all content, including metadata, is more transparent—and thus easier to access and to remove. See Also To learn about managing document content under the hood, see Chapter 24, “Office Open XML Essentials.”
Using Options in Windows 7 to Manage Personal Information If you’re using Windows 7, you have an additional option for removing personal information that’s stored in file properties before you share a document.
1. To use the Windows 7 tool, first browse to your file in Windows Explorer (press Windows+E to open a Windows Explorer window).
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2. Right-click your file and then click Properties.
3. In the Properties dialog box that opens, on the Details tab, click Remove Properties And Personal Information to open the Remove Properties dialog box. In the Remove Properties dialog box, you can choose to remove any properties saved by the program in which the file was created as well as any information saved with the file by Windows (such as text you add using the Tags feature in Windows 7). You can also choose the option to save the cleaned version of the document as a copy to retain a fully functional version of it for your own use. Note Too s for remov ng h dden data are ava ab e n other programs across Office 2010 as we For examp e, to remove h dden data from your V s o fi es, on the F e menu n V s o, c ck Remove H dden Informat on S m ar y, OneNote 2010 now saves prev ous page vers ons for mproved co aborat on and prov des a recyc e b n for content you de ete from a notebook But you can choose to d sab e these features n a notebook where they may conta n nformat on you don’t want to share To do th s, on the Share tab, c ck Page Vers ons and then c ck D sab e H story For Th s Notebook
For Mac Users In Mac OS Finder, the Get Info tool shows you file property information. If you use this tool to add Spotlight comments (such as keywords that you can use as Spotlight search terms), you might want to check this field before sharing a file to ensure that it doesn’t contain information you’d prefer not to share. To do this, in a Finder window, select the file you want to check and then press Command+I. You can also access Get Info on the Finder File menu, the task pop-up menu at the top of a Finder window (the gear icon), or the shortcut menu that you see when you right-click the file name. Companion Content In addition to controlling what you share, you might want to restrict access or editing of your documents. For help working with document protection options— including the powerful Information Rights Management tools for users in companies that use the Office 2010 Professional Plus volume license edition or the Office 2011 volume license edition—see the article “Securing Access to Your Documents—Document Protection Tools and Options,” available in the Bonus Content folder as part of the online companion content for this book, at http://oreilly.com/catalog/9780735651999.
Chapter 4
Planning Your Documents In this chapter, you will: n
Discover the best tools for the task
n
Explore design considerations
n
Examine the process of content planning
n
Learn to link notes for better document planning
Throughout this book, you will learn core concepts of Microsoft Word, PowerPoint, and Excel that can help you get more from those programs and create incredible documents, presentations, and workbooks (collectively referred to as documents here). Explore what makes a robust, easy-to-manage document, which features are key to helping you create content most efficiently, and ways to collaborate and share your content more easily. So, if you’ve been given the content, told how to display that content, and provided with a document design, then that’s all you need to get to work. But if the company, career, job, responsibility, or task affected by the document in question is yours, then you have more things to consider before you begin. Planning effective documents is about more than solid construction. An effective document also uses design and layout choices that get your content noticed. And, of course, there’s that tiny little detail of the content itself. After all, you create documents to share important information, not to share important formatting. This chapter provides key considerations for planning your documents, from determining the best program for the task to design choices, delivery method, layout, and the all-important content.
Chapter Assumptions Many of the concepts covered in this chapter apply regardless of the program in which you’re working and do not require specific technical prerequisites. However, this chapter assumes that you have some experience working with a recent version of Microsoft Office on either Windows or Mac OS. See Also If you want more basic-level information, see the list of resources in the section “Who Will Benefit Most from This Book,” in the introduction.
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Using the Best Tool for the Task You are working on a report—should it necessarily be a Word document? Your document contains financial information—does that automatically mean it should be an Excel workbook? Sometimes the best tool for the task seems to be whatever application you use most often. But are you doing more work than you need to do? Could you create higher-quality content more easily using a different program? Sure, you can execute the same tasks and create the same type of document in multiple applications. But each Microsoft Office program has its particular strengths. Given that fact, this section is not about which applications include features you might need but which application is the best choice for your particular document.
Using Word You know that Word is the queen (or king, if you prefer) of word processing. When you need to create text-heavy documents, particularly when text needs to flow from one page to the next, Word is an automatic go-to in most cases. It is an incredibly powerful and flexible program, and probably has some capabilities that you don’t know about even if you’ve been using it for years. But their emphasis on text doesn’t mean that Word documents have to be boring. When you use the best practices covered in this book, you can create complex page layouts quite easily and include tables, graphics, and beautiful formatting. For example, Figure 4-1 shows a page from a sample pitch-book document. Some people create documents in PowerPoint or Excel that would be better suited for Word because Word seems complicated to use. But when you understand just a handful of core concepts and key features, you might be amazed at how easy it is to create exactly the document you need in Word instead of using frustrating workarounds to create it in another program. See Also To learn more about this document and the concepts introduced here, including six features that will enable you to create virtually any Word document, see Chapter 6, “Building Easy-to-Manage, Robust Documents.” Companion Content The sample page shown in Figure 4-1 is from a document named Fearless.docx, which is available in the Chapter6 sample files folder online at http://oreilly.com/ catalog/9780735651999.
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Figure 4-1 A samp e p tch book page created n Word 2010.
That said, there is a case where Word 2010 (any version to date of Word for Windows, that is) is not likely the best choice: when you need desktop publishing–style documents, such as newsletters and brochures that require a substantial amount of floating objects (to overlap graphics and text, for instance) or extremely complex graphics designs that comprise multiple layers. Yes, you can create such documents in Word, but there are easier, more flexible choices, so why do more work than you need to do? PowerPoint, as discussed next, loves graphics and layered objects. So, it might work very well for your layout-style document. But if a print publication is your goal and you’re using Office 2010, you might also want to consider Microsoft Publisher. The Professional edition of Office 2010 (and both the Standard and Professional Plus editions, for those working in an enterprise organization) includes Publisher, which is a fairly simple layout application with some good features for creating print publications. If you have access to Publisher, give it a try when you need easy options for working with full-bleed pages, creating booklet-style documents, or preparing documents for a professional print shop. Companion Content For key features and tips for working with Publisher 2010, see "Should I Consider Microsoft Publisher for My Document" in the Bonus Content folder available online at http://oreilly.com/catalog/9780735651999.
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For Mac Users The limitations specified for Word for Windows in the preceding paragraph aren’t true of Word for Mac. Word for Mac 2011 includes Publishing Layout view (introduced in Word 2008 for Mac, but much improved in the 2011 version), which makes it easy to create document types that are commonly thought of as desktop publishing tasks, such as newsletters and brochures. For example, Figure 4-2 shows one of the many built-in Publishing Layout view templates, Flow Trifold Brochure.
Figure 4-2 A samp e Word 2011 Pub sh ng Layout v ew document
To find all built-in templates in Word 2011, on the File menu, click New From Template. See Also Mac users can learn about working in Publishing Layout view in Chapter 10, “Managing Graphics.”
Using PowerPoint You probably don’t need anyone to tell you to use PowerPoint when you want to create a slide presentation, such as the one you see in Figure 4-3. But PowerPoint isn’t just for slides. Depending upon your needs and the document design, either Word or PowerPoint could potentially be the best program for a pitch book or even a complex report document. For example, Figure 4-4 shows a pitch-book page similar to the one shown previously in Figure 4-1, but this one is created in PowerPoint.
Using the Best Tool for the Task
Figure 4-3 A samp e PowerPo nt v deo s de.
Figure 4-4 A samp e p tch book page created n PowerPo nt for pr nt use.
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Essentially, PowerPoint is often the best choice when your content is compartmentalized by page (that is, when text doesn’t need to flow from one page to the next) and you need a complex layout or complex design elements. PowerPoint can also be the best choice when the document design benefits from multiple layers of content and contains more graphics than text. And with multimedia advances in PowerPoint 2010 and PowerPoint for Mac 2011, it is now a go-to application when you need video and audio in a document as well. Additionally, in PowerPoint 2010 (and PowerPoint 2011), you will find some powerful, flexible tools for working with Office Art graphics such as shapes, SmartArt diagrams, and charts. You can now edit points on most any shape automatically and take drawing with Office Art further than ever before. See Also To learn about working with Office Art graphics, see Chapter 14, “Creating Professional Presentation Graphics.” But PowerPoint is not a graphic design program—it is a presentation program. You may well be able to create the beautiful, custom look that you want for your presentation document right in PowerPoint. But if you have been frustrated with PowerPoint in the past, you might have been trying to use it in a way that’s not ideal for it. If you need the full capabilities of a vector drawing application, just remember that PowerPoint is not intended to be a replacement for that. But when you create complex graphic elements for your documents in a vector drawing application, PowerPoint is likely to work and play well with those elements. See Also Learn more about working in PowerPoint with graphic elements from other sources in Chapter 13, “Creating Presentations: From Theme to Master to Slide,” and Chapter 14. Note There’s no b gger cheer eader for SmartArt graph cs than I am, and, as ment oned ear er,
Office Art shapes are more powerfu than ever But PowerPo nt (or Word or Exce , where you a so find shapes and SmartArt graph cs) s not the ast word n d agrams If you need a h gh y comp ex flowchart, a mu t page organ zat on chart, or a d agram that v sua y expresses data, you m ght want to get to know M crosoft V s o 2010 V s o s an extreme y powerfu and flex b e techn ca d agramm ng app cat on It doesn’t come w th any ed t on of M crosoft Office, but f you create techn ca d agrams, you m ght want to down oad a free tr a and check t out One part cu ar y n ce V s o feature s the way you can use Exce data to automat ca y generate d agrams (such as organ zat on charts and P votD agrams) and nk data to d agram shapes For Mac users, there are profess ona d agramm ng programs ava ab e for Mac OS, but I haven’t had the opportun ty to use any myse f, so I can’t make a recommendat on However, f you’re nterested n exp or ng opt ons and ook ng for a p ace to start, one app cat on I’ve heard good th ngs about s ca ed Omn Graffle Pro Companion Content If you’re interested in exploring what Visio can do, see “Visualizing Data with Excel and Visio” available in the Bonus Content folder online at http //ore y com/ cata og/9780735651999. To learn about OmniGraffle Pro, visit http //www omn group com/ products/omn graffle.
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Using Excel People sometimes say that they don’t like or use Excel because they’re not good at math, but the beauty of Excel is that you don’t have to be a math whiz to use it. In fact, Excel exists to do the math for you. What’s more, with recent advances in data visualization tools and greater formatting flexibility for working with charts, Excel can be your own personal spin doctor. Sure, mathematicians, some types of engineers, and financial analysts might be the only folks who are likely to use all of what Excel can do. But if you’re a mathematical mere mortal, the program can do much more for you than you might think and can make you look very good when you let it. Excel might be the place where your document lives if it will primarily consist of numbers and if the formulas and analytical tools in the file need to be active for the recipient. But if you create documents in other programs, you might use Excel more often to create content for Word and PowerPoint documents. Regardless, number crunching, analysis, and anything that requires extremely large numeric tables will be best served if it originates in Excel, whether it ends up staying there or not. And with data visualization tools like conditional formatting and the new Sparklines (fantastic little charts that reside right in worksheet cells), plus the integration of document themes with Excel chart and worksheet formatting, you can make workbooks that express your data beautifully, such as the sample shown in Figure 4-5.
Figure 4-5 A samp e Exce worksheet show ng tab es, charts, spark nes, and cond t ona formatt ng.
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One area where Excel does not, well, excel, is when you need to format substantial amounts of text or complex pages of text and other content. Cell styles and formatting in recent versions definitely give you more options than you used to have, and most worksheets do need to use some amount of text that is not quantifiable data. But Excel is a spreadsheet application. It is not meant for documents that require substantial amounts of text and flexible page layouts.
Using Programs Together Regardless of the program your particular document lives in, one of the best things you can do to save time and expand your options is to always remember that you can use the entire suite. From crunching numbers for a Word or PowerPoint table in Excel to editing graphics for a Word document in PowerPoint, you can often save a lot of time by using the Microsoft Office programs together. Office 2010 and Office for Mac 2011 contain many shared features that work consistently across multiple programs, such as the much-improved picture editing tools available in Word, PowerPoint, and Excel. See Also For a detailed look at two essential cross-program features—themes and picture editing tools, see Chapter 5, “Doing More with Less Work: Key Cross-Program Features.” But even within shared features, there might be cases where one program has additional tools that further simplify a given task. For example, all three programs include SmartArt graphics. But if you insert a SmartArt graphic into Word and then later realize you need to edit it in a way that SmartArt technology doesn’t permit, you might be tempted to recreate it from scratch as shapes in Word. Instead, with just a handful of clicks, you could copy the SmartArt graphic into PowerPoint (or Excel), use the feature in those programs to convert that graphic to shapes, and then just copy the converted shapes back to Word and edit as needed. Where applicable throughout this book, you’ll find tips on using one program to manipulate content for use in another. But also remember what you already know about each program so that you can always consider all available options before spending unnecessary time and effort. Note F nd the opt on to convert a SmartArt graph c to shapes n PowerPo nt or Exce on the SmartArt Too s Des gn tab (SmartArt tab n Office 2011), n the Reset group
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Don’t Forget About OneNote You might not create many final documents that live in OneNote—though there are very valid uses for that, such as notebooks used as a self-paced training course or as an ongoing reference wiki or database. But OneNote can be your best friend when it comes to planning documents and projects. OneNote is a searchable, shareable electronic notebook that never runs out of pages and automatically saves content as you add it, including text notes, ink notes (if you use a slate computer or similar device), images, video, audio, and even embedded files What can live well in OneNote? All of your research, resource files, lists, brainstorms, planning notes, meetings notes, or any kind of notes at all. Create as many notebooks as you need (within your system’s resources), each containing multiple sections, pages, and subpages. You can search one notebook only or all of your open notebooks at once, including searching text (and text in images), and even keywords in the audio tracks of audio and video notes. Think this information isn’t relevant to you? If you own any edition of Office 2010, you already have OneNote, so you might as well take advantage of it. And if you don’t own Office 2010, you can check out Microsoft OneNote Web App for many of these tools. I’ve been a die-hard OneNote fan since it was first released with Microsoft Office 2003. But even if it’s never occurred to you to open this program, OneNote 2010 has some incredible new tools you might not want to ignore—especially if planning documents or projects is something you ever do. For example, as you take notes, you can link them to content in other programs or edit notebooks simultaneously with other people, even if they don’t have OneNote 2010. See Also Learn about using the new Linked Notes feature as a document planning tool in the section “Linking Notes for Better Document Planning,” later in this chapter. For more information about what you can do with your notebooks when you save them to the cloud, see the following sidebar, “Take Your Notes with You and Always Have Them Handy,” and Chapter 2, “Collaborating and Sharing When and Where You Choose.”
Take Your Notes with You and Always Have Them Handy One of the most powerful features of today’s OneNote also makes it an incredible planning tool. You can automatically sync the same notebooks among OneNote 2010, OneNote Web App, and OneNote Mobile (including both OneNote Mobile for Windows Phone 7 and OneNote Mobile for iPhone). So you can take notes when and where it’s convenient—right when a thought occurs or when you receive a piece of information—and then have those notes automatically available wherever you need them.
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For example, I reviewed a book chapter yesterday while on the subway and used OneNote on my iPhone to take notes on changes I’d like to make. When I got back to my desk, those notes were ready and waiting for me in both OneNote Web App and OneNote 2010. See Also To learn about saving your notebooks and all of your Microsoft Office documents to the cloud and accessing them with Office Web Apps, Office Mobile for Windows Phone 7, and OneNote for iPhone, see Chapter 2.
For Mac Users OneNote is not included in Office for Mac 2011. However, Mac users need not feel short-changed. You can create and edit OneNote notebooks using Office Web Apps, where you get much of the power and flexibility of OneNote 2010. As mentioned in the preceding sidebar, “Take Your Notes with You and Always Have Them Handy,” a mobile version of OneNote is also available for the iPhone and automatically syncs your notebooks between your iPhone and OneNote Web App. Additionally, Mac users have a handy little notebook tool, called Notebook Layout view, right in Word 2011 (first introduced to Word for Mac in Office 2004). Notebook Layout view is not the same as OneNote, but it does give you a core set of easy-to-use note-taking and organization tools. To check out Notebook Layout view in Word 2011, on the File menu click New From Template. Then, under All Templates, select Notebook Layout Document.
Design Considerations Dress sharply and they notice the dress. Dress impeccably and they notice the woman. —Coco Chanel If you’ve read my earlier books or have ever attended an advanced training session with me, you’ve probably seen or heard me use this Coco Chanel quote. That’s because, as much as this quotation can apply equally well to women or men, it also applies perfectly to your documents. The purpose of layout and formatting is to get your content noticed. Using graphics, color, or complex layouts for any other reason is a waste of your time and quite likely to be nothing more than a distraction to your reader. At the same time, when your content gets noticed, you want to be sure it makes the statement you intended.
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For example, if you’re delivering a business pitch to a client whose style is so formal that he wears a navy pinstripe suit to the company picnic, would you wear jeans and a baseball cap and carry your presentation in a backpack? Probably not. To make sure that your document makes the right statement to its recipient, consider the following four questions: n
How are you delivering it? There are several items for you to consider based on whether the recipient will see the document in print or on screen.
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Why are you sending it? For example, is it a business pitch, a resume, or a report?
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To whom are you sending it? Determine what approach will resonate best with the particular recipients.
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Who is sending it? That is, decide what you want the document to express about you or your business.
How Will Your Document Be Delivered? Note As you exam ne the var ous cons derat ons, th nk about two approaches you can take when shar ng content e ectron ca y to he p ensure that the rec p ent sees what you want n
When rec p ents may need to ed t the document or when you just want to ensure that everyone a ways has the atest vers on, save your documents on ne so that rec p ents can v ew and ed t them us ng Office Web Apps You can v ew the document yourse f n Office Web Apps and know exact y what rec p ents w see Of course, when you share content on ne, remember that the cons derat ons for e ectron c documents that are d scussed n th s sect on a st app y because rec p ents can open the fi e n the M crosoft Office programs on the r desktop
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When rec p ents w not need to ed t any document content, cons der sav ng a copy of the document as a portab e document format (PDF) fi e You can save to PDF from Word, PowerPo nt, or Exce n both Office 2010 and Office 2011 Sav ng as a PDF he ps to ensure that rec p ents see exact y what you send—essent a y, as though you pr nted the document
See Also For more detail on these topics, see Chapter 3, “Understanding Electronic Documents.”
As we examined in Chapter 3, you have some unique construction decisions to make when you’re delivering a document electronically. For example, consider the following: n
Someone who opens your document in Word can see exactly how you created it— whether it’s clean and professional, or sloppy and difficult to manage.
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When you include live graphic objects or embedded objects in your document, any recipient can edit those objects.
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If you are sharing content across platforms or across versions, you will want to take a few things into account to ensure that what the recipient sees is what you intended.
You’ll find the simplest solutions to address these and other electronic document issues in Chapter 3. However, you’ll need to consider another set of issues related to how your document will be shared, and it falls under the heading of design. Does your design travel well? When you’re delivering a printed document, meaning that the recipient sees the same pieces of paper that come out of your printer, you know whether your design works well as soon as those pages are printed. For other delivery methods, however, there might be a number of factors to consider, as addressed in the list that follows. For example, when selecting the sample documents used for screenshots in this chapter, I chose design colors that are still clear when the page is shown in grayscale. n
Gradient or pattern fills can look different based on display drivers or printer drivers. A beautiful gradient fill that looks perfect on your machine might look pixelated or washed-out on a recipient’s machine that has an inferior display driver. Also, some printer drivers can’t manage pattern fills, and will oddly space or overlap text that uses this formatting.
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Tone and color saturation can look different with some on-screen projectors. Users most commonly encounter this issue with PowerPoint presentations, but it applies to any document you open while projecting your screen. If you’ll be using an unfamiliar projector to share your file, and you won’t have the opportunity to check and adjust the projection quality before giving the presentation, consider using subtle colors that won’t potentially be overwhelming when projected.
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Like the previous issue, sharing your screen using any web meeting software, such as Microsoft Office Live Meeting, can affect the way some colors, fill types, and graphic objects look on screen. Gradient fills and intricate graphics can differ greatly in both general appearance and image quality. To help ensure that your presentation design has the desired effect on your audience, view your document from another computer when in the screen-sharing environment before presenting it to others.
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Pale colors, small fonts, and complex graphics often become difficult to read when a document is sent by fax. So, for example, if your branding includes a complex logo with either very light or very dark elements, you might want to consider designing a separate version of your logo for use with fax documents.
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People read email messages and webpages differently than they read a traditional document, partly because page breaks are not usually displayed on screen for email and webpages, and view and zoom options differ from traditional document environments. Additionally, some fonts and colors may not be supported for use on the web. To make
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sure that what you send is the same as what the recipient sees, consider sending the email message to yourself first or viewing the document as a webpage in a browser before sharing it. Three issues in particular that are addressed in Chapter 3 also have design implications to consider. n
If the recipient doesn’t have the fonts you use, your document layout and pagination might look very different on the recipient’s computer. For best results, use built-in fonts that come with most versions of Microsoft Office. And when sharing documents across platforms, stick with fonts that are available in both Office for Windows and Office for Mac. See Also For more information about font availability in Microsoft Office and how to choose highly compatible fonts, see Chapter 3.
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Similar to the differences in color saturation and tone that you can see with some onscreen projectors, Windows and Mac OS can display color differently. This applies to whatever application you’re using, not only Microsoft Office. But if you’re sharing a document with users of Microsoft Office on a different platform and you aren’t able to view the document on both platforms before sharing it, you might want to stick with subtle colors that avoid risking unwanted extremes.
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When sending documents over the Internet as the body of an email message, remember that formatted documents are transmitted over the Internet using HTML. To help ensure that image resolution is retained, use web-friendly picture types, such as JPG or PNG, for any graphics.
Focusing On the Content Who are the recipients and why are they reading your document? Thinking about these questions together, you can select the key points in your content and determine the most effective way to display them. Check out a few examples: n
Do you want your recipient to notice financial results? Consider charting data so that the impressive numbers pop, rather than explaining them in bullet points. See Also If your document resides in Excel, consider using data visualization conditional formatting or the new sparklines feature to make figures pop right in the cells of the worksheet. See Chapter 19, “Data Visualization,” for details.
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Is the recipient a no-nonsense, facts-and-figures type? If so, provide a table beside the chart for easy comparisons between the impressive visual statement and the equally impressive raw data.
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Do you need to convey the importance of specific deadlines? Try a workflow diagram that shows how each deadline impacts next steps, instead of just bolding those deadlines in paragraph text. Your document doesn’t have to be a career-changing report to warrant a chart, a table, or a diagram. Consider SmartArt diagrams, for example. Yes, they’re mentioned a lot in this book, but that’s because you can actually use them to create a great-looking, professional-quality diagram as easily as typing a bulleted list. So why not demonstrate the workflow process you’re proposing, for example, by adding a diagram to your memo, slide, or worksheet instead of writing paragraphs of text? See Also To learn about working with SmartArt graphics, see Chapter 14.
Once you determine which points to emphasize and what content types to use, consider what you know about the recipient’s business style and how can you mirror that in your document design. Whether it’s a report for your boss, a letter to your staff explaining new policies, a new business pitch, your resume, or quarterly financial results, almost every document is a marketing document in one sense or another. That is, whether you’re selling your company’s services, demonstrating your professional abilities or job performance, or just conveying your opinion, you’re still using that document to sell something. And one of the first things every good salesperson or marketer learns is to tailor the pitch to the prospective client. Just keep in mind that the recipient of your document is your target market for whatever that document is selling. To apply this concept to design, consider simple touches such as selecting a heading text color or a font that suits the recipient’s style. It doesn’t take much. No matter what the client’s style, the design details you add to your document should help make it appealing to read, not shift its focus to the design. A design concept that suits your client’s style won’t ever sell a bad idea, but it can help to get a good idea noticed.
Making the Right Statement About You and Your Business As important as the recipient’s style can be to your document’s effectiveness, your own style is even more important. You don’t have to be on the Fortune 500 list to benefit from developing a brand identity and presenting a consistent, professional appearance. n
Choose one or two fonts that suit your professional style, and use them for all of your everyday business documents.
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Create a set of core styles (or selected formats, depending on the program) for text and tables that incorporates a few carefully chosen colors as well as spacing and layout that’s easy to read and consistently uses the fonts you’ve selected.
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Use graphic effects (such as bevels, shadows, or gradients) sparingly and consistently to make great-looking graphics that emphasize your information but don’t overpower it.
Note If you have a ogo, cons der font, co or, and effect cho ces that comp ement t If you don’t yet have a ogo but want one, cons der ng us ng PowerPo nt to create your own and ncorporate key font, co or, or effect e ements from your chosen des gn See Chapter 14 for more nformat on about the too s that can he p you do th s Did you notice that three of the key components for basic branding—font, color, and graphic effects—just happen to be the three components of Office themes? See Also For a detailed introduction to the incredibly important themes technology and what it can do to help you simplify branding your documents, see Chapter 5. Once you have chosen your theme, consider the document types that you need to use regularly and what types of layouts and content those require. That’s where templates come in. See Also To learn about template options in Word, PowerPoint, and Excel, see Chapter 22, “The Many Faces of Microsoft Office Templates.” That’s really all there is to creating some simple branding for your documents. Of course, you can take these concepts further, and many larger companies and brands do. In fact, many professional design firms specialize in developing brand identities. Naturally, these go well beyond creating basic branding elements for your documents. However, when it comes to developing basic branding for your documents, you don’t need to be a professional graphic designer—although an eye for color and a knack for layout surely help. If you’re not confident in those particular skills and don’t have someone who can help you, start with one of the built-in themes that you like and customize it a bit to suit your style. Office 2010 and Office 2011 both include many new built-in themes, and you can find additional professionally designed themes on Office.com. If you find yourself agonizing over color or fonts choices, remember that the most important thing in business document design is to keep it clean, consistent, and professional. For example, solid document construction in Word that still looks good when the recipient turns on formatting marks says at least as much about your professionalism as the colors and fonts you select.
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Content Planning Deciding how any document should look ultimately begins, of course, with assessing what information that document needs to contain. Once you know what you want to convey to the recipient, you can better utilize design and layout choices to help that information hit its mark.
Making Choices About Content The secret to being boring is to tell everything. —Voltaire Now we’ve arrived at the subject that demands my other favorite quotation for discussing effective documents. Voltaire is a hero of mine, so I quote him often on just about any topic, but there’s really no better way to simply say that making choices produces more effective documents. For example, everyone knows the one-page resume rule, but people often ignore it. You might think that your accomplishments require several pages, but the stranger receiving that resume probably doesn’t want to read them all and surely won’t find every detail to be relevant. A one-page resume in a readable font size is more likely to be thoroughly reviewed and have its key points remembered than a four-page monster in eight-point font. The same principle holds true for just about any type of important document. Across the various document production centers in which I’ve worked or consulted over the years, I can’t tell you how many documents I’ve seen that require a magnifying glass. Worst of all, most of them were marketing documents, used to sell the company’s services. One global financial services company, for example, where dozens of pitch books are produced daily, has a standard that allows text on the page to be as small as three points. Try applying threepoint font size to some text to see just how ridiculous that would look to the recipient of your document. When you have to reduce the font substantially, widen the margins, or reduce line or paragraph spacing to make the information fit, it usually means you’re including more information than the recipient is likely to take the time to read. You’re also greatly increasing the chances that the information you want to emphasize will be lost in the crowd. If you must include every bit of information, consider splitting a crowded page onto multiple pages so that each page remains approachable to your reader and important points can still shine through. But before you do, consider the document content from the recipient’s point of view. If you were the recipient, would you really need or want to read every detail? And would you bother wading through pages of details to find a few key points?
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When you emphasize everything, nothing stands out. So, to conclude this topic, I’ll leave you with one more of my favorite quotes on the subject. Fillet the fish. Throw the rest away. —Kurt Vonnegut
Using Layout and Design to Organize Your Content As we’ve already discussed in this chapter, design elements should help your content stand out. Good design and layout organizes and emphasizes your content. So, how do you make choices about what design and layout elements will effectively organize your important points? Following are a few suggestions to help you get started. n
Choose one or two complementary colors to use in heading text and to highlight key pieces of information, such as shading table cells or bordering a paragraph. Adding small details—for example, using one of your highlight colors for bullets or numbering (not the paragraph text, just the bullet or number)—can help lend organization and style to the page without overpowering the content.
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Use basic formatting, such as a border beneath top-level heading text or a left indent on body content, to help organize the page. Highlight colors, discussed in the preceding bullet point, can also help to organize the page when used for elements such as heading text and borders.
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Use graphics only when they help convey information more effectively. A picture is only worth 10,000 words if it conveys the particular 10,000 words that matter. For example, a chart of key data, a relationship or process diagram, or an image that demonstrates a core concept can convey much more than text. But using a piece of clip art just for the sake of adding an image to the page doesn’t emphasize your content—it detracts from it.
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Similarly, avoid graphics that talk down to recipients, such as block arrows on the page that do nothing but point to pieces of content. If the recipient doesn’t know how to read a document without those cues, creating the document is a waste of your time.
Program-Specific Layout Considerations In addition to the preceding recommendations, keep in mind the following essential layout considerations for each document-creation application addressed in this book: n
When working in Word, remember that tables are natural organizers. When you need a complex layout, it’s essential to keep it organized, or your important information is likely to get lost in the confusion. Using a table to lay out the page can help you do that with far less work and far better results than fussing with text columns or floating graphics.
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See Also To learn about using tables to create page layout, see Chapter 9, “Tables.” n
When working in PowerPoint, remember that the slide master and slide layouts exist to save you time and help keep your slides looking consistent. Slide layouts in PowerPoint 2010 and PowerPoint 2011 are customizable (functionality introduced in the previous versions of PowerPoint for both Windows and Mac), so you can alter layouts as needed to fit your branding or your particular document. You can even create your own layouts and copy them among presentations, templates, and themes. See Also To learn about using themes, masters, and layouts in PowerPoint, see Chapter 13.
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When working in Excel, remember that the document looks like a grid for a reason—it’s a spreadsheet. You can create beautiful layouts simply by placing a chart or PivotTable beside or beneath a table. But when you start adding tons of tiny columns everywhere to fudge a complex layout, or splitting and merging cells so that the grid is all but unrecognizable, the sheet will be difficult to manage for both you and the recipient and you’ll lose or complicate a fair amount of the most commonly used Excel features. See Also For best practices to consider when your document lives in Excel, see Chapter 17, “Data-Based Documents: Formatting and Managing Worksheets.”
Insider Tip: Simple, Creative Solutions to Difficult Layout Requirements When you need a layout that seems improbable if not impossible, remember to consider the simple solutions. As much as this chapter discourages overcrowding a page, there will be times when something just has to fit. That doesn’t mean, however, that the solution needs to be complicated. The more you know technically about good document construction, the better you can incorporate construction into effective design and layout without doing unnecessary work. Something as simple as a slight margin or character spacing change might be unnoticeable to document recipients, but give you the fit you need. Remember, for example, that you can condense or expand character spacing by as little as one-tenth of a point at a time. You can also adjust character positioning above or below the baseline. These features are available in Word and PowerPoint on both platforms, as well as for graphics in Excel. (Find these features in either the Font or Format Text dialog box, depending on the program, on either the Advanced or Character Spacing tab of the applicable dialog box.) See Also For tips on using font and paragraph formatting as layout tools in Word, see Chapter 7.
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Similarly, reducing left and right cell margins in a Word table by a few hundredths of an inch (or a few tenths of a millimeter) might fit your content without requiring you to reduce font size, and still leave some spacing between the content of your cells. To edit cell margins:
1. On the Table Tools Layout tab (called the Table Layout tab in Word 2011), click Properties.
2. On the Table tab of the Table Properties dialog box, click Options. Getting creative with your document layout doesn’t have to mean getting complicated. In fact, the simpler your solution, the better the result is likely to be.
Linking Notes for Better Document Planning There are a number of features in OneNote that can help you plan your documents. After all, you’re likely to take notes, outline thoughts, or do research while planning. But one new feature in OneNote 2010 absolutely has to be mentioned in a chapter about planning your documents: Linked Notes. With the new Linked Notes feature, you can take notes while working on a Word 2010 document, creating a PowerPoint 2010 presentation, or browsing a page in Internet Explorer (version 6 or later), and the notes automatically link back to the content you were working on at the time you took them. The following steps explain how to use this feature. Note To use th s feature w th PowerPo nt or Word, your act ve document must be saved n a
current (Office 2010) fi e format If you have never opened OneNote 2010, you may not see the OneNote group n Word or PowerPo nt If th s s the case, just open OneNote and then restart Word or PowerPo nt before tak ng the fo ow ng steps
1. In Word 2010 or PowerPoint 2010, on the Review tab, in the OneNote group, click Linked Notes. Or, in Internet Explorer, on the Tools menu, click OneNote Linked Notes. OneNote 2010 opens a docked window on the right side of your screen and displays the Select A Location In OneNote dialog box.
3. Select a location from your existing open notebooks and then click OK to begin taking linked notes. When taking linked notes, you’ll see an icon in the left margin showing you the program to which the notes are linked. At any time during or after taking the notes, point to the icon to see the content to which it’s linked, as shown in Figure 4-6. Click the icon to open the referenced file to the linked location.
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Figure 4-6 As you take notes, the OneNote L nked Notes feature adds an con n the note marg n that nks back to the source content.
Note Even though note nk ng works exc us ve y w th Word, PowerPo nt, and Internet Exp orer, you can take notes n OneNote when work ng n any program To do th s, n OneNote 2010, on the V ew tab, c ck Dock To Desktop
L nked Notes and Dock To Desktop are ava ab e on y n OneNote 2010 and not OneNote Web App, so they are ava ab e for Office 2010 users on y But Office 2011 users, don’t despa r—you get your share of great, exc us ve features For examp e, check out the prev ous y referenced Pub sh ng Layout v ew n Word 2011, or the new and ncred b y coo dynam c reorder ng too n PowerPo nt 2011 and Word 2011 See Also Learn about dynamic reordering in Word when you read about Publishing Layout view in Chapter 10; for dynamic reordering in PowerPoint, see Chapter 14.
Chapter 5
Doing More with Less Work: Key Cross-Program Features In this chapter, you will: n
Uncover the power of document themes
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Discover how themes integrate with features across Microsoft Office
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Learn to create your own themes
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Explore advanced picture editing tools
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Understand how to easily share content across programs
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Get tips for leveraging tools across Microsoft Office
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Learn about recovering your unsaved content in Office 2010
Are you ready? This chapter just might change your life (well, the part of your life that you spend creating documents, anyway). Here we explore how you can use the same tools and even the same content in multiple programs. One of the best developments in recent versions of Microsoft Office is the proliferation of features that exist across the suite. Why is that such a good thing? The obvious answer is that it’s easier to get up to speed with a new version when features you learn in one program work the same in others. But, in the long term, it also means you can reuse more content (and formatting) not just between the documents you create in one program but across multiple programs. So you can work more quickly, do less work, and get more consistent results in the process. In a chapter on this subject, there is only one place to begin—document themes. Themes were first introduced in Office 2007 and Office 2008 for Mac, and they are among the best things to ever happen to Microsoft Office documents. Like nested tables in Microsoft Word, customizable layouts in Microsoft PowerPoint, and tables in Microsoft Excel, themes dramatically increase your options for formatting content. Even better, themes help you create higher-quality content more easily in all three programs. In this chapter, you’ll learn why themes are important and what they can do for your documents across Word, PowerPoint, and Excel. In addition, we’ll look at new cross-program functionality for formatting pictures and explore the types of content and formatting that you can easily share across programs.
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And before you leave this chapter, Office 2010 users can learn about a new feature available in Word, PowerPoint, and Excel that just might make your day (or save it). You can now often recover document content you believe you’ve lost, even if you never saved the file. See Also To learn how to use nested tables in Word to simplify complex page layouts, see Chapter 9, “Tables.” To learn about customizing PowerPoint slide layouts, see Chapter 13, “Creating Presentations: From Theme to Master to Slide.” To learn about the power of Excel tables, see Chapter 17, “Data-Based Documents: Formatting and Managing Worksheets,” and Chapter 18, “Working with Data.” Note Office 2010 users shou d note that themes are a so ava ab e n some types of M crosoft Out ook content For examp e, when ed t ng the body of an ema message, find the Themes group on the Opt ons tab and theme fonts and co ors on the Format Text tab, under Change Sty es You can a so find the Format Text tab opt ons n the body of a ca endar appo ntment or the notes area of a contact
Because th s book s about content you create n Word, PowerPo nt, and Exce , Out ook s not referenced throughout th s chapter However, note that Out ook r ch content s based on Word capab t es So, for examp e, just as you can save a custom theme or app y d fferent themes or theme e ements from the Themes group on the R bbon n Word, you can do the same from the Themes group on the Opt ons tab n Out ook 2010 Themes are not ava ab e n Out ook for Mac 2011 It’s too bad, but—cons der ng that the Office for Mac team bu t Out ook from the ground up for th s re ease and t’s far better n ts first vers on than M crosoft Entourage ever was— et’s g ve them a pass on th s om ss on
Introducing Document Themes Themes were born in PowerPoint. Fundamentally, they are the evolution of PowerPoint design templates. And they are one of many powerful tools enabled by the Office Open XML Formats. n
In Word, PowerPoint, and Excel, themes provide sets of colors, fonts, and graphic formatting effects that you can apply to an entire document, presentation, or workbook with just a click.
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In PowerPoint, the same themes also provide the slide master, slide layouts, and slide background gallery styles for your presentation. See Also In Office 2010, you can take advantage of those same slide background gallery styles for shape fills in Word, PowerPoint, and Excel. To learn more about using this feature (known as Other Theme Fills) to further coordinate your Word documents and PowerPoint presentations, see Chapter 10, “Managing Graphics,” and Chapter 14, “Creating Professional Presentation Graphics.”
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There are 40 themes built in to Office 2010 and 57 themes built in to Office for Mac 2011. Office 2010 also provides additional themes from Office.com in the Themes gallery. Note In Office 2010, you see an Office com category n a few p aces, such as the Themes ga ery and the SmartArt graph cs d a og box The Office com categor es are known as connected galleries because they per od ca y update automat ca y as new content becomes ava ab e on ne These ga er es don’t d sp ay a ava ab e content on Office com, but rather a se ect on of recommended content
Some of the Office com themes that you see n the connected ga er es n Office 2010 are among the bu t- n themes that Mac users see n Office 2011 If you are work ng n Office 2010 and you don’t see th s category n the Themes ga ery, at the bottom of the ga ery, c ck Enab e Updates from Office com (If the ga ery doesn’t appear and the opt on s unava ab e, t may have been d sab ed by your system adm n strator )
You can apply a built-in theme as-is, customize a built-in theme, or create your own completely custom theme (to help implement your company’s branding across all of your documents, for example). One quick way to quickly customize a theme is to mix and match the elements of built-in themes. As you see in Figure 5-1, you can apply an entire theme from the Themes gallery or apply just the colors, fonts, or (in Office 2010) graphic effects.
PowerPoint 2010
PowerPoint 2011
Figure 5-1 The Themes ga ery and theme e ement ga er es, shown n PowerPo nt 2010 and PowerPo nt 2011.
As shown in Figure 5-1, the Themes gallery is available on the Design tab in PowerPoint 2010 and the Themes tab in PowerPoint for Mac 2011. In Word 2010 and Excel 2010, this gallery (shown in Figure 5-2) is available on the Page Layout tab. In Word for Mac 2011 and Excel for Mac 2011, find this gallery on the Home tab.
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Word 2010
Word 2011
Figure 5-2 The Themes group, shown n Word 2010 ( eft) and Word 2011 (r ght).
Note As you see n F gures 5-1 and 5-2, you get d fferent nformat on about the ava ab e
themes n these ga er es depend ng on the program you’re us ng In PowerPo nt 2010 and PowerPo nt 2011, the Themes ga ery d sp ays thumbna s of the t t e s de ayout for each theme; n PowerPo nt 2010, those thumbna s a so show a prev ew of the fonts and co ors from the theme (though they’re adm tted y tough to see n a b ack-and-wh te mage) In Word and Exce on both p atforms, the theme thumbna s n the ga ery d sp ay just font and co or prev ews for the theme
For Mac Users In Word 2011 Print Layout view, on the Home tab, you see the Themes gallery but do not see the Theme Color and Theme Font galleries by default. However, you can easily add the full Themes group (including the Theme Color and Font galleries) to the Layout tab. Find this option in the Word Preferences dialog box, on the Ribbon tab. Note also that just because you don’t have a separate gallery for theme effects like Office for Windows users get, it doesn’t mean you can’t easily mix and match themes with different graphic effects.
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See Also Adding the Themes group to the Layout tab in Word 2011 is one of several options that you can configure on the Ribbon in the Office 2011 programs. For more information about the Office 2011 Ribbon, see Chapter 1, “Welcome to Office 2010 and Office for Mac 2011.” Learn about how Mac users can mix-and-match theme effects, and how advanced Microsoft Office users on either platform can create their own custom theme effects, later in this chapter.
Understanding the Importance of Themes Every Office 2010 and Office 2011 document contains a theme, whether you make use of it or not. And themes integrate with a great deal of the available formatting tools across Word, PowerPoint, and Excel. n
In both Word and Excel, theme fonts and colors integrate with all style types that you can customize. In Word, this includes paragraph, character, list, and table styles. In Excel, it includes cell, table, and PivotTable styles.
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In Word, PowerPoint, and Excel, theme fonts, colors, and graphic effects integrate with the Quick Style galleries (that is, the formatting galleries) for SmartArt graphics, charts, and shapes. Additionally, fonts and colors integrate with the WordArt gallery options in all three programs (a feature also known in Word as Text Effects).
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In PowerPoint, virtually everything integrates with themes because a theme controls not only colors, fonts, and effects, but also the masters, layouts, and slide background options.
Essentially, themes integrate with almost any feature that uses color, fonts, or graphic formatting effects. For example, in Word, many types of building block entries (called document elements in Word 2011)—such as cover pages, headers, and footers—coordinate with the active theme because they include content that is formatted with font and color (and sometimes graphic effects). Similarly, in Excel, themes can integrate with features such as conditional formatting and sparklines. Simply put: you can’t take advantage of most Office 2010 or Office 2011 formatting tools without using themes. And since themes make it easier to format your documents, why would you not want to use them? What if you don’t use color or graphics in your content and always want your font to remain the same? As mentioned earlier, the document contains a theme whether you make use of it or not. So it’s just as important to know how themes work and how they are implemented in your documents whether or not you take advantage of them.
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Exploring Theme Elements See Also This section addresses cross-program elements of themes—colors, fonts, and graphic effects. For a detailed look at PowerPoint-specific theme elements (including the slide background gallery styles that are available in Office 2010 as other theme fills for shapes), see Chapter 13. As mentioned earlier, the cross-program elements of a theme (those that are available in all three programs) are colors, fonts, and graphic formatting effects. In this section, we’ll take a brief look at what that means in more detail.
Explore Theme Colors A theme color set includes 12 colors. Their breakdown is easy to see in the Create New Theme Colors dialog box (known as the Create Theme Colors dialog box in Office 2011), shown in Figure 5-3 and described in the list following it. Note Th s d a og box s ava ab e n Office 2010 at the bottom of the Theme Co ors ga ery n
Word, PowerPo nt, and Exce In Office 2011, th s d a og box s ava ab e on y n PowerPo nt, from the bottom of the Theme Co ors ga ery
See Also Learn about customizing themes in the section “Customizing Themes,” later in this chapter.
Figure 5-3 The Create New Theme Co ors d a og box, shown n Office 2010. n
Dark 1 and Light 1 (the primary dark and light text and background colors). Note that these are typically black and white but are not required to be.
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Dark 2 and Light 2. These are also designed for use as text and background colors (predominantly for the purposes of PowerPoint slides), so they should be substantially dark and light colors, rather than the mid-range colors you are likely to use for content such as graphic fills.
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Six accent colors. These are used automatically to format Office Art graphics such as Excel charts (the six accent colors correspond to the first six data series in a chart), SmartArt diagrams, and shapes. It is recommended that these colors be mid-range (that is, not extremely dark or extremely light) so that they are visible on either light or dark backgrounds. See Also When you choose a colorful range of accent fills for a SmartArt layout, many SmartArt layouts begin with Accent 2 by default rather than Accent 1. There is a reason for this, but it is also possible for advanced users to create their own SmartArt color styles that begin with Accent 1. To learn more about SmartArt styles, see “Explore Theme Effects,” later in this section, and Chapter 14. Note that creating custom SmartArt color styles requires the use of Office Open XML. To learn about the basics of Office Open XML, see Chapter 24, “Office Open XML Essentials.” Those experienced with Office Open XML can check out the MSDN Office Developer Center article “Creating Custom SmartArt Graphics” to learn how to create your own SmartArt color styles and download samples that include a custom SmartArt color style that you can install and try out for yourself. Find this article at http://msdn.microsoft.com/ en-us/library/gg583880.aspx.
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Hyperlink and followed hyperlink colors. These colors do not appear in any color palette but are automatically used when you create hyperlinks in a Word, PowerPoint, or Excel document.
The first 10 theme colors (that is, theme colors other than hyperlink and followed hyperlink) appear as the top row of the color palette that you see across Word, PowerPoint, and Excel. Notice, as shown in Figure 5-4, the heading Theme Colors at the top of the palette. The subsequent five rows beneath the primary theme colors are tints (lighter variations) and shades (darker variations) of the theme colors that Microsoft Office generates automatically.
L ght and Dark 1 and 2
Figure 5-4 The Theme Co ors pa ette, shown n Office 2010.
Accents 1 through 6
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Can You Control the Tint and Shade Percentages in the Theme Colors Palette? The short answer to this question is no: you can’t control the tints and shades that appear in the Theme Colors palette. From top to bottom, following are the tints and shades you’ll see: n
Mid-range colors get tints of 80%, 60%, and 40% lighter than the original and shades of 25% and 50% darker than the original.
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Extremely light colors get shades of 10%, 25%, 50%, 75%, and 90% darker than the original.
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Extremely dark colors get tints of 90%, 75%, 50%, 25%, and 10% lighter than the original.
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Pure white gets shades of 5%, 15%, 25%, 35%, and 50% darker.
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Pure black gets tints of 50%, 35%, 25%, 15%, and 5% lighter.
So, you can’t change how colors look in the palette, but that doesn’t mean that you are limited to those tints and shades when creating custom content that you want to behave like part of the theme (that is, to update automatically if a different theme is applied). You can’t make this type of change in the Microsoft Office programs, but this kind of customization is one of the benefits of learning how to work with Microsoft Office extensibility using Visual Basic for Applications (VBA) or the Office Open XML Formats. You can use a macro to apply a custom tint or shade while still adhering to the theme, or you can do the same by adding a custom tint or shade value in the XML under the hood of your document. See Also To learn about the basics of VBA, see Chapter 23, “VBA Primer.” To learn about the basics of Office Open XML, see Chapter 24.
Explore Theme Fonts At its simplest, a theme font set specifies two fonts—one for headings and one for body text. If you (and anyone you might create a theme for) use only one editing language, that’s most of what you need to know. However, if you or those you work with use more than one editing language, you might want to know that a theme font set can actually specify up to three pairs of heading and body fonts, as follows: n
Latin This font set is for Latin script languages such as English and French, and also includes some other scripts, such as Cyrillic.
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East Asian This font set is for Asian languages such as Japanese and Chinese.
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Complex Script This font set is for complex script languages such as Hebrew, Arabic, Thai, or Hindi.
In addition to these font pairings, a theme can specify unique heading and body fonts to use for specific language scripts. It’s important to understand that a theme specifies fonts; it does not actually store font files in the document. So, if you share documents electronically, fonts appear correctly for recipients only if they have the fonts you’re using, whether or not you have specified those fonts in the theme. Additionally, keep in mind that heading and body fonts are applied by default to certain aspects of your documents in Word, PowerPoint, and Excel. However, you can choose to use your heading font in body text or assign your body font to a heading as needed. Some key default settings for heading and body fonts are as follows: n
In Word, the theme body font is the primary font (that is, the font used for the document defaults and Normal template) in a new Word 2010 or Word 2011 document. Additionally, the theme heading font is applied by default to several of the built-in heading styles.
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In PowerPoint, the theme heading font is applied by default to title text placeholders on the slide master and layouts; the theme body font is applied by default to body text placeholders and other objects, such as Office Art objects including charts, SmartArt graphics, and text boxes within shapes.
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In Excel, the theme body font is the default font for worksheet and chart text. It’s also used for most theme-aware built-in cell styles (other than the Title style, which uses the theme heading font), and is used by default in other built-in style types, even for content such as heading row formatting in table styles. In Excel 2010, the worksheet row and column headings also take on the active theme body font by default.
In all of the preceding examples, you can customize these default settings. For example, you can customize Word styles or PowerPoint placeholders to use whatever font you choose (for example, you can apply the theme heading font where the theme body font is the default). In Excel, you can do the same. Notably, if you set the default font for new workbooks to be something other than the theme body font, whatever font you select (theme-ready or otherwise) will then be the automatic font anywhere the theme body font is the default (such as worksheet text and most cell styles).
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See Also You can create your own theme fonts from within the Office 2010 programs Word, PowerPoint, and Excel. You cannot do this from within Office 2011 programs, but Mac users still have an easy way to create custom theme fonts. To learn more, see the section “Customizing Themes,” later in this chapter. To learn about how to select fonts to simplify document sharing, see Chapter 3, “Managing Electronic Documents.” For help with Word styles, see Chapter 8, “Styles.” To learn about customizing layouts and masters in PowerPoint, see Chapter 13. For information about customizing worksheet formatting in Excel, see Chapter 17.
Explore Theme Effects Theme effects are all about Office Art. That is, they are the settings that populate the Quick Styles galleries for shapes, charts, and SmartArt graphics. (In PowerPoint, the top two rows of table styles, ambiguously labeled Best Match For Document, also coordinate with theme effects.) If you’re never going to create your own theme effects, that’s really all you need to know about this feature. Just apply different themes and then check out the Shape Styles, SmartArt Styles, and Chart Styles galleries (or check out the changes to the Office Art content in your document) to see if you like the effects. Or, for Office 2010 users, you can also point to different options in the Theme Effects gallery to see a preview of how they will affect your Office Art content. However, if you want to understand how theme effects work (that is, how those galleries are populated), and even potentially create or customize your own theme effects, there’s quite a bit more to understand. Note You cannot create custom theme effects from w th n any Office 2010 or Office 2011 program You can, however, custom ze theme effects through Office Open XML or—for W ndows users—by us ng a free down oad ca ed the Theme Bu der See Also Learn more about creating custom themes, including creating theme effects and how to get the Theme Builder tool, in the section “Customizing Themes,” later in this chapter.
A theme effect set consists of three fill formats, three line formats, and three effect formats. Within each group (fill, line, and effect), the three formats are categorized as subtle, moderate, and intense. That is, there are subtle, moderate, and intense format settings for fill, line, and effect.
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Fill formats can be solid, gradient, or image. ❑
Solid and gradient fills can use tints, shades, and transparencies (as well as HSL variations). Gradients can include up to 10 stops.
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Image fills can be static (so that the image always looks the same), or they can use duotone recoloring to take on the hues of applicable theme colors.
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Line formats can also be solid or gradient, and they can specify settings such as line style and end and join types.
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Effect formats can include multiple effects, including inner and outer shadows, glow, soft edges, reflections, and 3-D format settings.
The idea that there are three sets of formats seems straightforward, but when you look at the various Office Art Quick Style galleries, you’ll see that it’s not quite that simple. Nowhere in any of these galleries will you actually see a subtle, moderate, or intense style that corresponds to the complete subtle, moderate, and intense formatting sets in the active theme effects. Figures 5-5 through 5-7 illustrate which elements of a theme effects set are used to populate the Quick Style galleries for shapes, SmartArt graphics, and charts. Note F gure 5-6 shows the five SmartArt sty es that appear n the Best Match For Document category at the top of the ga ery n Office 2010 In Office 2011, there are no defined categor es n th s ga ery, but these are the first five sty es n the ga ery (start ng from top- eft) These five sty es coord nate w th the effects n the act ve theme The add t ona bu t- n SmartArt sty e opt ons (not shown here) are n the 3-D category n that ga ery Some of these use e ements from theme effects as we , but some e ements of each 3-D SmartArt sty e rema n stat c regard ess of the theme app ed
Wh te f , moderate ne, no effects Subt e f , ntense ne, subt e effects Intense f , subt e ne, moderate effects
Subt e f , moderate ne, no effects Moderate f , subt e ne, subt e effects Intense f , no ne, ntense effects
Figure 5-5 The Shape Sty es ga ery, w th an exp anat on of nc uded theme effects.
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Simple Fill style Subt e f , moderate ne, no effects
White Outline style Subt e f , ntense ne, subt e effects
White Outline style Intense f , no ne, moderate effects
Intense Effect style Intense f , no ne, ntense effects
Subtle Effect style Moderate f , no ne, subt e effect, p us a sma beve Figure 5-6 The first five sty es n the SmartArt Sty es ga ery, w th an exp anat on of nc uded theme effects.
Subt e f , no ne, no effects Intense f , no ne, moderate effects Subt e f , subt e ne, no effects, ght 1 f s chart area, and a ght 1 shade f s p ot area
Subt e f , subt e ne, no effects Intense f , no ne, ntense effects Intense f , no ne, ntense effects, dark 1 f s chart area, and a dark 1 t nt f s p ot area
Figure 5-7 The Chart Sty es ga ery, w th an exp anat on of nc uded theme effects.
Following are a few key points that address common questions or areas of confusion about working with theme effects in these Office Art galleries: n
As you see in Figure 5-6, SmartArt styles are named (the names are visible in a ScreenTip when you point to the style). However, shape styles and chart styles are not named. If you point to a style in the Shape Styles or Chart Styles galleries, you see only a style number.
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You cannot change what theme effect elements are included in a given gallery entry because they are automatically populated from the theme effect settings in your active
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theme. However, when you create your own theme effects, you can customize the subtle, moderate, and intense fill, line, and effect definitions that make up the majority of settings in these galleries—so you can tremendously affect the appearance of Office Art styles by customizing your theme effects. n
Although this book’s screenshots are in grayscale, note that the Office Art galleries all provide options that span the six accent colors and also include your Dark 1 theme color (for SmartArt, color options are in a separate gallery; for shapes and charts, they’re displayed across the galleries shown in Figures 5-5 and 5-7).
Understanding How Themes Work If you’ve tried to apply a theme to a document in the past and nothing appeared to change, the document was not formatted using theme-aware (also referred to as theme-ready) formatting. For example, look at the paragraph style definition for Heading 1 in a new Word 2010 or Word 2011 document, as shown in Figure 5-8.
Figure 5-8 ScreenT p d sp ay ng the bu t n Head ng 1 sty e defin t on, shown n Word 2010. n
Notice that the font definition in Figure 5-8 uses the term +Headings. This indicates that it is the heading font from the active document theme. So, if the theme were changed, the font in that style would automatically change as well to the heading font from the new theme. If you only saw the font name (Cambria, in this case) and did not see either +Body or +Heading, then the font specified is not theme-ready (in other words, it will not update when the theme changes).
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Similarly, notice that the font color in the Heading 1 definition shown in Figure 5-8 is Accent 1. That means that when the theme changes, the style will update automatically to whatever color is set as Accent 1 in the active theme. If you see an RGB value in the style definition instead, that color is not theme-ready.
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Note Remember that a sty e defin t on n Word nc udes on y those features that are set for the spec fic sty e That s, f a sty e uses the same font as the sty e t’s based upon, you w any font or co or defin t on n that sty e
not see
It’s a so worth not ng that the way theme co ors are spec fied n sty e descr pt ons s not a ways comp ete When a sty e uses a t nt or shade of the theme co or (from the Theme Co ors pa ette, as shown n F gure 5-10), the defin t on st nd cates on y the theme co or For examp e, f you app y the 40% ghter t nt of Accent 1, the sty e defin t on wou d st st on y Accent 1 as the co or
See Also To learn about base styles in Word, see Chapter 8.
Essentially, to apply theme-aware formatting, you have to apply content from theme-specific entry points. For example, consider the following: n
If the theme heading font in your active theme is Calibri, to apply that as theme-aware formatting (that is, formatting that updates automatically when the theme changes to use the heading font in the active theme), you must select Calibri from the Theme Fonts portion of any font list, as shown in Word in Figure 5-9. If you instead select Calibri from the All Fonts portion of the list, the font will not update when the theme is changed.
Figure 5-9 Use the Theme Fonts port on of a font st to app y theme aware formatt ng. n
Similarly, if you want to apply the Accent 3 color from your active theme, you must do so from the Theme Colors portion of the gallery, as shown in Figure 5-10. If you apply the same color value, but do so by specifying the RGB value, for example, that color will not be theme-aware where you apply it (that is, it won’t update to take on the new Accent 3 color when the theme is changed).
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Figure 5-10 Use the Theme Co ors port on of the co or pa ette to app y theme aware formatt ng. n
The Office Art galleries shown earlier in Figures 5-5 through 5-7 are the locations from which to apply graphic effect formatting to make that formatting to be theme-aware. Although you can apply the same effects—such as shadows, bevels, reflections, and fills—from the individual fill, line, or effect galleries on various Format tabs and dialog boxes, only the Quick Styles are theme-aware—not the individual effect options.
The difference in behavior between using and not using theme-aware formatting is similar in concept to whether you use styles or direct formatting in Word. When you apply direct character or paragraph formatting to text in Word, updating styles in the document will not affect the portions of the text that you directly formatted. Similarly, any content to which you apply direct formatting for font, color, or graphic effects—rather than the theme-aware alternatives in Word, PowerPoint, or Excel—will be unaffected when you change the active document theme.
How Themes and the Microsoft Office File Formats Are Connected Themes are available only in the Office Open XML file formats. So, if you’re working with a document that was created in a version earlier than Office 2007 on Windows or Office 2008 on Mac, you need to convert the file to the latest format before you can begin to apply theme-ready formatting. In Office 2010 programs, find the option to convert a document in Backstage view, on the Info tab. In Office 2011, find this option on the File menu. Note that these options appear if the document was created in any version earlier than Office 2010 or Office 2011, because some capabilities have been added to the Office Open XML file formats in these versions.
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It’s a good idea to convert the document when this option appears, regardless of the file format. For example, in Word, the latest Office Art graphics—such as the new text effects (WordArt) and shape formatting—are not available in Word 2007 or Word 2008 for Mac documents. But if the document was created in Office 2007 or Office 2008 and is an Office Open XML Format document (that is, a document that uses the current four-character file extensions for Microsoft Office documents), you don’t have to convert it to work with themes. All Office Open XML Format documents contain a theme and may already contain theme-ready formatting. Note also that, because themes are the evolution of PowerPoint design templates, applying a theme in a presentation that uses the legacy file formats will affect the presentation. At a glance, it will appear that the theme has been applied. But there’s not a one-to-one mapping between legacy design templates and themes, and correctly updating a legacy PowerPoint presentation to use themes will take a few more steps. See Also To learn about the Office Open XML file format extensions and get an introduction to working with these file formats in Office 2010 or Office 2011, see Chapter 1. For information on how legacy design templates relate to themes in PowerPoint, see Chapter 13.
For Mac Users Office 2011 introduces the template galleries in Word, PowerPoint, and Excel, from which you can access built-in templates, tens of thousands of templates that are hosted on Office.com, your own custom templates, and your recently opened documents. In Word and PowerPoint, these galleries also integrate with themes to give you the ability to customize a template (or, in PowerPoint, a theme) before you even create a document. (You can customize both built-in templates and those that you save to the My Templates and My Themes categories in the template galleries.) It’s often a great idea to start with an existing template even if it’s not exactly what you need, because you can save time by starting with the elements that fit your requirements and customizing the rest. Office 2011 just makes that even easier. To access the template gallery in the applicable program, on the File menu, click New From Template. (And note that these galleries appear by default each time you open the program, unless you’ve told them not to.) The galleries are named for the program in which they reside, including the Word Document Gallery, PowerPoint Presentation Gallery, and Excel Workbook Gallery.
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In all three galleries, you can use the options on the right side to browse previews of all pages of the template. Or, just drag your mouse pointer across the thumbnail in the gallery to see multipage previews. However, in Word and PowerPoint, the righthand pane is a customization pane that enables you to apply different theme colors and theme fonts (and, in PowerPoint, to change the presentation aspect ratio), and preview those changes directly in that pane before you create the document. In Word, you can customize built-in Print Layout view and Publishing Layout view templates before creating your document. In PowerPoint (as shown in Figure 5-11), you can customize built-in templates and themes before creating your presentation.
Figure 5-11 The PowerPo nt Presentat on Ga ery d a og box
Customizing Themes Whether your goal is to create branded content across Microsoft Office (for example, to implement company branding or your own personal or professional branding), or just to create polished, professional content, the ability to customize themes is one of your most powerful tools.
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Note Branding refers n th s case to v sua brand dent ty—that s, a set of components (such as
ogo, co ors, fonts, ayouts, and sty e) that define the way content created for the company (or brand w th n the company, or nd v dua ) shou d ook Typ ca y, the purpose of a v sua brand dent ty s to prov de cons stent, profess ona content that expresses the persona ty of the company or product Just as overa brand ng s about d st ngu sh ng the company or brand from the compet t on (such as when a ogo or tag ne becomes nstant y recogn zab e to the pub c), v sua brand dent ty s about convey ng that un que dent ty n a of the content you create That sa d, you don’t have to be part of a arge company to create a v sua brand dent ty You m ght be an ndependent contractor or a student, for examp e, and st want to create a cons stent, profess ona ook that expresses your persona ty n a of the content you create So, regardess of whether you have a profess ona des gn team at your d sposa to he p deve op your brand dent ty, or you’re ent re y on your own, you can use themes to make the job substant a y eas er
Mixing and Matching to Create Your Own Theme As we discussed earlier in this chapter, you can mix and match elements of a theme with just a few clicks to quickly create your own custom theme. Use the following tips to help you do this with as little work as possible: n
If you use PowerPoint, it’s a good idea to customize your theme from within that program; in PowerPoint presentations, the theme controls many features beyond the fonts, colors, and graphic effects that it controls in Word and Excel. In other words, you may want to select the overall theme that you like best in PowerPoint, since that theme includes the slide master, slide layouts, and slide background style options for your presentations. Then, you can select different theme colors and fonts (and, in Office 2010, effects) to mix and match for your custom theme. See Also For help getting this done and more information about PowerPoint-specific theme elements, see Chapter 13.
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If you’re using Office 2010, remember that you have Live Preview functionality available, so you can just point to options in the Themes, Theme Colors, Theme Fonts, and Theme Effects galleries to see how they’ll appear in your content before selecting them.
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If you’re using Office 2011, remember that you don’t have a separate gallery for theme effects. So, even if you use only Word or Excel, start by finding a complete theme containing graphic formatting effects that you like. Then, you can select different theme colors and fonts to mix and match for your custom theme.
After you apply the theme, theme colors, theme fonts, and theme effects that you want in your document, it takes just a couple of quick steps to save that combination as a custom theme. Once it’s saved, your new custom theme is automatically available to all of the documents you create in Word, PowerPoint, or Excel.
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Note In Office 2010, you see custom themes and theme e ements n the ga er es n Word,
PowerPo nt, and Exce as soon as you save them n any of these programs In Office 2011, new themes and theme e ements appear the next t me you start the program
To save a custom theme:
1. At the bottom of the Themes gallery in Word, PowerPoint, or Excel, click Save Current Theme (Save Theme in Office 2011).
2. Name your new theme and then click Save. Important Do not change the fi e path when sav ng your custom theme Custom themes must appear n the defau t ocat on to appear n the Themes ga ery
Apply the Theme from One Document to Any Other You can apply the theme contained in any Office 2010 or Office 2011 document to any other. For example, apply the theme in a PowerPoint presentation to your Word document or Excel workbook. You can even apply a theme from an Office 2010 document to an Office 2011 document (or vice versa). To do this, find the Browse For Themes feature (called Browse Themes in Office 2011) that appears at the bottom of all Themes galleries. From there, you can select any Office Open XML document (so it includes your Office 2007 and Office for Mac 2008 files as well) to apply the theme stored in that document to any other. Keep in mind that Word and Excel documents don’t store the slide master and slide layouts that are part of the theme in PowerPoint. So, to get all theme elements when you use the browse feature to apply a theme in PowerPoint, start from another PowerPoint presentation.
Creating a Complete Custom Theme Just as you can apply different built-in options from the Themes and Theme Elements galleries and then save the combination as a custom theme, you can create your own theme elements to include a custom theme or even your own entirely custom theme. n
In Office 2010, you can create custom theme colors from Word, PowerPoint, and Excel. In Office 2011, you can do this from PowerPoint.
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In Office 2010, you can create custom theme fonts from Word, PowerPoint, and Excel. In Office 2011, you cannot do this from within the applications, but you can still do it easily using the TextEdit Mac OS utility. In both Office 2010 and Office 2011, to specify a font for a specific language script (such as a font that is specific to Japanese text rather than to any Asian language), you must use Office Open XML; you cannot do it from within the Microsoft Office programs.
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You cannot customize theme effects from within any Microsoft Office program. However, as with any other aspect of themes that can’t be customized from within the programs, you can do it using Office Open XML.
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In PowerPoint 2010 or PowerPoint 2011, you can customize the masters and layouts for your theme from within the program. However, the slide background gallery options cannot be customized from within PowerPoint. See Also To learn about PowerPoint-specific theme elements as well as customizing slide masters and layouts, see Chapter 13.
Because themes are shared across Word, PowerPoint, and Excel, when you customize a theme element from one program, it becomes available in all three. Note Some other Office 2010 programs nc ude a feature named Themes, but even f you see some of the same theme names ( n M crosoft Pub sher 2010, for examp e), the features are not the same Custom themes you create n Word, PowerPo nt, or Exce are ava ab e on y n those three programs To create a completely custom theme, including your own custom theme effects and slide background gallery options, you must use Office Open XML. As mentioned earlier in this chapter, Windows users can download a free tool—the Theme Builder—to help create the theme effects and slide background gallery options (and you can use that tool for creating theme colors and fonts as well) without having to read or write Office Open XML. See Also For help using Office Open XML to create complete custom themes, and for additional information about creating complete custom themes using either Office Open XML or the Theme Builder tool, see the following resources: To learn about the basics of Office Open XML, see Chapter 24.
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To download the Theme Builder, visit http://connect.microsoft.com/themebuilder. This tool is in a public beta at the time of this writing, and is expected to be available at this link indefinitely. Once you install the Theme Builder, on the Help menu, you can find a detailed theme creation guide and theme SDK documentation, both of which provide in-depth recommendations and best practices for creating themes. These documents were written for Office 2007 but are still applicable to creating themes in Office 2010 (and Office 2011). The theme creation guide was written by members of the PowerPoint team, and I am proud to have been engaged by Microsoft to write the Office 2007 version of the themes SDK document. Additionally, Office 2010 and Office 2011 users who want to venture into Office Open XML for creating complete custom themes can see the article “Creating Custom Themes with the Office Open XML Formats,” available on MSDN at http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ cc964302.aspx. I wrote this paper for Office 2007 and Office 2008 for Mac, but it is still applicable to the themes that you create in Office 2010 and Office 2011. Companion Content If you'd like to check out the themes SDK document without downloading the Theme Builder tool, it's accessible to everyone. See the links list available in the Bonus Content folder online at http://oreilly.com/catalog/9780735651999/ for a link to this document. At the time of this writing, the document was written for Office 2007. However, the PowerPoint team expects to update the document for Office 2010 (which will also apply to Office 2011) and the link will remain the same.
Create Custom Theme Colors You can create theme colors from the Office 2010 programs Word, PowerPoint, and Excel, or from PowerPoint 2011. To do this, follow these steps:
1. If an existing set of theme colors is similar to the one you want, apply it to the active document. When you start to create a custom theme color set from within the Microsoft Office programs, the dialog box always starts with the theme colors in the active document. So if there is an existing set that contains some colors you want (or even colors similar to those you want), you can save time by applying that color set before you begin.
2. At the bottom of the Theme Colors gallery, click Create New Theme Colors (Create Theme Colors in PowerPoint 2011). Find this gallery on the Page Layout tab in Word 2010 or Excel 2010, the Design tab in PowerPoint 2010, and the Themes tab in PowerPoint 2011.
3. Set the colors as desired for each of the 12 colors included in the theme.
4. Type a name for your custom theme colors and then click OK. If you are creating a complete custom theme, it’s customary (for ease of use by others) to use the same name for your theme elements as you do for the complete theme.
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In Office 2010, after you have created a custom theme color set, you can right-click that entry in the Theme Colors gallery at any time to edit those theme colors. In PowerPoint 2011, to edit those theme colors, apply them in a document and then create a new set of custom theme colors based on them. You can then delete the original from the folder where the theme color XML file is stored, if you no longer need it. See Also For theme file locations, see Chapter 22, “The Many Faces of Microsoft Office Templates.”
Create Custom Theme Fonts You can create custom theme fonts from within the Office 2010 programs Word, PowerPoint, or Excel. To do this, follow these steps:
1. At the bottom of the Theme Fonts gallery in Word, PowerPoint, or Excel, click Create New Theme Fonts. By default, when just one editing language is enabled for Microsoft Office, the dialog box that opens will show space for just one heading and one body font. For example, when English is your editing language, you can change the heading and body fonts for Latin text languages. To set theme fonts for East Asian languages or Complex Script languages as well, enable a language that uses those options and then restart the applicable Microsoft Office program. To do this:
1. Click the File tab and then click Options.
2. On the Language tab, under Choose Editing Languages, select additional languages as needed and then click Add.
3. Click OK and then restart the program.
2. In the dialog box (shown in Figure 5-12 with theme fonts enabled for Latin, East Asian, and Complex Script languages), select the fonts that you want to include in your theme font set.
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Figure 5-12 The Create New Theme Fonts d a og box w th Lat n, East As an, and Comp ex Scr pt fonts enab ed.
Also notice in Figure 5-12 how the arrows to the right of the previews for Latin text and Complex Script text are enabled, but the arrows to the right of the East Asian text preview are not. This is because multiple Latin text and Complex Script languages are currently enabled, but only one East Asian language. Where you have multiple languages enabled, you can scroll through previews to see your selected fonts previewed in each language. The drop-down list under each section provides only fonts that support the specified type of scripts. For example, the East Asian font list will include fonts such as Meiryo and MS Mincho that are designed for use with Asian fonts (Japanese, in the case of both examples). Note that you don’t have to have a font installed to save a theme font set that utilizes that font (for example, if you are creating a theme for others to use and you do not have a license for their proprietary font). However, if the font is not installed on your system, Microsoft Office will substitute another font when you apply that theme, and the results might not be desirable.
3. Name your theme fonts and then click OK. See Also If you want to customize scripts for specific languages, keep in mind that you can only do this in Office Open XML (or using the Theme Builder tool). However, you can copy a built-in theme font set that includes some script definitions and use a text editor to do this much more easily than you might expect. To learn how, see Chapter 24.
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For Mac Users All of the built-in theme font sets are installed on your computer. So, even though you can’t create your own theme fonts from within the Office 2011 programs, you can easily edit an existing theme font file using any text editor—such as the Mac OS utility TextEdit. Sound scary and complicated? Don’t worry. You might be amazed at just how easy it is. See Also For a tip that walks you through customizing theme fonts, see Chapter 24.
Share Custom Themes You already know that you can apply the theme from any Office Open XML document to any other document using the Browse For Themes feature. However, you can also share the custom themes and theme elements that you create with other people or with your other computers by sharing the actual theme files. Themes use the file extension .thmx. You can find the built-in themes for Office 2010 or Office 2011, and your own custom themes, in .thmx files that are saved on your computer. When you create custom theme colors or custom theme fonts, they are stored in separate shareable files as well (.xml files). And if you use Office Open XML and create your own custom theme effects, you can also save those as a separate file for use in Office 2010 (a theme effects file uses the .eftx file extension). See Also To learn about where to find the files for built-in and custom themes, and how to share them, see Chapter 22.
Exploring the Advanced Picture Formatting Tools Okay, so picture formatting can be useful in many types of documents. But when it comes to complex document creation, the importance of picture formatting is hardly on par with that of a pervasive set of tools like themes. So why include a section on picture formatting here? Well, picture formatting is much improved in both Office 2010 and Office 2011. But it’s also one of the best examples of consistency in tools across the Microsoft Office programs and even across platforms. While it’s true that a picture can be worth 10,000 words, it’s only useful to include that picture (or any graphic) in your document if it helps you express the right 10,000 words. Using graphics just for the sake of it detracts from your points rather than enhancing them. And unless you are a photographer, it’s unlikely that the picture itself is the point of your document.
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However, when you have the right image that helps convey your message, the ability to customize that image can potentially add to both its relevance and its impact. So, let’s take a look through the greatly improved tools for customizing images in Office 2010 and Office 2011. To find picture editing tools, just select an image in your document. In Office 2010, this enables the Picture Tools Format tab. In Office 2011, it enables the Format Picture tab. Figure 5-13 displays both. As with any contextual tabs, they appear only when you select applicable content and provide easy access to most of the available feature-specific tools. However, we’ll also venture into the Format Picture dialog box a few times in this section for a look at several advanced options.
Office 2010
Office 2011
Figure 5-13 The P cture Too s Format tab (Office 2010) and the Format P cture tab (Office 2011) conta n
near y dent ca opt ons across Word, PowerPo nt, and Exce .
Adjusting Images By using a mix of new and improved tools, you can do much more than just tweak brightness and contrast. All of the tools addressed in the list that follows are available on the Picture Tools Format tab (Format Picture tab in Office 2011) in the Adjust group: n
Click Corrections for Sharpen, Soften, Brightness, and Contrast options. Sharpen and Soften are new; Brightness and Contrast are not. For even more options, you can click Picture Correction Options at the bottom of the gallery to open the Format Picture dialog box, where you can set precise Sharpen, Soften, Brightness, and Contrast values—giving you far more control over brightness and contrast than you’ve had in previous versions. Note that, when you open the dialog box in Office 2011, it takes you to the Adjust Picture tab, which includes both correction and color settings. This tab also contains a Mac-exclusive setting—the ability to set a specific level of transparency for the entire
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image. This setting is supported in Office 2010 (which means if it’s set for an image in a document you open, you can see the transparency), but it cannot be set from within the Office 2010 programs. Tip Office 2010 users can nsert a shape and then fi the shape w th the des red p cture to app y transparency to the p cture To do th s, r ght-c ck the shape, c ck Format Shape, and then, on the F tab, c ck P cture Or Texture F to browse for your mage After you se ect your mage, you can find the transparency sett ng on the same F tab Note that nsert ng an mage nto a shape doesn’t constra n the mage proport ons, so f the shape has d fferent proport ons than the mage, the p cture w be d storted If th s occurs, on the P cture Too s Format tab, n the S ze group, c ck to expand the Crop opt on, and then c ck F Th s act on turns on the crop too and fi s the shape w th your mage proport ona y You can then drag or res ze the mage w th n the shape for the des red resu t Note that do ng th s w not, however, turn on Lock Aspect Rat o To enab e th s sett ng, on the S ze tab of the Format Shape d a og box (or the Layout d a og box n Word 2010), se ect Lock Aspect Rat o
See Also Do you Office 2010 users feel adventurous and want a simple approach to adding transparency on your images without inserting them into shapes? Use Office Open XML—it just takes one setting. To learn how, see the sidebar “For Windows Users: Set Picture Transparency” in Chapter 24. For more information on using the improved cropping tools, see the “Cropping Images” section of this chapter. n
Click Color for new Color Saturation and Color Tone tools, as well as Recolor options. You can use the range of presets in the gallery or, at the bottom of the gallery, click Picture Color Options for the Format Picture dialog box, where you can set specific tone and saturation values. At the bottom of this gallery, also find the Set Transparent Color option, which is not new but is one of the most useful picture editing tools in Microsoft Office. With this tool, you can set one color in the active picture (and only one—don’t get greedy!) to transparent (that is, remove the color from the image entirely). It’s particularly handy for bitmap images (such as a logo in JPG or TIF format) where you have an object on a solid white or single-color background and want to remove the background so that your document content shows through. Just select Set Transparent Color and then click anywhere in the image on the color that you want to remove. Recolor isn’t new either, but it offers an improved range of variations that can be very useful in some circumstances. Essentially, it enables you to provide a monochrome wash in any of your active theme colors (or a color that you specify) on a selected image. A color wash might not seem like the most powerful tool you could ask for, but it might be handier than it seems at first glance. See the sidebar “Use the Recolor Tool to Make Custom Graphics Theme-Aware,” at the end of this section, to learn how to use this tool to coordinate custom graphics with your theme.
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The new Remove Background tool sounds fantastic—just drag to remove unwanted elements from a picture and leave only those you want. With simple images that have a clearly defined, clean background, this tool can be as great as it sounds. Unfortunately, with most images, it’s likely to be less friendly than you might hope. So, if you try to use this feature and find that results are not what you expected, it’s probably not something that you’re doing. The feature just has its limits. When you click Remove Background, it guesses at what you might want removed. Again, if the image has a very clearly defined background, you might be in luck. Otherwise, it’s probably not accurate, but it does get you started. You can then drag the mouse pointer across parts of the image that were removed or left behind to add or remove them from your image. Remove Background works a bit differently in Office 2010 and Office 2011: ❑
In Office 2010, you get a new contextual tab on the Ribbon from which you can select options to add or remove elements from the background, or remove existing marks for additions or deletions. After you select add or remove, you then drag your mouse pointer across the image where you want to execute that action.
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In Office 2011, the tool is a bit more intuitive because it just knows what to add or remove based on what you’re dragging over (that is, it can tell whether what you’re dragging over is currently part of the visible image). There is no contextual tab, so you just click or drag to execute the actions you want. For example, to delete an existing mark, just click the center icon on that mark where you see it on the image.
In either version, definitely give it a try. You might find it much more effective for your particular image than what is described here. But if you don’t get the results you’re looking for right away, you probably shouldn’t spin your wheels with this one. n
Artistic Effects (called Filters in Office 2011) are very cool. You’re not likely to use them in all of your documents, or even in many. But it’s good to know what they are and what they can do, because they might just provide the edge you need for one particular image to make the exact visual impact you want in your document. The Artistic Effects (Filters) gallery provides a broad range of effects from subtle to dramatic, as shown in the examples in Figure 5-14. There are 22 effects in all. You can also click Artistic Effect Options (Artistic Filter Options in Office 2011) at the bottom of the gallery to open the corresponding tab of the Format Picture dialog box, where you can access adjustment settings for any effect. The adjustment settings vary by effect, and you can make them more subtle or intense as desired. (Note that there is a transparency setting for effect options, but it refers to the transparency of the effect, not the image.)
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Or g na
G ow edges
Mosa c bubb es
Cutout
Cement P ast c Wrap
Figure 5-14 An mage shown w th severa d fferent art st c effects app ed.
Use the Recolor Tool to Make Custom Graphics Theme-Aware If you insert a photo and apply a color wash using the Recolor gallery, you might not think the results are that impressive. But a talented graphic designer recently gave me a tip about how to make better use of this tool, and I think it’s one worth sharing. If you create custom graphics in another application (such as Adobe Illustrator), you might have previously tried exporting those graphics as a Windows enhanced metafile image that (in Office for Windows) you can convert to Office Art shapes and then recolor to match your theme. In many cases, this is a good approach. But if the graphic is very complex, converting the image to shapes might be overwhelming for the document and diminish performance (of either the graphic or the document overall). Instead, if the graphic can easily be exported as one or a few PNG images (one PNG image for each element that uses a given color), you can recolor each PNG in Office 2010 or Office 2011, layer the recolored images to reconstruct the appearance of your original graphic, and group the images together. Of course, this solution is not ideal if you need a dozen or more colors because layering tons of images is not likely to make things easy to work with. But when your graphic
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requires just one or even a few colors, this can be a nice way to save file size, preserve document performance, and still have your graphics coordinate with your theme. If you’d like to give it a try, note the following tips when preparing your graphics for export as PNG images: n
Do not export graphic objects with the color applied that you want to use in Microsoft Office, because the Recolor tool results will be affected by the original color of the object.
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When you use the Recolor tool, solid (no transparency) medium to light gray fill for your PNGs is likely to give you the best results.
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Filling the original graphic with solid black before exporting will cause only the light variations in Recolor to be available. Filling the graphic with pure white before exporting is likely to make any Recolor option appear washed-out.
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The results with this approach tend to work best with mid-range colors. Extremely bright, dense colors (such as fluorescents) are difficult, if not impossible, to match.
Be sure to export your graphic as a PNG with a transparent background, so that only the elements of the object that should get fill are recolored in Microsoft Office. For graphics with large solid areas and broad strokes, exporting your PNG at a medium resolution is likely sufficient. For graphics with fine strokes and delicate drawing detail, you’ll get the best results with a high resolution. See Also To learn about converting metafile images to shapes, see the section “Getting Your Vector Graphics into Microsoft Office” in Chapter 14.
Cropping Images The cropping tools in Office 2010 and Office 2011 are probably the best improvements in picture editing (and maybe one of the best improvements overall in these Microsoft Office releases). Yes, picture cropping is generally pretty simple, but it can cause a lot of stress when it’s cumbersome to do. In Office 2010 and Office 2011, you can now see the entire image in shadow while you crop, and you can drag and resize the image within the crop area. Here are a couple of prime examples of where these improvements can help simplify your work with Microsoft Office: n
Have you ever inserted a picture into a picture placeholder on a PowerPoint slide and it didn’t automatically crop the way you wanted? If you’ve ever inserted a picture into a picture placeholder, there’s a good chance that your answer is yes. And in previous versions, the solution usually meant cropping the image and then manually resizing and repositioning the placeholder (often defeating the purpose of the placeholder and the layout).
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If you’ve used Publishing Layout view in Word 2008 for Mac to lay out documents, or you’ve created complex layout pages with floating images in Word 2007 or earlier for Windows, you know that cropping an image can require a lot of fussing and fighting to resize and reposition the object after it’s cropped. This is easier in Publishing Layout view than anywhere else in Word, but it’s never before been actually easy.
Regardless of whether you use Office 2010 or Office 2011 and regardless of whether you need to work with images in PowerPoint, Word, or Excel, you no longer have to mess with your layout at all to get the perfect crop every time. Just turn on the cropping tool, shown in Figure 5-15, and then resize or drag the image as needed within the crop area until you get exactly the results you need. Turn off the cropping tool when you’re done, and the results are perfect—no trial, error, or torn hair follicles required.
Figure 5-15 When the mproved Crop too s act ve, you can drag or res ze an mage
w th n the crop boundar es w thout affect ng your ayout.
Notice in Figure 5-15 that the crop handles are available around the visible part of the image. But you also see the entire image in shadow and note that the round image sizing handles are also available. This means that if I want to show a different part of the Trevi Fountain in this image, I can just leave the crop handles alone (thus leaving my page layout unaffected) and drag the image (up or down, in this case) to change which part is displayed. I can also drag to resize the image within the crop area—for example, if I wanted to zoom right in on the figure of Oceanus in the center of the fountain.
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In addition to this generally much-improved crop functionality, when you click the arrow beneath the Crop command on the Picture Tools Format tab (Format Picture tab in Office 2011), you get some very nice options, including Crop To Shape (essentially a renaming of the Picture Shape feature from earlier versions), crop to a specified aspect ratio, or shortcuts to fit or fill the image within the crop area. Note Th s mproved crop funct ona ty s a so ava ab e n M crosoft Pub sher 2010
For Mac Users When you insert a picture into a picture placeholder or an object placeholder in PowerPoint 2011, you automatically see shortcuts below the placeholder to turn on the crop tool or to apply the fit and fill crop shortcuts.
Using Picture Styles and Effects Picture styles and effects are not new to Office 2010 and Office 2011. The current Office Art effects that you also see for shapes, SmartArt graphics, and charts were introduced in Office 2007 and Office 2008 for Mac. However, there are a few things that are important to point out about these features: n
Unlike shape styles, SmartArt styles, and chart styles, picture styles do not coordinate with theme effects. Regardless of the active document theme, you get the same set of available picture styles. However, picture styles can be very helpful, particularly because a few of them include formatting you can’t recreate from within the Office 2010 or Office 2011 applications. For example, the picture style applied in Figure 5-16 uses a shadow that requires settings not available from within the applications. If you were to copy all of the shadow settings from the dialog box and input them for another image, the results would not be the same. This is because additional properties are set under the hood, in the XML markup for the image formatting.
Figure 5-16 An mage us ng the Re axed Perspect ve, Wh te p cture sty e.
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If you like some aspects of a picture style, apply the style before applying individual formatting or effects (such as the Crop To Shape feature or a gradient border) because applying the style will remove direct formatting and effects.
n
If your image contains some transparent areas and you want to use a color fill on the image, you see that the Picture Styles group on the Picture Tools Format (Format Picture) tab doesn’t include a fill option. However, you can apply a color fill in the Format Picture dialog box, on the Fill tab.
n
If you apply several different types of formatting or effects on an image and then later want to use the same formatting on other images, remember that you can copy formatting for images and any Office Art object just as you can copy text. To do so, just select the image containing the formatting to copy and then press Ctrl+Shift+C (Command+Shift+C in Office 2011). Then select the object to which you want to apply the formatting and press Ctrl+Shift+V (Command+Shift+V). Notice that these shortcuts are just the standard copy and paste shortcuts with the Shift key added. Tip You can a so use th s method to copy and paste Office Art formatt ng effects be-
tween some d fferent types of Office Art objects For examp e, copy the formatt ng of a p cture and app y t to a shape Th s s part cu ar y handy when you’re custom z ng p cture p aceho ders on PowerPo nt s de ayouts, s nce the P cture Sty es are not ava ab e to shapes such as p cture p aceho ders
See Also In Office 2010, you see a new Picture Layout option on the Picture Tools Format tab, in the Picture Styles group. This option converts selected images to SmartArt graphics. To learn about working with SmartArt graphics, as well as to learn about using the various Office Art formatting effects available to images (such as shadows, reflections, and bevels), see Chapter 14.
Replacing and Managing Images In the Adjust group on the Picture Tools Format (Format Picture) tab, you also see options to compress pictures and reset the selected picture. Additionally, in Office 2010, you see the option to change the selected picture. n
The compress feature can be invaluable in documents containing many pictures, or when you have very high-resolution images that tremendously increase the document file size. In both Office 2010 and Office 2011 (new to Office 2011, and a very welcome addition), this feature enables you to reduce picture resolution to a level that will still provide good quality for your purposes but might substantially reduce file size. It also gives you the option to permanently delete cropped areas of images to reduce file size.
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If you experiment with the various Adjust formatting tools and then decide you don’t like what you’ve done, just click Reset to return your image to its original state (that is, its state when you inserted it). (Note that this tool does not reset cropping actions.)
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Although the Change Picture command is available on the Ribbon in Office 2010, you can also access this feature in both Office 2010 and Office 2011 when you right-click an image. With Change Picture (introduced in the previous versions of Office for Windows and Office for Mac), you can swap out the image and retain all of your formatting. It can be an incredible timesaver.
See Also For more on working with images, see the following: For best practices when working with graphics in Word, see Chapter 10. To learn about Word 2010 picture placeholder content controls, see Chapter 12, “Dynamic Content.” For working with all Office Art objects in PowerPoint and across the suite, see Chapter 14. For a tip about using pictures as chart data series or data point fills, see Chapter 20, “Charts.”
Sharing Content Across Programs Because there are so many of the same tools for creating and formatting objects across the Microsoft Office programs today, reusing content across Word, PowerPoint, and Excel is much easier than ever before. For example, create a SmartArt graphic or an Excel chart in one program and then paste it into another and continue to edit it just as easily in the destination program. In previous versions, I often recommended creating presentation graphics in PowerPoint and charts in Excel, regardless of the program in which your document lived, for ease of editing. But in many cases, this is no longer necessary. As long as you are aware of the editable content you’re sharing in your documents (such as the source data that travels with a live Excel chart)—and as long as you don’t mind giving recipients who have electronic access to your documents the option to edit that content—creating or editing graphics in the program in which your document lives can save you time and make it easier to keep all content visually coordinated (by using themes, for example). Additionally, remember that when you share your documents online using Microsoft SharePoint 2010 or Windows Live SkyDrive, you and those you share with can edit those documents using Office Web Apps. So you can even update content such as SmartArt graphics in a PowerPoint presentation or charts in an Excel workbook right online.
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When copying content between programs, keep the following points in mind to keep things simple in your documents: n
Remember that you have the Paste Special command—as well as Paste With Live Preview in Office 2010 and Paste SmartTags in Office 2011—which gives you choices about how your content will look (and in some cases, about what its behavior will be, such as the difference between pasting an Office Art drawing object, a picture, or an embedded object).
n
Some types of content provide different options depending on whether they’re pasted within the source application or in another Microsoft Office application. For example, consider the following: ❑
If you copy an image that resides in a picture placeholder in PowerPoint, when you paste that picture on another PowerPoint slide, it will not include the placeholder formatting (such as the picture style). However, if you paste that same image in Word or Excel, it will carry formatting from the placeholder, such as picture styles and effects.
❑
Similarly, if you copy a chart that you create in Excel, you’ll get different options in Excel for how to paste the data than if you paste it into Word or PowerPoint (when pasting into Word or PowerPoint, the data will be linked to the source workbook by default).
❑
If you paste a Word 2010 table into PowerPoint 2010, it pastes by default as a PowerPoint table (regardless of whether you paste it into a content placeholder or directly on a slide), and will apply the default formatting. However, when you paste the same table into Excel, it becomes Excel cell content by default and carries along some of the Word table formatting (such as borders and shading) by default. This is one example where behavior differs by platform. In Office 2011, if you copy a Word table and paste it into PowerPoint, it pastes as a linked document object by default. However, when you paste that table into Excel, the behavior is the same as in Office 2010—the table pastes as cell content.
When you need to share content across programs, it’s important to be aware of your options so that if the result is not what you expect, you know which tools to use to help you easily get the results you wanted.
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See Also For more information about Paste With Live Preview and other paste options, see Chapter 1. For more on what you can do with Office Web Apps, see Chapter 2, “Collaborating and Sharing When and Where You Choose.” To learn about linking and embedding objects in Word, see Chapter 10. To learn about formatting layouts and placeholders in PowerPoint, see Chapter 13. To learn about working with Excel charts, see Chapter 20.
Using Microsoft Office As Your Toolbox The examples in the previous section raise an important point: some programs handle certain actions better than others and have features that the others lack (even when they share overall functionality). So, whichever program you’re working in, remember that you’ve always got the full suite at your disposal. Consider the following examples: n
If you copy a table from the web, depending on its configuration, you might not get desired results when you paste it into Word or Excel, regardless of the paste options you use. But chances are that you can get it into a table format by pasting it into one of those programs. So, for example, if the table will only paste into Word as text, try pasting it into Excel and see if it takes on a table structure (that is, see if its content fits into the cells of a worksheet as needed to create a table). If so, you can then just copy it from Excel and paste it into Word as a table.
n
If you create a SmartArt graphic in Word and later realize that it can’t quite do what you need, and you really need to create a diagram using shapes, you can’t convert that graphic to shapes in Word. But you can do so from PowerPoint. Just copy the SmartArt graphic into PowerPoint, convert it to shapes, and then copy the shapes back into Word. (Or, in that particular example, because a graphic made of shapes might be easier to edit with the tools available in PowerPoint, finish your graphic in PowerPoint and then paste it back into Word.)
n
In the example from the preceding section for Office 2011, which noted that Word tables paste as objects by default into PowerPoint 2011, you might actually find it quite difficult to get that Word table into a PowerPoint table—but not if you use Excel as a go-between. Paste the table into Excel and then copy and paste it into PowerPoint, where it will paste as a PowerPoint table by default.
Some features, such as themes, work across the suite to help keep your formatting easy to apply and to manage. Other features are specific to each program because each program has its strengths. But when you use those strengths together, you can often end up with better results for less work.
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Recovering Your Important Content in Office 2010 Before leaving this chapter, we have to touch on one incredible new cross-program feature that is exclusive to Office 2010. Actually, it’s two related features—AutoSave Versions and Recover Unsaved Documents. This is not like the AutoRecover capabilities that you know from previous versions. You can now recover earlier versions of documents as you work on them. You can even recover documents that you close without saving. In Office 2010, Word, PowerPoint, and Excel save up to five AutoSave versions for a previously-saved active document and make them accessible as you work, as shown in Figure 5-17.
Figure 5-17 The Vers ons pane on the Info tab n Backstage v ew, shown n Word 2010
If you close the document without saving, the program automatically saves the last AutoSave version, and you can recover it using the Recover Unsaved Documents command that you see in Figure 5-17. (Note that this option is called Recover Unsaved Presentations in PowerPoint and Recover Unsaved Workbooks in Excel.) To enable the recover unsaved documents functionality, in the Options dialog box, on the Save tab, select the option Keep The Last AutoSaved Version If I Close Without Saving. Accessible unsaved versions are automatically deleted after four days. You can, however, delete them manually at any time. To do this, start in a new (unsaved) document in Word, PowerPoint, or Excel. Click File and then, on the Info tab, under the Versions heading, click Manage Versions. In an unsaved document, the pop-up menu shown in Figure 5-17 includes the option to delete unsaved versions. See Also For more detail about these features, see the Power User Tips sections in the Office 2010 product guides for Word, PowerPoint, and Excel. You can download the Office 2010 product guides from the Microsoft Download Center at http://www.microsoft.com/ downloads/en/details.aspx?FamilyID e690baf0-9b9a-4c47-88da-3a84f3e9b247.
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Chapter 6
Building Easy-to-Manage, Robust Documents In this chapter, you will: n
Discover how to be the the boss of your documents
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Learn to capitalize on the logic of documents
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Explore how to monitor the health of your document
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Learn which six tools enable you to create virtually any Word document
You want documents that remain easy to use and easy to share regardless of their content or editing needs. Should you consider playing the lottery for better odds? Actually, you might be surprised at just how much document-related stress you can easily avoid, and how solid your documents can be. There is a reason for everything that happens in a Microsoft Word document. You might not always like the reason, but when you take the time to understand it, the pieces can come together nicely and much more simply than you might expect. The difference between good, healthy documents that can stand up to editing and frustrating documents that continually let you down is the difference between understanding why versus knowing how.
What You Can Really Do with Word The document shown in Figure 6-1 contains 9 graphics and 13 tables. The file size is just 370 kilobytes. What’s more, it took only two hours to create everything you see on these pages. Sound too good to be true? Check it out for yourself. You can edit this document, share it, do as you like with it. This document will not let you down.
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Figure 6-1 Th s document s an examp e of what you can rea y do w th Word 2010 and Word for Mac 2011
Companion Content Find this document, Fearless.docx, as well as an accompanying file containing the source Microsoft Visio 2010 graphic (Fearless.vsd) pictured in the document, in the Chapter6 sample files folder available online at http://oreilly.com/ catalog/9780735651999. When you use the best tools for the task, you can do less work and get better results every time.
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Staying in Control: Be the Boss of Your Documents As covered in Chapter 1, “Welcome to Office 2010 and Office for Mac 2011,” Word “likes” things to be as simple and organized as possible. That doesn’t mean that you have to sacrifice design or complex layouts. On the contrary, the simpler and more organized your choices, the more complex your document can be without losing stability or complicating your efforts. The less work you do, the better your documents will be.
Exploring the Three Levels of Word Formatting The best place to start to understand why things work the way they do in Word is with the three levels of formatting. Word organizes most of the formatting you can apply in your document into three levels—font, paragraph, and section—with font being the simplest of the three and section being the most complex. Here’s a quick introduction to each of the three levels of formatting, including how they’re stored in your document.
Font Formatting Font formatting is anything you can apply to as little as one character, such as font face (for example, Times New Roman, Arial, Calibri) or font size. Any formatting available from the Font group on a Ribbon tab or the Font dialog box (including the new text effects and OpenType typography support), as well as language setting, text borders, and text shading, is a type of font formatting. When you apply font formatting in your document, it is stored directly in the character to which you apply it. So, for example, you can select a character and then press Ctrl+Spacebar (in either Word 2010 or Word for Mac 2011) to clear direct font formatting.
Paragraph Formatting Paragraph formatting includes anything you can apply to as little as one paragraph, such as paragraph alignment or indents. Any formatting available from the Paragraph group on a Ribbon tab (such as bullets, numbering, and paragraph borders and shading), or from the Paragraph dialog box, is a type of paragraph formatting. When you apply paragraph formatting in your document, it is stored in the paragraph mark at the end of the paragraph where it appears.
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Insider Tip: Formatting vs. Tools to Manage Formatting If you think of styles or themes as formatting, think again. Neither styles nor themes are actually formatting. Rather, both of these features are tools for organizing, storing, and applying several types of formatting at once. n
For example, a paragraph style can store a range of paragraph formatting settings and font formatting settings together, so that you can easily access and apply them in multiple places throughout the document.
n
Similarly, a theme stores sets of graphic effects formatting (among other things), so that you can apply a consistent set of formatting to each Microsoft Office graphic in your document (such as a chart or SmartArt graphic) with just a click.
Section Formatting Section formatting is often thought of as page setup formatting. Most formatting that can be applied from the Page Setup group on the Page Layout tab or from the Page Setup dialog box, as well as text columns, page and footnote number formatting, and information about which header and footer appears on a page, is a type of section formatting. To change any type of section formatting for just part of the document, you need a section break. That’s because section formatting is stored in the section break at the end of the section. Note that for single-section documents, section formatting is stored in the last paragraph mark in the document. Note There are a few sett ngs n the Page Setup d a og box (or the Document d a og box n
Word 2011) that are not rea y sect on formatt ng, because you can’t change them for just part of the document These nc ude the D fferent Odd & Even Pages header and footer sett ng on the Layout tab, and the Mu t p e Pages sett ngs (M rror Marg ns n Word 2011) on the Marg n tab Converse y, sett ngs n the Page Setup d a og box that you m ght not th nk of as formatt ng at a (such as the Paper Source sett ng n Word 2010) are ndeed sect on formatt ng, stored n a sect on break when you change the sett ng for just part of the document
See Also For more on how section formatting is stored, when section breaks are required, and how to manage section formatting, see Chapter 11, “Sections.”
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For Mac Users The concepts and best practices in this chapter focus primarily on traditional word processing documents created in Word. But in Word 2011, you also have the Publishing Layout view environment for creating desktop publishing–style layouts. The documents that you create in Publishing Layout view subscribe to a different set of rules in some cases than traditional Word documents. This is because most of the content types used in Publishing Layout view documents are floating graphic elements (such as text boxes and shapes) that you assemble on a page, rather than using the linear, word processing– style layout structure of a Word document. However, the three levels of formatting are an important part of formatting Word documents regardless of the view in which you’re working. Text within text boxes and shapes is still formatted using font and paragraph formatting (ideally applied using styles, as in most Word documents), and changes in page setup requirements still use section breaks. In Publishing Layout view, inserting a new master adds a section break, because the master layer is actually the header/footer layer. See Also Learn more about working with Publishing Layout view documents in Chapter 10, “Managing Graphics.” And learn about working with Word objects and stories (such as the header/footer story) in the section “Working with Objects and Stories,” later in this chapter.
Using Reveal Formatting to Manage the Three Levels of Formatting The Reveal Formatting task pane in Word 2010 is a great tool for troubleshooting document formatting because you can see all of the formatting for a selection at a glance. It can also help clarify the concept of the three levels of formatting and how Word organizes formatting in a document. As you see in Figure 6-2, the Reveal Formatting task pane clearly demonstrates how formatting is organized along the three levels.
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Figure 6-2 The Revea Formatt ng task pane n Word 2010.
To view formatting for your current selection, press Shift+F1. When using Reveal Formatting, keep the following in mind: n
Blue, underlined text in the Reveal Formatting task pane is linked to a dialog box where you can change the referenced type of formatting for your selection.
n
With the Compare To Another Selection option, you can select any other content in the document to see an instant comparison of formatting for both selections.
n
If your selection includes a table or paragraphs that contain bullets or numbering, you will see additional categories in the Reveal Formatting task pane. These are not additional levels of formatting. Bullets and numbering are paragraph-level formatting, as explained earlier. Tables are not formatting at all, as discussed in the next section of this chapter. Breaking out these items simply helps you to quickly see formatting for a selection, because bullets, numbering, and tables can each contain quite a bit of unique formatting.
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Note Another way to access the Revea Formatt ng task pane w take you there v a a s mp er
too for check ng (or c ear ng) the font and paragraph formatt ng for a se ect on Th s too , ca ed the Sty e Inspector, s ava ab e from the bottom of the Sty es pane On the Home tab, n the Sty es group, c ck the d a og aunch con to open the Sty es pane (or press Ctr +A t+Sh ft+S) At the bottom of the pane, c ck the magn fy ng g ass con to open the Sty e Inspector Th s too shows you font and paragraph formatt ng at the nsert on po nt, d st ngu shed by sty e source The Sty e Inspector a so nc udes a magn fy ng g ass con, wh ch opens the Revea Formatt ng task pane Note that the Sty e Inspector n Word 2010 s very s m ar to the Word 2011 Revea Formatt ng too d scussed next
In Word 2011, instead of a Reveal Formatting task pane, you have the Reveal Formatting tool shown in Figure 6-3, available from the View menu. When you turn on this feature and click into text, you see a pop-up window that shows font and paragraph formatting for the selection, distinguished by style source. This tool displays only font- and paragraph-level formatting, but is nonetheless very useful for both troubleshooting and for illustrating at least the first two of the three core formatting levels.
Figure 6-3 Revea Formatt ng n use n Word 2011.
For Mac Users It’s true that the Reveal Formatting tool in Word 2011 isn’t quite the troubleshooting powerhouse that you get in Word for Windows with the Reveal Formatting task pane. But don’t pout just yet. Word 2011 has an exclusive new feature (available for documents that you create and edit in Print Layout view) that shows you at a glance where paragraph styles and direct font formatting are applied, with crystal-clear color coding and highlighting directly in your document. This is one of the best new features in Office 2010 and Office for Mac 2011, and it can do wonders for helping you stay on top of the formatting in your Word documents.
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Find the options to show style guides and direct formatting guides at the bottom of the Styles pane in Print Layout view. Access the Styles pane of the Toolbox from the View menu or, on the Home tab, in the Styles group, click the button shown here. See Also Learn about Word 2011 style guides and direct formatting guides in Chapter 8, “Styles.”
Working with Objects and Stories A document consists of a range of content types (or objects) and formatting, both of which can be added to the body area of the document or to other areas, such as a header, a footnote, or a comment. These areas are known in Word as stories.
The Story Behind Word Stories Although the concept of stories in Word most often comes up when you’re using programming (such as VBA) to interact with your document, it’s an important part of the way Word organizes content. Understanding stories can help you stay in control of any document you need to create. A story is simply a distinct component of the document that can contain its own content and formatting, similar to the concept of layers in a graphics program. In fact, stories are layers in some ways: n
Headers and footers (which also comprise watermarks), as well as footnote separators, are story types that sit behind the main document story.
n
Comments, as well as the text areas within text boxes or shapes, are story types that sit on top or in front of the main document story.
Stories, Objects, and Formatting A text box is a type of object (content type) that you can insert into your document. Wait a minute. Didn’t I just tell you that text boxes are stories? Not exactly. A text box is an object. The text area within that object is a discrete location, separate from the main document, into which you can add text and other content—that is, a story. (Note that there is just one of each story type in a document. So, for example, the text within the collection of all text boxes in a document belongs to the same story.) So what about tables? If the content area within text boxes is a separate story, is the area within tables a separate story as well? No. Unlike text boxes, tables become a part of the story into which they’re inserted. A table sits in a paragraph mark, just like text. So, Word treats
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the content you add within a table very much like any other content in the applicable story. For this reason, tables are often the simplest solution for creating complex layouts in Word. Here are the simplest definitions of stories, objects, and formatting: n
Stories The locations in your document where you can add content and formatting.
n
Objects The content types you add to your document.
n
Formatting An attribute applied to an object or story.
The Structure Under the Structure: How Content Is Stored in the Office Open XML Formats No Microsoft Office user has to learn Office Open XML to use the software effectively and create great documents. But for advanced users of either Office 2010 or Office for Mac 2011 who choose to explore what’s going on under the hood of your documents, you’ll find more evidence of the three levels of formatting and the use of stories in Word documents when you look at their Office Open XML structure. As introduced in Chapter 1, an Office Open XML Format document is actually a collection of underlying files and folders (including several XML files). So, for example, in a file named document.xml that stores the information for the content in the main body of a Word document, you’ll see that any change in font formatting starts a new run of text (remember, font formatting is stored directly on the character in which you see it). You’ll also see a collection of document parts (XML files)—such as the one for the main body of the document, as well as one for footnotes and one for each header or footer—several of which loosely translate to types of document stories. See Also For an introduction to the basic concepts behind the Office Open XML document structure, see Chapter 1. To learn more about Office Open XML and what you can do under the hood of your documents, see Chapter 24, “Office Open XML Essentials.”
Finding the Simple Approach to Any Task Even as an experienced Word user, you will benefit from taking the time to understand the distinction among formatting, objects, and stories because it can help you find the simplest solution for whatever you need to do in a document. The simplest approach to a document task is usually the method that will add the least information to the document and require the least amount of work. For example:
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Anything that can be stored in a style (that is, paragraph and font formatting, or table structure formatting in the case of table styles) is the simplest way to apply formatting to text and objects. Styles consolidate several types of formatting into a single container—meaning less work for you to apply and less information for Word to manage. See Also To learn more about creating styles that simplify documents, see Chapter 8.
n
In most cases, tables are the simplest solution for organizing complex layouts (other than when you’re using Publishing Layout view in Word 2011), because they don’t require you to add a new layer (as you would with text boxes). They also don’t require you to add extra sets of formatting information to the document, such as the section breaks you need when using text columns to lay out a page. See Also To learn more about the logic behind using tables as a layout tool and how to make them work for you, see Chapter 9, “Tables.”
Note Understand ng stor es, objects, and formatt ng n your document can he p you not on y w th the documents you create today, but a so f you choose to venture nto work ng w th your documents programmat ca y See Also Learn more in Chapter 23, “VBA Primer.”
Bringing Yourself to the Document: Using Document Logic One of the easiest things you can do to stay in control of your documents is to remember what you already knew before you ever sat down at a computer. The two most important skills for simplifying complex document production have nothing to do with software features. They’re skills you’ve been developing and using since childhood: planning and organization. People often learn software programs by memorizing the set of steps necessary to execute tasks. When it comes to Word, that approach just won’t get you as far as you might want to go. Using Word effectively at an advanced level requires that you take time to think about and understand what’s happening in your document. If that sounds like more of a commitment than you want to make to a software program, consider this: the time you spend planning, organizing, and thinking about your document is a fraction of the time most people spend on the point, click, and tear-your-hair-out method. Staying in control of your document can be as simple as understanding what’s happening on screen at all times. And that can be much easier to do than you might think. Using tools such as the Reveal Formatting task pane, along with formatting marks (often referred to as nonprinting characters) and the available options for viewing your document, you’ll quickly realize that everything you need to manage your document effectively is right in front of you.
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Working with Formatting Marks The issue of whether to work with formatting marks (called nonprinting characters in Word 2011) visible in your document is really a non-issue: you simply can’t know what’s going on in your document without them. They’re annoying, they get in your way, it’s hard to see what the document looks like when they’re visible. Although I don’t always agree with those statements—I’ve used formatting marks for so long that they’ve become like background noise—I know that many of you feel that way. Well, sorry, there’s no easy way around this one. Formatting marks tell you a great deal about how your document is formatted. You’ll never be fully in control of a complex document without them. For example, in Figure 6-4, why don’t the right edges of the paragraph borders on the two heading paragraphs line up?
Figure 6-4 Not ce that the paragraph border n the top head ng s shorter than the w dth of the paragraph.
If you’re looking at the ruler in Figure 6-4, assuming that your insertion point is in the first paragraph, you’ll say it’s because there’s a right indent on the first paragraph. But if you move the right indent in this case, it won’t make any difference at all. Why not? With formatting marks visible, you can see the answer immediately. That’s no border, as you can see in Figure 6-5. It’s the old-fashioned, rudimentary workaround of underlining tabs.
Figure 6-5 Get to the root of ncons stent formatt ng nstant y, just by v ew ng formatt ng marks.
Not only can you see the problem immediately when using formatting marks, but you can also correct it quickly without trial and error, because you can pinpoint exactly what content you need to alter.
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Take another example. Have you ever copied content from one part of a document, only to have the formatting change when you paste that content? That happened because you pasted the content into a paragraph mark containing a different set of formatting. As discussed earlier, paragraph marks store formatting. When you press Enter (Return) twice to create a new paragraph, as you would on a typewriter, you’re adding an extra, unnecessary set of formatting to your document. So, not only is it less precise and, ultimately, more work to press Enter twice after every paragraph than it is to add formatting for space before or after the paragraph to your paragraph styles, but you’re also adding unnecessary information to the document that can get in your way later. When you view formatting marks, you see spaces, tab characters, object anchors, page breaks, and other marks that tell you how your document is constructed. But you also see the paragraph marks, cell and row markers, and section breaks that store formatting, which means you have more information about the formatting in your document without having to look for it. Here’s how to toggle formatting marks on or off.
In Word 2010 n
Press the Show\Hide ¶ button in the Paragraph group on the Home tab or press Ctrl+Shift+8.
n
You can also enable Show All Formatting Marks at the bottom of the Reveal Formatting task pane.
In Word 2011 n
On the Standard toolbar, click the paragraph mark icon (¶). Note When work ng n some anguages us ng Office 2011, you m ght see d fferent cons
n th s case For examp e, f you enab e Japanese as an ed t ng anguage, you m ght see an con of oppos ng b ue arrows nstead of a paragraph mark, w th the ScreenT p Show All Editing Marks
You can also customize, to some degree, which formatting marks appear on screen in both Word 2010 and Word 2011. To do this:
1. In Word 2010, click the File tab and then click Options. Or, in Word 2011, on the Word menu, click Preferences.
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2. In Word 2010, on the Display tab of the Word Options dialog box, select the formatting marks you want to view. In Word 2011, find these options on the View tab of the Word Preferences dialog box. Note When you turn on nd v dua formatt ng marks from the Word Opt ons (Word Preferences) d a og box, they w rema n on even f you use the togg e opt ons prov ded ear er for show ng formatt ng marks
Using Views Effectively Is it better to work in Print Layout view, Draft view (formerly called Normal view), or Outline view? The best answer to that question is “all of the above.” These three views are the core editing views for working with traditional word processing–style documents. If you work in one view all the time, you might be doing yourself a disservice. Changing views based on the task at hand can save you a lot of time and effort. The following table summarizes the benefits of each of these Word views. Note Word 2010 and Word 2011 both nc ude v ews that are not addressed here Th s sect on covers the v ews that offer benefits for comp ex document creat on
For Mac Users As mentioned earlier, Word 2011 users also have Publishing Layout view for documents that can benefit from a desktop publishing–style layout approach. The views discussed in this section are primarily for word processing–style documents. However, even if all you ever want to create are Publishing Layout view documents, the points in this section are still relevant to you. Draft and Outline views won’t benefit you when you’re working in a Publishing Layout view document. But you might find that when working in a Publishing Layout view document, you occasionally want to switch to Print Layout view for tasks such as managing section breaks or page numbering. See Also Learn about the specific tasks mentioned here and get the whole scoop on Publishing Layout view in Chapters 10 and 11.
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View
When to use it
Pr nt Layout
Pr nt Layout s the best v ew to use when creat ng comp ex documents, because you need to be ab e to see page ayout to manage page ayout W th Pr nt Layout v ew, you can see exact y what your document w ook ke when pr nted, w th the add t on of formatt ng marks to he p you stay n contro
Draft
Draft v ew doesn’t show headers, footers, footnotes, or page ayout, so t’s not the best v ew to use for comp ex document creat on But because of what you don’t see n th s v ew, t a so uses ess memory, so t can be faster to work n Draft v ew when s mp y ed t ng text n a arge document Draft v ew a ways shows sect on and page breaks fu y across the page, and t has an opt ona sty e area that shows the paragraph sty es app ed throughout the document You can set the w dth of the sty e area for Draft v ew (and Out ne v ew) to make t v s b e; the w dth s set to zero by defau t Access th s sett ng as fo ows
Out ne
n
In Word 2010, n the Word Opt ons d a og box, on the Advanced tab, under the D sp ay head ng, see Sty e Area Pane W dth In Draft And Out ne V ews
n
In Word 2010, n the Word Preferences d a og box, on the V ew tab, under the W ndow head ng, see Sty e Area W dth
When you’re us ng Head ng sty es 1 through 9, or any sty es w th Out ne Leve formatt ng app ed, Out ne v ew s a great too for qu ck y reorgan z ng content n your document For examp e, n th s v ew, c ck the p us s gn that appears bes de any top- eve head ng to automat ca y se ect t and a content that fa s be ow t Then, just drag and drop the ent re se ect on to a new ocat on n
In Word 2010, when you se ect Out ne on the V ew tab n Word 2010, you see a contextua Out n ng tab that he ps you manage the out ne To return to your prev ous v ew, on the Out n ng tab c ck C ose Out ne V ew
n
In Word 2011, Out ne Too s appear on the Home tab when you’re work ng n th s v ew
Note that, n Word 2010, you can a so drag to rearrange head ngs and the r content wh e work ng n Pr nt Layout v ew us ng the mproved Nav gat on Pane Access th s pane on the V ew tab, n the Show group Drag to arrange head ngs as needed on the first tab n that pane
Insider Tip: What Became of the Ability to Edit in Print Preview? In previous versions of Word for Windows, it was possible to turn off the magnifier in Print Preview and edit the document while in that view—a very handy way to take care of tweaks and finishing touches. In Word 2010, with the new Backstage view and combined Print Preview and Print experience, it seems that this cool tool has been lost. Fortunately, as mentioned in Chapter 1, it only seems that way.
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To add this option to your own Quick Access Toolbar or Ribbon:
1. Click the File tab and then click Options.
2. In the Word Options dialog box, on the Customize Ribbon or Quick Access Toolbar tabs, under Choose Commands From, select either All Commands or File Tab.
3. Scroll to the option Print Preview Edit Mode. See Also For information about customizing the Ribbon in Office 2010 using this specific example, see Chapter 1.
Note What about Fu Screen v ew? Ca ed Fu Screen Read ng v ew n Word 2010, th s v ew can be qu te handy when you’re rev ew ng content f you just want a c ear read ng env ronment w thout a ot of too s you don’t need at the moment But the new Fu Screen v ew n Word 2011 s noth ng short of stunn ng In Word 2010, Fu Screen s rea y for rev ew purposes on y, a though you can enab e the opt on to a ow text ed t ng In Word 2011, you are st ke y to use Fu Screen v ew most y when rev ew ng documents, but th s v ew prov des both wr te and read modes, where you get a handfu of handy qu ck-access too s for common tasks For comp ex document ed t ng, th s s not the p ace to go But f you ever rev ew documents or do ght document text ed t ng, you m ght want to check out th s v ew—even f t’s just for the jaw-dropp ng eye candy you get here n Word 2011 And Word 2011 users can custom ze the env ronment n Fu Screen v ew as we If a g ossy, p ano-b ack fin sh sn’t your th ng (a though f t’s not, you’re probab y not a Mac user), choose from a var ety of s ck backgrounds under the Opt ons button n Fu Screen v ew And for fun, n read mode, you can a so find an mated page-turn ng effects under Opt ons
Monitoring the Health of Your Document You plan, you organize, you stay in control of your document, but something still goes wrong. Perhaps you inherited a document from someone else or added content to a document from another source. What do you do when the document refuses to behave? Giving your document a time-out probably isn’t an effective way to resolve the issue, but fortunately, there’s usually an easier solution.
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Recognizing Document Corruption Corrupt is, without a doubt, the most frequently misused word in document production. Yes, documents and content can become corrupt. But just because something has gone wrong in your document doesn’t mean it’s corrupt. The majority of documents labeled as corrupt are not corrupt at all. Formatting errors, or misunderstood formatting, account for most of the issues that make people believe a document is corrupt. Consider the following examples: n
An outline numbered list incorrectly numbers paragraphs.
n
A table falls off the edge of the page and ignores formatting commands to reset its size.
n
Shaded paragraphs overlap in the printed document.
All of these examples are common formatting errors often mistaken for document corruption. The problem, of course, is that when people assume a document is corrupt, they look for the wrong type of solution. In instances like the formatting error examples provided here, you need to diagnose and fix the individual formatting problem. Extreme troubleshooting solutions are not only unnecessary, but they also won’t get the job done. So, what are the most common solutions for these examples? n
When automatic paragraph numbering in an outline doesn’t adjust to accommodate changes in the outline, check to see if the Start At value (also called the Set Numbering value) has been set for some paragraphs. This value forces the paragraph to always show the specified number and not adjust for changes to the outline.
n
When a table exceeds the width of the page (or any desired width) and won’t respond to commands to adjust it (such as AutoFit To Window), check to see if the table contains more content than can fit within the desired width. For example, you might select the table and then press Ctrl+Shift+< (Command+Shift+< in Word 2011) repeatedly, as needed, to reduce the font size and see if this reduces table size as well.
n
When shaded paragraphs look fine on screen but overlap in Print Preview or when printed, check the type of shading applied. Using Fill Color to shade paragraphs works fine in just about any scenario. But using pattern fills is another story. Patterns include a background and a foreground—information that some printers (as well as some email clients) don’t know how to handle.
In contrast to these simple solutions, the troubleshooting workarounds and extreme solution attempts I’ve seen for such formatting issues include stripping a 300-page document to plain text and reformatting it from scratch, or converting all tables in the document to text and reformatting them with a variety of workarounds.
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Poorly formatted documents can sometimes lead to corruption when content is mismanaged or added to the document from an incompatible source. But the fact remains that corruption is not the same thing as problematic formatting.
Quickly Clean Up Bad Formatting Throughout a Document The Replace feature in Word is, of course, great for global corrections to text. But it is also a fantastic troubleshooting tool for repairing problem formatting. For example, if two paragraph marks are used to create vertical space between each paragraph in your document, you can replace all instances of two consecutive paragraph marks with one paragraph mark that contains formatting for space after the paragraph. To replace formatting marks as well as some content types (such as fields), select the item from the Special menu within the Replace dialog box. Or, if you know the character code for the item you want, you can type it directly into the Find or Replace box. The Format menu in the Replace dialog box gives you the option to find or replace a wide range of font and paragraph formatting, as well as paragraph, character, or list styles. The Replace dialog box shown in Figure 6-6 demonstrates searching for two consecutive paragraph marks and replacing them with one paragraph mark that contains formatting for 12 points after the paragraph.
Figure 6-6 The Rep ace d a og box, shown n Word 2010
Although the Find experience has changed in both Word 2010 and Word 2011, the Replace dialog box with all of the options discussed here is still available in both programs:
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n
In Word 2010, access the dialog box shown in Figure 6-6 by pressing Ctrl+H or using the drop-down list available from the Search box in the new Navigation Pane.
n
In Word 2011, on the Edit menu, point to Find, and then click Advanced Find And Replace. Or press Option+Command+G to open the Go To tab of the same dialog box, and then click Replace. Expand the Find And Replace dialog box to see the same options shown in the Word 2010 dialog box shown in Figure 6-6. To access Advanced Find And Replace from the new Search pane, click the gear icon beneath the Search box.
Corruption is when something happens in a document, or an element of a document, that Word doesn’t understand. For example, if a table becomes corrupt, Word might lose the ability to properly manage content in that table. So, pasting content into that table could cause the document to crash. How do you distinguish between a formatting error and corruption? Crashing or freezing in a specific document is usually a sign of some type of corrupt content. That doesn’t mean that the entire document is corrupt, but it typically indicates that an object (such as a shape or a table) has gone over to the dark side. In contrast, when formatting doesn’t behave—for example, content jumps around on screen, the document doesn’t respond to formatting changes, or the file apparently changes formatting on its own—it is usually a sign of a poorly formatted document. A logical process of elimination is the best method to determine most formatting or corruption faults. Using Microsoft Visual Basic for Applications (VBA) or the Office Open XML Formats can also be very handy troubleshooting timesavers—and well worth the learning curve for professional document troubleshooters. For example, VBA offers the Immediate Window, where you can quickly run a single line of code to get information about what’s going on in your document. And because an Office Open XML Format document is actually (behind the scenes) a collection of files in a compressed folder, errors are compartmentalized so they might be more easily rectified. See Also To learn about how VBA can help you save time on document troubleshooting, see the MSDN article “Troubleshooting Word 2007 Documents More Easily Using VBA” (http:// msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/dd630112.aspx), which also applies to Word 2010 and Word 2011. For tips on general troubleshooting best practices, see the TechNet Magazine article “Troubleshooting 201: Asking the Right Questions” (http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/ magazine/ff955771.aspx). To get started learning the basics of VBA, see Chapter 23. The Office Open XML Formats provide additional options for addressing document problems. To learn about using the file format as a troubleshooting tool, see Chapter 24.
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Using Open And Repair Open And Repair has been available to Word for Windows users since Word 2002 and is now offered in PowerPoint and Excel as well. But this feature improved greatly in Word 2007, and even more so in Word 2010. Essentially, Open And Repair diagnoses and, in many cases, repairs genuine document corruption. It’s a great place to start, because if it doesn’t find corruption in your document, it’s likely that the problem is a formatting issue and not corruption at all. Word checks the integrity of documents automatically and will now often recognize and try to fix integrity errors in Office Open XML Format documents as you open or save a file (such as if you try to convert a legacy format document that contains corrupt content to the Office Open XML Formats). When this happens, Word will notify you that it found errors but was able to open or save the file by fixing them. If this occurs, check your content because formatting may have changed during that process. But even if you don’t see any warnings when opening or saving a file when you’re working with legacy file format documents or with an Office Open XML Format document that you believe to have integrity issues, you can still manually invoke the Open And Repair tool. When Open And Repair finds corruption in your document, a Show Repairs dialog box typically opens with a list of the corruption types found (such as corrupt tables or styles). In many cases, you can select an error in the list and click Go To to be taken directly to the source of the problem. For those who remember the dreaded error message “A table in this document has become corrupt” before the advent of Open And Repair—when you had to figure out for yourself which table was the troublemaker—you can see how this feature is an enormous timesaver. To use Open And Repair:
1. Click the File tab and then click Open (or press Ctrl+O).
2. In the Open dialog box, browse to and select your file.
3. Instead of clicking the Open button, click the arrow to the right of the Open button, and then click Open And Repair. When the document opens, if the Show Repairs dialog box does not appear, Word found no corruption in your document. If the dialog box does appear, take note of the errors and then click Close. To make the repairs permanent, save the document.
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Caution By repa r ng some types of corrupt on, such as tab es or numbered sty es, Word m ght
a ter your formatt ng or even, n rare cases, your document content For th s reason, Office Open XML documents opened w th Open And Repa r n Word 2010 a ways open as an unsaved copy of the or g na However, for egacy fi e format documents, Word st opens the or g na It’s a good dea to page through the document comp ete y after c os ng the Show Repa rs d a og box but before sav ng the document (espec a y f you’re rep ac ng the or g na ) to ensure that no content or formatt ng has been changed To be on the safe s de, save the fi e w th a new name or rename the or g na rather than rep ac ng t
Open And Repair can also be an excellent tool to ensure the integrity of a complex document or template as you create it. It’s a good practice to open a healthy document or template with Open And Repair as you’re working on it to ensure that no problems arise during construction.
Creating Any Document with These Six Tools People often think that, because Word is so powerful, it would take far too much time to learn everything they need to create complex documents effectively. For all the power of Word, however, the list of what you need to learn to create most documents is much shorter than you probably realize. If you look through the Word content in a book like this one, you might pass over some things, thinking they’re details you don’t need. Well, specific features are certainly more applicable to some people than others. For example, you might never need to include mathematical equations in your document; someone else might never need an index or a bibliography. However, some things that might seem like minor details are actually essential components that can make all the difference in the world. When you know the right details, everything comes together. In Word, those details are the six tools you need to create any complex document: n
Themes
n
Styles
n
Tables
n
Graphics
n
Sections
n
Dynamic content
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If you’ve seen earlier incarnations of this list from me, you know that themes are a new addition. They were introduced to Microsoft Office in 2007 (and 2008 for Mac), and they should have been on the Office 2007 version of this list. But they’re here now, so better late than never. Themes are at least as important as any other feature on this list, so please don’t breeze over them just because you’ve been creating documents since long before they existed. Every Office 2010 and Office 2011 document contains a theme regardless of whether you use it. Making use of the theme can simplify many tasks and greatly improve the appearance of the content you create. See Also Learn about the value of themes across Office 2010 and Office 2011 in Chapter 5. You’ll also learn more about themes as they relate to other key Word document elements in Chapter 7, “Working with Text,” Chapter 8, and Chapter 10. Additionally, the last item in the list (dynamic content) has had different names in earlier versions of this list. This tool used to just be about fields, but then in Word 2007, fields were incorporated into the larger Quick Parts functionality (a Word for Windows term, but with lots of cross-platform functionality). Today, dynamic content encompasses a few major features that can save you time in both Word 2010 and Word 2011, such as content that updates automatically given specific conditions (fields), or the capability to instantly swap the look of certain document elements while retaining your content (called building blocks in Word 2010 and document elements in Word 2011). You might not need dynamic content in every document, but don’t dismiss it before you understand what it can do for you. See Also To explore what dynamic content means today and what it can do for your documents, see Chapter 12, “Dynamic Content.” When you understand how these six features work together most effectively, no document is out of your reach. Using Chapter 5, which introduced document themes, along with the next six chapters of this book, you can get all the tools you need to bring the right details together and create great Word documents.
Chapter 7
Working with Text In this chapter, you will: n
Explore what’s new for working with text in Word 2010 and Word for Mac 2011
n
Understand key essentials for working with typography tools in Word
n
Learn how to create the look of professional typesetting in your documents
n
Get tips for working with the new generation of WordArt
n
Examine how to use font and paragraph formatting as layout tools
You’re an experienced user of Microsoft Word. You know it’s not a typewriter. But do you find yourself fighting with documents just to get your text or layout looking right? If so, you’re probably just trying too hard. In Chapter 6, we looked at why Word behaves the way it does—such as when text seems to take on formatting other than what you intended. (If you still think that’s true, give Chapter 6 a look before continuing here.) But if you spend time fussing and fighting to lay out pages or make content fit, you might be overlooking the easiest alternatives. So before you mess with floating objects or even tinker with tables, explore how you can use the character and paragraph formatting that you apply to text to easily manage many aspects of document layout. Sound good? Great. But that’s the last part of this chapter. Before we get there, Word 2010 and Word for Mac 2011 have two new text features that can be as much fun for font fanatics as for those who think a serif is a landless peasant from the Middle Ages. So, let’s get started by checking out new support for OpenType typography features and new text effects. See Also After you’ve reviewed this chapter, learn more about working with font and paragraph formatting in Chapter 8, “Styles.”
Chapter Assumptions You’re at least somewhat familiar with the Font and Paragraph groups on the Home tab of the Ribbon, as well as the basics of the Font and Paragraph dialog boxes. You’ve changed the size or color of text, you’ve applied font attributes like small caps or superscript, and you’re aware that character spacing options exist even if you haven’t used them. And whether or not you’ve worked with line and paragraph spacing, the fact that these features exist is probably not news to you.
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Essentially, this chapter assumes that you’re an experienced user of Word, so we won’t cover the basics of font and paragraph formatting here. Instead, we’ll look at a couple of significant changes for working with text in Word 2010 and Word 2011, and explore how to use font and paragraph formatting to simplify and improve your documents. See Also For those who want more basic-level information than what is covered in this chapter, find a list of resources in the section “Who Will Benefit Most from This Book” in the introduction.
Introducing What’s New for Text Formatting in Word 2010 and Word 2011 Word 2010 and Word 2011 both introduce support for several OpenType typography features as well as formatting effects that you can apply directly to document text, such as the examples shown in Figure 7-1.
Figure 7-1 Sty st c sets (top) are one of the new y supported OpenType typography features. The grad ent
fi , beve , and reflect on app ed to text (bottom) are among the new text effects features. n
Word now supports OpenType typography features including ligatures, stylistic sets, number forms and spacing, and contextual alternates when they’re present in a font. What does that mean? In a nutshell, you can format text to look like it was professionally typeset. And you can get pretty creative with it, as you see in the top image of Figure 7-1. How can you really use features like this? Why not start a revolution? Check out the loose reproduction of the Declaration of Independence shown in Figure 7-2. Microsoft recently engaged me to create this document using Word 2010, and it was one of the most fun document projects I’ve done. And it wouldn’t have been possible without support for OpenType typography features.
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Figure 7-2 A port on of a reproduct on of the Dec arat on of ndependence created n Word 2010, us ng new OpenType typography support.
But you don’t have to be reproducing historical documents to take advantage of these tools. Features like ligatures and stylistic sets can add a beautiful, elegant touch to more traditional documents when used for the right reasons and at the right time. See Also Learn about each of the supported OpenType typography tools and how to use them in the next section of this chapter, “Introducing the OpenType Typography Tools.” To download and check out this document for yourself, visit the Office.com page “Word 2010 for all your Revolutionary ideas” available at http://office.microsoft.com/ en-us/word/word-2010-documents-for-all-your-revolutionary-ideas-FX102226936. aspx?CTT 1 (Note that some fonts in this reproduction are not available in Office for Mac.) Wondering about the right reasons and right time to use features like OpenType typography support? See the sidebar “The Good and Evil of Text Formatting: Don’t Let the Document Wear You” at the end of this section. n
In previous versions of Word, the feature known as WordArt was, well, pretty sad— fussy, often frustrating, and rarely useful for professional documents. In its place, we now have the text effects that you might already know from Microsoft PowerPoint and Excel in Office 2007 and Office 2008 for Mac. The biggest benefit of the new text effects in Word is that you can apply them directly to document text (no more embedded objects). In addition, you can include them in character and paragraph styles. Text effects are also much more flexible than the old WordArt and offer more professional effect options. They’re part of the Office Art graphics engine (along with shapes, SmartArt, and Excel charts) and give you formatting effects similar to those you know for other Office Art objects. See Also Learn about the available text effects and how to use them in the section “Introducing Text Effects: The New Generation of WordArt,” later in this chapter. And learn more about formatting for other Office Art content (such as shapes and diagrams) in Chapter 14, “Creating Professional Presentation Graphics.”
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Note The terms text effects and WordArt (and text styles, n Office for Mac 2011) are used fa r y nterchangeab y throughout the programs You most often see the term WordArt where the feature e ther nserts or formats a text box conta n ng text that uses effects; you see text effects or text sty es referenced where you can app y the formatt ng to your se ected text They are arge y the same features, but where the effects are app ed (that s, to document text or to text n a text box) does change your opt ons a b t You’ earn more about th s ater n th s chapter
For Mac Users Advanced typography support isn’t entirely new to Word for Mac, and it’s not quite the same as it is in Word 2010. Ligature support was actually introduced in Word 2008 for Mac. So, much but not all of the advanced typography tools introduced in this chapter are completely new for Mac users. Word 2011 also supports these features in some fonts that are exclusive to Mac. Learn more in the next section, “Introducing the OpenType Typography Tools.”
The Good and Evil of Text Formatting: Don’t Let the Document Wear You As stated throughout this book, good document design helps convey your important information. But just making the content stand out with flashy formatting doesn’t necessarily accomplish that. In fact, if the formatting doesn’t fit, it’s more likely to be a distraction. Have you ever bought a piece of clothing or jewelry that you loved in the store, but then never wore it because it didn’t go with anything else that you own? Just because something looks great doesn’t mean it’s right for every occasion. There are many types of documents that can benefit from the new text formatting features. For example, if you need to create a formal invitation or just want to add simple but elegant details to an important document—such as to distinguish numbers in the text of an annual report—OpenType typography features are there for you. If you want to express a sense of fun and add some whimsy to a newsletter or some in-office signage, explore text effects. But before you add any formatting or accent content to your document, ask yourself why you’re adding it. What does it express about both the point you’re trying to make and about you as the document’s author? If it’s a perfect fit, go for it. Otherwise, put it back on the hanger.
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Introducing the OpenType Typography Tools There are undoubtedly some of you reading this book who saw support for features like ligatures and stylistic sets, jumped up from your seats, and exclaimed “finally!” But the other 95 percent of you might be wondering just what the heck a ligature or stylistic set is and whether you should care. In this section, you’ll learn about each of the available typography features in Word 2010 and Word 2011, and how to use them.
Understanding the Difference Between Feature and Feature Support The features you’ll see in this section aren’t actually features in Word. They’re features that are included in some fonts by the font designer. What’s new about this in Word is that when a font contains these features, Word now gives you the ability to utilize them in your documents. However, a font has to include a given feature for the related Word tools to have any effect. For example, if you turn on ligatures for your text and nothing happens, that doesn’t mean the Word feature isn’t working. It most likely means that the font you’re using doesn’t include ligatures. For each typography feature addressed in the upcoming section, “Exploring the OpenType Typography Features Available in Word,” you’ll see an example of a built-in font available in Office 2010 or Office 2011, which you can use to try the feature for yourself.
Insider Tip: Determining Whether a Font Has OpenType Features A common source of confusion about support for OpenType typography in Word is the idea that it applies only for fonts that use the OpenType file format. This is not true. Font file format and font feature format are not the same thing. Regardless of its file format (such as .otf for OpenType or .ttf for TrueType), a font may contain OpenType tables within its definition that include the features discussed here. In fact, every font used as an example in this section is actually a .ttf font file (TrueType font) that contains OpenType features. So, if your custom font contains the features discussed in this section and you want to know if they will be supported in Word, you need to ask only whether the font itself is supported. If you can install the font and use it in Word, then as long as it contains the OpenType features supported in Word, you can use those features with your font.
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For Mac Users In addition to supporting OpenType typography features, Word 2011 also supports the typography features discussed in this section with some fonts (such as the built-in version of the beautiful and popular Zapfino) that use the Apple TrueType format known as Apple Advanced Typography, or AAT. However, when the font uses this format, if you enable its typography features, they won’t be supported when the document is opened in Word 2010. You might see references to these features that say Word 2010 supports typography in OpenType fonts and Word 2011 supports typography in both OpenType and TrueType fonts. This statement is not really accurate; it originates from the same point of confusion explained in the preceding insider tip sidebar. Word 2010 supports OpenType features in multiple font file formats. Word 2011 does this as well, and also supports those same features when they are present in fonts that use AAT. Of course, if it’s a Mac-specific font, it’s probably not the best choice for a document that you’d need to share cross-platform anyway (because the font wouldn’t be built in for Windows users), so this is not likely to be devastating news. However, if you want to ensure that you use typography features only in cross-platform fonts, you can disable the option to use these features in AAT fonts. To do this, in the Font dialog box, on the Advanced tab, disable the option to use TrueType typography features. Notice that this option in the Word 2011 Font dialog box refers to TrueType typography features, not True Type fonts. As explained earlier in this section, the features and the file format are not one and the same. When you disable this option, Word 2011 still gives you access to typography features that reside in a font when those features exist in OpenType feature tables within the font, regardless of the font’s file format (as is the case with the seven built-in fonts used as examples in the following section).
Exploring the OpenType Typography Features Available in Word Access any of the features discussed here on the Advanced tab of the Font dialog box, shown in Figure 7-3. Notice that these features are referred to as OpenType Features in Word 2010 and Advanced Typography in Word 2011, but the options are largely the same.
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Figure 7-3 The Advanced tab of the Font d a og box, shown n Word 2010 ( eft) and Word 2011 (r ght). n
To access this dialog box in Word 2010, on the Home tab, in the Font group, click the dialog launch icon. You can also use the keyboard shortcut Ctrl+D, unless a graphic object is selected (in which case, the shortcut duplicates the object).
n
In Word 2011, on the Format menu, click Font (or press Command+D if your selection is not a graphic object). Additionally, on the Home tab in Publishing Layout view, you see the Typography group by default. And you can configure the Ribbon in the Word Preferences dialog box to show this group in Print Layout view as well.
Unfortunately, there is nothing in the interface that indicates whether a feature is available in a given font. So this section endeavors to provide you with some guidance to cut down on trial and error. One or more of the supported typography features are present in the following list of built-in fonts available in both Office 2010 and Office 2011: n
Gabriola (this font is new to Office 2010 and Office 2011)
n
The Microsoft Clear Type fonts (also known as C fonts) were first introduced to Microsoft Office in Office 2007 and Office 2008 for Mac, as follows: ❑
Calibri
❑
Cambria
❑
Candara
❑
Consolas
❑
Constantia
❑
Corbel
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See Also To learn more about the Clear Type fonts, and see visual examples and a list of which OpenType features are included in each, visit http://microsoft.com/typography/ cleartypefonts.mspx. Note In add t on to the C fonts and Gabr o a, the bu t- n Segoe fonts ava ab e n Office 2010 conta n some supported OpenType features These fonts nc ude Segoe Pr nt, Segoe Scr pt, and Segoe UI Note that these fonts are not ava ab e n Office 2011 Considering all the fonts that you see in the Font list in Word, that doesn’t seem like very many to choose from. But keep in mind that the C fonts and Gabriola are all cross-platform fonts that are available in any edition of Office 2010 or Office 2011. So, in addition to being flexible fonts with some creative features, they’re also good choices for sharing documents. Note You can, of course, purchase custom fonts that support many of these features, and there
are a vast number of them to choose from In fact, you m ght find cross-p atform vers ons of fonts that are bu t n on on y one p atform (such as the prev ous y referenced Mac OS font Zapfino, wh ch s ava ab e n a W ndows-compat b e OpenType format from L notype, at notype com) However, w th Zapfino or any custom font, be sure that t supports the features you need before you purchase t A so cons der how you need to share the document If you w be shar ng t e ectron ca y, t’s m ght be a good dea to st ck w th bu t- n fonts that are w de y ava ab e to e ectron c rec p ents
See Also For more about font availability in Microsoft Office versions, see Chapter 3, “Understanding Electronic Documents.”
Get Connected with Ligatures Ligatures are combined character pairs, such as the ff, fl, and fi pairs shown in Figure 7-4. In addition to Calibri and Constantia, shown in the figure, the built-in fonts Candara, Consolas, Corbel, Gabriola, and Segoe Script all contain some ligatures. In the Font dialog box (or the Typography group in Word 2011), you see options for Standard, Contextual, and Historical And Discretionary ligatures. n
Standard ligatures are those commonly thought to be appropriate for a given language.
n
Contextual ligatures are nonstandard ligatures added by the font designer for any use of the specific font.
n
Historical ligatures are those that were standard at one time but are no longer commonly used.
n
Discretionary ligatures are added by the font designer for a specific use with the particular font.
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Note Fonts can conta n the same typography feature to d fferent degrees For examp e,
Candara does not nc ude gatures for a of the same character pa rs that you see n Ca br
Figure 7-4 L gature examp es, shown n the Ca br and Constant a fonts.
Get Stylish with Stylistic Sets Stylistic sets replaced the default glyphs (characters) with stylistic alternatives that can either subtly or dramatically vary the appearance of text. Of the built-in fonts available in Microsoft Office, only Gabriola has significant stylistic sets, as shown in Figure 7-5. This font contains seven stylistic sets.
Figure 7-5 The Gabr o a font shown w th defau t g yphs (top), sty st c set five (center), and sty st c set seven
(bottom).
Caution The most dramat c Gabr o a sty st c sets (s x and seven) use extreme ascenders and
descenders, as you can see at the bottom of F gure 7-5 n sty st c set seven Both Word 2010 and Word 2011 fa to adjust ne he ght automat ca y for these fantast c flour shes So when you use these sty st c sets, be sure to ncrease ne spac ng, or your resu t w ke y be ess than fabu ous
Get Analytical with Number Forms and Number Spacing Number spacing options in the Font dialog box (or the Typography group in Word 2011) include Proportional and Tabular. Number Forms options include Lining and Old Style. n
Proportional number spacing allots a different width based on the numeric character (for example, the space allotted for 0 is wider than for 1).
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Tabular number spacing allots the same width to all characters.
n
Lining number forms provide numbers that are all identical in height and that all sit on the text baseline.
n
Old Style number forms provide numbers that differ in height by character, with characters extending either above or below the text baseline.
The differences in the preceding options are demonstrated in Figure 7-6. The built-in fonts that support these features in both Word 2010 and Word 2011 are listed in Table 7-1. Table 7-1 Number
spacing and number forms support in Word 2010 and Word 2011
Font
Tabular spacing
Proportional spacing
Lining forms
Old Style forms
Ca br
Defau t
No v sua effect
Defau t
Supported
Cambr a
Defau t
Supported
Defau t
Supported Defau t
Candara
Supported
Defau t
Supported*
Conso as
Defau t
No v sua effect
Defau t
Supported
Constant a
Supported
Defau t
Supported
Defau t
Corbe
Supported
Defau t
Supported
Defau t
Gabr o a
No v sua effect
Defau t
Supported
Defau t
*
ining number orms in he Candara on do no appear o be iden ical in heigh . Some charac ers may appear o sligh ly exceed he ex baseline.
Figure 7-6 The s x C ear Type fonts and Gabr o a shown n 24 po nt font,
d sp ay ng the r defau t number forms and spac ng.
Get the Details with Contextual Alternates and Kerning As you’ve seen, ligatures, stylistic sets, and number forms and spacing can have a substantial impact on the appearance of your text. Word 2010 and Word 2011 support two additional OpenType typography features that are less obvious but may be extremely useful in some circumstances. n
Contextual alternates will alter individual characters based on surrounding characters where useful to improve the visual flow of text. These changes are typically extremely subtle. The Cambria font uses some contextual alternates. Segoe Script (available in Office 2010) does as well.
Introducing Text Effects: The New Generation of WordArt n
171
You might already be familiar with font kerning, a feature that balances character spacing in proportional fonts. Though it’s been available in Word for several years, the feature has been enhanced in Word 2010 and Word 2011. Now, when kerning specifications are defined in the OpenType feature tables within a font file, Word uses the definitions provided by the font designer for more precise, often better results.
Note Many thanks to Stuart Stup e, font guru and member of the M crosoft Office product team, for much gu dance on the subject of OpenType typography
Introducing Text Effects: The New Generation of WordArt As mentioned earlier, the text effects that are new to Word 2010 and Word 2011 may not be new to you as experienced Microsoft Office users. If you have used Office 2007 or Office 2008 for Mac, you might already know these features from PowerPoint and Excel. Essentially, the new text effects (also called WordArt or, in Word 2011, text styles, depending upon how you access them) give you the ability to apply effects such as gradient fills, reflections, bevels, and internal or external shadows directly to the text in your document. No more embedded objects, no more stilted and inflexible effects. You can now apply text effects just like you apply attributes such as bold and underline. You can also include text effects in character and paragraph styles. Note Because the Office Art formatt ng ava ab e to text effects n Word s covered e sewhere n th s book, th s sect on focuses on spec fic t ps for work ng w th text effects n Word
See Also To learn about Office Art formatting capabilities, see Chapter 14, “Creating Professional Presentation Graphics.”
On the Home tab, in the Font group, click Text Effects to expose a gallery of preset options— as well as galleries of presets for outline, shadow, reflection, and glow—as shown in Figure 7-7.
Figure 7-7 The Text Effects ga ery s ava ab e on the Home tab, n the Font group n Word 2010 and n Pr nt Layout v ew for Word 2011.
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For Mac Users In Word 2011, the Text Effects gallery appears on the Home tab in Print Layout view. Because text in Publishing Layout view is generally in a text box, you access text effects in Publishing Layout view via the WordArt entry points explained under the next heading, “Differentiating Between Text Effects and WordArt.”
The galleries shown in Figure 7-7 can certainly help you get started, but they’re actually a pretty limited representation of the overall available options. At the bottom of the Shadow, Reflection, and Glow galleries, you see an Options command. Click this command to open the Text Effect dialog box shown in Figure 7-8, where you can customize these effects. The Format Text Effects dialog box also includes formatting options not shown in the gallery at all, such as 3-D Format and options for outlines (including gradient lines and more extensive outline style options than what’s shown in the gallery).
Figure 7-8 The Format Text Effects d a og box.
To access the Format Text Effects dialog box directly, at the bottom of the Font dialog box, click Text Effects. This dialog box provides very similar options to those available for formatting Office Art objects such as shapes. Note, however, that the soft edges option listed in this dialog box is unavailable for text effects.
Differentiating Between Text Effects and WordArt Although the terms text effects and WordArt are used fairly interchangeably, there is a logic to where you see them. In Word 2010 or Word 2011, when you apply effects directly to text in the document, the feature is called text effects. Where you can insert or format text within a floating text box, the feature is referred to as WordArt.
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The text effects available to document text and those available to text within objects (that is, WordArt) are almost entirely the same. The only differences are that WordArt enables Transform (warping the shape of the text string within the object) and 3-D Rotation because the containing object makes these options possible. For example, Figure 7-9 shows you text formatted with a bevel and gradient fill, and using a Transform option, as shown in the menu beside the text. It is the object (the text box), not the text, that allows for this text to take the shape that it does. In fact, you adjust the shape of the transform by adjusting the size and proportions of the text box.
Figure 7-9 Text n a text box w th n Word formatted us ng a WordArt Transform opt on.
Caution Transform s often not the fr end est feature When you app y a transform, t m ght
not seem as though your text actua y took on your transform sett ng You m ght need to drag the transform adjustment hand e (a p nk d amond) that appears on the text box and change the he ght or w dth of the text box substant a y to create the transform shape you wanted For examp e, to create the transform shown n F gure 7-9, I app ed the transform you see se ected n the ga ery I then used the adjustment hand e to ncrease the curve and reduced the w dth and great y ncreased the he ght of the text box to ach eve the des red shape If you occas ona y need a transform for a part cu ar use n a part cu ar document, th s warn ng sn’t the end of the wor d But t’s part cu ar y mportant to keep n m nd f you’re creat ng content for others to use (and n fact, t’s probab y best to avo d Transform n those cases) As you’ see when you g ve t a try, t takes some fuss ng to adjust for text changes and can be qu te a b t of work and d fficu t to accomp sh for the average (or even the exper enced) user
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Similarly, Figure 7-10 uses 3-D Rotation on text inside a text box. Again, it is the text box that enables the rotation, not the text itself.
Figure 7-10 Text n a text box w th n Word formatted w th a WordArt 3 D Rotat on opt on.
To further clarify the difference between text effects and WordArt formatting, notice that 3-D Rotation and Transform both appear on the Drawing Tools Format tab, in the WordArt Styles group, on the Text Effects menu. And if you click the dialog launcher in that group, they appear in the Format Text Effects dialog box. (In Word 2011, on the Format tab, in the Text Styles group, these options appear on the Effects menu.) However, in both Word 2010 and Word 2011, you do not see these options in the Font group on the Home tab. You also do not see these options when you access the Format Text Effects dialog box from within the Font dialog box. That’s because they don’t apply unless the text is inside a text box (and thus can access the Drawing Tools Format (Format) tab). To summarize: n
Text effects include text fill, line style and formatting (including gradient line options), shadow, reflection, glow, and 3-D format. These effects can be applied to text in the run of a document or to text inside a text box. They can be included in paragraph and character styles as well. Note When you create or mod fy a sty e through the New Sty e or Mod fy Sty e d a og
boxes, on the Format menu n the d a og box you see the Text Effects opt on, where you can app y the same text effects that you can app y to text w th n the run of the document Th s opt on actua y appears on the Format menu n the d a og box for any type of sty e you can create through that d a og box When you use th s opt on n a st sty e, t app es the effects to the bu et or number for the se ected eve , not the paragraph text And, as d scussed n Chapter 8, not a formatt ng that you can nc ude n a tab e sty e rea y beongs there
See Also For more about working with styles, see Chapter 8. n
When you apply text effects as WordArt (that is, within a text box), you have the same effects available, as well as Transform and 3-D Rotation settings that can be applied to the text box itself.
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Note When you save and share your documents n the c oud and open those documents n
Word Web App v ew mode, you can see text effects as we as app ed typography features (for supported fonts) L ke much custom formatt ng, these features are not v s b e on your text when you open the document n Word Web App ed t mode (at the t me of th s wr t ng), but the features are reta ned n the document As w th any formatt ng or content that s not v s b e when ed t ng documents n Word Web App, just sw tch to v ew mode (on the V ew tab, c ck Read ng V ew) or open the document n Word 2010 or Word 2011 on your computer to see your comp ete, formatted document
See Also For typography features, keep in mind that custom fonts may not be supported when you view your document in the cloud. To learn about Office Web Apps and what you can expect when you use them for sharing documents, see Chapter 2, “Collaborating and Sharing When and Where You Choose.”
Using Font and Paragraph Formatting As Layout Tools This section is about tricks of the trade—ways in which you can use the simplest of features to make your document work. For years, I worked in the document production centers of investment banks, churning out pitch books—complex documents containing dozens of financial tables, graphics, and very complex layouts. Your documents certainly don’t need to be that complex for you to run into circumstances where you need a workaround to make something fit. But one of my favorite examples on the subject occurred one day while I was at work at one such investment bank. A very stressed banker came to my desk 15 minutes before a courier was to pick up his final pitch book. He said he just needed one quick edit to one page. It was a landscape page containing a 17-column financial table. To make everything fit, the table font was just 7 points, the page margins were at 0.3 inches other than the binding edge, and the cell margins were at 0.02” left and right. To the best of my recollection (this was several years ago), his exact words were something to the effect of “I just need you to add one more column to the table before it goes out the door. But could you please make the font bigger?! I can’t read it at all!” I suppressed a laugh because the poor guy was stressed enough already. And, as it turns out, what seemed initially like an impossible task needed nothing more than a small adjustment in character spacing throughout the table—smaller than the typical reader would be likely to notice. (Admittedly, I only increased the font size by a half point, but unlike the Earth, the page is flat and things that exceed it will indeed fall off.)
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It might not be that uncommon to need to fit an additional table column without reducing font size. But let’s look at a few even simpler examples: n
You have a small graphic (such as an icon) that needs to sit inline within a paragraph without significantly increasing line height.
n
You have a heading that is wrapping to two lines, and you have to make it fit one line without changing the wording or the document formatting.
n
You need the text after a page break to retain its space before formatting.
Like the table column example, the first two of the preceding examples use character spacing options (position in the first example, and condensed spacing in the second) to accomplish the task. The third example uses the Line And Page Break paragraph formatting feature Page Break Before in place of a manual page break. But let’s not leave it at that. Use the tips that follow to help you simplify any applicable layout issues that you might encounter in your documents. Note When you use any of the features d scussed n th s sect on just once n a document to tweak formatt ng or ayout for a spec fic nstance, app y the formatt ng d rect y One of the most common m sconcept ons about sty es n Word s that us ng d rect formatt ng s wrong Sty es, ke any feature, ex st to s mp fy your work If you create a custom sty e every t me you need a s ng e, un que nstance of formatt ng, then you’re comp cat ng your document w th sty es rather than s mp fy ng t The document po ce w not come after you for us ng d rect formatt ng where t’s a s mp er, c eaner so ut on than us ng a sty e (If they do, send them to me and I’ set them stra ght ) Us ng the s mp est so ut on means th nk ng for yourse f and do ng what w be the s mp est—over the fe of the document—for anyone who uses that document Of course, as w th any formatt ng—sty ed or d rect—take care to use the too s d scussed n th s sect on to adjust ayout on y where t s mp fies your work For examp e, f you find that you’re frequent y tweak ng character spac ng or ne spac ng for just nd v dua paragraphs w th n the same document, an overa formatt ng change m ght s mp fy th ngs for you more than many nterm ttent tweaks After a , f the content you tweak changes, the adjusted formatt ng m ght no onger fit Remember the ta e of the azy operator and put noth ng n the document that doesn’t need to be there
See Also To read the tale of the lazy operator and learn how following her example can help simplify the time you spend in Microsoft Office, see Chapter 1, “Welcome to Office 2010 and Office for Mac 2011.” For more about best practices when working with styles, see Chapter 8.
Using Character Spacing and Positioning to Adjust Layout Character Spacing options—available in the Font dialog box, on the Advanced tab—include both position and spacing (among other features).
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You can raise or lower the position of as little as a single character by as little as a half point. This feature raises or lowers text relative to the text baseline. This is similar to superscript or subscript formatting, but character size is not altered and you can specifically control the preferred distance from the baseline. For example, if you’re writing some technical documentation and want to include icons inline, as shown in Figure 7-11, you can lower the position of the graphic itself. Graphics formatted using the In Line With Text layout can be formatted using character and paragraph formatting. In Figure 7-11, the icon image in the third bullet point is lowered by 4 points to equalize line spacing for the paragraph. Word 2010 users can just select the graphic itself and then open the Font dialog box to the Advanced tab to apply the position change. Word 2011 users should select the surrounding spaces as well as the graphic to access the font dialog box. In Word 2011, the Font dialog box will be unavailable if nothing but a graphic is selected.
Figure 7-11 Three paragraphs that are dent ca other than the con mage that appears n para
graphs two and three. Lower ng the character pos t on on the con mage n paragraph three corrects ne spac ng that was a tered n paragraph two by the he ght of the mage.
n
You can condense paragraph spacing by very slight amounts to often make a significant difference. For example, if all headings in your report need to be a single line, and one heading wraps to a second line, an adjustment as small as one- or two-tenths of a point might make all the difference you need and be indistinguishable to readers. You can type values or use the spin boxes, as you see in Figure 7-12, to condense or expand spacing as needed by as little as a tenth of a point.
Figure 7-12 Character Spac ng opt ons shown on the top
of the Advanced tab of the Font d a og box.
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Using Line and Paragraph Spacing to Simplify Layout You probably already know that setting spacing before or after the paragraph—rather than using multiple returns to create space between paragraphs— greatly simplifies your work with text. (If that’s news to you, you might want to review Chapter 6 for tips on other key formatting basics for managing Word documents.) But, as with character spacing, you can often adjust paragraph spacing just slightly to accomplish an important change in layout when needed. For example, say that the last page of your document contains a full-page table. It’s not unusual for an extra page to be added at the end of the document because of the paragraph mark that must follow the table. Remember that you can easily make small adjustments such as changing the font size of that paragraph mark, or reducing paragraph spacing on the paragraph mark, to keep it from flowing on to the next page. This example is also a good one for discussing ways in which to keep formatting simple. Say that you need that reduced paragraph mark at the bottom of several pages in the document. If so, ask yourself why. If it’s always for the paragraph that follows the table, do you actually need one? There must be a paragraph mark following a table, but it doesn’t have to be empty. So, for example, if a new page starts after each table, you might be able to include Page Break Before formatting in the heading style that follows each table rather than creating space for a paragraph mark into which you can place a page break. The next section, “Using Line and Page Break Options to Manage Layout,” discusses line and page break options. Before moving on, however, we need to consider an important point about working with line spacing. The type of line spacing you choose can have an enormous effect on the usability of your document, and is particularly important when you’re creating content for others to use. As shown in Figure 7-13, three different types of line spacing are available.
Figure 7-13 L ne spac ng opt ons n Word.
Since you obviously see six options in Figure 7-13, you might be wondering if numbers just aren’t my strong suit. Actually, the first three options (single, 1.5, and double) are all types of multiple line spacing.
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The At Least line spacing setting is measured in points. This is a good setting to use when you want to specify the line spacing in points, but don’t want to constrict spacing in cases such as when someone needs to insert a graphic inline with text or increase the font size for a paragraph. The downside to At Least line spacing is that it allows your document users to adjust layout more easily as needed for their own customizations. However, reducing font size is likely to cause formatting complications for users because line spacing set this way won’t reduce to accommodate the font. So, your decision on whether to use this option depends on who the document is for and how it will be used.
n
The Exactly setting is also measured in points. This is the most common setting used when someone specifies line spacing other than single or double, particularly in cases such as creating a template from a specification provided by a graphic designer. In my experience, designers often measure in points and will provide a point size for text and another for line spacing. If you deliberately want users of your document or template to run into formatting trouble if they do things such as insert an inline graphic in a paragraph or change font size, then set line spacing exactly. Otherwise, use either the aforementioned At Least setting, or the Multiple setting described next. Note L ne spac ng opt ons measured n po nts can be set to measurements as prec se as one-twent eth of a po nt
n
As already mentioned, single, 1.5, and double are all types of multiple line spacing. For example, if you select Multiple line spacing and set the value to 1, the result is identical to selecting Single line spacing. Multiple line spacing measures in number of lines to values as precise as one-hundredth of a line. I prefer to stick with multiple line spacing wherever possible because I can be as precise as needed (to match a setting that is comparable to a specification from a designer, for example) but still give users the flexibility they need to customize content without causing formatting and layout issues.
Using Line and Page Break Options to Manage Layout In the Paragraph dialog box, the Line And Page Breaks tab too often goes unnoticed. But if you don’t like having to add and remove page breaks throughout your document every time you change content, you’ll definitely want to give it a look.
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The two most important settings for page layout of those shown in Figure 7-14 are Page Break Before and Keep With Next. It’s more common to use these features in styles because they’re most often needed consistently throughout the document. But, as with any formatting tool, when it’s the simplest solution for the formatting you need, use it in whatever way will be the least amount of work for you and other users of the document, and for Word.
Figure 7-14 Pag nat on opt ons appear at the top of the L ne And Page Breaks tab
n the Paragraph d a og box. n
The most common reason for using Keep With Next is to avoid orphaning a heading at the bottom of a page. For this reason, this option (along with the Keep Lines Together setting) is included by default in the built-in heading styles (Heading 1 through Heading 9).
n
The Page Break Before command can save you an enormous amount of time spent fussing with manual page breaks, such as when your top-level heading always needs to start on a new page. But it can also be handy in a single instance where you always need to ensure that a particular piece of content starts on a new page. For example, you might add this formatting to a specific paragraph containing an image that you want to make sure always appears at the top of a page regardless of how content flow changes in the document. Similarly, you can apply this formatting in the first cell of the first row of a table to ensure that the table starts on its own page. When using this setting, however, you should be aware that, unlike when you use a manual page break character, spacing before the paragraph is respected in paragraphs that use the Page Break Before setting. This is as important to keep in mind for instances when you want to retain that space as for those when you need to remove the space for consistent top-of-page formatting.
Note When v ew ng formatt ng marks n your document, you’ not ce that paragraphs that
nc ude Keep W th Next, Keep L nes Together, or Page Break Before formatt ng d sp ay a (nonpr nt ng) sma , b ack square n the marg n to the eft of the paragraph
See Also Tables, the great document organizer, can help you go much further than character and paragraph formatting when you need to simplify a complex page layout. And you can often use paragraph formatting within tables to make that layout work even better. You’ll learn all about using tables for layout in Chapter 9.
Chapter 8
Styles
In this chapter, you will: n
Explore the style environment in Word 2010 and Word for Mac 2011
n
Discover best practices for creating effective sets of styles in your documents
n
Get tips for working more effectively with paragraph, character, and linked styles
n
Discover the benefits of document defaults
n
Simplify your work with lists
n
Work more easily with table styles
n
Learn to manage styles more effectively
Sure, you can create documents in Microsoft Word without making use of styles. You can also go grocery shopping without a basket, travel across town without transportation, or do laundry without detergent. But chances are that you wouldn’t work harder than necessary, spend extra time without added benefit, or embark on a task that’s likely to have inferior results if tools are available to improve the experience. That same philosophy is a good one to apply when it comes to creating documents. Styles exist to save you time, simplify your work, and help keep your formatting more consistent and professional. They’re also integrated into many features, and they’re always in your documents whether you make use of them or not. So, trust me—you don’t want to be the guy with holes in your shoes and a bus pass in your pocket, wearing dirty clothes despite the full detergent box on the washing machine, and balancing boxes on your head while walking past a row of carts in the grocery store. It’s time to talk about tips, tools, and best practices for maximizing the power of styles in your Word documents. Not much is new for styles in Word 2010 or Word for Mac 2011, but plenty of new tools were introduced in Word 2007 and Word 2008 for Mac that might still be new to you. So, we’ll look at key features like the Quick Styles gallery and Manage Styles tools. We’ll also examine best practices for some longstanding features that are often ignored or misused, such as base styles and the style for the following paragraph. And we’ll dispel a couple of myths while we’re on this subject, including all the reasons not to use Normal style in your documents (in case you are wondering, there are none).
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For Mac Users In Word for Mac 2011, you have most of the same capabilities for creating and modifying styles that are available in Word 2010. However, when it comes to managing styles, there is no sugarcoating the fact that your options are more limited than your Windows counterparts, and those limitations will be addressed in this chapter. However, one new feature that’s exclusive to Word 2011 does help you manage some aspects of styles far more easily: visual styles. New and very cool visual styles tools include style guides and direct formatting guides that are designed to help you more easily manage and troubleshoot the styles in use in your Print Layout view documents. See Also Learn about Word 2011 visual styles in “Inspecting Your Styles,” the final section of this chapter.
Chapter Assumptions Because you are an experienced Microsoft Office user, this chapter assumes you know what a Word style is and the basics of how to apply, create, and edit styles. It also assumes that you know what a document theme is and how themes are integrated with Word styles. This chapter focuses on best practices and more advanced tasks, such as creating effective sets of styles for you and others to use, and managing styles effectively. See Also If you’re not already familiar with document themes or how they are integrated with Word styles, see Chapter 5, “Doing More with Less Work: Key Cross-Program Features.” If you want more basic-level information, see the section “Who Will Benefit Most from This Book” in the introduction.
Understanding the Style Environment Today On the Home tab, in the Styles group, you’ll see the Styles gallery (shown in Figure 8-1), which contains paragraph and character Quick Styles. These Quick Styles are just styles like any other, except that they are specified to appear in this gallery. So, ideally, Quick Styles (the contents of the Styles gallery) comprise the set of styles that are designed for use in the active document or template.
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Figure 8-1 The Sty es ga ery on the Home tab.
Word gives you the option to add any paragraph or character style in your document to the Quick Style list for that document. In addition, you can remove any style from the Quick Style list without deleting it from the document. You can also save the set of Quick Styles in the gallery for reuse in other documents, as addressed in the section “Using Quick Style Sets,” later in this chapter. To remove a style from the gallery, right-click and then click Remove From Quick Style Gallery. Doing so does not delete or otherwise affect the style. To add a style to the gallery, select the Add To Quick Style list option when creating or modifying a style through the applicable dialog box. Or, in Word 2010, do one of the following: n
When you create a new style on screen, the style is automatically added to the Styles gallery.
n
Click the drop-down arrow that appears when you hover your mouse pointer on a style name in the Styles pane, and then click Add To Quick Styles Gallery, as shown in Figure 8-2.
Figure 8-2 Add a sty e to the Sty es ga ery from the drop down menu ava ab e for each sty e n the
Word 2010 Sty es pane.
Note that when a style is already included in the gallery, the option to remove it also appears on the menu shown in Figure 8-2.
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Creating Styles on Screen The Apply Styles pane in Word 2010, shown in Figure 8-3, contains the Style Name box (formerly called the Style box) that was available on the Formatting toolbar in versions prior to Word 2007. The familiar shortcut Ctrl+Shift+S opens and activates this pane. Once you’ve opened it, use the X at the top of the pane to close it. This pane can float or dock, and it contains options to reapply the active style, access the Modify Style dialog box, or open the Styles pane.
Figure 8-3 The App y Sty es pane
In Word 2011, the Formatting toolbar is still around and still contains the Style box you probably already know. As in earlier versions, you can create a style on screen in either Word 2010 or Word 2011 by adding your desired formatting to a paragraph, typing a name for the style in the Style Name box (Style box in Word 2011), and then pressing Enter (Return). Note, however, that when you do this in Word 2011, the style is not automatically added to the Styles gallery as it is in Word 2010. In both Word 2010 and Word 2011, it’s also important to note that styles created this way are paragraph styles rather than linked paragraph and character styles. See Also To learn how to create a linked style on screen in Word 2010, see the following sidebar, “Using the Shortcut Menu Style Options in Word 2010.” To learn about linked styles for use in both Word 2010 and Word 2011, see the section “Understanding Linked Styles,” later in this chapter.
Tip For those who ke to use the Sty e st that now appears n the App y Sty es pane n Word 2010, but don’t want to re nqu sh the rea estate, you can add the Sty e st on ts own to the Qu ck Access Too bar or even the R bbon To do th s, on the Custom ze Qu ck Access Too bar (or Custom ze R bbon) tab of the Word Opt ons d a og box, n the Choose Commands From st, se ect Commands Not In The R bbon Th s opt on s named Sty e and appears n the st w th an -beam cursor con
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Using the Shortcut Menu Style Options in Word 2010 Word 2010 provides an additional option for creating styles on screen, applying styles, or updating styles. When you right-click a paragraph (unless the text is in a table), you see the Styles command. Point to this option for quick access to the Styles gallery and several style-related commands, as shown in Figure 8-4.
Figure 8-4 Sty es ga ery opt ons ava ab e from the r ght-c ck shortcut menu n Word 2010
When you create a style on screen, using the entry point shown in Figure 8-4 to save the selection as a new Quick Style is nice, because it gives you access to the Create New Style From Formatting dialog box where you customize style attributes you can’t access on screen—such as changing the style for the following paragraph. Additionally, when you create a new style using this entry point, it is a linked style by default. But be careful when you use this shortcut to access other style options. Accessing the commands beneath the gallery is a bit unwieldy, and it can be easy to accidentally apply an unwanted style. When it’s convenient to use, go for it. But note that every option available here is also available elsewhere. For example, Save Selection As New Quick Style is available from the bottom of the Styles pane and Update To Match Selection is available from the drop-down list for each style in the Styles pane. See Also To learn about linked styles, see the section “Understanding Linked Styles,” later in this chapter.
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Exploring the Styles Pane Open the Styles pane from the Home tab, in the Styles group. In Word 2010, click the dialog launch icon. In Word 2011, click the paragraph icon that appears in that group. (Word 2010 users can also use the keyboard shortcut Ctrl+Shift+Alt+S to toggle the Styles pane open or closed.) As always, just click a style name in this pane to apply it to the selection. Or, as shown earlier in Figure 8-2, click the arrow that appears beside a style name (when you hover your mouse pointer on the name) to expand a menu of shortcut options. n
In Word 2010, these options include updating the style to match the selection, selecting all instances of the style in the document, modifying the style, deleting the style, and adding or removing the style from the Quick Styles gallery. There are two small bugs to note for the Word 2010 Styles pane as of the date this chapter was written. ❑
If you apply a style through any entry point other than the Styles pane, the selected style will not update in the Styles pane until you change your selection in the document (by starting to type in the paragraph, for example).
❑
When you expand the menu for a style in the Styles pane, the Select All and Remove All options incorrectly indicate that there is no data available. Once you use one of these options during the current editing session in that document, the related data (that is, the number of instances of the style that are applied in the document) becomes visible for all styles in use in the main document story. Note, however, that styles in use in other document stories (such as the header and footer or footnotes) will indicate that they are not currently in use even when they are.
n
In Word 2011, this menu includes the option to delete or modify the style, or to update the style to match the current selection. Though this menu doesn’t include the Select All Instances option in Word 2011, the Select All button on the Styles pane in Word 2011 will select all paragraphs that use the same style as the current selection for your Print Layout view documents. Caution As of th s wr t ng, n Pub sh ng Layout v ew, the Se ect A opt on n the Sty es
pane appears to se ect a text boxes regard ess of the r formatt ng It’s actua y not seect ng them at a — t’s se ect ng the paragraph marks on the document ayer (the n ne text ayer that’s not v s b e n Pub sh ng Layout v ew) Because the text boxes you use n Pub sh ng Layout v ew are anchored n those paragraph marks, they appear to be se ected when th s happens In other words, th s feature sn’t go ng to he p you w th your Pub sh ng Layout v ew documents
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From the Styles pane, you can also click the New Style button (which appears at the bottom of the pane in Word 2010 and the top in Word 2011) to create a new style using the dialog box. And you can customize which styles appear in the pane. n
To customize which styles appear in this pane in Word 2010, on the bottom of the pane, click Options. The dialog box that opens lets you specify the list of styles to show, sort order, and additional options as shown in Figure 8-5.
Figure 8-5 The Sty e Pane Opt ons d a og box n Word 2010. n
In Word 2011, use the pop-up menu at the bottom of the pane to select which styles to show. This list provides the same options as in Word 2010, including the recommended list (default), styles in use, styles in current document, and all styles. Unfortunately, the default recommended order is the order recommended by the Word creators—not by you. The recommended styles list and recommended order can be edited in Word 2010 but not in Word 2011. So, you might prefer to select a different option. For example, when creating a template for others to use, if you employ each essential style in sample content within the template, you can then use the In Current Document option to display only styles that are used in the active document. However, remember that the Styles gallery on the Home tab (at least in Print Layout view documents) might be the easiest access point for the styles in the documents and templates you create for others. So, it may be more important to customize which styles appear in that gallery than in the Styles pane.
Note For exper enced users of e ther Word 2010 or Word 2011 who are nterested n ventur ng
nto the XML under the hood of your documents, you can contro the recommended sty es st and ts order (among many other aspects of sty e management) us ng some bas c Office Open XML
See Also To learn about the basics of editing and managing your documents under the hood, check out Chapter 24, “Office Open XML Essentials.” If you’re already familiar with the basics, you can jump to the section of that chapter titled “Edit Styles in styles.xml” to learn how to edit styles and manage the recommended style list using Office Open XML.
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See Also In Word 2010, the drop-down list for the style includes additional options for managing styles in your document, and the Styles pane includes options such as access to the Style Inspector and the Manage Styles dialog box. In Word 2011, the Style pane includes access to style guides and direct formatting guides. To learn about all of these features, see the section “Managing Styles,” later in this chapter.
For Mac Users Unfortunately, the Styles gallery is not visible when you’re working in Publishing Layout view. Although this fact appears to send a message that styles are less important to documents in this view, that couldn’t be further from the truth. You can still open the Styles pane and use the Style dialog box. And you should. The benefits of styles are the same for both your Print Layout view and Publishing Layout view documents. In fact, chances are that the formatting in your publication documents (that is, those you create in Publishing Layout view) may be more complex than in your word processing documents (those you create in Print Layout view). So, consider styles a necessity. You might think you can’t access or edit styles in this view, if you’ve tried to do so when no text object was selected (or if multiple text boxes were selected). When working in Publishing Layout view, you can apply and edit styles only when either a single text box or text within a text box is selected.
Creating Effective Style Sets In Word today, the term style sets has two definitions. It refers to Quick Style Sets that you can save from the styles in the Styles gallery, but it also still refers to what it always has— designing styles in your document to work together. Creating a style without giving any thought to how it will be used or how it will interact with other styles is quite likely to do more harm than good. To enable styles to do their job properly, create or customize document styles as a set.
How Do I Know Which Styles Are Okay to Use in My Organization? One of the most common errors made by software trainers and tech support staff is failing to explain the reasons behind restrictions or limitations in the company’s policy on software use. This action (or rather, inaction) often causes users to misinterpret the restriction as a software limitation and can lead to misdiagnosis of document problems. Some common examples of this scenario are based in a few very popular style myths.
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Many companies don’t like users to edit Normal style because changes to that style will affect all styles based on it. Additionally, a company may prefer that employees use only custom styles that it created to help keep the look of documents consistent throughout the company. The fact is that these recommendations aren’t always the best. For example, why create a bunch of custom styles that add bulk to your document instead of customizing builtin styles that offer additional benefits? But the bigger problem is that users are told the limitations (such as to never edit Normal style or use built-in Word styles), but they’re not told why. So, the misinterpretations grow and circulate, and myths begin to be taken as truths. These myths include the common fallacies that editing Normal style, using built-in Word styles, or including custom styles from outside the company in a document can cause document corruption. As a result, users misinterpret what is going on in their documents, misunderstand fundamental concepts of Word, and ultimately have a much more difficult time than necessary creating and editing their documents. And, when these misconceptions spread to the help desk and the training staff, things can really get messy. See Also When to edit Normal style and when to use built-in or custom styles are discussed later in this chapter. For information on what document corruption really is and how to diagnose it, see the section “Monitoring the Health of Your Document” in Chapter 6, “Building Easy-to-Manage, Robust Documents.”
Considering Built-In vs. Custom Styles Built-in styles are those that are available to a new Word document by default, before any custom styles have been created. A new, default Word 2010 document contains a whopping 264 styles before you even get started (273 in Word 2011), between those actually stored in the document and those that are added as you use applicable features (such as a header or a footnote). As you can imagine, the number of built-in styles alone is a good reason to use them when they will work for your needs. After all, why add more styles to a document when you can just edit the existing ones? In the spirit of the ”lazy operator” introduced in Chapter 1, you’ll get along best with Word when you don’t add anything to a document that doesn’t need to be there.
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Let’s take a closer look at those built-in styles. The total number of built-in styles breaks down as follows: n
93 paragraph styles This category accounts for the different style count in Word 2011. An additional nine paragraph styles are included in Word 2011 for Notebook Layout View documents. The styles are named Note Level 1 through Note Level 9.
n
24 character styles
n
4 list styles
n
143 table styles
In Word 2003, a default Word document had 154 built-in styles available. The additional styles were added as of Word 2007 and Word 2008 for Mac. Of the 110 additional built-in styles added in those versions, 98 are table styles, 6 are character styles, and 6 are paragraph styles. However, before you start screaming that this is crazy and you don’t want 264 styles in your documents, consider the following: n
You—and anyone for whom you create documents—never need to see or interact with any styles other than those you want to use.
n
The built-in styles that exist in the documents have been designed into the program— their existence does no harm.
n
A great many built-in styles work with features you just might want to use one day, such as reference tables or captions.
n
Some built-in styles have unique properties that can save you time, such as the ability to generate a table of contents, cross-references, or a multilevel outline list from the Heading 1–9 styles.
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In Word 2010 and Word 2011, only character and paragraph styles appear in the Styles pane and Styles gallery, so you don’t have to concern yourself with the 143 table styles or 4 list styles until you need them. List styles appear only in the Multilevel List gallery, and table styles only in the Table Styles gallery. The only negative there is that you might occasionally miss having the list or table styles you want to use handy in the Styles pane. But if you know the style name, you can still type it in the Apply Styles pane (Style box on the Formatting toolbar in Word 2011) to apply it in your document.
So, should you always use built-in styles rather than create your own? Of course not. There will be times when creating your own styles makes sense. The best practice is to first consider whether you can modify built-in styles for your needs, particularly when it comes to paragraph and character styles.
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Because many built-in paragraph styles have additional properties for working with Word features, as discussed earlier, there’s an important added benefit to sticking with them. Common built-in paragraph styles are also named intuitively, such as Body Text, Heading 1–9, Header, Footer, or Footnote Text. And then there’s the issue of Normal style, which is applied to text by default. If the majority of your document is regular text, why do the extra work of applying a style to every paragraph when it already uses one? Normal style is designed to use document defaults (which are discussed in the sidebar, “Working with Document Defaults,” later in this chapter), so it’s simple to update and can save you a lot of work when put to its intended use.
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The most common reason to create your own styles is because a unique style naming convention is the most logical for users of the document or template you’re creating. However, using style aliases can be a good alternative to adding styles to the document. See Also For more on this subject, see the upcoming sidebar, “Creating Style Aliases.”
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Word provides more character styles than you probably need, such as the styles with names that are more evocative of perfume marketing than document formatting (Intense Reference or Subtle Reference, for example). Some character styles that might seem to be named nonintuitively—such as Strong for bold, or Emphasis for italics—take on those less direct names to make them more easily editable. For example, if you wanted to change all instances of bolded text in your document to underlined, the name Strong would still make sense if you changed the formatting contained in that style to be underline instead of bold. If that character style were named Bold, however, and you changed the formatting to underline, that would hardly be logical for other users of your document. Also remember that many character styles, such as Hyperlink, Page Number, and Footnote Reference, are required by Word features. See Also Learn more about working with character styles in the following section, “Benefits of Using Character Styles.”
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Despite the 143 table styles, I usually create my own custom table styles rather than editing built-in styles. This is because most of the built-in table styles contain more formatting than I would include in a table style, and it’s more work to undo existing formatting in these styles than to create my own, clean table styles. See Also Learn more about table styles in the section “Working with Table Styles,” later in this chapter.
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There are so few list styles that it often makes sense to create your own. Of course, if an existing list contains much of the formatting you need, there’s certainly more sense in customizing it than in creating your own. The goal of all styles, after all, is to save you work.
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See Also Learn more about working with list styles and multilevel lists in the section “Mastering Lists,” later in this chapter. Caution There’s a funky tt e bug assoc ated w th st sty es n both Word 2010 and Word 2011 that you m ght run across when us ng the Manage Sty es d a og box (Sty e d a og box n Word 2011) In fact, t’s a bug that’s been around for severa vers ons of Word for W ndows and has recent y returned to Word for Mac
If the sty es Head ng 1–9 are used n your document, when you scro through the sty e st on the Ed t tab of the Manage Sty es d a og box (or, n Word 2011, the A Sty es st n the Sty es d a og box), stay away from the st sty e named Art c e/Sect on un ess you mean to use t If you just scro over the sty e, t w automat ca y be app ed to the head ng sty es n your document—even f you cance out of the d a og box If you aren’t aware of th s when t happens, t m ght seem ke the ev s at work and even make you wary of the document But have no fear— t’s a harm ess tt e bug Just undo the ast act on (Ctr +Z n Word 2010 and Command+Z n Word 2011) after you c ose the d a og box to remove that st formatt ng from your sty es
Creating Style Aliases If you’ve ever tried to rename a built-in style and your effort resulted in your new style name being appended to the existing style name following a comma, you actually created an alias, or alternate name, for your style. You can type an alias in the Apply Style pane and then press Enter to apply the style. Built-in styles can’t be renamed, but you can create an alias for any style (built-in or custom) in the Modify Style dialog box. To do this, just type a comma at the end of the style name, followed by the alias you want. With built-in styles, replacing the style name in the Modify Style dialog box will have the same effect as appending an alias to the existing name. The replacement name becomes the alias. Using style aliases can be a good timesaver when you want to apply common styles quickly but don’t want to use up keyboard shortcuts. Style aliases are also a good alternative to adding custom styles when the only reason to do so is to use a unique naming convention for the styles in a document or template. For those who use Microsoft Visual Basic for Applications (VBA) to interact with documents, it might be useful to know that VBA sees the style name as the entire name, including the alias. So, for example, if you append the alias H1 to your Heading 1 style and then try to access that style through VBA, you need to refer to the style name as “Heading 1, H1”; the style name “Heading 1” in that case will not be recognized. See Also If you don’t yet use VBA and are curious about it, or if you’re just getting started with macros and would like to learn how to do more, explore Chapter 23, “VBA Primer.”
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Benefits of Using Character Styles As discussed earlier in this chapter, some character styles are necessary because they work with Word features, such as the Footnote Reference or Page Number style. But if you just want to bold occasional words, for example, why use a character style rather than direct formatting? The fact is that it’s often not necessary to use character styles in these cases, and doing so has no real benefits. Character styles used to offer different functionality from direct character formatting and could be retained more consistently when changes were made to underlying paragraph styles. However, in recent versions of Word, this has become a nonissue, because direct character formatting and character styles have similar retention behavior. However, using character styles for that occasional bold word can be helpful in some cases, simply because those styles have a name and can be edited. For example, if you bold every instance of a client’s name throughout a long document and later decide that you want those to be underlined instead of bold, it’s much easier to make that change if you used a character style. If you used the Replace feature in that case to search for all bold text and replace with underline, you would also change any bold text that is part of the paragraph style, such as headings. However, if you have a character style for bold that you use in those cases, you can simply edit the style to make that change.
What Determines Whether Font Formatting Is Retained When I Change Styles? Have you ever wondered why font formatting is sometimes kept and sometimes not when you apply a new paragraph style to a selection? The answer is simple percentages. If you apply direct font formatting to up to 50 percent of a paragraph, the formatting will be retained. However, direct font formatting applied to 51 percent or more will not. The idea is that, if you apply font formatting directly to just part of a paragraph (such as changing the color of a single word), you probably want to keep that text unique so that it stands out from the paragraph. But if you’ve applied font formatting directly to most or the entire paragraph, it’s more likely that you want the formatting of all text to change when you apply a new style. To retain unique font formatting on more than half the paragraph regardless of paragraph style changes, use a character style.
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Making Effective Use of Base and Following Styles There is more to consider when creating styles than what the formatting will look like when it’s applied in your document. If the styles are not intuitive and easy to use, it doesn’t much matter how they would look in the document. The more you consider ease of use, the more likely styles will be used properly in your documents, so the more likely your documents will look consistent and remain healthy in the long term. Two of the most important components for keeping styles easy to manage in your documents are also two of the most often overlooked: base styles, and style for the following paragraph.
Working with Document Defaults Document defaults are an important factor in base styles, as discussed in the section that follows. Understanding document defaults can help you manage base styles much more easily. In Word 2010, in the Manage Styles dialog box (accessible from the bottom of the Styles pane), you see the Set Defaults tab shown in Figure 8-6. From this tab, you can edit the default font and paragraph formatting settings for the active document or templates.
Figure 8-6 The Set Defau ts tab of the Manage Sty es d a og box n Word 2010
This dialog box is not available in Word 2011. However, in both Word 2010 and Word 2011, you can set font formatting defaults from the bottom of the Font dialog box— which you might recall from earlier versions of Word as well.
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The ability to also manage defaults for paragraph formatting was added for Windows users in Office 2007. This additional functionality gives you quick and easy access to manage most of the defaults that are stored in your base styles without having to modify styles directly.
Using Base Styles Most styles have another style upon which they are based. A style that uses a base style contains all the formatting settings in the base style (other than those you specify not to include) as well as its own settings. Whenever a base style is changed, any styles based upon it change as well. The advantage of using a base style is that it saves time when you’re editing document formatting and keeps styles consistent. For this reason, Normal style is usually considered the best base style for most of your styles. n
Normal is based on document defaults, not a base style, so it will change only when you edit it explicitly or when you change the default font or paragraph formatting for the document or attached template.
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When you have a consistent base style, such as Normal, you simply change it to distribute the change automatically throughout the document styles. For example, if your body text size is 12 points and you want to make it 10 points, simply make that change in the document defaults and it will update in Normal style. Any style based on Normal style (that doesn’t have font size defined in its style definition) will automatically change to reflect the new font size of its base style (Normal).
Normal is provided to be a base style, which is the only reason it’s better than any other style for this purpose. And, because Normal is based on document defaults, it’s easy to edit. I’ve never found a reason to create a custom style to act as a base style. But if you prefer to create your own base style, there’s not likely to be any harm in it. However, to avoid unwanted chain reactions when you edit formatting, make sure that your base style does not have a base style of its own. To create a paragraph style that has no base style:
1. In the Styles pane, click the New Style command to open the Create Style Based On Formatting dialog box (New Style dialog box in Word 2011).
2. After you select Paragraph or Linked as the Style Type, you can select the option “(no style)” from the top of the Style Based On list.
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Caution Keep n m nd that base sty es are des gned to he p s mp fy your work when you need
to ed t formatt ng It’s not a good dea to create an ent re set of sty es w thout base sty es When you do th s, you rob yourse f of a key ease-of-use benefit of sty es funct ona ty
For style types other than paragraph and linked styles, base styles are a bit different. n
Character styles can use base styles. These styles are typically based on a character style named Default Paragraph Font, which essentially means that any properties not explicitly set in the character style will match the formatting of the underlying paragraph. The alternative to using a base style for character styles is the “(underlying properties)” option at the top of the Style Based On list, which refers to the font properties included in the document defaults. However, this option has the same effect as using Default Paragraph Font, so you gain nothing by taking the time to change this setting.
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All table styles have base styles. Table Normal is the default base style for table styles and the best to use, unless you have a specific reason to base one style on another. Similar to Normal paragraph style, Table Normal is based on default table formatting (that is, no borders or shading, cells top aligned, left and right cell margins of 0.08 inches [1.9 millimeters]). All other built-in table styles are based on Table Normal.
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All list styles are based on the style named No List. However, unlike other style types, list styles do not give you the option to change the base style. When you create custom list styles, they are automatically based on No List. For the logic behind this, see the section “Mastering Lists,” later in this chapter.
Note The defau t base sty es for character, tab e, and st sty es—that s, Defau t Paragraph Font, Tab e Norma , and No L st, respect ve y—are the on y three bu t- n sty es n Word that can’t be custom zed You may occasionally want to base one style on another. For example, you might want to base a subheading style on the heading style, so that a change to the properties of the heading style (such as font) would be updated automatically in the related subheading style. But tread carefully here, because basing one style on another is the quickest route to the “circular based on list” error, discussed in the following sidebar.
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Why Do I Get an Error Stating That a Style Has a Circular Based On List? When you create a paragraph style on screen, remember that the base style is the original style applied to the paragraph from which you create your new style. So, if the paragraph was formatted with Normal style before you added formatting and created your new style, Normal will be the base style. Similarly, if the paragraph was formatted with Heading 1 style or List Bullet style before you made your changes and created a new style, that will be the base style. Paying attention to the original paragraph style before you add formatting is probably the most important step you can take when creating a style. Keep in mind that if you change the base style later, any formatting in your style that came from the base style will be changed as well—so you’ll have to do extra work to reset the formatting you want. Creating styles without paying attention to the base style can lead you to think the formatting has a mind of its own, because changes you make to one style automatically make uninvited changes to others based on that style. The most common cause of this problem is when someone creates several styles on screen from the same paragraph. For example, you format the paragraph and create one style; change the formatting and create a second style; and so on. Each style you’ve created is now based on the style before that. It creates a chain of base styles so that when you make changes to the first, the change ripples through all subsequent styles in your based-on chain. Doing this also often leads to the error message “This style has a circular based on list,” which occurs when the base style chain leads back to the style itself, so that two styles are based on each other. Most often, the warning occurs when you attempt to create a circular relationship, so you can avoid it. However, if you get this error message on existing style settings, set the base style to Normal to break the cycle. Before you make this change to a style, however, note the formatting contained in the style so that you can replace any formatting lost by editing the base style.
Using Style for the Following Paragraph This paragraph style feature is one of my favorites, and it amazes me how often it’s ignored. Style for the following paragraph means the style you get when you press Enter (Return) to start a new paragraph.
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By default for most styles, when you press Enter, you get the same style as you used in the preceding paragraph. (Some styles, such as Heading 1–9, are followed by Normal style by default.) However, when you create or edit styles, you can change the Style For Following Paragraph setting as appropriate to simplify workflow. For example, if every page in your presentation template starts with a Heading 1 paragraph, followed by a Heading 2 paragraph, followed by a Heading 3 paragraph, why not set that up to be automatic? You can customize this setting when you create a style through the Create New Style From Formatting (New Style) dialog box, or change this setting for any paragraph style through the Modify Style dialog box. To do the latter:
1. In the Styles pane, click the arrow beside the style you want to change and then click Modify.
2. In the Modify Style dialog box, select the style you want to follow your style from the list labeled Style For Following Paragraph. The page heading example given earlier is the most common use for this feature. Another good example appears in the template I’m using to write this book, which was created by Microsoft Press. When I apply the style that’s a placeholder for a numbered figure that will appear in the chapter and then press Enter, I get the figure caption style. That’s a nice timesaver when there are a lot of captioned figures. It’s also a perfect use for this feature because those styles are always used together and always in the same order. As with any feature, take the time to customize the style for the following paragraph only in examples like these, where it will simplify something for document users. It’s a common mistake to overuse this setting, adding confusion and complication rather than simplifying workflow; the example I see most often is setting each lower level of a multilevel list to follow the previous level. That doesn’t simplify anything—in fact, it can complicate use of the outline-numbered styles—because you won’t always want the lower level style to follow the higher level. Outlines frequently have body text between numbered paragraphs or consecutive paragraphs on the same level. Essentially, change the style for the following paragraph only where styles will be consistently used in succession.
Understanding Linked Styles Have you ever selected just a few words in a paragraph and then applied a paragraph style, only to have the style apply as if it were a character style—in other words, just to the selected text? If so, you were using a linked style.
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In Word 2010, you see this additional style type in the Styles pane and as an option when you create styles through the dialog box. Linked styles are just paragraph styles that you can also apply as character styles (that is, apply only the font formatting from the style to just part of a paragraph). For Windows users, linked styles were first exposed in Word 2007. Before that, you could use built-in linked styles as both paragraph and character styles (such as the styles Heading 1–9), but there was no visual indication in Word of which styles were linked, and you could not create your own linked styles. In Word for Mac, this is still the case with Word 2011. In the Styles pane, notice that paragraph styles display a paragraph symbol, and character styles display the letter a to represent a character. In Word 2010, linked styles display an icon that includes both the character and paragraph symbol. Nearly half of all built-in paragraph styles in Word 2010 and Word 2011 are actually linked styles. Note One more tt e sty e-re ated t p for Word 2010 VBA users f you check your document sty es by type n VBA, you’ see 93 paragraph sty es as noted ear er If you check the number of nked sty es, t w nd cate zero Word 2010 VBA nc udes a constant for the nked sty e type but recogn zes those sty es as paragraph sty es See Also As noted earlier, experienced Microsoft Office users who are curious about VBA— such as if you’re interested in making the move from recorded to written macros—can learn all the basics you need to get started in Chapter 23.
Why Does My Document Contain Char and Para Styles That I Didn’t Create? If you notice that your document contains styles with Char or Para in their names, it might be time to start using the current file formats. It used to be the case—and still can be with binary (legacy file format) documents—that linked styles could become unlinked, which generates a style named for an existing document style along with a Char or Para suffix. This bug was fixed in Word 2007 and should not occur if you’re using the Office Open XML Formats. But it can still, on occasion, crop up if you open binary documents in earlier versions. While this bug most often occurs in documents with problematic formatting, it’s important to note that it is not indicative of document or style corruption. If you do see this issue in a document, here is the scoop.
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If you insert content into the document that causes a conflict in the definition of a linked style, the style can become unlinked, generating this additional Char or Para style. For example, if you have a linked style in Document A that is applied as a paragraph style, and the same style name with different formatting in Document B, where it’s applied as a character style, you can cause this conflict when you copy the content from Document B into Document A. It’s a good idea to resolve these excess styles when they occur in the document to avoid user confusion, and you should take their appearance as a sign that you might need to review and clean up the document’s styles and formatting in general. When you delete a Char or Para style, however, its companion style might also be deleted. To avoid losing formatting, replace instances of that style with another style before deleting. When the style to be deleted is linked to a style you need, just replace instances of the style with any other style as a placeholder. Once you’ve cleaned up the Char or Para styles you don’t need, you can recreate your good style if it was also deleted, and then replace the placeholder style with your intended style. See Also For information on using the Replace feature with formatting and special characters, see the sidebar “Quickly Clean Up Bad Formatting Throughout a Document” in Chapter 6.
Creating Styles That Make User-Friendly Documents When you plan the styles for a document or template, keep in mind the following basic best practices for helping to ensure ease of use: n
Use styles, like any other Word feature, only when doing so will simplify your work and the document. The majority of documents and document content do benefit from styles, but creating a mass of styles just to avoid using any direct formatting is overcomplicating their purpose and will likely lead to overburdened documents that are difficult to edit and manage.
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Keep the set of styles as simple as possible. For example, don’t create three identical styles with different names just for content in separate parts of the document. Having too many styles confuses users and is just as likely to result in inconsistent formatting as not using styles at all.
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Use intuitive style names that will make sense to document users. When creating your own custom styles, use a consistent naming convention.
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Consider base styles, style for the following paragraph, and linked styles when developing your style set and check your completed set of styles for proper use of these three features.
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Be sure that you use theme-aware colors and fonts in your styles if you want them to be able to update when the document theme (or a theme element) is changed. See Also Using theme-aware formatting in styles is a critical element in creating effective templates. To learn about working with themes, including how to recognize theme-aware formatting in styles, see Chapter 5.
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Include only those paragraph and character styles you want users to access in the Quick Style list.
See Also To learn about using the recommended style features for controlling which styles users see, refer to the “Managing Styles” section later in this chapter.
Using Quick Style Sets Once you have customized the Styles gallery to contain only the styles you want users to access, you can save the styles in that gallery as a Quick Style Set for use in other documents. A Quick Style Set is a type of template that contains only paragraph and character styles. You can apply one to any document without changing the attached template. A Quick Style Set changes nothing but the makeup of paragraph and character styles in the document. Word comes with some built-in style sets as well, and you can find both these and your custom style sets in the same location. n
To access Quick Style Sets, on the Home tab, in the Styles group, click Change Styles (the Change Quick Style Settings icon in Word 2011).
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In Word 2010, point to Style Set to see the list shown in Figure 8-7. In Word 2011, the list of available Quick Style Sets is immediately visible when you click the Change Quick Style Settings icon.
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Figure 8-7 The Qu ck Sty e Set st, access b e from the Home tab, n the Sty es group.
In Word 2010, you can point to style set names to preview them in your document. Of course, you will see previews only if styles with the same names as those contained in the set are applied in the active view of your active document. In both Word 2010 and Word 2011, you can just click to apply the style set to your document. When you do, styles in your active document with the same names as those in the style set will update to take on the definition from the style set. Additional styles in the set that were not in your active document will also be added. Note If you nc ude a sty e n the Qu ck Sty e st (a k a , the Sty es ga ery) and t doesn’t appear
n that ga ery, t m ght be set to be h dden unt used If th s s the case, as ong as t’s nc uded n the Qu ck Sty e st (wh ch you can confirm by check ng that opt on n the Mod fy Sty e d a og box), t w be nc uded n your sty e set
See Also To learn about style settings such as Hidden Until Used, see the section “Managing Styles,” later in this chapter.
To save the contents of your active Quick Style list as a new Quick Style Set:
1. In Word 2010, on the Home tab, in the Styles group, click Change Styles and then point to Style Set. In Word 2011, on the Home tab, in the Styles group, click the Change Quick Style Settings button.
2. At the bottom of the Style Set gallery, click Save As Quick Style Set.
3. Name your new style set and then click Save. The new style set name will automatically appear in the Quick Style Set gallery.
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At the bottom of the Quick Style Set gallery, note that you also have options to reset the Quick Styles in your document to the defaults for the document or to the settings in the attached template. Quick Style Sets are a clean and simple option for when you need to provide consistent sets of styles for a group of users, without dictating layout or other template elements. Quick Style Sets can also be great for people who create content for multiple clients. For example, I often write for different Microsoft websites, many of which have their own style requirements. Instead of saving several document templates when all I need is a set of styles, I have separate Quick Style Sets to apply to blank documents when I’m writing content for different groups. See Also Because Quick Style Sets are saved as Word templates, you can edit them easily. To learn more about editing and managing Quick Style Set templates and other types of Word 2010 and Word 2011 templates, see Chapter 22, “The Many Faces of Microsoft Office Templates.”
For Windows Users In Figure 8-7, notice a few additional options that you get in the Word 2010 Change Styles menu. Colors and fonts listed here are just another access point to theme colors and theme fonts, available on the Page Layout tab. But the Paragraph Spacing option and the Set As Default option are both nice details to know about. When you change paragraph spacing here, it updates paragraph spacing in the document defaults. When you click Set As Default, it sets the current Quick Style Set in the document as the default for the active template. Note that if the document is based on something other than the Normal.dotm global template, the Set As Default option will include the template name, such as “Set as Default for XYZ Template.”
For Mac Users You don’t have access to the theme colors and theme fonts from the Change Quick Style Settings menu, but you do have access to it. Though only the main Themes gallery is on the Home tab in Print Layout view, you can configure your Ribbon to include the full Theme group on the Layout tab in Print Layout view.
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Additionally, as previously noted, you don’t have access to set document defaults for paragraph spacing. However, if you have a consistent base style (such as Normal style) for most of the styles in your document, you can edit the paragraph spacing in that style just once to quickly update it throughout all applicable styles as well. See Also To learn about configuring the Ribbon, see Chapter 1, “Welcome to Office 2010 and Office for Mac 2011.” To learn about working with themes, see Chapter 5. And for help setting up a base style to simplify updating the styles in your document, see the section “Using Base Styles,” earlier in this chapter.
Mastering Lists Do you believe bullets and numbering to be buggy or simply bewitched? Are you amazed (or, perhaps, appalled) at the ability of the lists in your documents to morph, seemingly at will, into unexpected forms? If so, you’ve come to the right place. Let’s face it—bullets and numbering in Word is not the most intuitive feature to use. Was that the understatement of the year? Perhaps. But the truth is that bullets and numbering in Word can be easy to use and quite manageable. If you don’t believe this yet, give it a chance. When you use the guidelines and best practices provided here, you just might be convinced.
Understanding Lists There are a number of different ways to create and apply lists in Word, which probably isn’t news to you. For our purposes, we’ll whittle it down to two essential types of lists and take it from there: single-level lists and multilevel lists. n
A multilevel list is one list that is set up for as many as nine levels of bullets or numbering. When you’re working in a multilevel list, you can apply the paragraph style associated with a particular level to apply that list level to the paragraph. You can also use the Tab and Shift+Tab keystrokes with your insertion point at the beginning of a numbered or bulleted paragraph to demote and promote the list level, or use the Increase Indent and Decrease Indent buttons on the Home tab, in the Paragraph group.
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Note In Word 2010 (and PowerPo nt 2010, by the way), you can a so use the keyboard
shortcut A t+Sh ft+ eft or r ght arrow to promote or demote paragraphs Un ke Tab and Sh ft+Tab, these shortcuts w change your st eve whether or not the act ve eve uses a bu et or number, as ong as t s part of the mu t eve st
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A collection of single-level lists is not the same thing as a multilevel list. If you set up several styles, for example, to each use bullets or numbering and look like a multilevel list, but there is no single entry point to edit all levels and you can’t use the methods mentioned in the preceding bullet to change list levels, you’re not working in a multilevel list. If you need more than one or two levels, create a multilevel list to simplify your work and save time. Multilevel lists also provide benefits such as automatically restarting the numbering of a lower level after a new higher-level paragraph. Word 2010 also gives you a nice shortcut (introduced in Word 2007) that enables you to set stepping indents for all nine levels at once.
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If you start a list on screen using AutoFormat As You Type settings, it is automatically a multilevel list. Sort of. It’s referred to as a hybrid list. That is, it can have up to nine levels of bullets and numbering with unique indents for each level. But those levels will all be attached to the same style. Note AutoFormat As You Type enab es you to type comb nat ons such as the number one, a per od, and a tab at the start of a paragraph before your text Then, when you press Enter (Return) for a new paragraph, t converts your typed number to a st and beg ns to automat ca y number paragraphs To use th s feature for bu ets, type an aster sk or a dash, fo owed by a tab character, at the start of the first paragraph for your st The idea behind this is that you might need a single-level list now but could end up needing additional levels later, so they’re there if you need them. Additionally, the reason for all levels being attached to the same paragraph style is that for lists that are simply the body content of a document, you might want the formatting of all levels to be the same other than the bullet or number and the indents. When you start a style this way, the List Paragraph style is attached to your list by default. You can then change the formatting of List Paragraph, such as changing paragraph or line spacing settings, to affect all levels of your list.
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A single-level list is exactly what it sounds like: one type of automatic numbering or bullets with one related set of indents. You can apply this as direct formatting or include it in a style.
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Many built-in styles are designed to work with lists. One purpose of Heading 1–9 styles is to work with multilevel lists. The styles named List Bullet and List Number are good choices for single-level lists. Or, when you need more than one multilevel list in the document, note that there are built-in styles for List Number and List Bullet through level five, as well as built-in styles named List through List 5. Additionally, List Continue through List Continue 5 are designed for paragraph text between bulleted or numbered paragraphs, so that you can have multiple levels of styled text to sit at the correct indent for a given level.
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A list style is not another type of list. It is, essentially, packaging for a multilevel list. That is, it’s a multilevel list that’s given a name so that it can be accessed and edited more easily. List styles can contain all of the same functionality as multilevel lists. The main difference is that a list style is named, so you can save it and share it. A multilevel list that is not part of a list style appears as though it can’t be modified. However, what that actually means might be different than it seems. Check out the following section for more information on this subject.
Simplifying Your Work with Lists The things that frustrate list users are often a result of the way Word might make you believe lists work. In software terminology, we’d say that the features are poorly exposed. In the real world, that just means the way you need to access and use these features isn’t intuitive; it can be confusing and misleading. But it doesn’t have to be. So, let’s cut through the confusion and tackle some of the most common list issues.
Using Key Best Practices to Create and Manage Lists Rule number one of simplifying list formatting is this: if it can be controlled by the list, it must be controlled by the list. This rule applies most often with indents and alignment, discussed in the list that follows. But it’s a good point to keep in mind regardless of what you’re doing with the list. Don’t go through paragraph formatting or a paragraph style to control what the list can do. Always use the list-related dialog boxes to apply any available formatting or settings for your list (such as customizing indents or attaching a style to a level of a multilevel list). Follow this one simple rule and even if you don’t read any further, you’ll start to like Word lists a little bit better. In addition to this essential rule for keeping your lists working correctly, keep the following points in mind:
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You can change bullet and text indents in the multilevel list dialog box (and, in Word 2011, the single-level list dialog boxes as well). But you can also change indents in the Paragraph dialog box or on the ruler, right? Nope. Word doesn’t give you any visual indication that it’s a problem to set indents for bulleted or numbered paragraphs through paragraph formatting, but just don’t do it. Remember, if formatting can be controlled by the list, it has to be controlled by the list or it’s unlikely to stick.
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For Windows users, the question of how to set indents for your list levels became especially confusing as of Word 2007, when indent settings moved out of the dialog box options where you customize single-level lists. It seemed logical then that you could just set indents as you do any paragraph formatting. But it’s not so. Right-click an automatic bullet or number in Word 2010, and you see the option Adjust List Indents, as shown in Figure 8-8.
Figure 8-8 The Adjust L st ndents d a og box
Notice that this dialog box has the same options that you used to have in the singlelevel list dialog boxes for setting indent behavior and number alignment within the list. For single-level lists in Word 2010, right-click is the only built-in way to access this dialog box. You can, however, add it to your Quick Access Toolbar, the Ribbon, or a custom keyboard shortcut. The important thing to remember here is just to use this dialog box to adjust indents and related settings for your list. Don’t use the ruler or the Paragraph dialog box, or your indents won’t stick under all circumstances. Note that when you click the Adjust List Indents command when working in a multilevel list or list style, Word opens the Define New Multilevel List dialog box. See Also Learn more about working with indents and alignment in lists in the two upcoming sidebars “Understanding Number Alignment and Text Indent” and “When I Use Center Paragraph Alignment, Automatic Numbering Is Not Correctly Aligned.”
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In Word 2011, the dialog boxes for working with all types of lists remain much the same as they have been for several versions (and are consistent with the Bullets And Numbering dialog box that Windows users know from Office 2003). As you see in Figure 8-9, the Bullets And Numbering dialog box includes tabs for single-level numbered and bulleted lists, outline numbered (multilevel) lists, and list styles. On each tab, you have a gallery and a Customize command through which you can configure list settings.
Figure 8-9 The Bu ets And Number ng d a og box n Word 2011.
Only the way you get to the features here differs from Word 2010 in terms of all best practices discussed in this chapter. The underlying concepts of how lists work in Word and how to keep them working properly for you are exactly the same. n
Do not set the Start At value for any level of your list, unless you have a specific requirement in your document to do so. When you set the Start At value, that number is no longer dynamic, so it will not change to accommodate changes in your list. I can’t tell you how many times someone has told me that the numbering in the document was corrupted because it didn’t update correctly. Of course there’s no corruption at all. Without fail, this happens either because someone faked numbered paragraphs at some point in the document (by typing in numbers rather than using the automatic list), or used the Start At value setting to specify the number. The Start At value is designed for cases when you specifically need to start the list somewhere other than at the beginning (such as if a document is split into multiple files and the list extends across those files). But don’t ever use this setting as a workaround because numbering isn’t updating correctly and you don’t know why. Instead, check the paragraphs that are supposedly part of the list to ensure that they all use automatic numbering and are part of the same list.
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Do not type numbering into the Number Format box in any list-related formatting dialog box. (In the Word 2010 Define New Multilevel List dialog box, this box is called Enter Formatting For Number, as you see in Figure 8-10.)
Figure 8-10 The Define New Mu t eve L st d a og box, shown n Word 2010. Not ce the Enter Formatt ng For Number box (ca ed Number Format n a other st re ated formatt ng d a og boxes).
When you select a number style from the Number Style list shown in Figure 8-10 (or the similar lists in the single-level list dialog boxes), it is added to the Formatting box as a field, so it will update dynamically. Any text (such as a period) that you type into the Number Format box is static and thus will always be the same for each new paragraph on that level.
Understanding Number Alignment and Text Indent Alignment in list-related dialog boxes refers to the numbers or bullets themselves and does not affect paragraph alignment. For example, if you change number alignment to Right, then two-digit numbers are right-aligned with single-digit numbers in the list. The alignment of the paragraph is completely unrelated. (Note that, for single-level lists in Word 2010, the number position and text indent settings are in the Adjust List Indent dialog box, and the number Alignment setting is in the Define New Number—or Bullet—dialog box.) The Number Position (or Bullet Position) corresponds to the paragraph’s first line indent. The Text Indent/Text Position setting refers to the paragraph’s hanging indent (that is, the left indent for all lines of the paragraph except the first).
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Don’t be concerned if you look at the definition for an associated paragraph style for a level in a list—or in the Paragraph dialog box—and see settings instead for left indent plus either hanging indent (most common) or first line indent. This is because first line and hanging indents are, technically, mutually exclusive. When you set both a first line and a hanging indent through an applicable bullets and numbering dialog box, Word views the smaller of those indents as the left indent, because it is the leftmost edge of the paragraph. For example, Figure 8-11 shows the list indent formatting for a bulleted paragraph with a hanging indent, alongside the related style definition indent settings. Notice that the bullet position is included in the style definition as the left indent, and the text indent is the hanging indent (although in the style, or in the Paragraph dialog box, the measurement of the hanging indent excludes the width of the left indent).
Figure 8-11 The same st ndent sett ngs shown n the Adjust L st Indents d a og box and n the
correspond ng paragraph sty e defin t on
When I Use Center Paragraph Alignment, Automatic Numbering Is Not Correctly Aligned When the paragraph style attached to a list level uses center paragraph alignment, such as when you want the number to appear on its own line above the paragraph text, you need to check four settings to ensure that your numbering is correctly centered. In the list-related dialog box that contains the number alignment and position settings: n
Set Number Alignment to Left
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Set Aligned At to 0
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Set Text Indent At to 0
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Set Follow Number With to Nothing
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Left number alignment actually means no alignment, because the number alignment is then left to match the paragraph alignment. The Aligned At and Text Indent At settings need to be zero, because you don’t want to indent the number when the paragraph is already centered. Following the number with nothing allows you to type one or two manual line breaks (Shift+Enter) after the number, if needed, to perfectly center the number over the paragraph text.
Demystifying the Apparent Madness of Lists Some issues with lists are not about best practices, but about understanding what Word is trying to do—or trying to tell you. The following list hopefully clarifies some common points of confusion: n
You apply a multilevel list (with or without a list style). But when your insertion point is in a paragraph that’s part of the list and you look on the Home tab, the single-level list button is highlighted. Just ignore this and don’t touch the single-level list options when you’re working in a multilevel list. To modify the multilevel list if it is not in a list style: ❑
On the Home tab, in the Paragraph group, click the Multilevel List button and then click Define New Multilevel List.
To modify the multilevel list if it is in a list style:
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In Word 2010, in the Multilevel List gallery, right-click your list style where it appears in the List Styles section of the gallery and then click Modify. You can also access the Modify Style dialog box from the Edit tab of the Manage Styles dialog box.
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In Word 2011, on the Format menu, click Styles. Your list style appears in the style list; just select it and click Modify to open the Modify Style dialog box, as you would for any type of style.
You might have noticed that the preceding instructions tell you to use Define New Multilevel List to modify a multilevel list. But if the command is called Define New, then how is that modifying an existing list? Yes, that’s as confusing as it sounds. But it doesn’t have to be. The theory is that only a list style can be modified; a multilevel list that’s not part of a list style cannot be. However, the stored list templates in your document tell a different story. One of the main justifications for using list styles is to help minimize the number of list templates in a document. Although there might be good reasons to use list styles (primarily, the ability to share them more easily because they are named), when you
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have your insertion point in an active list and use the Define New Multilevel List dialog box to edit that list, it updates the existing list in your document and doesn’t add a new list template. However, if your list uses a list style and you use the Define New Multilevel List command to edit the formatting, it will add a new list template and will not update the list style. So, if you are using a list style, be sure to modify that list style instead when you need changes. (This concept is the same as updating a style rather than applying direct formatting to all instances where you want to change the appearance of that style.) See Also To learn more about list templates, see the upcoming sidebar “Is It True That Too Many List Templates Causes Document Corruption?” n
If you apply an entry from the Multilevel List gallery in your document, it is applied as a multilevel list, not a list style, unless you selected it from the List Styles category in that gallery. (Note that this category appears only when list styles are in use.) The reason that this warrants mentioning is that some of the gallery options look like built-in list styles (such as Article/Section). But they’re not. If you want to use the related list style, apply it from a Style dialog box where you see this list style. (Or, in Word 2011, from the List Styles tab of the Bullets And Numbering dialog box.)
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You can attach a style to each level of a multilevel list or list style. However, it’s important to understand that the paragraph styles you attach to the list levels are not part of the list style. Paragraph style names are attached to a list definition, whether that list is in a list style or not. But the definitions of those paragraph styles are stored separately. For this reason, if you copy a list style to another document or template, you must copy the related styles as well if you want the list to retain the same appearance in the new document. See Also Learn how to share list styles in the section “Sharing Lists Between Documents and Templates,” later in this chapter.
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Can you stop Word from automatically applying the List Paragraph style to your lists? In Word 2010, you can enable a setting in Word Options to use Normal style for bulleted and numbered lists (that is, the lists that you start using AutoFormat As You Type options). Click the File tab, click Options, and then click Advanced. Find this setting under Editing Options at the top of the Advanced tab. In Word 2011, you can’t turn off this behavior. However, in both Word 2010 and Word 2011, the style is applied automatically only when you use the AutoFormat As You Type method to start your list. You can also just start a single-level list by customizing either the List Bullet or List Number style; that method works regardless of whether you work on Windows or Mac OS.
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Why is there no space between paragraphs in your list? In Word 2007 and Word 2008 for Mac, Word added a setting to the Paragraph dialog box named Don’t Add Space Between Paragraphs Of The Same Style. This setting was designed for use with bulleted and numbered lists, based on the idea that you might want bulleted or numbered paragraphs to be together and just have space before or after the list. If that works for you, great. That attribute is on by default in List Paragraph and the List Bullet and List Number styles. If it doesn’t work for you (and it rarely works for me, because no space makes a list very difficult to read), you can just turn off that feature and update the style. Remember, you can update styles in the document template—including Normal.dotm— which will make your changes the default for new documents based on the template. In Word 2010, the option to apply the changes to new documents based on the template is located in the Manage Styles dialog box. In Word 2011, find the Add To Template command in the New Style and Modify Style dialog boxes.
Why Do Bullets and Numbering Disappear At Will? Although they may seem to disappear at will, your bullets and numbers disappear because you did something in the document to make that happen. But it wasn’t your mistake. This is a genuine bug. Fortunately, you don’t usually need to recreate this formatting at all. There is a fast and easy fix. One common way to inadvertently delete your bullets and numbers is to paste (from another document or template) a bulleted or numbered paragraph that uses the same style as an existing bulleted or numbered paragraph in your current document. Instead of the pasted paragraphs taking on the destination formatting for the style, all existing bullets or numbers that use that style in the destination document often disappear, leaving nothing but perhaps a sad tab character at the start of the paragraph. The most important thing to know when this happens is that your document is not corrupt. This is just a list-related bug, and you can get your bullets back in a jiffy by following these steps:
1. In Word 2010, in the Manage Styles dialog box, click Import/Export. In Word 2011, in the Styles dialog box, click Organizer. The Organizer dialog box opens, as you see in Figure 8-12.
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Figure 8-12 The Sty es tab of the Organ zer d a og box
2. On the Styles tab of that dialog box, notice that your active document is listed on the left and Normal.dotm is on the right. Under Normal.dotm, click Close File. The command changes to become Open File.
3. Click Open File and then browse to either another document or a template that contains the same bulleted or numbered style as the one that was ruined in your active document. (If more than one bulleted or numbered style was altered, you can copy in multiple styles at once using this method.) If the file you want to access is a document rather than a template, be sure to change the file style drop-down list selection in the Open dialog box to All Word Documents (it is All Word Templates by default). Select the file containing the correct version of your style(s) and then click Open. The list of available styles in that document appears on the right side of the dialog box.
4. On the right side of the dialog box, select the style(s) that you want to replace. You can use the Shift or Control (Command in Word 2011) keys to make multiple selections if needed. Then click the Copy command in the center of the dialog box. When you click Close, the affected bulleted or numbered styles in your document should be corrected. If your affected bullets and numbering were not in styles or if you don’t have another document or template from which to get the styles in their correct state, try adding the bullets or numbering back through the applicable single-level list or multilevel list dialog box. Just remember the rule to let the list control what it can and don’t try to do this by modifying the paragraph styles. Update the bullets or numbering in one instance of the style. Then, if Word doesn’t automatically prompt you to add that formatting to your style, update the style to match the selection as addressed earlier in this chapter.
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How Do You Reset the List Galleries to Their Default State? The Bulleted, Numbered, and Multilevel List galleries update as you create customized lists to show your recently used lists. If at any time you want to reset these galleries to their default state, you can simply delete the file that stores the customizations. Doing so won’t affect any documents in which you’ve used your custom lists. It will affect only the formatting that is available to apply from these galleries. The file to delete is named ListGal.dat. Just close Word and delete the file. When you next open Word, the program automatically creates a new ListGal.dat file and you see the default settings in your galleries. To access this file: On Windows 7 and Windows Vista, go to the following path: C:\Users\\AppData\Roaming\Microsoft\Word If you don’t see the AppData folder, you need to enable viewing of hidden folders. To do this, in a Windows Explorer window, click Organize and then click Folder And Search Options. On the View tab, find the option to show hidden files and folders. Note M crosoft no onger prov des support for W ndows XP However, f you’re st us ng that vers on of W ndows, you can find th s fi e n the fo ow ng ocat on C \Documents and Sett ngs\\App cat on Data\Roam ng\M crosoft\Word On Mac OS, go to the following path: /Library/Preferences/Microsoft/Office
Is It True That Too Many List Templates Causes Document Corruption? Each time you apply a new list in your document, you create a list definition that is stored in the document as a list template. As discussed earlier, if you modify the list from within that list and it updates throughout your document where that list is applied, it is unlikely that a new list template would be created (this wasn’t always the case, but generally is with current Word behavior). However, if you define a new list definition or modify just part of an existing list, a new list template will be added to the document.
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As with any document formatting, best practice in Word is to never add anything to the document that doesn’t need to be there. A handful or two of list templates in one document is not likely to be a problem. But if a document is edited by many hands over a long period of time, and lists are not necessarily added or edited using Word best practices (and this might also be the case if some third-party numbering tools are used), a document could end up with hundreds, if not thousands, of list templates. When the number of list templates starts to get high, bad things can happen. In other words, document behavior can become unstable. The idea is that using list styles rather than multilevel lists makes it easier to revise list formatting without adding list templates because you can modify the style. As noted earlier, when done correctly, it’s also possible to modify multilevel lists without adding list templates. But because a list style is named and can be accessed through stylerelated dialog boxes, it can be easier to explain to users and thus easier to access and manage. It’s also important to note that massive counts of list templates and related misbehavior are far less common when using the Office Open XML file formats. List templates aren’t exposed anywhere in Word. That is, you can’t see how many you have or manage them from within Word. If you use VBA, however, you can. To check the number of list templates in your active document, in the Word Visual Basic Editor Immediate window, type the following statement and then press Enter (Return): ?ActiveDocument.ListTemplates.Count
See Also To learn the basics of working in Word VBA, including how to access and use the Immediate window, see Chapter 23.
Sharing Lists Between Documents and Templates To copy a list style between documents or templates, use the Organizer mentioned earlier in the sidebar “Why Do Bullets and Numbering Disappear at Will?” and shown in Figure 8-12. Notice in the Organizer that you can select any document or template for both the left and right sides of the dialog box. So, you can actually copy the styles without having either document open, or when the destination document is open instead of the source document. When you want the formatting to remain the same in the destination document, the important thing to remember is to copy the list style and all of its associated paragraph styles together.
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Once you have copied a list style, it will appear in the Multilevel List gallery whenever the destination document or template is open. As long as you copy all associated paragraph styles along with the list style, the relationship between the list style and its paragraph styles, as well as all list style formatting, will remain intact.
Working with Table Styles Table styles are available only when your insertion point is in a table. They do not appear in the Styles pane. When a table is active, see available table styles on the Table Tools Design tab (Tables tab in Word 2011), in the Table Styles group, as you see in Figure 8-13.
Figure 8-13 The Tab e Sty es ga ery on the Tab e Too s Des gn tab n Word 2010. The same
ga ery and add t ona opt ons appear on the Tab es tab n Word 2011.
In the Table Styles gallery, you’ll find 99 table styles, including the default style, Table Grid, as well as the 98 theme-aware table styles mentioned earlier.
Creating Table Styles To create a new table style, just right-click a style in the gallery and then click New Table Style. You can also click the New Style button on the Styles pane and then select Table as the style type. And, in Word 2010, the New Table Style command is also available at the bottom of the Table Styles gallery. When you add formatting to your style, notice the list labeled Apply Formatting To, as shown in Figure 8-14. Be sure to change this setting as needed to specify formatting for the entire table, a heading row, first column, or other table element.
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Figure 8-14 The Create New Sty e From Formatt ng d a og box, shown n Word 2010 w th tab e sty e opt ons act ve (th s d a og box s named New Sty e n Word 2011).
Table Style Formatting Doesn’t Work Correctly Two common problems that crop up when you’re working with table styles are that formatting you apply doesn’t seem to “take” when you create the style, and that table styles conflict with paragraph styles when applied to tables. The following best practices address these issues: n
When you create a table style, unique settings for different parts of the table can be lost when you set them at the same time. So, when a table style requires unique formatting for certain parts of the table, it’s a good idea to confirm the formatting as you go. For example, apply the formatting you want to include in the entire table and then click OK to create the style. If the formatting looks correct on your active table, right-click the style in the Table Styles gallery and then click Modify Table Style. In the dialog box that opens, select the part of the table that needs unique formatting from the Apply Formatting To list and then specify the formatting you need. Click OK again to check that this formatting has been applied correctly. Repeat this step for each part of the table that requires unique formatting.
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When you include font or paragraph formatting in a table style, that formatting can conflict with paragraph styles you apply to content in your tables, causing inconsistent results. To avoid this, use table styles for table structure formatting only (such as cell borders and shading, or cell margins) and use paragraph styles for formatting text inside your tables.
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Setting a Default Table Style By default, new tables are formatted with Table Grid style, which is the Table Normal base style introduced earlier, plus a half-point width grid of borders on all cells. Depending on the way you use tables, however, that grid might not be appropriate for most tables. For example, I use tables frequently for laying out pages, as discussed in Chapter 9, “Tables.” When a table is used for layout, it’s not usually appropriate for the grid to appear. For this reason, I set Table Normal to be the default for all new tables I create. In another example, when I’m creating branded templates for my clients, they often have a custom table style that coordinates with their branding. To make it easy for users to get this formatting, I set that custom style as the default in the particular template. A default table style can be set by document (or, in Word 2010, by template), so if you have a table style designed for the tables in your document, you can set that style as the default to save time and help ensure consistent formatting. To set a table style as the default:
1. Right-click the style where it appears in the Table Styles gallery and then click Set As Default.
2. In Word 2010, in the Default Table Style dialog box that opens, specify whether to make the selected style the default for the active document only or for all new documents based on the active template and then click OK. In Word 2011, the default is automatically set in the active document. If that document is a template, the default also applies to new documents based on that template.
Managing Styles When you are responsible for a document’s formatting, or creating documents and templates for yourself and others to use, managing styles is a big part of your job. In Word 2010, the Manage Styles dialog box (which has already been mentioned many times in this chapter) gives you a range of tools that make this much easier to do.
For Mac Users As mentioned early in this chapter, most of the tools in the Word 2010 Manage Styles dialog box are not available in Word 2011. As also mentioned earlier, those who use Office Open XML (or are interested in exploring it) can accomplish most of the same tasks very easily in the XML.
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But if venturing under the hood of your document doesn’t sound like your cup of tea, don’t be too disappointed. Word 2011 introduces the visual styles feature, which gives you one very nice, exclusive tool for managing the styles that are applied in your documents. That feature is introduced in the section “Inspecting Your Styles,” at the end of this chapter.
Using the Manage Styles Dialog Box As shown throughout this chapter, this dialog box combines the Style dialog box functionality of versions prior to Word 2007 (an access point to create, modify, or delete styles, as well as to access the Organizer) with capabilities including the ability to prioritize, restrict, and show or hide styles, as well as to set font and paragraph defaults. n
The Edit tab of the Manage Styles dialog box offers the equivalent of the Style dialog box in the previous version of Word.
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On the Recommend tab of this dialog box, you can prioritize the order in which styles appear (referred to as the recommended order) and specify whether a style is visible, hidden, or hidden until used. See Also To learn about how the settings on this tab affect the display in the Styles pane and Styles gallery, see the section “Understanding the Style Environment Today,” earlier in this chapter. ❑
To prioritize styles, click the Move Up, Move Down, or Make Last buttons, or click Assign Value to prioritize the style by assigning it a numeric value. This last option is a timesaver because styles with the same numeric value are automatically alphabetized in the Styles pane and Styles gallery.
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Though the option to Show, Hide, or Hide Until Used can be handy, be careful with these when considering the usability of your document. For example, Hide Until Used is an excellent setting for built-in styles that apply only to certain parts of the document and are applied in those locations by default, such as Header or Footer, because they will remain out of the user’s way until needed. However, don’t use this setting for the styles you create or customize for use in the body of your document. After all, users can’t use a style unless they know it exists.
Note To app y a h dden sty e, type the sty e name n the App y Sty es pane and then press Enter
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On the Restrict tab, you can permit or restrict the use of specified styles, as well as block styles from changing formatting if another theme or Quick Style Set is applied in the document. Note that when you set a style to be restricted, a lock icon appears next to the style name on this tab, and Locked will appear as an attribute in the style description where it appears on the Edit tab. Setting restrictions on this tab will prompt you to enable document protection when you close the Manage Styles dialog box. Note also that locked styles are automatically hidden, regardless of their Show or Hide setting on the Recommend tab.
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On the Set Defaults tab, you can set defaults for font, font color, and font size, as well as paragraph indents and spacing. See Also For more on this subject, see the section “Working with Document Defaults,” earlier in this chapter.
Notice that for all tabs in the Manage Styles dialog box, you can apply your settings to the active document or to all new documents based on the active template.
Inspecting Your Styles In Word 2010, at the bottom of the Styles pane, click the Style Inspector icon (shown at left) to open the Style Inspector dialog box, shown in Figure 8-15.
Figure 8-15 The Sty e nspector d a og box.
The Style Inspector is a simple but invaluable pane that enables you to distinguish styled from direct formatting in selected text. This tool is great to use when troubleshooting document formatting because you can distinguish what formatting belongs to the style and quickly clear either direct or styled formatting at both the font and paragraph levels. Note If you don’t see d rect formatt ng n the Sty e Inspector pane when your nsert on po nt s
n text that you know conta ns d rect formatt ng, check your sett ngs n Word Opt ons To do th s, c ck the F e tab and then c ck Opt ons On the Advanced tab of the Word Opt ons d a og box, under the Ed t ng Opt ons head ng at the top of the pane, se ect Keep Track Of Formatt ng
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Notice the icon at the bottom of the Style Inspector pane, which is very similar to the Style Inspector icon but actually opens the Reveal Formatting task pane. See Also To learn about using Reveal Formatting in Word 2010 and Word 2011 to stay in control of document formatting, see Chapter 6. In Word 2011, Mac users get a cool new tool, known as visual styles, that gives you an instant, clear look at the styles and direct formatting in your Print Layout view documents. To use visual styles, at the bottom of the Word 2011 Styles pane, click Show Style Guides and Show Direct Formatting Guides. Figure 8-16 shows you what happens when you select these options. However, a black-and-white book can’t do the feature justice; the style guides are color-coded for a crystal-clear view of where each style is applied in the document. Direct formatting guides here are the bubbles (actually blue bubbles) that surround text at certain points in the document. These don’t call out direct paragraph formatting—just direct character formatting (and note that they will pick up some types of international characters as well)—but can still be extremely useful.
Figure 8-16 Sty e gu des and d rect formatt ng gu des n use n a Word 2011 Pr nt Layout v ew document.
Chapter 9
Tables In this chapter, you will: n
Get organized
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Create tables that work
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Create page layouts using tables
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Format financial tables
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Manage tables from other sources
Microsoft Word tables make me happy. They are the great document organizer, the complex document simplifier, and the layout expert. If this is not your experience, or even if you suspect that I need professional help, stick around. There is a secret to making friends with Word tables, and this chapter shows you how to put that secret to work for any type of table you need. So, what’s the secret? It’s quite simple—literally. If you want tables to simplify your documents, do the same for your tables. Keeping table structure clean and simple, and understanding how to format content effectively inside tables, is all you need to know to tame this often-misunderstood beast. No chairs, whips, or tranquilizer darts required.
Chapter Assumptions Because you are experienced users, this chapter assumes that you know what a table is and that you understand its basic structure of rows, columns, and cells. It also assumes that you’ve created tables before and that terminology such as AutoFit or cell margins is at least somewhat familiar to you, even if you haven’t used these features in the past. This chapter provides background on the core concepts of how tables work and what can make them work for you. We’ll also look at creating tables for uses ranging from basic text tables to complex document layout. See Also For a list of resources that provide more basic information, see the section “Who Will Benefit Most from This Book” in the introduction.
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Getting Organized You can compare tables to a closet organizer or the tray in your silverware drawer. A table is a container, designed to help you fit more content on the page while keeping it organized and easy to manage. Similar to a closet or drawer organizer, tables provide a separate compartment (a cell) for each piece of content. If you think of them relative to the three levels of formatting (discussed in Chapter 6, “Building Easy-to-Manage, Robust Documents”), tables are objects in which you can place content and apply almost any of the same font or paragraph formatting that you can apply in the body of a document. So, the cells of a table are very much like a collection of related, miniature pages—only they’re simpler, because they don’t require section breaks to arrange the pages. You can add text, graphics, and even other tables inside table cells, just as you can in the body of the document. See Also To learn about the three levels of formatting in Word documents, see Chapter 6.
How Are Tables Related to Section Breaks, Paragraph Marks, and Paragraph Styles? There are many common misconceptions about creating and formatting tables. Three of the most frequent errors, all of which can cause unnecessary complications in your document, are addressed in the list that follows: n
Tables never require section breaks. A table is an object, not a type of formatting. Section breaks are only required to change page layout formatting for part of a document. One benefit of using a table as a page layout tool is that it eliminates the need for using section breaks to create a complex page layout (such as when part of the page requires organizing content in multiple columns).
n
There is no need for, and no benefit to, placing empty paragraph marks around tables. A table sits in a paragraph mark, just like any other type of inline document content (such as text, or a graphic formatted with the In Line With Text graphic layout), and it can be treated exactly the same. Paragraph marks that do not apply to any content are never a good idea; they simply add extra formatting to the document, which can get in your way and complicate editing. Though a paragraph mark is required to separate two consecutive tables, that paragraph does not have to be empty. Note that this also applies when a table falls at the top of the document. If you need to add text before the table, just press Ctrl+Home (Command+Home in Word for Mac 2011) and then press Enter (Return). There is no need to leave an empty paragraph mark at the top of a document.
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Any paragraph style (or direct paragraph formatting) that can be applied in the body of your document can be applied inside a table, including heading styles and styles that contain bullets or numbering. Paragraph styles have no ill effect on tables and are the best way to format most table content. The only strict exception to this statement is when the style contains a frame (and you should avoid frames at all costs anyway, as explained in Chapter 10, “Managing Graphics”). Check, however, to ensure that the formatting in your style is conducive to the results you want in a table. For example, a large left paragraph indent on a style applied in a table cell could cause unwanted results because the indent will be measured from the left edge of the cell rather than from the left page margin.
Additionally, be cautious when using line and page break options on text in tables. These can be handy, such as putting Page Break Before formatting in the first cell of a table to start the table on its own page. But using heading styles, for example, which have Keep With Next formatting and appear throughout the table, could cause unwanted results and make the table difficult to manage.
Creating Tables That Work The following best practices apply to creating Word tables for any purpose: n
To create a table, drag your pointer across and down the table grid on the Insert tab in the Tables group (in Word 2011, you’ll find the grid to create a new table on the Tables tab of the Ribbon, under Table Options). The grid expands to up to 10 columns by 8 rows. If you need a larger table, click the Insert Table command that appears below the grid, and you’ll see a dialog box where you can enter the number of columns and rows you need. Of course, you can always add columns and rows later, if required. Do not use Draw Table to create a table. Doing so always takes longer and is never as precise as the other methods discussed here. Even if you need a creative layout, Draw Table isn’t the way to get there. Word is not a drawing program, and tables are not art. If you want tables to work effectively, approach them methodically.
n
Maintain the table grid structure as much as possible, particularly when using tables for page layout. For example, using merged headings—such as for a top-level heading over several columns in a financial table—is the simplest solution for page layout formatting. (For help with managing merged heading cells, see the “Managing Tables from Other Sources”
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section later in this chapter.) But merging and splitting cells to contort the table into the layout you want will cause you more work in the long run than just about any other layout method. Nested tables are a much simpler solution to complex page layouts than merging and splitting the cells of a single table. See Also Learn more about this subject in the section “Creating Page Layouts Using Tables,” later in this chapter. n
Avoid using the Text Wrap Around setting for tables. This setting places the table in an invisible frame, which can be cumbersome to manage. Nesting tables, discussed later in this chapter, will enable you to easily create almost any layout you need without having to position and manage floating objects. See Also Learn more about the possible issues with the Text Wrap Around setting in the section “Understanding Nested Tables vs. Text Wrap Around Tables,” later in this chapter.
For Mac Users Before you get further into this chapter, understand one important distinction when you’re working with tables in Word 2011. Because Word for Mac has both Print Layout and Publishing Layout views, there are two very different types of documents you can create in Word. Using tables to simplify page layouts is ideal when creating word processing–style documents—that is, when you’re working in Print Layout view. For some good examples of using tables as a layout tool in Word 2011 Print Layout view, explore the built-in templates in the Word Document Gallery.
1. On the File menu, click New and then click New From Template to open the Word Document Gallery.
2. Under Print Layout View, see several examples in the Proposals and Coordinated Forms categories. In particular, check out Structure Proposal and, under Coordinated Forms, see the Prospect Business Report. When you view table gridlines, you can see that tables are used for the cover and header layouts as well as for body content, such as text or graphics beside a table. When you’re creating publication-style documents (such as newsletters and brochures) in Publishing Layout view, keep in mind that this view is designed for layout using floating graphic objects, and using tables in that environment will generally complicate rather than simplify. It’s worth noting here as well that the preceding recommendation
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not to use the Text Wrap Around setting also applies to Mac users, even in this view. Despite the fact that a table using text wrap is technically a floating object, the frame used by a floating table is no friendlier in Publishing Layout view than in any other environment. See Also For more information on working with documents in Publishing Layout view, see Chapter 10.
Collaborating Online Whether you work in Word 2010 or Word 2011, needing to collaborate on content online is another good reason to use tables for page layout rather than floating graphic objects. Unlike some online editing tools that garble your formatting, Office Web Apps take good care of it by not letting you edit content that they can’t fully support. That’s exactly the case with floating graphic objects in Word Web App. So, if you open a document built with floating objects in Word Web App in view mode, it will look great— just as you expect. But if you open it for editing in Word Web App, every floating object will be an uneditable placeholder. In contrast, although you can do only minimal table formatting in Word Web App, you can see the table boundaries and can edit its contents. So, if you have text or even images that are placed in table cells, you and your colleagues can access them online when needed.
Choose Between Paragraph Formatting and Table Formatting For formatting purposes, a table has two distinct parts: the table structure, which is the actual table object, and the table content, such as the text and graphics you place in the table. To format the table structure, you use settings such as column width, row height, cell margins, and AutoFit options. To format the table content, you have font and paragraph formatting. Often, however, the line between the two areas gets blurred, because formatting table content can also change the appearance of the table structure. Use the following best-practice guidelines to keep your table formatting as simple and effective as possible.
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Paragraph Spacing vs. Row Height The most common reason to add vertical space in a table row is to make your table easier to read and make the layout more attractive, just as with setting space between paragraphs. When this is your motivation for adding vertical space in table rows, setting spacing before or after the paragraph is a simpler and more flexible solution than setting row height for the following reasons: n
Paragraph spacing is always relative to paragraph content, so spacing between the paragraph content and the top and bottom edges of the cell remains constant even when you add or remove content. In the example shown in FIgure 9-1, paragraph spacing of six points has been added both before and after the paragraph. No row height is set. On the right, notice how the spacing remains constant when a new line of text is added.
Figure 9-1 Us ng paragraph spac ng to add cons stent space between text and the top and bottom
edges of a tab e ce .
n
In contrast, when you set row height, that height is a minimum (unless you specify that the height is to remain exact regardless of content). So, row height will expand as you add content, but it won’t maintain consistent space between the content and the edges of the cell, as you see in Figure 9-2. On the right, notice what happens when a second line of text is added.
Figure 9-2 Us ng row he ght to set ce he ght does not ma nta n cons stent spac ng between text
and ce .
Setting an exact row height is a further complication, because content that exceeds the height of the row is cut off, as shown in Figure 9-3.
Figure 9-3 Sett ng an exact row he ght may cause content to exceed the space n a ce .
However, it’s appropriate to set row height when you’re using the table for page layout and you want to apportion a certain amount of the page for specific content. See Also Learn more about how and when to set row height in the section “Creating Page Layouts Using Tables,” later in this chapter.
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Paragraph Spacing vs. Cell Margins When you want consistent space between the cell content and the top and bottom edges of the cell, adding space before and after the paragraph is an easy solution, as we just discussed. Though you can add top and bottom cell margins to accomplish this, that option is less flexible, so it ends up being more work for you and other editors of the document. You can include space before and after the paragraph in paragraph styles for easy editing. Additionally, if you change the type of content in the cell, applying a different paragraph style can provide different spacing as needed without any editing of the table structure. If you opt to set top and bottom cell margins instead, you must return to the Table Options or Cell Options dialog box whenever a change needs to be made. Note In Word 2010, access the sett ngs for spac ng before and after the paragraph on the Page Layout tab, n the Paragraph group Or c ck the d a og aunch con n the Paragraph group on the Home tab or Page Layout tab to access the Paragraph d a og box To open the Paragraph D a og box n Word 2011, on the Format menu, c ck Paragraph
However, top and bottom cell margins are a good thing to keep in mind for occasions when you might need consistent space between content and cell boundaries regardless of what content ends up in the cell. Cell margin settings for the entire table are available in the Table Options dialog box. To access this dialog box in Word 2010, on the Table Tools Layout tab, in the Alignment group, click Cell Margins. To access this dialog box in Word 2011, on the Table Layout tab, under Alignment, click Margins. To access cell margins for only selected cells, do the following:
1. In Word 2010, on the Table Tools Layout tab, in the Table group , click Properties. In Word 2011, on the Table Layout tab, in the Settings group, click Properties.
2. On the Cell tab of the Table Properties dialog box, click Options to open the Cell Options dialog box.
Insider Tip: Spacing Between Cells and the HTML Revolution That Never Was Tables in Word changed dramatically for the better way back in Microsoft Office 2000, with the introduction of options such as cell margins and support for nested tables. That was also the Microsoft Office version in which the default paste method for text and tables changed to HTML in many cases.
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As you probably know, HTML is the language in which webpages are written. Back in the olden days of the late 20th century, when the web was the big, new thing, the folks who design Microsoft Office saw a need to support HTML document creation. Many of the new table features that were introduced in Word 2000 were intended to support HTML tables. The table setting to allow spacing between cells is known in HTML as cell padding. You’ll find this setting in the Table Options dialog box shown in Figure 9-4, but it’s more important to note for troubleshooting purposes than for intentional use. (Note that settings in the Word 2011 dialog box are identical to the Word 2010 dialog box that’s shown in Figure 9-4.)
Figure 9-4 The Tab e Opt ons d a og box shown n Word 2010
There’s nothing wrong with using the cell padding feature to create space between cell content and cell boundaries, but it’s not as intuitive to most users as paragraph spacing or cell margins, because it’s simply not as well known. So, if document troubleshooting is part of what you do, you’re more likely to run into this setting when a user doesn’t understand what’s going on in the table. Tables with spacing between cells (cell padding) enabled look like they have a thick, double border, but that border doesn’t print. When the table has no printable borders applied, cell padding in Word 2010 looks like the top table in Figure 9-5. In Word 2011, it looks like the bottom table. With printable borders, the tables will look similar because the printable border expands to accommodate the cell padding as well.
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Figure 9-5 Ce padd ng on tab es n Word 2010 (top) and Word 2011 (bottom)
Note that cell padding borders are visible only if you are viewing table gridlines or if printable borders are applied to the table. Turn on gridlines from the Table Tools Layout tab (the Table Layout tab in Word 2011) in the Settings group. Depending upon the amount of spacing between cells, the border may simply appear to be thick or it may look like a double line. The color of gridlines in Word 2010 changes depending upon your selected Microsoft Office color scheme. When you use the default (blue) color scheme, gridlines are blue. To turn off spacing between cells:
1. On the Table Tools Layout tab (Table Layout tab in Word 2011), in the Alignment group, click Cell Margins to open the Table Options dialog box.
2. Clear the check box labeled Allow Spacing Between Cells and then click OK.
How Paragraph Spacing and Vertical Cell Alignment Are Related When you apply spacing before or after the paragraph for content inside tables, that spacing can affect the appearance of row height, discussed previously, as well as vertical cell alignment. For example, if you have the same number of lines of text in all cells of a row, applying an equal amount of spacing both before and after the paragraph centers the text vertically in the cell and adds height to the row, without setting row height or changing cell alignment. Take a look at Figure 9-6. The image on the left uses spacing of 10 points before and after the paragraph. The image on the right looks exactly the same with row height set to at least 0.5 inches and vertical cell alignment set to center.
Figure 9-6 Us ng paragraph spac ng or ce a gnment to set vert ca a gnment ooks dent ca w th a s ng e
row of text.
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However, as discussed earlier, if you add more content to the cell that uses paragraph spacing to set height and alignment, the space between the content and cell boundaries is maintained, while the cell with both row height and cell alignment set will close up around the added content. Clearly, the paragraph formatting option is less work under most circumstances and produces better results. Using paragraph spacing with vertical cell alignment, however, is a handy combination when you want to control the alignment of text for a row of cells that contain different amounts of text. Table cells are vertically top-aligned by default. A row with 10 points before and after the paragraph, where only some cells contain more than one line of text, looks like Figure 9-7 when cells are top-aligned.
Figure 9-7 Top a gned ce s.
Figures 9-8 and 9-9 show the same row with vertical cell alignment set to center and then to bottom, respectively.
Figure 9-8 Center a gned ce s.
Figure 9-9 Bottom a gned ce s.
Notice also in Figures 9-8 and 9-9 that when you use paragraph spacing with vertical cell alignment, the spacing is accounted for regardless of the alignment. For example, in bottomaligned cells that use spacing after the paragraph, the content is bottom-aligned but does not sit on the bottom edge of the cell.
Insider Tip: Cell Alignment vs. Paragraph Alignment Vertical cell alignment is table structure formatting. However, horizontal cell alignment is actually paragraph alignment. When you set cell alignment using the options shown in Figure 9-10 (you can find these options on the Table Tools Layout tab in Word 2010 and the Table Layout tab in Word 2011), you set both vertical and horizontal alignment at once.
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Word 2010
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Figure 9-10 Ce a gnment opt ons shown n Word 2010 and Word for Mac
So, if you’re using paragraph styles to format the content in your table and you change the horizontal alignment using the options shown in Figure 9-10, you actually apply direct formatting on top of your paragraph style. Although it will look the same, it may complicate future changes to the table formatting because the alignment will no longer be part of the paragraph style. Instead, to set vertical cell alignment without affecting paragraph alignment, use the Table Properties dialog box by following these steps:
1. Select the cells to format.
2. On the Table Tools Layout tab, in the Tables group, click Properties. (In Word 2011, on the Table Layout tab, under Settings, click Properties.)
3. On the Cell tab of the Table Properties dialog box, change the vertical cell alignment options as desired.
Paragraph Indents vs. Cell Margins Paragraph indents control the left and right edges of a paragraph, regardless of where that paragraph is located in your document. So, paragraph indents can be applied as easily to text in table cells as they can to text in the document body.
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Paragraph indents relate to left and right cell margins just as they relate to left and right page margins. You can add a paragraph indent to move text farther away from the cell margin, or add a negative paragraph indent to move text beyond a cell margin. Just as with page margins and paragraph indents, when you need to change indents for only a few cells, setting paragraph indents is usually less work and easier to manage than customizing cell margins for those few cells. The primary reason that this is the easier solution is because paragraph indents can be included in paragraph styles, so they’re easy to change for all applicable cells whenever you need. If this strikes you as a minor point, consider that you might have the same style applied to some of the cells in several tables throughout your document, so paragraph styles can be a much faster editing solution. As mentioned earlier, paragraph indents can also be something to look for when you’re troubleshooting unexpected formatting in a table. For example, if content exceeds the left or right cell border, check to see if that content has a negative paragraph indent applied. Note Many commands that you find on the R bbon when work ng w th tab es are a so access b e from shortcut entry po nts For examp e, r ght-c ck n a tab e ce for qu ck access to the Tab e Propert es d a og box, ce a gnment opt ons, and other tab e formatt ng commands You can a so access the Tab e Propert es d a og box by doub e-c ck ng a co umn marg n con on the ru er when your nsert on po nt s n a tab e
Paragraph Borders vs. Cell Borders Cell borders are printable lines that show the cell boundary. Paragraph borders are lines that border a paragraph of text. For example, in Figure 9-11, the headings in the image on the left use cell borders, and the headings in the image on the right use paragraph borders.
Figure 9-11 Head ng row of a tab e w th ce borders ( eft) and paragraph borders (r ght).
When applied to content in table cells, paragraph borders do the same thing they do in the body of the document. That is, they extend from the left indent to the right indent of the paragraph. When both left and right indents are zero, the border actually extends from the left margin to the right margin. In the document body, this value refers to page margins; in a table cell, it refers to cell margins.
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Because left and right cell margins in Word are 0.08 inches (1.9 millimeters) by default, applying a paragraph border in a table cell automatically creates space between columns, as you can see on the right side of Figure 9-11. If you remove the cell margins, the space between those paragraph borders will be removed as well. The best practice in this case is simply to understand the differences between cell borders and paragraph borders, so that you can use the option that best suits your formatting needs.
Insider Tip: Using Paragraph Borders to Create Space Between Columns Complex tables in documents commonly have small, blank columns between every column of data. This is frustrating, because it can make that data more difficult to format. For example, you can’t set a decimal tab on the ruler to create decimal paragraph alignment when noncontiguous columns are selected. Instead of creating extra work for yourself by adding blank columns to your table to make space between data columns, use paragraph borders on the headings (and subtotal or total cells, if applicable) to add the appearance of space between columns. The table in Figure 9-12, for example, has only three columns. Applying left and right paragraph indents to the bordered paragraphs creates the illusion of space between the columns.
Figure 9-12 Sett ng eft and r ght paragraph ndents on paragraph borders n the head ng row adds the appearance of space between co umns
For the formatting shown in Figure 9-12, simply apply bottom paragraph borders to the text in the heading cells and then add equal left and right paragraph indents to the same cells.
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Caution In tab e ce s, you can app y on y ce borders from the Border opt ons on the R bbon
You must set paragraph borders n tab e ce s through the Borders And Shad ng d a og box, wh ch can be accessed from the shortcut menu when you r ght-c ck n a tab e Th s d a og box can a so be accessed n Word 2010 from the bottom of any Borders pop-up menu on the R bbon; or, n Word 2011, on the Format menu In the Borders And Shad ng d a og box, pay carefu attent on to the App y To opt ons Depend ng on your se ect on n a tab e, the App y To defau t w be e ther Tab e or Ce To app y paragraph borders n a tab e
1. Se ect the ce s conta n ng the content to wh ch you want to app y paragraph borders
2. R ght-c ck and then c ck Borders And Shad ng
3. On the Borders tab of the d a og box, n the App y To drop-down st, se ect Paragraph
4. App y the des red border sett ngs and then c ck OK
Paragraph Styles vs. Table Styles Use table styles to format table structure only, unless you can include all font and paragraph formatting you’ll need in the table style. When you include font and paragraph formatting in your table style, that formatting can conflict with the paragraph styles you apply to your table content, causing inconsistent results. Note that many built-in table styles include some font formatting, and take that into consideration when using them. Because most tables require some formatting customization or at least the flexibility to customize, the best practice is to use table styles for table structure formatting only and use paragraph styles to format table content. To customize a table style:
1. On the Table Tools Design tab (Tables tab in Word 2011), in the Table Styles group, click the style you want to customize (in the Table Styles gallery) to apply it to the active table.
2. In the Table Styles gallery, right-click the style you want to edit and then click Modify Table Style. Note In Word 2010, the bu t- n sty e Tab e Norma cannot be mod fied However, you can create and custom ze a new sty e based on Tab e Norma See Also For more on table styles, see Chapter 8, “Styles.”
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For Mac Users Word 2011 includes the same table styles as Word 2010 for Windows. These table styles, which were introduced in Word 2007 for Windows, were available in Word 2008 from the Styles dialog box only. They are now available in the Table Styles gallery on the Tables tab of the Ribbon and are far more flexible than the Table AutoFormat options you know from earlier versions. (Table AutoFormat is no longer available in Word 2011.) The table styles you see in the gallery also coordinate automatically with the colors and fonts of your active document theme.
Which Paragraph Formatting Option Is Best? To determine the best paragraph formatting options to use in tables, such as whether to use indents or tabs, follow the same best practices as you do for text in the document body. In other words, always choose the simplest solution. For example, in situations where both indents and tabs will work, indents are always a simpler solution, because they are stored in the paragraph mark and require no additional characters. So, an indent can be entirely contained in a paragraph style for easy application and editing. Don’t ever place a tab character in a table cell if you can use an indent (or paragraph alignment) instead. More specifically, consider the following: n
When decimals are correctly aligned, there is no need to type tab characters before the number.
n
Left, first-line, or hanging indents can accomplish virtually any indents required for table row headings.
n
One of the few instances in which tabs are the best solution for table content formatting is when you need to align the currency symbols of decimally aligned numbers in a table column.
See Also Learn more about the examples addressed in the preceding list in the section “Formatting Financial Tables,” later in this chapter.
Use Table Properties to Simplify Table Setup Although many settings from the Table Properties dialog box are now available directly on the Table Tools Layout tab (Table Layout tab in Word 2011), a few of the most useful settings can still be accessed only through the dialog box.
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Setting Column and Table Widths As a Percentage of the Whole Instead of calculating the precise column and table width measurements you need, you can set column width to be a percentage of the table width or set the table width to be a percentage of the width of the active window. Setting column and table widths as a percentage of the whole is also handy to keep the table size relative to the page width, so that the table size automatically adjusts if the page margins or orientation change, and column widths remain relative to their original settings. Note Active window refers to the d stance between the eft and r ght marg ns where content res des Th s s most common y the eft and r ght page marg ns However, f content s ns de a tab e ce ( nc ud ng one tab e nested ns de another), the act ve w ndow s the d stance between the eft and r ght ce marg ns When content s n a text co umn, the act ve w ndow s the d stance between the eft and r ght co umn marg ns
For example, if you’re creating a pleading caption to fall at the top of a legal document, you need left and right columns of equal width and a small center column to hold the dividing characters (the close parentheses, in this case), as shown in Figure 9-13.
Figure 9-13 A ega p ead ng capt on created w th a s mp e tab e.
Not only does it take longer to calculate what the specific width of each column needs to be, but also your table won’t adjust if the page margins or paper size changes. Try the example illustrated in Figure 9-13 for yourself. To do so, create a single-row, threecolumn table. Place your insertion point in the first column and then follow these steps:
1. Right-click and then select Table Properties from the shortcut menu. In the Table Properties dialog box, select the Column tab.
2. Change the Measure In setting to Percent.
3. Set the Preferred Width for the first column to 49%. Then, click Next Column.
4. Set the middle column to 2% and click Next Column again.
5. Set the right column to 49% and click Next Column again. Note that when you click Next Column after setting the last column, you see the changes applied to the entire table.
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6. Click the Table tab of the Table Properties dialog box.
7. Set the Measure In setting on the Table tab to Percent as well.
8. Set the Preferred Width for the table to 100%. Then, click OK.
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If you skip the last step and don’t set the preferred width of the table, an empty table might shrink to minimal width (that is, AutoFit To Contents) when you click OK. Though the example used is a very simple table type, it’s easy to see how using percent width instead of calculating specific measurements can make table setup easier and more flexible for any table that requires column and table widths to be set.
Indenting Tables The most precise way to indent the table from the left margin is to use the Table Properties dialog box. You can drag the left edge of the left column to indent the table, but that can require you to fix the widths of many columns. Instead, in the Table Properties dialog box, on the Table tab, you can set a precise Indent from left with no trial, error, or reformatting. Keep in mind that you can add a negative indent here, just as you can with paragraph indents, for when you need the table to exceed the left margin of the page. This method can be particularly handy, for example, when you need a graphic to sit outside the page margin and don’t want to mess with the complicated positioning required for floating graphics. See Also Learn more about using tables to help simplify graphic layout in the “Creating Page Layouts Using Tables” section, later in this chapter, and in Chapter 10, “Managing Graphics.” Note A though there s a benefit to sett ng Indent From Left through the Tab e Propert es
d a og box, as shown n th s sect on, there s a faster way to set the hor zonta a gnment of the tab e When the ent re tab e s se ected, paragraph a gnment works as tab e a gnment nstead For examp e, to center a tab e on the page, first se ect the ent re tab e and then press Ctr +E (Command+E n Word 2011) or, on the Home tab, n the Paragraph group, c ck the Center con Note that there are severa ways to se ect the ent re tab e, nc ud ng us ng the Se ect opt ons on the Tab e Too s Layout tab or c ck ng the Tab e Move Hand e that appears at the top- eft corner of a tab e when you pos t on your po nter over the tab e When you se ect an ent re, the endof-row markers are nc uded n the se ect on If end-of-row markers are not se ected, the ent re tab e s not se ected and th s shortcut won’t work
Setting Cell Options In the Table Options dialog box, discussed earlier, you can change cell margins for the entire table and adjust the setting to allow spacing (padding) between cells. And to set unique margins for only some cells in the table, you use the Cell Options dialog box.
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The Cell Options dialog box also contains the option to Wrap Text in table cells, which is turned on by default for tables created in Word. However, Wrap Text can be an important setting when formatting tables pasted from other sources, particularly from Microsoft Excel 2010 or Excel for Mac 2011, as discussed later in this chapter. To access the Cell Options dialog box, in the Table Properties dialog box, on the Cell tab, click Options. Note that all settings in the Cell Options dialog box apply only to selected cells.
Simplify Table Behavior with AutoFit Options AutoFit, despite its placement in the Cell Size group on the Table Tools Layout tab (Table Layout tab in Word 2011), affects the entire active table regardless of your selection. AutoFit is also an easy and important tool for managing table layout. Table 9-1 explains key behavior for each AutoFit option. Table 9-1 Table
AutoFit settings
Setting
When to Use It
AutoF t To W ndow
Th s sett ng adjusts the tab e’s w dth to 100% of the w dth of the act ve w ndow n wh ch the tab e res des When th s sett ng s act ve, f you nsert content nto a ce that exceeds the ce ’s w dth, the co umn w dth w expand to accommodate the content, but the tab e w not exceed the act ve w ndow’s w dth un ess t conta ns too much content to fit the act ve w ndow
AutoF t To Contents
Th s sett ng shr nks co umn w dths to fit the r content Though th s s the east usefu of the AutoF t sett ngs because t w create d ffer ng co umn w dths n your tab e and therefore make the tab e ook ess prec se, AutoF t To Contents can be a good troub eshoot ng too for tab es that exceed the w dth of the page On occas ons when a tab e has so much content that app y ng AutoF t To W ndow can’t condense the tab e to fit n the act ve w ndow, AutoF t To Contents can often do the tr ck When you app y th s sett ng n such nstances, text m ght be wrapped odd y to make the content fit However, t’s a n ce too to he p you qu ck y see a the contents of an overs zed tab e and determ ne the best way to fix tab e formatt ng
F xed Co umn W dth
Th s sett ng w keep co umn w dths from automat ca y adjust ng to accommodate the r contents It a so turns off the tab e’s ab ty to automat ca y adjust to changes n marg ns or page or entat on F xed Co umn W dth s the best AutoF t sett ng to app y when you’re us ng tab es to create page ayout (as d scussed n the next sect on of th s chapter, “Creat ng Page Layouts Us ng Tab es”) because t keeps the ayout as you set t, regard ess of content added to ce s For examp e, when you nsert an mage nto a ce of a tab e that uses th s sett ng, the mage w be res zed automat ca y ( f needed) to fit the w dth of the act ve ce
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Adjusting Table Width to Match Margin or Page Orientation Changes By default, new tables created in Word for the past several versions have been set to Automatically Resize To Fit Contents. You can find this setting in the Table Options dialog box. When the Fixed Column Width AutoFit setting is applied, Automatically Resize To Fit Contents toggles off; when either of the other two AutoFit settings is applied, Automatically Resize To Fit Contents toggles on. However, Automatically Resize To Fit Contents is not the same as any AutoFit setting. When you first create a table in Word, if you change margins or page orientation, the table width won’t change to match. You must apply the AutoFit setting AutoFit To Window for tables to automatically adjust to margin and orientation changes. This setting can be particularly handy for tables in headers and footers that need to adjust automatically to page layout changes in order for page numbering or other header and footer content to be properly centered or right-aligned. The ability to use AutoFit for this purpose, in fact, is one reason that tables are a much better option for centering or right-aligning header or footer content than the old-fashioned tab settings that still reside in default header and footer paragraph styles. See Also If you’re wondering where the Insert Alignment Tab feature in Word 2010 fits into this scenario, see Chapter 11, “Sections.”
Creating Page Layouts Using Tables Tables are usually the simplest solution to creating a complex page layout, because they allow you to place text, graphics, and even other tables side by side without the need for complex positioning settings or section breaks. For example, the layout for the pitch-book page shown in Figure 9-14 consists of a simple table of five rows by three columns, as you can see with table gridlines visible in Figure 9-15.
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Figure 9-14 A comp ex p tch book page s mp fied by us ng tab es to create the page ayout.
Figure 9-15 The same p tch book page w th tab e gr d nes v s b e.
Note that the small chart and table that appear side by side in the bottom-right corner of the page are placed in nested tables. You’ll learn about using nested tables later in this section.
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Companion Content The page shown in Figures 9-14 and 9-15 is from Fearless.docx, a document introduced in Chapter 6. You can find this document in the Chapter6 sample files folder available online at http://oreilly.com/catalog/9780735651999, so you can open it and examine it for yourself.
Create an Effective Host Table Tables used to create page layout are often called host tables. To create an effective host table, use the following best practices: n
As discussed earlier in this chapter, maintain the table grid structure. This is particularly important for tables used to create a complex page layout. If your layout seems to require splitting or merging cells, consider inserting a nested table instead to keep the layout clean and simple to edit. For example, notice in Figures 9-14 and 9-15, shown previously, that the two small objects in the bottom-right of the page are in a nested table. That table adds the flexibility that the layout needs without causing unnecessary complications in the host table. If, instead, the bottom-right cell of the table had been split to allow separate cells for each object, then a simple edit such as moving those items to another part of the page would become far more cumbersome. You’ll learn how to create and use nested tables effectively later in this section.
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Provide a cell for each logically separate piece of content: ❑
You can put text in the same cell with a nested table or a graphic, but tables or graphics are often easier to manage if each gets its own cell. For example, the SmartArt graphic shown earlier in Figures 9-14 and 9-15 is in the same table cell as the paragraph that precedes it. But each Excel chart on that page has its own cell. When you use a table cell as a placeholder for a graphic object, it’s easy to get the perfect size for that object. For example, if you set the table AutoFit setting to Fixed Column Width and then insert a new SmartArt graphic or chart, the object will automatically be sized to fit the cell. Or, if a graphic was created in another program, you can size it to the dimensions of the table cell before copying it into Word.
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Multiple paragraphs of related content can be placed in the same cell. Even multiple paragraphs that take different paragraph styles, such as subheadings and bulleted text, can sit in the same cell. A single table cell can contain as many paragraphs as you reasonably need, as long as they’re well formatted, and anything that you’ve heard to the contrary is another one of those popular but untrue fables about the misbehavior of Word.
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However, if you have text that needs to align vertically with text in other table columns, you should put each item to align across the page in its own row. For example, if each item in a bulleted list in the first column needs to align with descriptive text in the second column, then each bulleted paragraph should get its own row of the table.
Keep in mind that a table is there to do the layout for you. Putting lots of text into one cell and then faking alignment (such as adding excess paragraph marks between pieces of text) defeats the purpose of using a table and is likely to make your work more complicated. ❑
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Headings that are part of the page layout, such as the four quadrant headings on the sample page shown in Figures 9-14 and 9-15, logically belong in their own cells. Placing headings in their own cells makes it easy to keep them aligned automatically and keep the page layout looking precise and professional.
If you size table columns using your default unit of measure rather than a percentage of the window’s width, keep in mind that the measurement you see on the ruler does not include the width of cell margins. The column width measurement in the Table Properties dialog box includes cell margins; the column width measurement that you see on the ruler does not.
Insider Tip: Sizing Precisely Using the Rulers To view column width on the ruler and to resize column width more precisely than 1/16 of an inch, hold the Alt key while clicking or dragging the right edge of the column. (In Word 2010, you can also view measurements on the ruler by holding both mouse buttons simultaneously while you click or drag a table column edge.) You can use these shortcuts for viewing or precisely changing measurements on the ruler with any ruler measurement, including paragraph indents, tab stops, page margins, and the width of text columns. The same shortcuts also work for settings changed on the vertical ruler, including table row height as well as top and bottom page margins. n
Once you have sized the columns to the widths you need for your layout, apply the AutoFit setting Fixed Column Width, as explained in the earlier section, “Simplify Table Behavior with AutoFit Options.” This AutoFit setting helps maintain your layout by keeping the column width from changing to accommodate the width of content added to the table.
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Set row height only where you want to apportion a certain amount of the page to specific content. A layout table might have multiple columns where content can flow as needed, in which case setting row height is unnecessary. However, when you are using
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table cells as placeholders for graphics, or you want to limit certain content to a specific portion of the page, setting row height can make that task easier. As with any other setting, take the step of setting row height only if it will save you work—such as by enabling you to use the cell dimensions to size a graphic with no trial and error. n
Consider whether your host table needs cell margins. Leaving the default left and right cell margins provides an automatic space buffer between content in neighboring cells. However, if you have divider columns and rows in a host table, this buffer is unnecessary. Additionally, without cell margins, graphics and nested tables inserted into table cells will fit more snugly for a clean layout.
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If you often use tables to create page layout, add a host table style to your global template or whatever template you use for complex documents. A table style that contains no borders and no cell margins can be handy for quickly creating host tables. See Also To learn about creating table styles, saving styles to templates in Word, and setting a default table style for the active document or template, see Chapter 8.
Understand Nested Tables vs. Text Wrap Around Tables As mentioned earlier in this chapter, you should avoid using text wrap around tables. Instead, when you need content beside a table, use nested tables for a perfect, simple solution. A nested table is simply one table inside another. You can nest a complete, formatted table in a host table, or you can insert a new table directly into a cell of a host table and then format the nested table. To create one table inside another:
1. Click in the cell where you want the nested table to appear.
2. On the Insert tab, click Table and then move your pointer across and down the grid to indicate the columns and rows you want in your nested table, just as you would when creating any table in Word. Click to insert the nested table.
3. Format the nested table exactly as you would any other table. Just be sure that you know whether your insertion point is in the nested table or host table before making changes. To paste an existing table into a host table:
1. Select and then cut or copy the table from its original location.
2. Click in the cell of the host table where you want to paste the nested table. When a table is in the Clipboard and your insertion point is inside a table, the default paste method is to nest the table. So, just press Ctrl+V (Command+V in Word 2011) to paste. If the results are not what you expected, click the Ctrl button that appears beside
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the pasted table in Word 2010, or click the Clipboard SmartTag that appears beside the pasted table in Word 2011. You’ll see the option to nest the table as shown in Figure 9-16.
Word 2010
Word 2011
Figure 9-16 Paste opt ons enab e you to eas y change your se ect on f past ng one tab e nto another
does not generate the resu t that you expect.
Nested tables are typically used in the following three ways: n
Nested tables enable you to easily add flexibility to a page’s layout while leaving the host table clean and simple to manage, as in the example of the two objects in the bottom-right corner of the page shown earlier in Figures 9-14 and 9-15.
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When you need rows to grow independently of one another, use nested tables. For example, if you have a layout with two columns of text or other content and you need the height in one of the columns to grow as content is added without affecting the row height in the other column, start with a two-column host table and nest tables as needed in either column.
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When you need to place content beside a data table, such as a chart illustrating financial data beside a table containing the same financial data, nest the data table inside a host table cell.
Keeping Tables Well Behaved Table corruption is far less common in recent versions of Word (so much so that it was impossible to generate the table corruption error to create a screenshot for this sidebar!). However, being less prone to corruption doesn’t in itself make a table easy to use or save you unnecessary work. So, here are a few best-practice guidelines to help keep table corruption in the past and make your tables and their content easy to manage: n
Do not use the Text Wrap Around feature for tables.
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Do not place floating graphics (that is, any graphic with a Text Wrapping setting other than In Line With Text) in or on a table, particularly a nested table.
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Avoid contorting the table structure. In other words, don’t delete individual cells of a row or column, or excessively split or merge cells to accommodate content.
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When nesting tables, avoid adding excess layers. Nested tables are extremely stable when used correctly, but adding an unnecessary volume of layers can cause instability or poor performance. If the corruption error refers to a nested table, removing the outermost layer (that is, placing all content and nested tables into a new host table) will almost always resolve the issue.
Manage Nested Tables Use the following best practices to work effectively with nested tables: n
If you’re unsure of whether your insertion point is in the nested table or the host table, select the table to confirm before performing any formatting task.
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To place your insertion point in the host cell containing a nested table, click in the last cell of the nested table, at the end of any content in the cell, and then press the right arrow key twice. Note that when your insertion point is in the host cell containing a nested table, the cell might appear expanded to make room for your insertion point. When you move your insertion point out of the cell, the cell will return to its normal size.
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Apply the AutoFit To Window setting to any nested table to fit it snugly within its host cell. (This assumes that you have set the host table to Fixed Column Width.)
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Remember to remove the cell margins from the host table, as discussed earlier in this chapter, if you want a nested table to fit snugly to the edge of the host cell.
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If you want to copy or move a nested table outside the host table, apply the AutoFit setting Fixed Column Width before moving the table to maintain its proportions. If you leave the AutoFit To Window setting, the table size will change to use 100 percent of the width of its new window.
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Remember that a table is an inline object, so paragraph formatting in the host cell can affect the positioning of the nested table. For example, if you apply space before the paragraph to the host cell, the nested table in that cell will have space above it.
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Keep in mind that the host cell is the nested table’s window. So, for example, if the nested table has an indent from left applied, that indent is measured from the left of the host cell.
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As mentioned previously in the sidebar “Keeping Tables Well Behaved,” do not add excess layers of nested tables. Nesting tables are an excellent alternative to contorting table structure, and an easy way to create complex layouts. However, overuse of any objects or formatting in Word documents can cause unnecessary complications.
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Understanding Table Cell and End-of-Row Markers Similar to paragraph marks and section breaks, the formatting marks in tables store information. Each cell marker stores cell formatting information, but also acts as the last paragraph mark in the cell. So, for example, if you have a bulleted list in the cell and the last bullet in the list is smaller than the others, it’s most likely because a smaller font size was applied in the cell before the bulleted list was added, so the last paragraph mark (that is, the cell marker) still contains the smaller font size. To correct such issues, select the entire cell (rather than just the cell contents) to reapply the formatting or applicable style. The row marker stores information about table formatting. This is why vertically merging cells in a table can sometimes make the table more difficult to manage. This is also why including row markers in your selection when selecting a table can affect the results of several actions (such as when using paragraph alignment shortcuts to align a table on the page, as discussed earlier).
Formatting Financial Tables Though all tables are, to an extent, used for laying out content on a page, tables used to organize text or data are different from layout tables in a few ways. Primarily, whereas content that you add to layout tables needs to fit the page layout you design, tables used to lay out text or data need to fit your content. Most of what you need to know to effectively format financial tables has already been introduced in this chapter. In fact, formatting a financial table in Word is much the same as formatting the simplest of text tables. The only difference is that financial tables often have some specific formatting requirements that make them look more complicated than they actually are. Use the following best practices to format flawless financials every time: n
Take steps to help you work precisely and avoid spending time on trial and error. For example, set all data columns to equal width, when possible, before applying decimal alignment. That way, you can select all columns that require the same alignment and set it just once. To set selected columns to equal width, on the Table Tools Layout tab (the Table Layout tab in Word 2011), click Distribute Columns. Or, right-click and select Distribute Columns Evenly from the shortcut menu. (Note that the shortcut menu option appears only if full columns are selected.)
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Work in a logical order, when possible, to keep your effort to a minimum. For example, wait until all column widths are the correct size before merging heading cells.
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Remember that the same paragraph and font formatting can be used in a table as in the body of a document. So, for example, row headings, column headings, and decimal number alignment can all be accomplished with font and paragraph formatting. For help with this concept, see the sections on paragraph formatting versus table formatting earlier in this chapter—specifically, “Paragraph Indents vs. Cell Margins,” “Paragraph Borders vs. Cell Borders,” and “Which Paragraph Formatting Option Is Best?” Note tips such as using paragraph borders to create space between columns without having to use spacer columns, which can help save time when formatting financials. Also, as with any document task, keep in mind that your table will be easier to manage if you apply formatting only where needed. For example, add the indents needed to create space between columns only in those cells that contain paragraph borders. That way, if a data cell needs to exceed the indent slightly, you won’t encounter any unnecessary complications.
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If your table requires calculations, consider calculating the data in Excel and then pasting the table content into Word as a Word table. Though Word provides a handful of common formulas, Excel is the far more powerful number cruncher. Formulas in Word have a significant limitation for formatting financials; in particular, only the content in the field can get automatic number formatting, potentially making your number format appear different in that cell than in cells where the text is typed. Setting up your data in Excel also enables you to more easily add or edit number formats as needed, and getting that table into Word when you’re ready can be quick and painless, as explained later in this chapter. For data that will continue to update while the document is being edited, consider pasting the table in Word as a Word table, but link it to the Excel data. You can then break the link when the data is final, before sharing your document. If you choose this method, wait to do detailed table formatting or change table content until after the link is broken to avoid losing your work when links are updated. See the following sidebar, “Losing Table Information When Updating Links or When the Document Indicates Extra Links,” for help linking and unlinking tables.
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Losing Table Information When Updating Links or When the Document Indicates Extra Links When you paste an Excel table into Word as a linked Word table, keep in mind that the entire table is linked, not just the data inside that table. Use the following best practices to link and unlink tables from Excel to Word, and to troubleshoot common issues related to linked tables: n
To paste a table copied from Excel into Word as a linked table, press Ctrl+Alt+V in Word (Ctrl+Command+V in Word 2011) to open the Paste Special dialog box. Select Paste Link, confirm that the paste type is HTML, and then click OK. Note that HTML retains much more of the source formatting than Formatted Text (RTF), but either option will paste the content as a Word table linked to the source Excel data.
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A linked table in Word is stored as a field. If you press Alt+F9 to toggle field codes, you can see that the table is actually contained in a LINK field. So, you can apply paragraph or table styles to the content in the table—or even direct font or paragraph formatting—and that formatting will be retained when you update the link. (To update the link, either right-click and then click Update Link, or press F9). However, if you change content (such as typing currency symbols on the data, or adding a tab character), that information will be deleted when you update the link, because the link refers to all content within the table.
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When the data is final and you no longer need the link, you can break the link to finish editing the table without losing your work. To break the link, click in the table and press Ctrl+Shift+F9 (Command+Shift+F9 in Word 2011). Or, in the Links dialog box, select the link to break and then click Break Link.
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To access the Links dialog box in Word 2010, right-click the link, point to the linked object shortcut menu, and then click Links. Or, on the Info tab in Backstage view, under the Related Documents heading in the Properties pane, find Edit Links To Files. Note that the Info tab option appears only in a save document that contains links.
❑
To access the Links dialog box in Word 2011, on the Edit menu, click Links.
If the Links dialog box shows more links than you believe to be in the document, it might be because of the way you deleted a linked table. The table is contained within the link, rather than the other way around. So, if you delete only the table, the field may be left behind. When you press Alt+F9 to toggle all field codes in the document, you’ll see the field code if it’s still in your document. If the field code still exists, select the document and then press F9 to update fields. The table will reappear. To ensure that you’ve deleted a linked table, toggle field codes and then delete the entire field instead of deleting the table.
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Note Mac users on a aptop keyboard may need to add the Fn key to the keyboard shortcuts prov ded here for work ng w th fie d codes
See Also For more on working with fields, see Chapter 12, “Dynamic Content.”
Decimally Align Numbers and Currency Symbols Though you use a decimal tab stop to create decimal alignment in Word, the formatting behaves like true alignment and does not require the use of any tab characters when created correctly. For decimal alignment to work correctly in table cells, first confirm the following:
1. Set paragraph alignment to Left for all cells that will be decimally aligned.
2. Clear any tab stops that exist in the cells to be decimally aligned. To do this, first select the cells and then follow these steps:
1. On the Home tab or the Page Layout tab, in the Paragraph group, click the dialog launcher icon to open the Paragraph dialog box. Then, click the Tabs button to open the Tabs dialog box. Or, use the legacy accelerator key combination Alt+O, T. (In Word 2011, on the File menu, click Tabs.)
2. Click Clear All and then click OK. Once you’ve confirmed the preceding settings, use the steps that follow to set decimal alignment. Caution The steps prov ded here to dec ma y a gn mu t p e tab e co umns at once may not work correct y f text wrap s enab ed on your tab e
1. Select all cells that will need similar decimal alignment. That is, if you have four contiguous columns of similar width that contain similar data, you can select them all at once to set the decimal alignment. Note that if columns are significantly different in width, or if data is significantly different in neighboring columns (such as two-digit numbers in one column and eight-digit numbers in another), set decimal alignment separately for each column.
2. Click the tab selection icon at the left of the ruler until the decimal tab icon appears. (In Word 2011, click the tab selection icon and then select Decimal from the list provided.) Then, click the ruler between the margins of the first column in your selection where you want the decimal alignment to appear (in other words, where the decimal point for the aligned numbers should appear). The setting will be placed at the same position in all selected columns.
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Note that this action won’t work if you have selected noncontiguous columns. To place the decimal tab stop for noncontiguous columns, you can use the Tabs dialog box. This isn’t recommended, however, because finding the correct setting without using the ruler can require some trial and error.
3. To move the decimal alignment once you’ve placed the tab stop, simply drag the decimal tab stop to the new position. As mentioned earlier in the chapter, hold the Alt key while dragging to move precisely. To keep formatting consistent across all columns, be sure to select all columns that have the same alignment before making the change. Note that, if you accidentally add an extra tab stop while trying to place or move a tab stop, decimal alignment will stop working. If the content doesn’t automatically align to the tab stop immediately when you place it, check the ruler to see if additional tab stops were inadvertently placed.
For Mac Users In Word 2011, if you try to place a decimal tab farther to the right of a cell than will fit existing content, Word may automatically place two or more tab stops when you click the ruler to place a decimal tab. So, if your alignment does not work correctly, always check the ruler—including between column margins—for excess tab stops. It’s also worth noting that tab stop icons look different in Word 2011 than in Word 2010. For example, you can see the decimal tab stop icon for Word 2011 at left. To ensure that your decimal alignment works correctly and remains easy to manage, keep the following in mind: n
When decimal alignment is correctly set, the text in the cells will automatically move to the alignment, as it would if you applied center or right paragraph alignment. Typing tab characters in the cells to push the text over should never be necessary to accomplish align decimals. If you have to do this in your table, it means that other tab stops remain in the cells. To keep your table easy to manage, take the time to remove excess tab stops instead of adding extra tab characters.
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If decimals don’t align correctly in your cells, either paragraph alignment isn’t set to Left or the column doesn’t have sufficient width to accommodate all numbers.
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Aligning currency symbols in a financial table is the only common exception to when you might need a tab character in a table cell. When currency symbols need to be aligned in decimally aligned cells, add a left tab stop for the currency symbol. Then, place one tab character before the currency symbol and another before the number to be decimally aligned (use Ctrl+Tab to place a tab character in a table cell). Once you add this tab stop, the decimal tab no longer behaves like alignment and instead
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behaves like a tab, which is why the tab character is required. Your setting should look something like Figure 9-17.
Figure 9-17 Dec ma a gnment n a tab e co umn w th a gned currency symbo s.
As you can see in Figure 9-17, the additional tab stop is only placed in cells where the currency symbol is present. (Note also that this image shows a table in Word 2010. In Word 2011, the settings look very similar; only the icons for the left and decimal tab stops are different.) Caution P ace the add t ona tab to a gn currency symbo s on y n ce s that conta n them For
examp e, f on y the first ce and ce s n subtota and tota rows conta n currency symbo s, those are the on y ce s that shou d get the add t ona tab stop P ac ng th s add t ona tab stop n ce s w thout currency symbo s w requ re two tab characters n every data ce , wh ch can make ed tng the tab e tremendous y more comp cated than necessary
When formatting financial tables, remember some shortcuts that can save you time, such as using Replace, selecting noncontiguous cells, and using the keyboard shortcuts for the Format Painter (explained in the following sidebar, “Insider Tip: The Underexposed Formatting Clipboard”). Using the Replace feature, for example, you can search for all instances of a currency symbol in your table and replace them with tab characters surrounding that currency symbol as well as the additional tab stop needed to align it. Try the best practices provided here for formatting financials, as well as the formatting shortcuts suggested in the upcoming sidebar, “Troubleshooting Documents More Effectively.”
Insider Tip: The Underexposed Formatting Clipboard You might already know that you can click the Format Painter icon on the Home tab (in Word 2011, this is on the Standard toolbar) to copy formatting from one selection to another, or double-click that icon to paste the copied formatting to several places. However, you might not know about the keyboard shortcuts for the Format Painter, which provide additional benefits.
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Instead of clicking the Format Painter icon, press Ctrl+Shift+C (Command+Shift+C in Word 2011) to copy the paragraph and font formatting of your selection. Doing so places the formatting into its own clipboard, so that you can then paste it to any other selection in that document or any Word document until you either copy another set of formatting or end your Word session. To paste copied formatting, press Ctrl+Shift+V (Command+Shift+V in Word 2011). In addition to their clipboard-style benefit, the keyboard shortcuts can be particularly useful for copying formatting from one table cell to another, because it can be difficult to click precisely between cells to use the Format Painter icon, especially in small tables. Note that the keyboard options provided here also work in Microsoft PowerPoint 2010 and PowerPoint for Mac 2011, but they are not available in Excel.
Troubleshooting Documents More Effectively Learning to troubleshoot documents is a bit like learning auto mechanics. Before you can effectively diagnose and correct problems, you have to know how the pieces fit together. If you have taken an auto mechanics class, chances are that you had to either take apart or put together a car’s engine. Once you know how the pieces work together, troubleshooting a problem is all about process of elimination, which is simply a matter of logic and organization. When I teach document troubleshooting or advanced document production, one of my favorite exercises to help you develop your troubleshooting skills in Word is to format a complex financial table in 15 steps or fewer. More specifically, list the steps required to format that table. This exercise helps you learn how to save time by planning your approach to a complex document task, helps you understand how the components of a complex table fit together so you can more easily diagnose table formatting problems. Companion Content To try this exercise for yourself, find the document Table exercise.docx in the Chapter9 sample files folder available online at http://oreilly.com/ catalog/9780735651999. This document contains the unformatted table along with guidelines for the exercise. Though your steps might differ from those I’ve chosen and still be just as correct, you can check your results against mine by opening the file Completed table.docx, available in the same folder.
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Managing Tables from Other Sources The best practices introduced throughout this chapter provide most of what you need to know to effectively format most tables. However, when tables originate in other sources, they may require some additional considerations. The two most common sources of tables pasted into Word documents from other programs are those that originate in Excel and those that originate on websites.
Considerations for Tables That Originate in Excel When you paste a table from Excel 2010 or Excel 2011 into Word 2010 or Word 2011, those tables translate fairly easily in most cases. However, consider the following suggestions to help you avoid excess cleanup work later: n
Before copying your Excel table, expand all columns to fit their contents. Keep in mind that content can cross cells in an Excel worksheet without merging cells, but not in a Word table. As discussed throughout this chapter, excessive merged cells in a Word table can make the table more difficult to edit.
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If you have divider columns in the Excel table through which some content (such as headings) passes, delete them before copying the table to avoid unnecessary merged cells, as mentioned in the preceding bullet.
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If numeric data uses Accounting number format or a custom number format that decimally aligns data in Excel, excess leading or trailing spaces will appear in the table cells after they’re pasted in Word. You can either change the number format to Number or Currency before copying the table, or use a quick workaround to correct this after pasting into Word, as follows:
1. Select the cells that contain excess leading or trailing spaces.
2. Change the paragraph alignment to another setting and then change it back. For example, if cells are right-aligned, change the alignment to center and then back to right. This will clear the excess spaces. Before making any of the preceding recommended changes to your Excel table, consider making a copy of the sheet on which the table resides, so that you can avoid altering the original Excel table. To do this quickly in the Excel workbook, simply hold the Ctrl key (the Alt key in Excel 2011) while dragging the sheet tab to the right.
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Considerations for Tables That Originate on the Web Similar to tables that originate in Excel, tables that originate on webpages are generally cleaner when pasted into Word 2010 or Word 2011 than you might have experienced in earlier versions. However, they may still require some cleanup. Use the following guidelines to help keep Word tables easy to manage when they originate on the web: n
To paste content that originates on the web into Word , use the Formatted Text (RTF) option in the Paste Special dialog box (Ctrl+Alt+V). Because the default paste method for text and tables in Word is HTML, and webpages are created in HTML, using the default paste can leave some content that is not compatible with Word and potentially cause formatting complications. Note that when you paste as Formatted Text, you are likely to lose some formatting, but reformatting the table is likely to be much less work than fixing a document that becomes unstable because of misinterpreted content.
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If a table is pasted from the web using the default (HTML) paste, follow these steps to clean up any residual formatting issues:
1. Select the table and press Ctrl+Spacebar. As you may know, this keyboard shortcut clears direct font formatting from a selection (in Word on both platforms). Some HTML information that still resides in content pasted into Word is retained as direct font formatting that you don’t see in the document.
2. Unless you need to retain some of the original table structure formatting, such as borders and shading, apply the Table Normal table style to clear out any potentially incompatible table structure formatting stored in the cell or row markers. Even if you want to use some of the original formatting, taking this step can often save you much more time; reapplying the formatting is generally less work than fixing the table.
3. Delete any excess columns that contain no content. Because of the way HTML tables are constructed, it’s common to find tables with several excess columns, usually very narrow ones.
4. Turn off spacing between cells, as explained earlier in this chapter.
5. Occasionally, web tables contain content that translates into Word as empty, invisible graphic objects. If cells appear to be empty but are wide enough to contain content, click in them to see if invisible graphic objects are present. If so, simply delete them.
6. Web tables are very often nested. So, if you clear formatting—by applying Table Normal style, using the Ctrl+Spacebar shortcut, or applying paragraph styles— and some formatting is retained, check to see if the table is nested. To do this easily, select and then cut the table. If the table was nested, a host table will remain. You can delete the unnecessary host table and then just paste to replace the table you cut.
Chapter 10
Managing Graphics In this chapter, you will: n
Discover what’s new and improved for working with graphics in Word
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Learn how to determine when Word is the best program for the graphic task
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Understand differences for working with pictures and objects
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Simplify graphic layout
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Get tips for working with Publishing Layout view in Word for Mac 2011
If you’ve read my earlier books or other content I’ve written about working with graphics in Microsoft Word, some recommendations in this chapter might come as a surprise. For years, I consistently recommended creating all graphics in other programs and pasting them into your Word documents as pictures for ease of use and ease of editing. Well, there might still be cases when you want to do that (such as when you don’t want recipients of the document to be able to edit graphics or access chart data). But Microsoft Word 2010 and Word for Mac 2011 have fully embraced the impressive graphics engine that was new in Office 2007 and Office 2008 for Mac, so best practice rules are finally changing (well, a few of them anyway). Need a diagram? SmartArt graphics in Word have almost the same functionality that they have in PowerPoint. Need a chart? Excel charts created directly in Word have virtually the same functionality as they do in Excel. Need a simple graphic made out of shapes? Word now has the same shapes and most of the same shape formatting capabilities as in PowerPoint (and Excel). Whether you need pictures, charts, diagrams, or text boxes, graphics are an important part of most complex documents you create in Word. So if you now can create many of the graphics you need directly in Word, why isn’t this chapter about creating graphics? Creating charts, SmartArt graphics, working with shapes, and formatting pictures are covered in other chapters, so the space in this chapter is best spent on Word-specific topics, such as understanding picture types and simplifying layout. Meanwhile, this chapter will give you everything you need to know to easily and effectively manage graphic objects in Word 2010 and Word 2011—including recommendations on when your best bet is still to create that art in another program. Getting exactly the graphic you need, exactly where you need it, can be much easier than you might think.
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See Also For help creating SmartArt diagrams, working with shapes, and formatting pictures, see Chapter 14, “Creating Professional Presentation Graphics.” For help creating Excel charts, see Chapter 20, “Charts.”
For Mac Users The majority of best practice guidance in this chapter applies to the traditional word processing documents you create in Word 2011. That is, those documents you create in Print Layout view. Publishing Layout view in Word 2011 is covered separately at the end of this chapter because it provides a layout-specific environment that gives you an entirely different set of rules. See Also For help creating publication-style documents (such as newsletters and brochures) in Word 2011, see the section of this chapter titled “Working with Publishing Layout View in Word 2011.”
Chapter Assumptions This chapter assumes that, as advanced Microsoft Office users, you’re familiar with terms like text wrapping and cropping (even if you haven’t used them), and that you’ve worked with at least some type of graphics in Word documents in the past. This chapter focuses primarily on best practices for working with graphics in Word and how to simplify your work to help you get the perfect result every time. See Also For a list of resources for those who want more basic-level information, see the section “Who Will Benefit Most from This Book” in the introduction.
Introducing the New and Improved Graphics Tools in Word 2010 and Word 2011 When the current Microsoft Office graphics engine (also known as Office Art) was first introduced in Office 2007 and Office 2008 for Mac, you saw SmartArt graphics and Excel charts natively available in Word. You also saw new picture styles with formatting such as highquality bevels and reflections. But the graphic capabilities in Word lagged behind PowerPoint and Excel in other ways—including working with shapes, drawing tools, and WordArt. Word 2010 and Word 2011 now incorporate the full graphics engine. So, many features that were new in the previous version for PowerPoint and Excel are now new in Word. For example, you can now select a shape and just start typing to add text, or edit points on it to create your own custom shape. Additionally, you get the more advanced formatting effects
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for shapes that you might know from working with pictures in the previous version. Entries in the Shape Styles gallery now coordinate with theme effects similar to the way SmartArt styles and chart styles do. So, you get a wider array of shapes, more flexible drawing tools, and consistent graphic formatting tools across your Word, PowerPoint, and Excel content. In addition, Word incorporates a number of graphics features that are new and improved across Word, PowerPoint, and Excel in this version. n
Picture formatting tools are greatly improved. In fact, one of the best improvements in any area of content creation is the picture cropping functionality, which now enables you to see your entire image in shadow while you crop (among other benefits). You also have a range of advanced picture formatting tools, including improved correction and color management, a flexible set of artistic effects, and a new Remove Background feature.
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SmartArt graphics are improved as well. Not all of these improvements are available to Word (such as the ability to convert SmartArt graphics to shapes, which was actually introduced to PowerPoint and Excel in a service pack release for Office 2007), but it does offer some nice new benefits for this feature. For example, you can convert selected images in a document to a SmartArt diagram. You’ll also find several more layouts for organization charts and picture diagrams, among others.
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The WordArt capabilities that were new to PowerPoint and Excel in the previous version are now available in Word. That means more flexible and realistic formatting effects for text—consistent with the formatting effects available to shapes and images—and no more embedded objects for WordArt. So, you can now even include WordArt formatting (also called text effects in Word 2010 and Word 2011) in paragraph and character styles.
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Another great new Word feature is exclusive to Office 2010. You can now use the slide background styles from the active theme as the fill for shapes. This feature was new to PowerPoint and Excel in Office 2007 but has now come to Word. So, for example, you can use a shape as a background for your document and fill it with a slide background style to coordinate it more completely with your own branding or with the look of other documents and presentations for a given project. Note Though s de background sty e fi s are not ava ab e n Word 2011, they are sup-
ported If you open a document that conta ns shapes fi ed w th theme s de background sty es n Word 2011, the formatt ng s reta ned It w even update correct y f you change the act ve document theme
It’s also worth noting for Word 2011 users that much of your work with graphics is likely to be easier with the new Ribbon. Word 2010 users had this new experience in the previous version, when you first had the Ribbon and automatically saw contextual tabs for working
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with whatever type of object you selected. Now Mac users have a similar experience with the introduction of the Ribbon in Office for Mac 2011. The contextual tabs that appear when you select a graphic—as well as the standard tabs for SmartArt and charts in Word 2011—give you quick access to virtually everything you need for working with graphics. Additionally, advanced users of both Word 2010 and Word 2011 may want to consider taking advantage of the file formats that were first introduced in the previous versions of Microsoft Office. You might be amazed at how easy it is to use the Office Open XML underlying your documents to get even more graphic formatting flexibility and to save time (for example, for direct access to the image files of pictures that appear in your documents). See Also To learn about how to work with the different types of graphics and tools discussed here, see the following: To learn about the new, uniquely Mac Ribbon interface available across Office 2011 as well as improvements to the Ribbon across Office 2010, see Chapter 1, “Welcome to Office 2010 and Office for Mac 2011.” To learn about the new text effects (WordArt), see Chapter 7, “Working with Text.” For help creating SmartArt graphics as well as working with shapes and the Microsoft Office drawing tools, see Chapter 14. For help creating Excel charts, see Chapter 20. To learn how to fill a shape with a slide background style from the active theme, see the sidebar “Using Shapes As Page Backgrounds,” later in this chapter. Companion Content To learn about key basics for working with Microsoft Visio 2010 and using Excel and Visio together to create dynamic, data-based diagrams, see “Visualizing Data with Excel and Visio,” in the Bonus Content folder available as part of the companion content for this book, at http://oreilly.com/catalog/9780735651999. To learn the basics of how to interact with Office Open XML and to get resources for taking those basics further with the graphics in your documents, see Chapter 24, “Office Open XML Essentials.” To learn everything else you need to know for managing graphics in Word, read on.
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Using the Best Program for the Graphic Task Yes, you can go ahead and create an Excel chart, SmartArt diagram, or simple shape drawing directly in your Word document. Don’t be afraid. Although Word is still not the best choice for creating the graphics in your document in every case, most of that is not a reflection on Word—it’s a matter of how and what you choose to share. n
Depending upon what graphics you have in your document, pasting them into Word as pictures can help to minimize file size, make the document easier to manage, and help ensure that they appear correctly on recipients’ computers. You’re more likely to help simplify documents in this way if your graphics would otherwise be embedded objects (such as for Microsoft Visio diagrams), or complex drawings rather than Office Art graphics like SmartArt diagrams and charts.
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The original, live graphic isn’t editable when pasted as a picture. So, when you paste your graphic into Word as a picture, you can be confident that your chart or diagram content will remain intact, regardless of where your document goes. If you’re concerned about other editors damaging the graphics in the shared copy of your documents and not whether they would share an altered version, collaborating on the document using Office Web Apps is an excellent solution for this, as well as for potential issues that can arise when sharing documents with users of earlier versions. See Also For more information about sharing documents with users of earlier versions and how Office Web Apps can help you simplify that task, see the sidebar that follows this list, “What Happens If I Use Word 2010 or Word 2011 Graphics in Legacy File Format Documents?”
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Pasting as a picture can also help protect sensitive information. For example, just because you want to share a certain chart with recipients of your document doesn’t mean you want them to have access to the source data. Sharing on the web would not be an alternate solution in this case because, even though recipients could not access the source data for graphics such as Excel charts in Word Web App, they could download the document from the Microsoft SharePoint 2010 or Windows Live SkyDrive site where you host it.
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Some graphics—such as complex drawings—can be difficult for Word to handle and can negatively affect document performance. This doesn’t apply to SmartArt graphics, charts, or pictures. But the reason this book repeatedly specifies simple drawings when you’re using shapes and the drawing tools in Word is that complex drawings can weigh down your documents. Just because Word now has most of the same drawing tools as PowerPoint doesn’t mean it’s always as good a choice as PowerPoint (or, for that matter, graphics applications such as Adobe Illustrator or Adobe Photoshop when you really need complex graphic design elements). Word 2010 and Print Layout view in Word 2011 don’t provide a layout environment that enables you to easily create and manage
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complex drawings. What’s more, PowerPoint has additional tools that make it easier to work with drawing objects, so why do more work than you have to do? One of the best examples of this that I can share involved a stunning background design for a Word document that a designer had drawn by hand using the drawing tools in Word 2010. It was one of the most beautiful pieces of art I’ve seen created for a document in any program, and I was amazed that it was even possible to do in Word (this is one talented artist). But just the drawing itself was approximately 9 megabytes (MB) in Word and selecting or editing any part of it was an incredibly slow process. When adding graphics to documents or templates, you might be tempted to say that it doesn’t matter if editing the graphic is slow because you don’t want users to do that— they shouldn’t have to edit the graphic. But poor performance in a document is poor performance, period, and it can lead to other complications. What’s more, as every brand manager and template developer out there knows, you can’t completely control how people will use documents that you provide—no matter how you create them. With this particular example, after the entire drawing was copied into PowerPoint, it was just 4 MB—less than half the size it was in Word. Although it was still pretty complex for PowerPoint, it was definitely usable, and the performance in PowerPoint was hardly slowed down at all. So, what do you do if you want to use complex art as a design for a Word document, regardless of where you create that art? You might be able to place that graphic in Word as an image (or group of images) and use the improved Recolor feature available in Office 2010 and Office 2011 to still have it respond to theme color changes. See Also To learn about additional drawing tools (such as the new custom shape actions) that are exclusively available when you’re working with drawing objects in PowerPoint, see Chapter 14. In that chapter, you’ll also find help for using the improved Recolor feature with art that you paste as pictures into Word (or PowerPoint or Excel) to retain the ability to change colors with themes.
What Happens If I Use Word 2010 or Word 2011 Graphics in Legacy File Format Documents? When you create documents in the legacy file formats (such as .doc), you don’t have the option to create the new graphic types (such as SmartArt). Options for creating new graphics will either be entirely disabled (such as SmartArt in Word 2011) or provide legacy graphic tools (such as the unfortunate Diagram And Organizational Chart tool from Word 2003 that appears in Word 2010 when you click the SmartArt command).
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When you save a document in one of the legacy file formats after adding graphics from the current release to the document, new graphic types such as SmartArt become pictures. Charts become embedded chart objects, and will revert to the legacy charting tools if the embedded object is edited while the document is open in a version of Microsoft Office prior to 2007 or 2008 for Mac. If you share a document using the current Microsoft Office file formats with users of supported earlier versions, those users can open and edit the file using free downloads that are available from Microsoft for opening Office Open XML Format files in earlier versions. However, graphics created using the current Microsoft Office graphics tools will convert to pictures or embedded objects as just discussed. Note The compat b ty down oads are des gned to work w th Office 2000 or ater on W ndows and Office 2004 for Mac
When graphics are automatically converted to pictures, whether it’s because you’ve saved the file down to the legacy format or opened the file in an earlier version of Word, file size grows tremendously. For example, a sample single-page document that contains one live SmartArt diagram and one live Excel 2007 chart is 24 kilobytes (KB). When saved down to the legacy file format, it becomes 393 KB (with the diagram as a bitmap and the chart as an embedded object). Similarly, if the current version is opened and then saved in Word 2003, the file size of the sample document becomes 156 KB. Essentially, the experience the recipient has when using a supported version of Microsoft Office prior to 2007 or 2008 for Mac will be either the same or better if you share the Office Open XML Format version rather than saving the file down to the legacy format. Additionally, saving to the legacy format breaks other essential formatting in the document—such as theme fonts and colors in styles. You can reapply these fairly easily, but it’s still extra steps when the document comes back to you. So, for best results and ease of sharing, always share files in the current file formats when possible. However, with the introduction of the Office Web Apps, you now have an even easier solution. You no longer have to worry about what file format to use, email your documents around to collaborate with others, or worry about what version of Microsoft Office the recipients use. When you save your Office 2010 or Office 2011 document to either a SharePoint 2010 site or a SkyDrive folder, users can edit those documents online regardless of whether they work on a PC or a Mac, and regardless of what version of Microsoft Office is installed on their computer (or whether it’s installed at all).
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With Word documents, recipients can view the document online with all of the rich graphics and formatting intact. When they open the document for editing online, graphics such as SmartArt and charts appear only as placeholders. So you and your collaborators can edit text online without worrying about causing extra work with graphics later. Note that, because floating objects (including text boxes, shapes, and other graphics) are not editable in Word Web App, using Word Web App with Publishing Layout view documents is not an ideal solution unless you only need recipients to view the document without making edits. Publishing Layout view documents—like most Word documents—look beautiful in Word Web App view mode. (Viewing in Word Web App works best with Microsoft Silverlight installed on your computer, which is a free download for either Windows or Mac OS. If Silverlight is not installed on your computer, Office Web Apps will automatically recommend the download.) See Also For information on the free downloads for working with Office Open XML Format files in earlier versions, see Chapter 1. For information about working with SharePoint 2010, SkyDrive, and the new Office Web Apps, see Chapter 2, “Collaborating and Sharing When and Where You Choose.”
Understanding Differences for Working with Pictures and Objects Note The term objects as used here refers to graph c objects created d rect y n your document as we as to those embedded as objects from other programs
The difference between an object and a picture is similar to the difference between your computer and a picture of your computer. A picture is an image of an object. Just as you can’t type or search the web using a picture of a computer, you can’t edit data in a picture of a chart—the picture has no attached source data. The most common reason for creating graphics directly in Word, or pasting graphics from other programs (such as Visio 2010 for Windows users) as embedded objects, is to be able to edit those graphics right in your document. When it comes to the Office Art graphics that you can create directly in Word, those live objects also coordinate automatically with your active document theme.
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Linking objects can also be useful—for example, when you want a chart to be linked to the source data in a separate Excel workbook that contains other data as well, or when you want to be able to edit that Visio object directly but don’t want to add the file size required by an embedded object. But whether you are working with pictures or linked and embedded objects, there are important considerations and best practices to keep in mind.
Linking and Embedding Objects Between Microsoft Office Programs When you paste most graphics from other Microsoft Office programs into Word using the default paste method, they remain editable graphics by default. You also get a paste SmartTag at the bottom-right corner of the pasted graphic (called Paste Live Preview options in Office 2010), providing different paste options that vary based on the type of content. Paste SmartTags and Paste Live Preview options make it easy to change the paste option after pasting when needed. For example, Figure 10-1 shows the options given after you paste an Excel chart from Excel into Word. Or you can use the Paste Special dialog box to see all available paste options (including available picture format types in Word 2010), which can sometimes help better control how content is placed in your document. For Word 2010, notice in Figure 10-1 that you need to point to the paste options for a ScreenTip that describes the selected option. When you do, you see a preview of how the object will look with the selected format. Note The defau t paste method s to use the Paste command on the Home tab n Word
2010 or the Standard too bar n Word 2011, or the keyboard shortcuts Ctr +V (Word 2010) or Command+V (Word 2011) To access Paste Spec a n Word 2010, press Ctr +A t+V or, on the Home tab, c ck to expand Paste opt ons, and then c ck Paste Spec a In Word 2011, press Command+Ctr +V or, on the Ed t menu, c ck Paste Spec a See Also The difference between the new Paste Live Preview options in Office 2010 and Paste SmartTag options is that you see a preview of what your content will look like when you point to a given Paste Live Preview option, before you select it. To learn about Paste Live Preview in Office 2010, see Chapter 1.
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Word 2010
Word 2011
Figure 10-1 Paste L ve Prev ew opt ons n Word 2010 ( eft) and Paste SmartTag opt ons n Word 2011 (r ght), both for a chart cop ed from Exce .
Regardless of the method you choose, it’s good to know what the default paste types are as well as which paste types you might prefer to use in some situations. The list that follows provides a summary of this information along with steps to ensure that you don’t accidentally share unwanted information in your document graphics. Caution If you use the defau t paste method, keep n m nd that the paste SmartTag or Paste L ve Prev ew opt ons d sappear after you make any ed t to the pasted graph c
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An Excel chart created in Excel pastes into Word as a live chart, linked to the source workbook. If you paste an Excel chart into Word from PowerPoint, it pastes by default as a live chart but with the data embedded. The Paste Live Preview and Paste SmartTag options include embedding the source workbook in the chart or pasting the chart as a picture. When the chart originates in PowerPoint, linking the data is not an option. In Word, when a live Excel chart is pasted as a linked or embedded object, the chart is editable in Word as if it had been created in that program. You see Chart Tools contextual tabs on the Ribbon when you select any portion of the chart, and chart formatting responds to changes in your Word document theme. ❑
If you leave the data linked to the source workbook, that workbook must remain accessible on your system, and in the same location as when it was linked, for the linked data to continue to be editable from Word. If you move the source file, you can update the link to find the new file. However, the source file must remain accessible from your system for you to edit linked data or update links.
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If, however, you choose to embed that data, be careful about what other data resides in the workbook from which you copied the chart. When you embed the data for an Excel chart, the entire source workbook is embedded. So, if the source workbook contains data other than for this particular chart, you might not want to embed that data in your Word document both for file size and privacy reasons when sharing the document. For example, if you have a workbook containing PivotTable reports for your top five clients and you embed a chart related to one client in a Word document going to that client, the data in the source workbook relating to your other four
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top clients will be equally accessible to anyone who receives that Word document. So, before embedding any Excel content in your Word documents (or PowerPoint presentations), be sure that you are sharing only information you want to share. See Also If the source data workbook for a linked chart becomes unavailable, the chart will still seem to be a live, dynamic chart, but the ability to access or edit the data will be lost. If this happens, you can copy the chart back to an Excel worksheet and use an Excel macro to retrieve the lost data. For help doing this, see the sidebar “How Can I Retrieve Lost Chart Data?” in Chapter 20. For information on how to update or edit links, see the section “Editing Linked and Embedded Objects,” later in this chapter. n
A SmartArt graphic pastes as a live, editable graphic. SmartArt behavior is essentially the same in Word, PowerPoint, and Excel, so there is typically no reason to paste it as anything other than a live, editable graphic. If, however, you don’t want the graphic to be editable by recipients of the document, you can create it in PowerPoint or even another Word document, and then use Paste Special in Word to paste the graphic as a picture. Note If you want the graph c to be a p cture and you don’t need to save a ve, ed tab e copy of t for yourse f, you can even create the graph c n the Word document n wh ch you’re work ng, cut t, and then use Paste Spec a to paste t back nto the document as a p cture
Whether you create the SmartArt graphic in Word or paste it from another program, there is one potential privacy risk to watch out for. Before sharing a live SmartArt graphic, select the graphic and look at the text pane that appears. If you changed the layout of the SmartArt graphic to one that has different constraints for the amount of text the graphic can display, you might see text in that pane labeled with a red X. This is text that can’t be displayed in the active diagram but was typed into the pane or the diagram at some point. It does not display in your graphic but is still visible to any users who open your document if they view the SmartArt text pane. So, for example, if you copied the document from one originally created for another client and then changed the SmartArt layout, it’s worth taking a moment to check the SmartArt text pane to ensure that no text related to the other client still resides in that graphic. n
Drawings created with shapes paste as live drawings. As mentioned earlier, if the drawing is complex to the extent that it could have a detrimental effect on your document’s performance, it’s a good idea to paste it as a picture. Otherwise, because you now have most of the same Office Art capabilities in Word as you have in PowerPoint—including the same available shapes and most of the same shape formatting tools—there is no harm in leaving the drawing live.
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However, when working with shapes in your Word documents, keep in mind that even a shape formatted using the In Line With Text layout isn’t truly an inline object and might be more complicated to manage than where an inline object (such as a table) is an alternative solution. See Also To learn more about working with shapes in Word, see the section “Simplifying Graphic Layout,” later in this chapter. n
A Visio diagram pastes as an embedded Visio object in Word 2010, with no paste SmartTag options. To paste a Visio diagram as a picture, you must use Paste Special.
When most object types are linked or embedded in a Word document, they’re stored in the Word document as fields. This is good news, because it makes the objects easy to convert to pictures. However, Excel charts are an exception. Because Excel charts can be created directly from Word, linking or embedding the chart (when using the default paste or the Paste Live Preview and SmartTag options) only links or embeds the data, leaving the chart as a live chart rather than a chart object. You can, however, break the link to the data in cases where you want the data to be accessible to you but not to users with whom you share the file. See Also For help with these tasks as well as information on how to break the link to data in a live Excel chart, see the next section of this chapter, “Converting Embedded and Linked Objects to Pictures.” By embedding objects in your documents, you can edit the object directly from your document, provided the source program is available. So, if you share a document containing an embedded object, anyone who opens the document can potentially edit your graphic. Keep in mind that embedded objects are not limited to graphics and may be other object types, such as entire documents. Linking objects (which can also be object types other than graphics, such as tables) requires not just the source program, but access to the source file. If you share a document containing a linked object, recipients of your document can see the image of the object but will get an error message if their computer doesn’t have access to the source file location. Clearly, it’s not a good idea to share documents outside your organization that contain links to other files, both because of the inconvenience of error messages and because of the potential loss of information once the document is no longer in your control. However, when you intentionally want the data to be available to you and not to those with whom you share the document, you can break the links in a copy of the document before sharing it. That way, recipients see the object but cannot access the source data. If you do this, however, be sure to do it in a copy of the file so that you don’t lose access to the source data. Once you break the link to the data, it cannot be easily restored without replacing the source content in the document.
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Note It’s easy to check whether your document conta ns nks w thout check ng each nd v dua
object To do th s n Word 2010, c ck the F e menu and then c ck Info If your document has been saved and t conta ns nks, the command Ed t L nks To F es appears at the bottom of the Propert es pane on the Info tab In Word 2011, f the document conta ns nks, the L nks opt on s ava ab e at the bottom of the Ed t menu
To paste an object with a link to its source file, use Paste Special (Ctrl+Alt+V or Ctrl+Command+V). In the Paste Special dialog box, shown in Figure 10-2 in Word 2010 after a Visio object was copied, click Paste Link to see the paste options. Paste As options often change after you select Paste Link, because linking is not available for all options. Note also that linking is not an available option in the Paste Special dialog box for pasting some graphic types that can be created in Word, such as SmartArt diagrams. Tip It’s mportant to ment on that V s o has an d osyncrasy when you’re copy ng content To copy a draw ng from V s o, make sure noth ng on the page s se ected Then, press Ctr +C or, on the Home tab, c ck Copy If you se ect the draw ng before you copy, some Paste Spec a opt ons (such as the ab ty to paste a nk) w not be ava ab e Th s means that you must copy everyth ng on the page when you want to nk a V s o object that you paste nto a M crosoft Office document
Figure 10-2 The Paste Spec a d a og box, shown n Word 2010, w th one examp e of the opt ons you m ght
see when past ng a graph c.
As always, the Paste As options in the Paste Special dialog box differ based on the type of content that you’ve copied to the clipboard.
Converting Embedded or Linked Objects to Pictures With the exception of Excel charts that are pasted into your document as live charts with linked or embedded data, embedded or linked objects are stored in Word as fields. For this reason, you can simply remove the field code to leave just the image of the linked or
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embedded object—that is, to convert the object to a picture. To do this, select the object and press Ctrl+Shift+F9 (or Command+Shift+F9 in Word 2011). This keyboard shortcut removes any field code, leaving only its result. Note On Mac aptops, add the fn key to keyboard shortcuts for work ng w th fie d codes, such as Command+fn+F9 to convert text to a fie d code and Command+fn+Sh ft+F9 to convert a nked or embedded object to a p cture (that s, to convert a fie d code to ts stat c resu t)
Caution After you convert a nked or embedded object to a p cture, the or g na object s no
onger ed tab e and any dynam c data s ost For th s reason, before convert ng any object to a p cture that m ght requ re ed t ng ater, first save a copy of the source object n ts or g nat ng program See Also Find instructions for how to save a copy of the source object in the next section, “Editing Linked and Embedded Objects.”
For most types of fields, including embed fields, the keyboard shortcut is the only way to remove the field code. However, in the case of linked objects, links can also be broken or edited through the Links dialog box, shown in Figure 10-3. As mentioned earlier, you can access this dialog box only if links to other files exist in a previously saved document. To access this dialog box in Word 2010, click the File tab and then click Info. Find the command Edit Links To Files on the bottom of the Document Properties pane on the Info tab. To access this dialog box in Word 2011, on the Edit menu, click Links.
Figure 10-3 The L nks d a og box, shown n Word 2010.
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Even though you can’t break the link for a live Excel chart using the keyboard shortcut to disconnect a field result from the field code, it’s important to note that the links for charts pasted from Excel into Word using the default paste method are available and can be broken through the dialog box shown in Figure 10-3. If you break the link to chart data this way, you can still select and edit formatting of chart elements (such as changing the color or effects applied to data series), but access to source data will be lost. Caution If you don’t want rec p ents of your document to be ab e to access data for a ve chart,
t m ght not be suffic ent to break the nk through the d a og box If you can see the data n a ve chart, the chart st knows ts data, wh ch means that data can be recovered Recover ng t requ res the use of VBA, but the M crosoft Know edge Base conta ns nstruct ons for gett ng th s done So, to ensure that rec p ents can’t recover chart data, paste charts as p ctures See Also For more information about recovering lost data from an Excel chart, see Chapter 20.
Note Hyper nks, even to other fi es, are not the same as nked objects, and are not access b e through the L nks d a og box A hyper nk s a fie d type n Word, but s not re ated to the L nk fie d
Caution If you use Paste Spec a to paste an Exce chart as a nked or embedded object, t w
paste as a trad t ona embedded or nked object (that s, t w be stored n a fie d code so that t’s ed tab e through the Chart Object opt ons when you r ght-c ck the object, and can be converted to a p cture us ng the Ctr +Sh ft+F9 shortcut) However, th s opt on prov des unnecessary comp cat ons beyond those d scussed n th s chapter for embedded objects, such as poss b e s z ng d stort on f the chart s on ts own sheet n the source workbook For best resu ts w th a chart that s ed tab e and has ts data stored n the document, create your chart n Word For a chart that s not ed tab e n your document, create the chart n Exce and then use Paste Spec a to paste t as a p cture
Editing Linked and Embedded Objects For any linked or embedded object that can’t be edited directly on the Word document page (this includes all embedded objects other than Word tables linked to Excel data and live Excel charts), the steps for editing the object are very similar.
1. Right-click the object and then point to Object. Notice that the options provided include Edit and Open.
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Note The Convert opt on that you see on the same menu as Ed t and Open m ght not
do what you expect It may offer opt ons to convert to other object types, but t does not convert the object to a p cture For examp e, an embedded Exce worksheet object w offer Convert opt ons to change the object to a d fferent type of Exce object (such as a egacy workbook or a macro-enab ed workbook, as you see f you se ect the Convert opt on n Word 2010) For many types of objects, Convert doesn’t rea y offer any opt ons at a In the case of V s o objects, for examp e, the on y “opt on” for an embedded V s o drawng s to convert t to an embedded V s o draw ng S m ar y, n Word 2011, the on y opt on for convert ng an Exce worksheet object s to convert t to an Exce worksheet object For eas est and best resu ts when you need to remove the ed tab e source content from an object, break the nk to convert the object to a p cture (or to str p the data, n the case of a ve, nked Exce chart), or copy the object and paste t us ng Paste Spec a as the p cture type of your cho ce
2. In Word 2010, if you need to change the dimensions of the pasted object itself (for example, if part of your graphic is cut off in the object), select Edit. Otherwise, for any changes to the object itself, select Open. In Word 2011, the Edit and Open options provide largely the same result in most cases—select either option to edit the object. When you select Edit in Word 2010, the object window opens only as large as the space allotted to the embedded object. The Ribbon (or menu and toolbars, as applicable) from the source program becomes available. However, because you’re working within the space of the object, it’s a bit more difficult to manage. Additionally, the File tab in the source Office 2010 program isn’t available when you’re editing an object in Edit mode. When you select Open, the object is opened in a separate window in the source program, so that you can edit it as you would any object in that program.
3. In Word 2010, follow these steps (depending upon the option you select): a. If you select the Edit option, drag the black, thatched edge (shown in Figure 10-4 in the cross-section of an embedded Visio object) to resize the object boundaries.
Figure 10-4 An embedded object opened n Ed t mode n Word 2010.
When you’ve finished working in Edit mode, just click in the Word document, outside the object, to close the object.
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b. If you select the Open option, when you finish making changes, you can simply click the X in the top-right corner of the source program window to close the object and return to the document (you might need to manually switch your window back to the document if you use this method). In Word 2011, when you open an embedded object for editing, the size of the object may change to match the source program window. If this happens, or if you need to change the size of the embedded object, just drag to resize the source program window until the object in your document looks correct.
Determining the Best Picture Type for Your Graphic When you choose to paste a graphic into your Word 2010 document as a picture, you often have several options and usually a best choice among them. In Word 2011, you typically have only one picture option in the Paste Special dialog box (which is the same as the picture option that may appear on a Paste SmartTag), and Word automatically determines the best picture type for you. In Word 2010, getting the best picture quality for the smallest file size is easy when you use Paste Special to paste graphics into Word as pictures. But the best picture type to select in the Paste Special dialog box varies based on the source program or original file type for the particular graphic. Table 10-1 summarizes common picture types that might be available when you use Paste Special to paste a graphic into Word 2010, along with the best practices for using each. For Word 2011 users, see Table 10-1 for information about what picture file types Word uses for the different types of graphic content you might paste into your document as pictures. Additionally, for both Windows and Mac users, Table 10-1 offers guidance on picture file formats to use when saving content from other programs as pictures for use in Office 2010 or Office 2011. Note When determ n ng the best type of p cture for your part cu ar graph c, cons der how the
document w be used If the document s ke y to be used both on screen and pr nted, you m ght want to pr nt a samp e graph c to make sure the se ected p cture type s as c ear n pr nt as t s on screen If the document w be shared on ne, cons der v ew ng the fi e n Word Web App v ew mode to confirm the mage qua ty
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picture file types for use in Microsoft Office
Picture type
When to use it
P cture (PNG)
When n doubt, a ways try PNG first for mages Th s app es both to paste type and when creat ng graph cs— n a most any program—to be nserted nto Word 2010 or Word 2011 as p ctures Th s s the best p cture type to use when past ng any content from PowerPo nt—and n most cases, Exce — nto Word as a p cture (Note that for past ng content between vers ons of Word, PowerPo nt, and Exce for W ndows pr or to Office 2007, Enhanced Metafi e (EMF) s the better cho ce ) The png fi e extens on, wh ch stands for Portab e Network Graph c, s an Internetcompat b e p cture type s m ar to JPG ( jpg or jpeg) or GIF ( g f), both referenced ater n th s tab e L ke the other Internet-compat b e p cture types, PNG p ctures are a type of b tmap Th s s a good format to try for most graph c types when the resu ts you get from past ng n other p cture formats are not as good as expected Th s fi e format s a so an exce ent cho ce when past ng any type of graph c n documents that you w share across p atform or on ne For examp e, when you’re export ng vector art for use n M crosoft Office from a program such as Adobe I ustrator, PNG s usua y the best cho ce Th s s a so the format used automat ca y by Word 2011 when you paste content from other Office 2011 app cat ons (and many other app cat ons, such as Adobe I ustrator) nto Word as a p cture Note that png s a p cture fi e format offered n the W ndows Pa nt accessory program ava ab e n M crosoft W ndows, and t often prov des exce ent c ar ty for screenshots w th much sma er fi e s zes than W ndows b tmaps Th s format s a so ava ab e n the Prev ew app cat on on Mac OS So, for examp e, f you take a screenshot us ng the Grab ut ty n Mac OS (wh ch a ways saves mages as TIF fi es), on the Ed t menu, c ck Copy Then, n Prev ew, on the F e menu, c ck New From C pboard Prev ew creates a new fi e w th your mage that you can save as a PNG (or a var ety of p cture formats) If tak ng screenshots on a Mac, a so note that the keyboard shortcut Command+Sh ft+3 (screenshot of fu screen) and Command+Sh ft+4 (drag to se ect screenshot area) automat ca y creates a PNG mage of your screenshot, saved by defau t to your desktop Add Ctr to those keyboard shortcuts, and Mac OS cop es your screenshot to the c pboard, where you can use the preced ng t p to create a new fi e from t n Prev ew (Thanks for th s coo t p go to Denn s Cohen, one of th s book’s ta ented tech rev ewers )
P cture (Enhanced Metafi e)
Th s format (the emf fi e extens on) s often the best p cture type to use when pastng content from V s o nto Word 2010 as a p cture Add t ona y, th s s a good opt on to try when past ng an Exce 2010 chart nto Word, f the PNG format doesn’t prov de opt ma resu ts As ment oned ear er, th s format used to be the best cho ce for graphcs or g nat ng n PowerPo nt and Exce , but that s not usua y the case n current vers ons Both Word 2010 and Word 2011 save some nked objects (such as Exce charts that are saved as objects rather than ve, ed tab e charts) as emf p ctures a ong w th the nk data
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Picture type
When to use it
P cture (Enhanced Metafi e) (continued)
Note that f you want to paste a V s o d agram w th a nk to the source fi e dur ng document ed t ng to save t me, and then break that nk for secur ty reasons before send ng out the fi e, choose M crosoft V s o Draw ng Object a ong w th the Paste L nk opt on n the Paste Spec a d a og box When you break the nk, Word converts the object to an Enhanced Metafi e P cture Metafi e mages are not b tmaps (that s, they are not flat mages) For th s reason, Office 2010 can recogn ze the draw ng e ements n a metafi e mage—wh ch means that you can n many cases convert metafi e p ctures to Office Art shapes See the s debar “Copy P cture F es out of Your Documents,” wh ch fo ows th s tab e, for nformat on about convert ng metafi e mages to draw ng shapes
Dev ce Independent B tmap or B tmap
These fi e types, both of wh ch use the bmp fi e extens on, are W ndows b tmaps They usua y add s gn ficant fi e s ze to your document, but may a so prov de h gher-qua ty a ternat ves n Word 2010 when you’re not happy w th resu ts from sma er fi e types
P cture (JPG or JPEG) or P cture (GIF)
Most peop e are fam ar w th the jpg (or jpeg) fi e extens ons, because JPG s the most common fi e format used by d g ta cameras JPG s usua y the best opt on for past ng or nsert ng photographs
Note that device independent means that the graph c contents won’t be affected by sett ngs n the program where the b tmap s p aced Wh e th s s an uncommon ssue w th graph cs today, f you have a ogo created n a vector graph cs program and t conta ns text that was saved as text (rather than as out nes), the font defin t on m ght be d fferent n Word than n the source program (caus ng the ogo to ook d fferent n Word) If an mage appears d fferent n Word than n the source program, try the Dev ce Independent B tmap format
Word 2011 keeps the or g na fi e type (JPEG or GIF) when you paste a p cture that or g nated n that format nto Word 2011 However, f you paste that object a ong w th others (such as f you copy an mage p us shapes from a PowerPo nt s de and paste the co ect on nto Word 2011 as a s ng e p cture), the mage w be pasted as a PNG When you’re past ng graph cs or g nat ng n programs outs de M crosoft Office as p ctures, JPG/JPEG or GIF can a so be good a ternat ves f the resu ts w th PNG are not dea P cture (TIF)
Though TIF s not an ava ab e opt on for many types of graph cs, past ng a p cture us ng the t f fi e format when ava ab e can often prov de an exce ent a ternat ve for h gh-qua ty graph cs In part cu ar, when the graph c (such as a company ogo des gned n a vector graph cs program) conta ns text, TIF w often prov de the best p cture qua ty both n pr nt and on screen The on y th ng to watch out for w th TIF mages s that they tend to be extreme y arge n fi e s ze PNG, JPG/JPEG, TIF, and GIF are a good fi e formats to use when nsert ng mages nto Word 2010 or Word 2011 documents that you w be shar ng cross-p atform w th other M crosoft Office users
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Copy Picture Files out of Your Documents Wondering how to determine what file format Word 2011 uses for various picture types that you paste into Word when the program doesn’t tell you? It’s not inside information; just peek under the hood of the document—that is, look in the Office Open XML. And you can do the same with any Office 2010 or Office 2011 document. Every Office Open XML Format document is actually a compressed collection of files and folders. So, every graphic that is inserted in the document as a picture has a physical picture file stored in the document itself. That means that you can open the package of files and folders that your document comprises to view the picture files stored within and even copy the picture files out of it. In fact, one of my favorite timesaving tricks for basic Office Open XML is replacing a picture that appears dozens of times in a document just by copying and pasting the new picture file once in the XML. See Also If you are an experienced and adventurous Microsoft Office user and want to learn about the structure under the hood and the basics of how to work with that structure, see Chapter 24. You’ll also find additional resources there for timesaving Office Open XML tasks such as the trick described here.
Convert a Graphic to Another Picture Type If your image doesn’t look good with any picture paste option, or if you need to reduce file size for very high-resolution images, utility programs on both Windows and Mac OS can come in very handy. Of course, you can use the picture compression tool within Word 2010 or Word 2011 to reduce file size (and picture compression is a very welcome new feature for Office for Mac). But for extremely high-resolution images, compressing the original image might not reduce file size enough to make the image manageable in your document. When you start with extremely high-resolution images, exporting (or saving) the file to another format can often maintain quality while reducing file size tremendously. For example, if you have a high-resolution .tif file that’s tens of megabytes in size (as is common for purchased stock photography) and need to reduce the file size without significantly reducing quality, you can use Microsoft Office Picture Manager on Windows or Mac OS Preview to save that picture to another format (such as .jpg/.jpeg or .png)
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that might provide a high-quality image that is a fraction of the file size. (In Picture Manager, use the Export feature to do this. In Preview, use Save As.) n
To open a file in Picture Manager, in a Windows Explorer window, right-click the file, point to Open With, and then click Picture Manager. To export a picture to another file type using Picture Manager, on the File menu, click Export. In Windows 7, as of this writing, when you right-click an image file and point to Open With, the Picture Manager option is named just Microsoft Office 2010.
n
To open a file in Preview, in Finder, right-click the file, point to Open With, and then click Preview. Note, however, that Preview is typically the default application for opening images from Finder. To save a copy of an image as a different file type, on the File menu, click Save As.
Caution Natura y, Murphy’s Law d ctates that as soon as you get r d of a graph c source fi e, or even th nk that you won’t need to ed t the graph c aga n, you are guaranteed not on y to need to ed t t, but to do so urgent y So, when you nsert or paste a graph c nto your document as a p cture, be sure to note the name and ocat on of the or g na source fi e for ater use
If you want to note the source fi e nformat on n the document tse f, comments are typ ca y the best way to do th s because they’re easy to see (v s b e by defau t when you open the document) and easy to remove before shar ng the document Other common methods, such as formatt ng the fi e nformat on as h dden text or add ng the path n the A t Text descr pt on for the p cture, carry a greater r sk of eav ng beh nd pr vate nformat on when you share the fi e because you may not see these e ements when v ew ng your document
Convert a Metafile Picture to Shapes Using Word 2010 After you insert or paste a Windows Metafile or Enhanced Windows Metafile format picture into Word 2010, you can often ungroup the image to convert it to Office Art shapes. That is, you can always ungroup it to convert it to shapes, but whether the result is usable depends upon how the object was originally drawn. To ungroup the image, just right-click, point to Group, and then click Ungroup (or find the Group commands on the Picture Tools Format tab).
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When you do this, the image will be placed in a drawing canvas—and there are few things in Word that are more annoying than an unnecessary object like a drawing canvas getting in your way. So, to get rid of the canvas and start working with your newly converted object:
1. Click to select any shape inside the drawing canvas and then press Ctrl+A to select everything inside the canvas.
2. Right-click, point to Group, and then click Group.
3. Cut the selected group (Ctrl+X or Home, Cut).
4. Delete the canvas.
5. Paste. See Also For more on this subject, see Chapter 14. Note that this capability is also available in PowerPoint 2010 and Excel 2010, but not in Office 2011. But Mac users, don’t be sad—you’re just pages away from one of the best Mac-only subjects imaginable: Publishing Layout view, which incorporates at least a few features cool enough to leave your Windows-centric friends envious.
Simplifying Graphic Layout Note Mac users, p ease note that th s sect on app es to your word process ng sty e–documents on y—that s, the documents you create n Pr nt Layout or Draft v ew Layout for Pub sh ng Layout v ew documents s d scussed n the sect on “Work ng n Pub sh ng Layout V ew n Word 2011,” ater n th s chapter For W ndows users, th s sect on app es to a of your Word 2010 documents
When you’re ready to paste a graphic into your Word document, first ask yourself the following question: Would you prefer to spend the next 20 minutes of your life struggling to position that graphic, only to give up and decide it’s close enough, or do you have something better to do with that time? If you have something better to do, and I hope that you do, just remember the following four words: In Line With Text. It might seem as though text wrapping options such as Tight or Square, shown in Figure 10-5, are the easiest way to get the layout you want. But positioning and anchoring options can be complicated and documents can become much more difficult to manage.
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Figure 10-5 Text wrapp ng opt ons, shown n Word 2010.
Instead, when you use the In Line With Text option at the top of the list shown in Figure 10-5, you’re actually turning off text wrapping. When you do this, your graphic sits on the same document layer as text or tables. So, you can position and format that graphic as easily as you do a paragraph of text. Additionally, when your graphics are formatted to be inline with text, you can place them in table cells for simplified solutions to complex page layouts. See Also To learn about the concept of layers in Word, see Chapter 6, “Building Easy-toManage, Robust Documents.” To learn how to use tables to simplify complex page layouts, see Chapter 9, “Tables.” Caution Never p ace float ng graph cs (that s, graph cs that use text wrapp ng sett ngs other
than In L ne W th Text) n front of or w th n tab es, espec a y nested tab es Do ng so can generate the tab e corrupt on error message and m ght requ re repa r ng the tab e
See Also For help with that error message, see the sidebar “Keeping Tables Well Behaved” in Chapter 9.
Using the In Line With Text Layout By default, most pictures are automatically positioned inline with text when you paste or insert them into your document. To set this default:
In Word 2010
1. Click the File tab and then click Options.
2. On the Advanced tab of the Word Options dialog box, under Cut, Copy, And Paste, confirm that the Insert/Paste Pictures As option is set to In Line With Text.
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In Word 2011
1. On the Word menu, click Preferences.
2. On the Edit tab of the Word Preferences dialog box, under Editing Options, confirm that the Insert/Paste Pictures As option is set to In Line With Text. To set a graphic to the In Line With Text layout, right-click the graphic, point to Wrap Text, and then click In Line With Text. Or, find text wrapping options on the applicable contextual tab that appears when you select the graphic (such as Picture Tools Format in Word 2010 or Format Picture in Word 2011). As mentioned earlier, graphics that use this layout option can be formatted as easily as text. For example, apply center or right paragraph alignment to move the graphic horizontally on the page. Paragraph indents and spacing before or after the paragraph can also come in handy for positioning graphics. In fact, if you have a lot of graphics in your document and want them all formatted consistently, it’s a good idea to create a paragraph style for your graphics, just as you would for text that you want to keep consistent throughout the document. Tip When you have a graph c n the body of a paragraph, n add t on to paragraph formatt ng, you can use character spac ng pos t on (ra sed or owered) to adjust the se ected graph c vert ca y on the ne of text Access character spac ng pos t on on the Advanced Tab of the Font d a og box To access th s d a og box n Word 2010, on the Home tab, n the Font group, c ck the d a og aunch con (note that when some types of graph c objects are se ected, the shortcut Ctr +D that norma y opens th s d a og box w nstead dup cate the object) In Word 2011, on the Format menu, c ck Font (or press Command+D) If the Font d a og box s not access b e (as s the case w th a p cture se ected n Word 2011), se ect the p cture as we as one character to the eft or r ght of t to access the d a og box To eas y c ear the formatt ng from add t ona characters after app y ng t, se ect just the add t ona character(s) and then press Ctr +Spacebar
Recognizing Graphic Layout In recent versions of Word, it was easy to distinguish a graphic formatted to be inline with text from a floating graphic, either by the handles that appear when the graphic is selected or by the mouse pointer when hovering over the graphic. That’s no longer the case, but there are still visual cues you can use to quickly identify whether a graphic is floating or sitting inline with text. If you’re viewing all formatting marks, you can see the object anchor (shown beside this paragraph) that appears for any floating object other than a text frame. The anchor may appear in the margin to the left of a paragraph, or it may appear inside the perimeter of the
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object, usually in the top-right corner. If you’re not viewing all formatting marks, or you’re not comfortable with this method, remember that Text Wrapping is an option when you right-click most types of graphics, so you can just right-click and then point to Text Wrapping to see the setting. Though the handles of selected objects no longer differ based on layout (except in legacy documents), it’s still good to know what you can learn about a graphic from the handles you see when the object is selected. Note that these handles are the same in Word 2010 and Word 2011. n
Charts created using the current Excel chart functionality (whether created inside Word or pasted as live, editable charts from Excel or PowerPoint) and SmartArt diagrams both have a blue border. This looks just like the drawing canvas that I maligned just a couple of pages ago, but for these objects it is not excessive or in any way unnecessary, but rather just the border/handles of the object, as shown in Figure 10-6.
Figure 10-6 The hand es of an Office Art chart or SmartArt graph c
are dots around the edges of a b ue frame.
This border is blue regardless of your color scheme (in both Word 2010 and Word 2011), and the handles are the series of dots on each side of the object as well as at its corners. n
Pictures and Office Art shapes have round handles at the corners and square handles on each side, as you see in Figure 10-7, with the green rotation handle attached to the top picture handle.
Figure 10-7 P cture hand es are round at the corners and square on each s de.
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Despite the fact that these handles look very similar to floating objects in versions of Word prior to 2007, and 2008 for Mac, they are now the same for pictures formatted to sit inline with text, including the rotation handle. n
Embedded objects in Word 2010 and Word 2011 documents, as well as pictures formatted as inline with text in legacy Word documents, provide handles similar to earlier versions of Word, with the handles on the inside of a dotted-line border. Floating graphics in legacy documents opened in Word 2011 have handles similar to current pictures, as shown in Figure 10-7. In legacy documents opened in Word 2010, floating graphics have similar handles, but they are blue in color and smaller.
Using Table Cells As Graphic Placeholders As discussed in Chapter 9, tables are the perfect layout tool for complex page layouts, such as when you need graphics beside text, tables, or other graphics. When it was more common (in earlier versions of Word) to create your graphics in other applications and paste them into Word, the table cell was also handy for providing the dimensions (cell height and width) to which to size the graphic before copying it into Word. This is no longer necessary in most cases, since you are likely to create your graphic in Word or insert or paste it into Word as a picture. But you can save time when using a table to lay out a page by setting the table AutoFit setting to Fixed Column Width. When you do this, most types of graphics that you can insert into a table cell will automatically resize to fit the cell (and thereby maintain the page layout structure without extra work). This includes SmartArt graphics and charts that you create directly in Word (click in the table cell and then insert the new graphic from the Ribbon) and pictures that you insert from files or Clip Art in Word 2010 or Word 2011, as well as those that you insert from the Media Browser in Word 2011. The fixed column width setting doesn’t prevent you from resizing columns if you choose; it only prevents columns from resizing automatically to accommodate content that you place in the cell. To set table columns to fixed column width:
1. Click in the table (this setting is for the entire table, so it is not necessary to select columns).
2. On the Table Tools Layout tab (Table Layout tab in Word 2011), in the Cell Size group, click AutoFit and then click Fixed Column Width.
Using Text Wrap When You Must In a perfect world, floating graphics would be as easy to manage in Word as those that are inline with text. Because the world (at least for now) isn’t perfect, in an ideal incarnation of the current real world, you’d never need to use floating objects in Word 2010 (or Word 2011
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Print Layout view documents). But, although formatting graphics with the In Line With Text layout and using tables for page layouts can address most requirements for beautiful, effective Word documents, there are exceptions where you’ll need to use floating objects instead. There will be times when using floating objects is necessary to avoid compromising a design or to meet a document’s requirements, and there’s just no way of getting around it. For example, you might need a design that sits behind the page, an image that sits behind text, a graphic that bleeds off the page, or a watermark in the header or footer. When you absolutely have to use text wrap, follow these tips to help you keep it simple and easy to manage: n
When you need to layer a graphic with text or other document content, always use the Behind Text wrap setting when possible. In Word 2011, this option may not appear to be available, but it is. To set a graphic behind text in Word 2011, set Text Wrap to None. Then, right-click the graphic, point to Arrange, and then click Send Behind Text.
n
Watch the positioning of the anchor. The anchor nonprinting character (formatting mark) shown earlier always appears for a floating object, and the position of that anchor can make the graphic easier or more difficult to manage. An anchor always sits in a paragraph, but that paragraph can be attached to text or formatting marks, or even inside a table. Remember that you can see anchors when you turn on formatting marks in the document. For best results and easy editing, always make sure that the anchor is not sitting inside a table and is not attached to a paragraph that contains a page layout formatting mark such as a page break or section break. To do this, just select and drag the anchor character itself to a harmless location. For example, if you see that the anchor resides in a table cell, drag it to the paragraph mark that follows the table.
n
Always set floating graphics to be an absolute distance from the top and left of the page (as shown in Figure 10-8), unless you have a specific reason to do otherwise. To set the position of an object, on the applicable contextual tab (such as the Picture Tools Format tab in Word 2010 or the Format Picture tab in Word 2011), in the Arrange group, click Position and then click More Layout Options. Note The d a og box Pos t on tab, shown n F gure 10-8 as t appears n Word 2010, has
dent ca opt ons n Word 2011 However, n Word 2011, the d a og box s named Advanced Layout
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Figure 10-8 The Pos t on tab of the Layout d a og box, shown n Word 2010.
Also notice the four check boxes shown in Figure 10-8. Always set Allow Overlap, or content will bounce out of your way when you try to position your object behind text or layered with something else. It’s usually a good idea to clear the check boxes other than Allow Overlap for the following reasons: ❑
Layout In Table Cell is a well-intentioned feature but is likely to frustrate you and doesn’t actually help. If you want the object to be laid out in a table cell, drop it in the cell and use the In Line With Text layout setting. If the object is behind a table, chances are that you want to format the content in the table cells independently of the object, and you often can’t do that as easily with this option selected. If you have a floating graphic anywhere in the vicinity of a table and the table cell content doesn’t seem to go where you want it to, check to see if this option is set for the graphic, and if so, clear it.
❑
Lock Anchor is simply something that you are unlikely to need very often, if ever. When the anchor is locked, you can’t drag it to move it to another location as indicated previously. So, before you use this option, make sure you really want that anchor to be locked to whatever paragraph mark it resides in.
❑
Move Object With Text can’t do any harm, if in fact you want the graphic to move when the paragraph mark to which it’s attached moves. But if you’re using the graphic as a design element, that is rarely the case. If that is the case, you might also want to use position settings that provide an absolute distance from the paragraph rather than the page, depending upon your requirements.
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Use Relative Size and Position to Resize Shapes with Page Size and Orientation In Figure 10-8, you see the option to use relative positioning for the graphic instead of absolute positioning. This is rarely a useful feature for pictures. However, when working with shapes that are intended as page layout elements, you can set both the position and the size as a relative percentage of the page. When you do this, the shape size and position automatically adjust to changes in paper size or orientation. One great example that demonstrates how to use the relative size and position options is the built-in Word 2010 sample template named Adjacency Report. To access the Adjacency Report template in Word 2010, click the File tab, click New, and then click Sample Templates. Companion Content For Word 2011 users, or any reader who prefers to use the online sample content for this book for reference, that template is also available (with thanks to the Word 2010 team) in the Chapter10 sample files folder available online at http:// oreilly.com/catalog/9780735651999.
Use the Crop Tool to Add Space Around a Picture You’ve probably used the Crop tool to crop parts of a picture, but how about to add to a picture? Cropping out from a graphic adds space around the graphic. To do this, just drag away from the picture from any crop handle. See Also Learn about the improved Crop tool and all of the Office 2010 and Office 2011 new and improved tools for formatting pictures in Chapter 15.
Use Shapes As Page Backgrounds With the introduction of the current Office Art engine for shapes in Word 2010 comes an additional opportunity to coordinate your Word documents with your branding. You can now fill a shape with a style from the Slide Background Styles gallery for the active document theme. To do this, select the shape and then, on the Drawing Tools Format tab, in the Shape Styles group, click to expand the Shape Styles gallery and then click Other Theme Fills. These other theme fills are the slide background styles from your active theme.
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So, for example, if you want to use a slide background style as a page background in a Word report, you can set a shape to the full size of the page (perhaps set it on the header/footer layer when it needs to repeat on multiple pages, or set it behind text as discussed earlier in this section). Then, fill it with the slide background style. This feature is also available in PowerPoint 2010 and Excel 2010, but it is not available in the Office for Mac 2011 programs. However, if you open a document in an Office 2011 program that has shapes filled with the theme slide background styles, they will be supported and will update when the theme is changed. The built-in Word 2010 template mentioned earlier (Adjacency Report) is an excellent example of this feature. The slide background style fills are applied to first and second page background shapes. To see them in action, create a document based on this template and then change the document theme. Companion Content For easy access, the Adjacency Report template is available in the Chapter10 sample files folder available online at http://oreilly.com/catalog/9780735651999.
Use the Selection Pane in Word 2010 Windows users might know the Selection Pane from PowerPoint 2007 (or Excel 2007). Like many of the Office Art drawing tools, the Selection Pane is now available in Word 2010 and it makes accessing objects (such as those sent behind text or layered behind other objects) an absolute snap. To access this pane, on the Home tab, in the Editing group, click Select and then click Selection Pane. You’ll see all graphics on the active page listed there. You can click to select an object, use the arrows at the bottom of the pane to reorder layered objects, or even click in the name of an object to rename it for ease of reference. (Word developers also find this tool handy for quickly naming graphics in the document to reference them in code.) Additionally, you can click the eye icon that appears beside an object to hide it, but this is not usually a good idea because you might then risk leaving private content in the file when you share the document.
Why Should I Avoid Using Frames? When you must have content that wraps around or overlaps text, a text box is a better solution than a text frame. Frames are used for a number of features, such as drop caps or text wrap around tables, and they can also be included in paragraph styles. However, it’s common for documents containing frames to be more difficult to manage.
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Fortunately, frames are less prevalent in recent versions of Word. However, if you can’t identify the source of trouble in your document, check for content in frames and delete the frame where possible. You can then place content in table cells for layout, or in text boxes if the layout requires a floating object. A frame is easy to recognize when you click inside it or select it, because of its unique border and handles, as shown in Figure 10-9. Note that this image shows a frame in Word 2010. Frames look much the same in Word 2011, but the border and handles are black rather than blue.
Figure 10-9 A se ected text frame, shown n Word 2010
When you click inside a frame, the border appears thatched and with no handles. When you select the frame, the border is still thatched, but now has square handles at the sides and corners. To remove a frame, right-click the frame border, select Format Frame, and then click Remove Frame. Note, however, that frames embedded in some features—such as drop caps—can’t be accessed this way. To remove the frame in these cases, turn off the feature that includes the frame. Note that when used with text wrap around tables, the frame is invisible. However, the frame often becomes visible after the table becomes corrupted. In these cases, you can use the preceding instructions to remove the frame.
Working in Publishing Layout View in Word 2011 Note W ndows users, p ease note that th s sect on descr bes features that are exc us ve to Word
for Mac 2011 However, f you work w th Mac users and m ght have occas on to use documents that were created n Word 2011 Pub sh ng Layout v ew n Word 2010, you m ght be nterested n th s sect on’s t ps about shar ng Pub sh ng Layout v ew documents w th W ndows users
Publishing Layout view makes me happy. I’ve had the privilege of building the templates that ship with Word for Mac for the past two versions, so I have built a lot of documents in Publishing Layout view, and I can tell you this: it’s fun, it’s very cool to see what you can create in Word using the tools it provides, and it’s probably much easier than you think.
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When we began working on Word 2008 templates (the first version of Word for Mac that included Publishing Layout view) and I was told that many of the templates I’d be building would be composed entirely of floating objects, I felt a bit queasy, to say the least. Then I started to use the tools in Publishing Layout view, and I relaxed. The great thing about Publishing Layout view is that it provides an environment specifically designed for working with layout—that is, for positioning and laying out objects as you do in a desktop publishing application. So, it greatly simplifies working with floating objects in Word. But, even better, it’s still Word, so you don’t have to learn a new program; you already know most of the features. The best piece of advice I can give you as you begin to work in this view is to keep in mind that you’re still in Word. You are an experienced user of this software, so remember everything you already know about the program. That said, this section treats you like an experienced Word user and doesn’t walk you through basics. Instead, it provides a list of key tips for working in Publishing Layout view.
Using the Features You Already Know So what aspects of Publishing Layout view are the same as when you’re working in traditional (Print Layout view) documents? n
Text can (and should) be formatted using paragraph styles. You can use all the same font and paragraph formatting that you use in word processing documents, including the new text effects and OpenType typography features. Because text always resides in a shape in Publishing Layout view (note that a text box is a shape), the primary difference about working with text in this view is that some paragraph formatting features for formatting page layout in Print Layout view documents may not apply (such as some of the line and page break options like Page Break Before formatting). Also keep in mind that the text box area is the equivalent of the page to the text it contains. That is, text position is affected by text box margins and any line and paragraph spacing or paragraph indents you might apply, as well as by the height and width of the text box.
n
The colors, fonts, and graphic formatting effects come from the applied document theme.
n
Shapes, text boxes, and images in Publishing Layout view are the same as those you work with in other Word documents or, for that matter, in PowerPoint. And much like PowerPoint, the page in Publishing View is designed for you to pick up, move, position, and lay out objects as you need. In fact, for best results when you’re positioning objects on the page, it’s usually a good idea to use the same absolute positioning settings discussed earlier in this chapter and shown in Figure 10-8.
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The master pages in Publishing Layout view are essentially a cool environment for, and flashy way to say, the header/footer layer. That’s right—master pages are the same as clicking into the header/footer layer. In fact, when you use the feature to add a new master in Publishing Layout view, it adds a new section. See Also For help working with master pages in Publishing Layout view, to explore how the feature is the same and different from working with traditional headers and footers in Word, and to learn how to customize page number formatting when working in this view, see Chapter 11, “Sections.”
I Can’t Access Word Features When Working in Publishing Layout View If I have one pet peeve about this view, it is that it can occasionally feel like someone decided for me that I don’t need some Word features when working in it, and that’s just not so. But the truth is that, in most cases, what might seem inaccessible isn’t at all—it just may require a different step than you expect. For example, if you have nothing on the page selected and you try to modify a paragraph style, you’ll find the options unavailable. In fact, you’ll find most of the Format menu and much of the Home tab options unavailable as well. But that doesn’t mean that these features aren’t available here; rather, it means that you’re not in a relevant area on the page where they can be applied (that is, a text area). When you’re working in any of the traditional Word views (such as Print Layout view or Draft view), your insertion point is usually on the text layer (the main document layer). Not so in Publishing Layout view, when essentially everything resides in front of the main text layer (in other words, everything is floating). So, if you want to format text, just select a text box. When you select a text box, you see that the options for working with styles, as well as most of the options for working with text and paragraphs on both the Format menu and the Home tab, become available. Because text boxes are discrete locations (rather than the run of text on a traditional Word page), you can’t apply font and paragraph formatting (including styles) when more than one text box is selected. But you can apply a style to one text box, and then select the next and press Command+Y to repeat the last action. Or, select the contents in the text box and then use the Format Painter keyboard shortcuts to copy that formatting and paste it into as many text boxes as you need (in the same or other documents) during the current Word session. To copy formatting of selected text, press Command+Shift+Y. To paste that formatting, press Command+Shift+V.
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The fact that text is placed in discrete objects in a Publishing Layout view document does limit some feature availability. For example, you can’t generate an automatic table of contents or figures in this view, footnotes are unavailable, and you can’t continue automatic outline numbering between text boxes unless they are linked. Similarly, style guides don’t appear in this view. But if you need these features, consider whether your document really is best as a collection of floating objects. A long document that needs an outline numbered list, footnotes, and reference tables would most likely benefit from being formatted as a traditional word processing document in Print Layout view, with the text in the main body of the document and no text boxes at all.
Using Features Designed Just for Publishing Layout View A small but powerful set of features in Publishing Layout view makes all the difference in the world when you need to create a publication style document. n
When you drag objects to move them on the page, notice that you see both dynamic guides (which show you when objects are aligned to the page or to other elements on the page) and a screen tip indicating the object position, as shown in Figure 10-10.
Figure 10-10 Dynam c gu des and pos t on ScreenT ps appear automat ca y when you move objects
on the page.
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If you don’t see dynamic guides when you move objects, on the Layout tab, in the Guides group, click Show and then click Dynamic Guides. n
You can also create static guides that you can position exactly where you need them on a page or master to help you align content. Guides don’t print and can be cleared easily. ❑
To enable static guides, on the Layout tab, in the Guides group, click Show and then click Static Guides.
❑
To create a static guide, drag from the horizontal or vertical ruler onto the page. As you do, you’ll see a blue guideline appear with a ScreenTip that shows you the position of the guide as you move it. Just drop the guide when you reach the position you want.
❑
To clear a guide, drag it off the page. To clear all guides in the active document, on the Layout tab, in the Guides group, click Show and then click Clear Static Guides.
Note that static guides may disappear from one page or master when you create guides on another page or master. For an example of how to use static guides to help set up a page, see the built-in Word 2011 Publishing Layout View business card templates. To access built-in templates in Word 2011, on the File menu, click New From Template. Notice that templates are divided into Print Layout view and Publishing Layout view. n
The Document Map pane in Publishing Layout view shows you each page in the document; from this pane, you can drag and drop to rearrange pages in the document. To open the Document Map pane, on the Standard toolbar, click the Document Map button shown here. Note that a double line between pages in the Document Map pane in Publishing Layout view indicates a section break (referred to as a new master in this view).
n
Dynamic Reordering, new to Office 2011 (it’s also available in PowerPoint 2011), makes me wish this book had a soundtrack. There should be angels singing as I introduce this feature…or at least a drum roll. It’s stunningly beautiful and will make you instantly feel like you’ve entered the future of document production. So what is it? Dynamic Reordering is a three-dimensional view of all the layers in your document. You can use it to slice through the side of the document to see how it’s constructed and just drag any layer to rearrange it in the document. No picture can do justice to this feature, certainly not a black-and-white one. But for those who don’t have access to Word 2011 to try it for yourself, Figure 10-11 at least gives you an idea. This image shows the built-in brochure template named Flow Trifold Brochure.
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Figure 10-11 Get an nstant 3 D v ew of your document us ng Dynam c Reorder ng.
To use this feature, on the Home tab, in the Arrange group, click Reorder. n
The ability to dynamically wrap text around objects is also unique to Publishing Layout view and helps you create truly dynamic, flexible layouts very easily. Just move a shape or picture to overlap with a text box that has this feature enabled, and the text automatically wraps around the object. Adjust the position of the object, and the text will adjust in kind. This feature is on by default when you create a text box. To enable it:
1. On the Format menu, click Shape.
2. On the Layout tab of the Format Shape dialog box, click Advanced.
3. On the Position tab, find the option Wrap Text In Text Boxes For Overlay Objects. If this feature is enabled but text doesn’t wrap, the cause is usually one of two things: ❑
Ensure that text wrap is on for the text box (such as setting the wrap to Square or Through).
❑
Use the Arrange tools to move the text box in front of the object you want to wrap it around.
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Linking text boxes to control text flow throughout your document is not unique to Publishing Layout view (or to Word for Mac). However, when you link text boxes in Word 2011, you see a number in the top-left corner of the text box that represents its order in the link, which is a behavior unique to this view. This feature is particularly useful in Publishing Layout view, where you might create complex documents such as newsletters or brochures that rely heavily on linked text boxes for layout. Linking text boxes causes the text you add to the first text box in the link chain to automatically flow into the next as you add more content. To link text boxes, select the first text box and then, on the Format tab, click Link. Next, just click an empty text box to link it. You can add more links as needed by selecting each subsequent text box and then repeating the preceding step to link it to another. See many examples of linked text box chains in the built-in Publishing Layout view templates, such as the newsletters.
Sharing Publishing Layout View Documents Online and Across Platforms When you want to share documents online—by saving them to a SharePoint 2010 site or a SkyDrive folder—you can do so with Publishing Layout view documents, but there are some limitations. n
Those with whom you share the online location can, of course, download the files. They can also open the file in Word Web App in view mode and it will look great. But, as mentioned earlier in this chapter, because Word Web App edit mode does not support editing of floating objects, virtually everything in the document will be an uneditable placeholder. So, online editing of these documents is not currently available.
n
Also note that the new coauthoring feature in Word 2011 and Word 2010 is not available in Word 2011 for Publishing Layout View documents.
When you share your publication documents with users of Word 2010, those documents will look very much like they do in Word 2011 when formatting marks are not visible. For example, just as you see if you open your Publishing Layout view document in Print Layout view, master page content appears on the header and footer layer but is still visible. However, Word 2010 doesn’t have the dynamic text wrap capability. Fortunately, it provides a workaround to keep dynamic text wrap intact. Text boxes that use dynamic text wrap in Word 2010 are automatically broken into a collection of single-line, linked text boxes. The users you share with can edit text in these text boxes similar to how you do in Word 2011, and the text will rewrap correctly. But they cannot adjust the wrap position or layout. When you next open the document in Word 2011, your dynamic wrap text box will automatically still be intact.
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When collaborating across platforms, also keep in mind that Word 2010 users don’t have Publishing Layout view, so they don’t have many of the tools that make these documents easy for you to manage. Although the documents will look good and will make the roundtrip between platforms with ease, they will be more difficult for your colleagues working on Windows to use. So, when you need to collaborate across platforms rather than simply sharing your beautiful finished product, consider sticking with Print Layout view documents that follow the traditional rules of Word.
My Pages Overlap in Word 2010 or in Word 2011 Print Layout View If you try to select a page in the Document Map in Publishing Layout view and more than one page is selected, or if you see two pages of content overlap when you open the document either in Print Layout view or in Word 2010, it means that a page break or section break has inadvertently been deleted. This happens so rarely that even if you try to make it happen, you probably can’t. So don’t worry about your documents breaking in this way—it’s just not likely. But this tip is here because it can happen, and if it does, it’s important to know how easy it is to fix. The inline main document layer in a document is essentially inaccessible when you’re working in Publishing Layout view. This is a good thing, because that is where Word stores the page breaks and sections breaks that are used in this view but never displayed. If you can’t access them, you can’t break them. However, if you accidentally manage to type on the inline document layer, you might press the Delete key (not realizing where your insertion point is) and end up deleting a necessary page break. To fix this issue, simply switch to Print Layout view and add back in the missing page break. Keep in mind that existing page breaks and section breaks might be hidden behind objects. Also keep in mind the guidance provided earlier in this chapter about all floating objects being anchored to a paragraph, so you can more easily see where the content that needs to move to the next page is anchored and more easily place the page break where it needs to go.
Chapter 11
Sections In this chapter, you will: n
Learn when a section break is (or is not) required
n
Discover tips for simplifying section formatting
n
Learn how to easily manage section breaks, headers, and footers
Harried by headers? Frustrated with footers? Is your page orientation disoriented, or your footnote numbering failing to number? From page borders to watermarks to text columns to page orientation, section formatting can be one of the easiest components to manage in Microsoft Word documents. Ironically, it’s also one of the most common areas where people get frustrated. If you’re among the many Microsoft Word users who has ever experienced stress from section breaks, headers and footers that appeared to change against your will, page orientation that refused to change at all, or any other section formatting foibles, now is a good time to take a deep, cleansing breath. There’s a reason, and a simple solution, for just about any of the aforementioned issues.
Chapter Assumptions This chapter assumes that, as experienced users, you know how to apply basic section formatting features, such as changing page margins or orientation, or inserting a footnote. It also assumes that you know the basics of what section breaks are and have used them before. Instead of spending time on these basics, this chapter will focus on explaining how section formatting works so that you can manage all types of section formatting more easily. In addition to best practices, we’ll look at common section formatting trouble spots, such as changing section break type and managing the Link To Previous feature in headers and footers. See Also For those who want more basic-level information, see the list of resources in the section “Who Will Benefit Most from This Book” in the introduction.
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Determining Whether You Need a Section Break One of the quickest and most common ways to overcomplicate your document formatting is to use too many section breaks. Remember, a section break stores the formatting for the section that precedes it. So, every break you insert is another set of formatting you add to the document. That’s not to say that using section breaks is bad. Like many features, section breaks are a useful, simple, and stable solution when used properly. After all, the ability to change page layout formatting for just part of the document is an essential component of most complex documents, and even some that aren’t so complex. So, don’t hesitate to use section breaks in any instance where you know they’re the simplest solution for the task.
Knowing When to Use a Section Break So, when is a section break necessary? Table 11-1 tells you when a section break is required to change the formatting for just part of the document. Table 11-1 Features
that require section breaks
A section break is required
A section break might be required
Page marg ns
Headers, footers, and watermarks ( n Word for Mac 2011 Pub sh ng Layout v ew, th s s known as Master Pages)
Page or entat on Paper s ze Paper source (that s, pr nter tray)
Restart ng footnote, endnote, and ne number ng
Vert ca a gnment of the ent re page Page borders Page, footnote, or endnote number format Text co umns
The items in the second column of Table 11-1 are most definitely section formatting, but they offer some options that don’t require a section break, as follows: n
There are four types of headers and footers, and each section can display as many as three of those. Note also that watermarks are included in Table 11-1 because they are inserted on the header and footer layer, so they’re part of headers and footers. See Also To figure out when to use a different type of header or footer instead of adding a new section, see “Using Headers and Footers,” later in this chapter.
n
Footnote, endnote, and line numbering can all be restarted either by page or by section. Note, however, that suppressing line numbering for a portion of the document requires a section break.
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For Mac Users For users of Word for Mac 2011, the rules for headers and footers are the same when working in Publishing Layout view because the master page is actually just another name for the header and footer layer. For example, in Publishing Layout view, click the Master Pages tab at the bottom of the page. When in the Master Pages view, click the Layout tab of the Ribbon. Notice that the Master Pages Options are actually header and footer options including Different First Page, Different Odd & Even Pages, and Link To Previous. See Also Get tips for working with the master pages in Publishing Layout view in the “Keeping Sections Simple” and “Using Headers and Footers” sections later in this chapter. And for more in general about working in Publishing Layout view, see Chapter 10, “Managing Graphics.”
Knowing When Not to Use a Section Break If it isn’t listed Table 11-1, it doesn’t require a section break in Word. Here are some common examples of unnecessary section break use: n
When you just need to start a new page, do not use a section break. Use a page break or Page Break Before paragraph formatting. Page breaks and section breaks are never interchangeable. A section break adds a set of formatting to the document; a page break is nothing but a nonprinting character and stores no formatting. To access page breaks in Word 2010, on the Page Layout tab, in the Page Setup group, click Breaks (or press Ctrl+Enter). In Word 2011, on the Layout tab, in the Page Setup group, click Break. Page Break Before formatting is paragraph formatting (available on the Line And Page Breaks tab of the Paragraph dialog box). Because it’s formatting (rather than a formatting mark), you can include it in a paragraph style, so it’s often more efficient and easier to use than inserting a page break. See Also Look at the sidebar that follows this list, “Page Breaks vs. Page Break Before Formatting,” for more information on working with page breaks and Page Break Before formatting. For tips about using font and paragraph formatting to manage page layout, also check out Chapter 7, “Working with Text.”
n
Starting a new multilevel list or list style never requires a section break. This is paragraph-level formatting.
n
Inserting a table or a graphic object never requires a section break.
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Inserting reference tables, such as tables of contents or indexes, never requires a section break. The reason you’ll often see section breaks before or after reference tables is that it’s common to use unique page number formatting for pages containing reference tables (such as lowercase roman numerals). It’s the page number format change, not the reference table itself, that requires the section break.
Note In vers ons of Word for W ndows pr or to Office 2003, a sect on break was requ red to change document protect on sett ngs for just part of the document, but that s no onger true However, n Word for Mac, a sect on break s st requ red n th s case In addition to the preceding examples, people often use section formatting where a simpler solution exists. Consider the following cases: n
If you need text in multiple columns on a portion of the page, but the text does not need to wrap from one column to the next, a table is a simpler solution than text columns, because a table requires no section breaks.
n
If you need to change margins for just a few paragraphs, changing paragraph indents is much simpler than changing page margins. Indents are paragraph formatting, so they can be stored in a style. And paragraph formatting never requires a section break.
In a contrasting example, say that a table is too wide for a portrait page. In that case, using a section break to change page orientation for the page containing the table is most likely the best solution (unless the content of the table can be reduced in size without affecting readability). If you instead took a screenshot of the table and then pasted it back into the document as a picture so that you could rotate it on its side, that would be a far more complicated solution than a simple section break.
Page Breaks vs. Page Break Before Formatting If you have a paragraph style that is always used as a page heading (for example, this is a common use of the Heading 1 style), apply Page Break Before formatting to the style instead of inserting page break formatting marks. Keep in mind that a formatting mark such as a page break, even though it doesn’t store formatting like a section break does, is in fact a character. It’s not formatting. When you can create the same effect with paragraph formatting that can be stored in a style (such as Page Break Before formatting), you help keep your document easy to edit. If, for example, you decide later not to have a page break before each instance of the Heading 1 style, removing Page Break Before formatting is easier and faster than finding each page break and deleting it, even if you use the Replace feature to do so. To apply Page Break Before formatting:
Keeping Sections Simple
1. On the Home tab or Page Layout tab, in the Paragraph group, click the dialog launcher to open the Paragraph dialog box. (In Word 2011, on the Format menu, click Paragraph).
2. On the Line And Page Breaks tab, click Page Break Before.
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Notice that when you apply Page Break Before formatting (or any pagination options from the Line And Page Breaks tab), a small black square appears outside the left margin on any paragraph to which this formatting is applied (when formatting marks are displayed in your document). This formatting mark (or nonprinting character) indicates that pagination formatting is applied. See Also As introduced in Chapter 1, “Welcome to Office 2010 and Office for Mac 2011,” and discussed in detail in Chapter 6, “Building Easy-to-Manage, Robust Documents,” the simplest solution is always best. Though you should never put anything in the document that doesn’t need to be there (such as an unnecessary section break), don’t be afraid to use the capabilities of the software. For more on how to determine the simplest solution for a given task in Word, see Chapter 6. For more tips on when using Page Break Before versus page break characters is the best approach, see Chapter 7.
Keeping Sections Simple Rule number one: when you’re working with section breaks, work with formatting marks visible. If you can’t see section breaks, you can’t manage them effectively. To turn on formatting marks, on the Home tab, in the Paragraph group, click the paragraph icon. (In Word 2011, the paragraph icon is available on the Standard toolbar.) Note In Word 2010, you can a so use the keyboard shortcut Ctr +* to togg e formatt ng
marks on and off However, note that the aster sk on the number keypad does not work for th s shortcut
When viewing formatting marks, a complete section break looks like Figure 11-1.
Figure 11-1 A comp ete sect on break, shown n Word 2010.
Because there are different types of section breaks (as discussed in the section “Understanding Section Break Types,” later in this chapter), the break type (such as Next Page, shown in Figure 11-1) might vary, but your section breaks will otherwise look like Figure 11-1. For Word 2011, the only difference in the appearance is that formatting marks appear in blue.
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People often complain that they tried to change page orientation, paper size, or other section formatting for part of the document, but the formatting they changed was applied to the wrong part of the document. This behavior is not a bug. If it has happened to you, your insertion point was simply in the wrong section of the document. Note It’s a so he pfu to keep track of wh ch sect on you’re current y work ng n by v ew ng the sect on number on the Status bar If you don’t see Sect on # toward the eft s de of the status bar, n Word 2010, r ght-c ck the Status bar and then c ck Sect on to add th s opt on In Word 2011, th s feature automat ca y appears on the Status bar
Keep in mind that section breaks can be partly or entirely hidden after a paragraph mark when you’re viewing the document in Print Layout view. A partially hidden section break might look something like Figure 11-2. The section break in this case is the double line that follows the paragraph mark.
Figure 11-2 A sect on break fo ow ng a paragraph mark.
If you can’t see section breaks easily, view the document in Draft view. Section breaks (as well as page and column breaks) always appear fully across the page in Draft view. When working with section formatting, you might find it helpful to switch back and forth between Draft view and Print Layout view. You can see section breaks clearly in Draft view and the page layout formatting that those breaks enable in Print Layout view. In addition to using the View tab or the view shortcuts on the Status bar to switch between these views (View menu or Status bar options in Word 2011), you can use the keyboard shortcut Ctrl+Alt+P (Command+Option+P in Word 2011) to change your view to Print Layout, and Ctrl+Alt+N (Command+Option+N) to change your view to Draft. Keeping an eye on your section breaks, however, is just one component of keeping section formatting simple. The key to managing sections easily is to understand how section formatting is stored.
For Mac Users Some of the rules for working with section formatting don’t apply quite the same way when you’re working in Publishing Layout view. For example, even when formatting marks are visible, a section break is not visible on the page in this view. However, section breaks always appear in Publishing Layout view as a double line between page thumbnails in the Document Map pane.
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It’s also important to mention that there doesn’t appear to be a command to insert a section break in this view, but there is. Inserting a new master (from the Insert menu or Layout tab) actually starts a new section. Note that the keyboard shortcut to switch to Publishing Layout view is Command+Shift+Option+P.
Understanding How Section Formatting Is Stored A section break stores the formatting for the section that precedes it. So, if a section break is deleted, section formatting applied to the section that preceded that break will change to match whatever section formatting is stored in the next available break. Note that in a singlesection document, section formatting is stored in the last paragraph mark. Take the sample pages shown in Figure 11-3, for example. As you can see, Section 1 of this two-section document uses portrait orientation and Section 2 uses landscape orientation. If the section break between these sections is removed, will the entire document become portrait or landscape?
Figure 11-3 A two sect on Word document.
If you answered landscape, you’re correct. When you delete the section break that follows the portrait section, you delete the portrait orientation setting that was stored in that section break. The pages that were in the section before the break become part of the next section (the only remaining section, in this case) when the break is deleted. Caution Before de et ng any sect on break, take note of a d fferences n sect on formatt ng between the sect ons before and after the break Remember, after you de ete a break, all sect on formatt ng n the sect on that precedes the break w change to the formatt ng saved n the sect on that fo ows the break
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What Do I Need to Know About the Last Paragraph Mark? The last paragraph mark in the document stores section formatting for a single-section document or for the last section of a multisection document. If you copy the last section of the document and paste it into another document, you can see that the results vary significantly depending on whether that last paragraph mark is included in your selection. If you copy the section including that paragraph mark, section formatting (such as headers and footers) is retained. Without that paragraph mark, it’s not. That paragraph mark also stores some information for the overall document, which over the years has contributed to a common misunderstanding about how to remove corruption from a document. The widely held perception that copying the document without that last paragraph mark removes document-integrity corruption is incorrect. Unless the corruption is related to something stored in that paragraph mark, by leaving the paragraph mark out of the document when copying, you simply blind Word to the fact that the corruption exists. That paragraph mark might have contained the information that the document was aware of an error, but it didn’t necessarily contain the error. So, you can bet that the error will resurface. See Also For guidance on how to diagnose and fix document integrity issues, see Chapter 6. To change any section formatting, simply place your insertion point directly before the location where you want the change to start and then follow these steps:
1. On the Page Layout tab (the Layout tab in Word 2011), in the Page Setup group, click Break(s) and then click the section break type that you need. Because most section formatting changes require a new page (such as page orientation or headers and footers), Next Page is the most frequently used section break type.
2. Place your insertion point anywhere after the section break. Then, change the section formatting you need to change.
Choosing Where to Apply Section Formatting Pay attention to the Apply To list that appears in most dialog boxes used for section formatting commands, such as Page Setup or the Page Borders tab of the Borders And Shading dialog box. If you have content selected, instead of a blinking insertion point, the default Apply To option might be different.
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Whether you’re using a dialog box to apply section formatting, your selection can affect the result. For example, if you have text selected when you apply text columns, section breaks will be inserted before and after your selection, and the new text column setting will be applied only to the selected content. In such a situation, you don’t have to add a section break before changing the formatting. Word does this for you. In dialog boxes that offer an Apply To list, you can also let Word add section breaks for you. Instead of inserting a section break and then changing formatting, open the dialog box for the formatting you want to change. For example, open the Page Setup dialog box to change page orientation. When you do, change the Apply To setting to This Point Forward, change page orientation, and click OK. A Next Page section break will be inserted, and your page orientation will be changed following the break. Alternatively, if you select a portion of the document before opening the dialog box, you can change the Apply To setting to Selected Text. When you do that, similar to the text columns change, section breaks will be added both before and after your selection, and only the content between the breaks will take on the new formatting. Note that text columns are the only feature for which section breaks are automatically added around your selection when you choose a new setting from the gallery. For other section formatting features, you can have Word insert your section break automatically only when you use the Apply To setting in the applicable dialog box.
Understanding Section Break Types There are four types of section breaks, as listed in the portion of the Breaks gallery shown in Figure 11-4. Further information about each section break type is provided in the list that follows.
Figure 11-4 The four ava ab e types of sect on breaks.
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A Next Page section break, as mentioned earlier, is the most common type of section break. This break starts the new section on a new page.
n
A Continuous section break starts the new section immediately after the break. Though section formatting that requires a new page will still start on the next page when this break type is used, for best results use Next Page section breaks for this kind of formatting. For example, if you use a Continuous section break in a document that uses Different First Page headers and footers, the different first page header or footer will not appear in a new section at all because the first page of that section is not a complete page. Continuous section breaks are most often used with the text columns feature.
n
Odd Page and Even Page section breaks start the new section on a new page, but they force that section to start on either an odd or an even page, respectively. These options are designed primarily for book-style formatting, such as where you might want each new chapter to begin on a righthand (odd) page. To learn more about creating book-style formatting, see the section “Simplifying Book-Style Page Layout,” later in this chapter.
As explained earlier, a section break stores formatting for the section that precedes the break. However, information about the type of section break is stored in the section that follows the break. This is because the type of section break actually refers to the way the section after the break starts, known in Word as Section Start type. So, to change the section break type for an existing section break in your document:
1. Place your insertion point after the break you want to change. It can be anywhere in the section that follows the break.
2. On the Page Layout tab, in the Page Setup group, click the dialog launcher to open the Page Setup dialog box, and then click the Layout tab. (In Word 2011, on the Format menu, click Document, and then click the Layout tab.)
3. In the Section Start list, change the setting to the break type you want. For example, to change a Continuous break to a Next Page break, select Next Page as the Section Start type and then click OK.
Why Does Word Change Section Break Type for Existing Breaks? Don’t you just hate it when Word behaves like the Holly Golightly of software and changes the type of section break in your document apparently on a whim? You inserted a Next Page section break; you know you did. So, why is it now a Continuous section break? Well, you might be surprised to learn that Word wasn’t actually being the least bit eccentric. It was just doing what you told it to do.
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Section Start type, as explained earlier in this section, is managed in the section that follows the break. So, if you delete the break that follows the break in question, the section takes on the start type of the next section. For example, if you delete a Continuous section break, the Next Page section break that preceded it will become a Continuous break. When this happens, just use the steps given previously for changing section break type. Note that, if the section break ignores the change, it’s most likely because formatting in the section that follows the break will not allow the change. For example, if a Continuous break becomes a Next Page section break and you then change the page orientation of the section that follows the break, Word will not allow you to change that section break back to a Continuous break. This is because page orientation cannot change in the middle of a page.
Using Headers and Footers As introduced earlier, a Word document contains four types of headers and footers. In addition to the regular header and footer, your document has options for First Page, Odd Page, and Even Page headers and footers. Note Un que first-page formatt ng s a so ava ab e for page borders, as you can see n the
App y To st on the Page Borders tab of the Borders And Shad ng d a og box, shown n F gure 11-5 Se ect ng F rst Page On y or A Except F rst Page does not affect the D fferent F rst Page header and footer sett ng
Figure 11-5 The Page Borders tab of the Borders And Shad ng d a og box, shown n Word 2010.
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The quickest way to edit or add a header or footer is to double-click in the header or footer area while working in Print Layout view. (In Word 2010, you can also right-click in that area for the options to Edit Header or Edit Footer. And, in Word 2011, you can access the Header And Footer settings from the View menu.) Note In add t on to creat ng your own header and footer content, you can a so se ect a format-
ted Header or Footer from the app cab e bu d ng b ock ga ery (ca ed the document e ement ga ery n Word 2011) F nd header and footer bu d ng b ocks on the Insert tab n Word 2010 and the Document E ements tab n Word 2011 At the bottom of the ga er es n Word 2010, get another entry po nt for ed t ng the header or footer, as we as access to add t ona bu d ng b ocks, on Office com If you’re creat ng temp ates n Word 2010, these bu d ng b ocks can be part cu ar y usefu because you can create and save your own bu d ng b ocks so users can eas y coord nate e ements of content such as headers and footers But whether you’re work ng n Word 2010 or Word for Mac 2011, the bu t- n bu d ng b ocks show off some features you m ght want to take advantage of (such as contro s that enab e you to automat ca y popu ate document content) and some you m ght want to avo d (such as us ng float ng objects where s mp er so ut ons ex st)
See Also To learn about working with document building blocks, see Chapter 12, “Dynamic Content.”
Aligning Content in the Header or Footer When you have your insertion point in a header or footer, notice that the Header and Footer paragraph styles still contain the antiquated center and right tab stops. The problem with these tab stops is that, if you change the margins or page orientation, the tabs do not move. So, for example, a center tab that’s centered in the page between default left and right margins is no longer centered when you change the margins. To keep your formatting as clean and easy as possible, remove these tab stops from the styles in the document template so you don’t have to fuss with them in new documents. See Also Get help for updating template styles in Chapter 8, “Styles.” The Header & Footer Tools Design tab in Word 2010 has an option called Insert Alignment Tab, which enables you to use tab characters to center and right-align text. These characters keep the text centered or right-aligned when margins or orientation change. When you use alignment tabs, you see no tab stop on the ruler or in the Style Inspector. But you can’t include alignment tabs in paragraph styles, because they are nonprinting characters, not formatting. (Note that the ScreenTip for the Insert Alignment Tab feature incorrectly states that the feature adds a tab stop.)
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The upside to using alignment tabs is that, if you have sections with different margins or orientation that include headers or footers using Link To Previous, the content will be correctly aligned for each section without turning off Link To Previous and independently aligning content. But because alignment tabs aren’t stored in a paragraph style like formatting or visible on the ruler, the downside is that they might be a bit confusing to document editors. To insert an alignment tab, click Insert Alignment Tab, select your preferences from the options shown in Figure 11-6, and then click OK. A tab character will be added at your insertion point. When you’re using alignment tabs, it’s particularly important to remove the default center and right tabs to avoid user confusion.
Figure 11-6 The Insert A gnment Tab d a og box n Word 2010
If you don’t need to link headers and footers between sections with different orientation or page margins, using a simple table to left-, center-, or right-align content on the same line in a header or footer is still the simplest and best solution. In a table, you can position content in left, center, and right cells independently—both horizontally and vertically—for more flexibility. And you can set the table to 100% of the active window so that it automatically adjusts to changes in margins, page size, or orientation. A table is also a well-known object type that users can easily edit. SeeAlso For help setting up tables for use in headers and footers, see Chapter 9, “Tables.” Note that the Alignment Tab feature is available only from the Header & Footer Tools Design tab. However, you can add it to your own Ribbon or Quick Access Toolbar if you want to use this feature outside the header and footer. Also note that alignment tabs are not available in Word for Mac 2011, but Word 2011 does support the feature (that it, it displays content correctly) when you open a document that contains alignment tabs.
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Working with Page Numbers As you might already know, an automatic page number is a field code—dynamic content that enables it to display the correct page number on each page. You can specify formatting for page numbers by section (such as number format, and whether to restart or number continuously throughout the document) and you almost always place page numbers in the header or footer so that the correct number appears on each page. Simple, right? Page numbering certainly can be simple, but there are also a couple of best practices you can employ to help keep them that way. Because a page number is just a field code, you can format it just like any text. So, the best way to insert a page number into your header or footer is just to insert the field code itself. n
To do this in Word 2010, on the Header & Footer Tools Design tab, in the Page Number gallery, point to Current Position and then select from the simple formats that add just the page field with or without text at the insertion point.
n
To do this in Word 2011, on the Header & Footer tab, under Insert, click Page Number.
The Page Number gallery in Word 2010 provides a variety of options, but be careful when making your selection. Some of these options place the page number field inside a floating graphic object when it’s not needed, causing you more work than necessary. The only time you need a page number to sit in a text box is when you need it to be outside the header and footer portion of the header and footer layer (such as to appear as a page tab that’s vertically centered outside the left or right margin). For example, to simply place a page number outside the left or right margin in the header or footer, using a negative paragraph indent in the header or footer style (or a negative indent on a table that resides in the header or footer) is a simpler solution than having to position and manage a floating object. Similarly, the Insert Page Numbers dialog box in Word for Mac 2011 places the page number in a text frame—a floating object that is completely unnecessary, because the page number simply sits by default on the text baseline in the header or footer. Text frames can greatly complicate your work and are best to avoid even when you’re working in Publishing Layout view, where everything is a floating object. To insert a page number when working in Publishing Layout view, on the Insert menu, click Field and then select the Page field. (Note that your insertion point must be in a text box to access the Field dialog box.) See Also For tips on when to use text boxes versus paragraph formatting or tables, as well as information that addresses key issues with text frames, see Chapter 10.
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Insider Tip: Quickly Create a Page Number Field on the Spot In both Word 2010 and Word 2011, you can simplify page numbering by one further step and just create the page field yourself. To add a page number at your insertion point (such as in an open header or footer):
1. Type the word PAGE and then select it.
2. In Word 2010, press Ctrl+F9 followed by F9. In Word 2011, press Command+F9 and then press Command+Option+Shift+U. In both cases, the first keyboard shortcut turns the text into a field and the second updates that field to show the correct result. (Note that Word 2011 users can also use F9 to update fields, but that shortcut is taken over by the Mac OS Exposé application by default). See Also For more information on creating and customizing fields, see Chapter 12. Regardless of how you insert page numbers, customize page number formatting through the Page Number Format dialog box, where you can change number format, set numbering to restart or continue with each new section, or set a specific Start At value for the active section. To access this dialog box in Word 2010, at the bottom of the Page Number gallery, click Format Page Numbers. In Word 2011, at the bottom of the Insert Page Number dialog box, click Format.
For Mac Users When you format page numbers, be sure to click OK in the Format dialog box and then click Close on the Page Numbers dialog box. If you click Insert instead of Close to exit the dialog box, a page number in a frame will be added to your header or footer, even if a page number field already exists there. In Publishing Layout view, the Format option is not available. To change the format for page numbers in a Publishing Layout view document, switch your view to Print Layout and then switch right back to Publishing Layout after you make the page number format change.
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Managing the Different First Page and Different Odd & Even Pages Headers and Footers When you need a unique header or footer just for the first page of a document or section of a document, you usually don’t need to add a section break. On the Header & Footer Tools Design tab (the Header And Footer tab in Word 2011), in the Options group, just click Different First Page. This option gives you an additional header and footer for just the first page of the active section. Tip Though t’s not techn ca y necessary to add a sect on break when you need a un que header or footer for just the first page of a document or sect on, cons der your content If the first page of the sect on s c ear y separate content (such as a s ng e-page chapter of a book), t m ght be more og ca to use a sect on break rather than the D fferent F rst Page opt on In the examp e g ven here, that s ng e-page chapter cou d grow onger, n wh ch case the first page header and footer wou d no onger be a good so ut on Add t ona y, f you have sect on breaks between most chapters, you m ght prefer to put one here as we for cons stency, to make the formatt ng more ntu t ve to other ed tors Similarly, when you need different headers and footers for odd and even pages (such as book-style formatting that requires headers and footers to appear on the outside of all pages), find the Different Odd & Even Pages option directly below Different First Page in the Options group on the Header & Footer Tools Design tab (or the Header And Footer tab in Word 2011). Unlike Different First Page, however, Different Odd & Even Pages can be enabled or disabled only for the document, not for individual sections. Note that the Odd Page header and footer and the regular header and footer are actually one and the same. When Different Odd & Even Pages is enabled, the regular header and footer content becomes Odd Page header and footer content. If this option is disabled, Odd Page header and footer content becomes the regular header and footer content. You can identify the type of header or footer that’s active by the name on the tab that appears at the bottom of headers and the top of footers in Word. For example, in Figure 11-7, the insertion point is inside a First Page header.
Figure 11-7 A F rst Page header, shown n Word 2010.
Notice that the tab indicates the type of header or footer. In documents containing more than one section, such as in the example shown in Figure 11-7, the tab also indicates the section number.
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Note There’s a abe ng error on the Header And Footer tab n Word for Mac 2011 that warrants ment on In the Nav gat on group on that tab, the Next Sect on and Prev ous Sect on buttons actua y mean next or prev ous header or footer These buttons are the same as the Next and Prev ous buttons on the Header And Footer too bar n prev ous vers ons (as we as the Next and Prev ous buttons on the Header & Footer Too s Des gn tab n Word 2010), mov ng one header or footer at a t me through the document
What Happens to Header and Footer Content When I Disable That Header or Footer? If you add content to a header or footer and then disable the header or footer in the document without first deleting that content, the content remains stored in the document. So, if you later enable that header or footer again, the content will reappear. Although in some ways, this is a good thing, there are important implications to consider: n
If the header or footer contains sensitive information, you might want to delete the content before sharing the document.
n
If the document is copied and changed for another use, the original headers and footers that were disabled are still stored, meaning that inappropriate content might remain in the document. For example, if the header contained a client’s logo and you then copied the document for use on another client’s project, leaving the previous client’s logo in the hidden headers and footers could prove embarrassing when the document is shared.
n
When errors occur in the document, it’s common to forget to troubleshoot for hidden header and footer content. For example, say that your document crashes and you open it in Word 2010 using the Open And Repair feature. The Show Repairs dialog box tells you that there’s a text box or other error caused by a floating object, but you see no floating objects in your document. The first thing to check is whether the document has hidden headers and footers.
Headers and footers can be disabled in several ways. You might turn off the Different First Page or Different Odd & Even Pages settings. Or, if a section with these settings enabled is only one page (or less) in length, some or all of the headers or footers for the section will be hidden. For example, if a section is less than a page long, its headers and footers don’t appear on screen in any view, but they still reside in the document. When pages are added to the section, the appropriate header or footer then appears. See Also For tips on ensuring that unwanted header and footer content (as well as other potentially private content) is not left in your documents before you share them electronically, see Chapter 3, “Understanding Electronic Documents.”
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Understanding Link To Previous The Link To Previous feature, which also appears on header and footer tabs as Same As Previous, has been the scourge of many a document. As it happens, this feature has no bugs; there’s nothing at all wrong with it. But if you don’t understand what it’s doing, it is quite likely to drive you mad. Here’s the theory: just because you start a new section doesn’t mean you want a new header or footer. It’s common to need the same header and footer throughout a document that contains several section breaks for reasons such as page orientation or page border changes. So, to save you work, headers and footers default to be linked. That way, if you change the header in one section, it automatically changes in every connected section where Link To Previous is enabled. Here’s the reality: you forget that Link To Previous is enabled, and you change the header or footer for the new section. So, the change is also made in the previous section, and you might not even realize it until later, when all of your headers and footers are a mess. Note Word 2011 Pub sh ng Layout v ew s an except on to th s ru e New masters are not nked to prev ous by defau t However, the opt on to nk them s ava ab e on the Layout tab n Master Pages v ew
So, what do you do? You make it a habit to check for the Same As Previous notation on the header or footer tab. In Word for Mac 2011, this information appears on the same tab that tells you the type of section break and the section number, as addressed earlier and illustrated in Figure 11-7. In Word 2010, Same As Previous, when it is enabled, appears on a separate tab on the right side of the header or footer, as shown in Figure 11-8.
Figure 11-8 Same As Prev ous nd cated on the bottom r ght of a header n a Word 2010 document.
But there’s a catch. Just because the active header or footer doesn’t show the Same As Previous notation doesn’t mean that the next header or footer isn’t linked to the one you’re about to change. For example, Figure 11-8 shows a header linked to the previous section. If you were to look at the header of Section 1 in that document, it would not indicate a link to previous (because there is no header before Section 1), but changing that header would change the one you see in Figure 11-8.
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To keep things simple, before making changes to headers and footers in a multisection document, always make it a habit to scroll through headers and footers both before and after the existing header and footer to check for Same As Previous. Also note that newly added sections, or newly added headers and footers within sections, will always have Link To Previous enabled. So, if you turn off Link To Previous throughout your document and later add a new section, be sure to once again check for Link To Previous before making header or footer changes. Caution Keep n m nd that L nk To Prev ous s managed separate y for each header and each footer If you turn off L nk To Prev ous for a g ven header, the correspond ng footer s not changed
Insider Tip: Undo Unwanted Changes in Headers and Footers Without Excess Work When you do accidentally change headers and footers that are linked, you don’t have to undo and then recreate everything you just changed. Just copy the changed content before you undo the changes (press Ctrl+Z [Command + Z in Word 2011] to undo). Then, after you turn off Link To Previous, you can just paste the copied content into only that header or footer where you want it to appear. The clipboard is not cleared when you undo actions, so the content you copied before undoing the change remains in the clipboard, available to be pasted when you need it. Companion Content When working on a long document that requires unique headers and footers for most sections, you can use a macro to turn off Link To Previous throughout the document as a nice timesaver. You can download a document containing this macro and others from the Chapter23 sample files folder available online at http://oreilly.com/ catalog/9780735651999.
Simplifying Book-Style Page Layout Managing book-style page layout often seems more complex than it is, simply because Word offers several options that serve the same or similar purposes. The main differences between book-style and standard page layout are allowances for binding and two-sided printing. Specifically, pages that are printed on two sides and bound may require additional space between the margin and the binding edge, and they may have unique header and footer requirements for facing pages.
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The unique header and footer requirements can be resolved using the Different Odd & Even Pages setting discussed earlier in this chapter. Table 11-2 explains the options available to accommodate binding. n
To access these options in Word 2010, on the Page Setup tab, in the Page Setup group, click the dialog launch icon to open the Page Setup dialog box. Find these options on the Margins tab of that dialog box. Mirror Margins and Book Fold are available on the Multiple Pages list; Gutter is provided as part of the margin options.
n
To access these options in Word 2011, on the Format menu, click Document. On the Margins tab of that dialog box, you see a check box for Mirror Margins and see the Gutter option in the margin settings. The Book Fold option is not available in Word 2011.
Table 11-2 Page
setup options to accommodate binding
Option
When and how to use it
Gutter
When a document s bound, t m ght requ re add t ona space beyond the marg n on e ther the eft or top edge to accommodate the b nd ng Th s space s ca ed the gutter Word prov des Gutter and Gutter Pos t on opt ons where you can set the w dth of the gutter and spec fy ts pos t on to be the eft or top edge of the page Note that there s no d fference n resu t ng behav or between ncreas ng the eft or top page marg n and add ng a gutter
M rror Marg ns
Th s opt on changes your eft and r ght page marg ns to ns de and outs de marg ns, so that fac ng pages have equa marg ns ns de (by the b nd ng) and at the r outs de edges Note that us ng a gutter w th fac ng pages w at the ns de page edge
automat ca y pos t on the gutter
Though the major ty of opt ons n the Page Setup d a og box (the Document d a og box n Word 2011) can be changed for nd v dua sect ons, th s opt on (and other opt ons on the Mu t p e Pages st n Word 2010) app es to the ent re document Book Fo d
S m ar to M rror Marg ns, Book Fo d s an opt on n the Mu t p e Pages st n Word 2010 and can be set on y for the ent re document Book Fo d a so changes marg ns from eft and r ght to ns de and outs de However, th s opt on reorders pages for pr nt ng based on a fo ded book et b ndng When you se ect Book Fo d, you must spec fy the number of pages n the book et Word then reorders the pages as needed to pr nt correct y for fo ded b nd ng
Note If you use Office 2010 and you need to create book et-sty e documents for comp ex book fo d ayouts, you m ght find M crosoft Pub sher 2010 to be a s mp er so ut on for th s type of document
Companion Content For an introduction to some key features of Publisher 2010, see "Should I Consider Microsoft Publisher for My Document?”, available in the Bonus Content folder as part of the online companion content for this book, at http //ore y com/cata og/9780735651999.
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Creating Watermarks As mentioned earlier, watermarks reside on the header and footer layer. A watermark usually uses the space between the header and footer, though it can use the entire space of the header and footer layer. A watermark in this context is simply content that sits behind the body of the document and is typically washed-out so as not to obscure the content. The best advice for creating a watermark in Word 2010 or Word 2011 is not to use the Watermark feature. Whether you use the Watermark gallery in Word 2010 or the Printed Watermark dialog box (called the Insert Watermark dialog box in Word 2011), any text watermark uses the legacy version of WordArt, which has far more limited capabilities than the current version. Additionally, if you need more than one watermark in your document, whether text or image, you might find the task daunting, to say the least. And there’s just no reason for it to be that difficult. To create a watermark, just insert a text box or image on the header and footer layer, apply any formatting you need, rotate the object if desired, and position it behind text. Because the object will be anchored to the header or footer, it becomes part of that header or footer—meaning that applying a different first page or different odd and even header or footer, or a new section, gives you the opportunity to have a different watermark if you choose. See Also For help placing text boxes and images to use as watermarks or for other uses in your document, see Chapter 10. To learn about working with the new WordArt (also called text effects) in Word 2010 and Word 2011, see Chapter 7. To learn about improved picture formatting tools, such as the ability to adjust the qualities of an image (as you might when setting it as a watermark), see Chapter 5, “Doing More with Less Work: Key Cross-Program Features.”
Chapter 12
Dynamic Content In this chapter, you will: n
Learn to use content controls for more powerful, flexible forms and placeholder content
n
Explore options for using content controls to make documents more dynamic
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Discover how to use building blocks (document elements) to construct documents more easily
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Learn to create and manage building blocks for customized, reusable content and more flexible templates
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Capitalize on the power of fields for simple solutions to more dynamic documents
This is the fun stuff. Fields have long been one of my favorite Microsoft Word features for making documents more dynamic. Then, back in Word 2007, they became just one (and not even the coolest) of several features that you can use to make your documents do more and to make them easier to use. That said, it’s important to be upfront about the fact that the following two features do much more for users of Word 2010 than for users of Word for Mac 2011. But the information in this chapter still applies to you both. (Mac users, check out the Mac-specific sidebar after ”Chapter Assumptions” to learn about what’s available to you for both of the following features.)
n
Content controls elevate form controls to a completely new level and have benefits for many types of documents beyond just forms. They’re flexible, they’re easy to use, they’re more powerful than you might imagine, and—perhaps best of all—they don’t make your documents ugly. (Incidentally, if you got the feeling from the preceding statement that this book isn’t the place to learn about the stilted, ugly, unfriendly legacy form controls, you’re right.)
n
Building blocks (called document elements in Word for Mac 2011) are the evolution of AutoText and then some. They give you the ability to insert (and, in Word 2010, to save) formatted pieces of rich document content that you can easily access through galleries on the Ribbon. Many types of building blocks also provide added benefits, such as the ability to replace the design of a piece of document content (a cover page or a header, for example) without losing your content (yes, there’s a catch, but you’ll learn all about it here).
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Much of this functionality is now bundled into the metafeature named Quick Parts (in Word 2010), whose name gives you some idea of its purpose. But this isn’t cookie-cutter content. Word 2010 gives you more power than you’ve ever had before to use these kinds of features to create custom content. Personally, I don’t remember the last time I created a template without using content controls, building blocks, or fields. And now that I have all of them, I never want to be without them again (unless, of course, the wily Word team comes up with something even cooler down the road). See Also For the list of six features that you can use to create any document, which includes Quick Parts, see Chapter 6, “Building Easy-to-Manage, Robust Documents.”
Chapter Assumptions This chapter assumes that you have some familiarity with form control terminology (such as drop-down list and date picker), as well as at least a basic understanding of document properties and document protection. It also assumes that you are generally familiar with the legacy AutoText feature and at least the basics of common features for which there are building block galleries, such as headers, tables of contents, and tables. Finally, it assumes that you know what fields are and have at least a general idea of when they’re used and how to recognize them. Though some of this functionality might be new to you, you’re not new users of Word. So, this chapter will take you through what you need to know as advanced users to make the most of dynamic content, from content controls to building blocks to fields. See Also For those who want more basic-level information, see the list of resources in the section “Who Will Benefit Most from This Book” in the introduction.
For Mac Users In Word for Mac 2011, you can’t create content controls or save your own building block entries (called document elements in Word 2011). But you do have access to several types of document elements, and you can use text content controls (both plain text and rich text controls, explained later in this chapter) when they exist in your documents. In fact, content controls are included in many of the built-in Print Layout view Word 2011 templates as well as in some document elements, such as cover pages. Note that content controls don’t always play nicely with floating objects. For this reason, references to using content controls in Word 2011 apply to Draft or Print Layout views, but not Publishing Layout view.
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Working with Content Controls A content control is, essentially, a container in which you can store and act on different types of document content. Some of these controls are simply placeholders for text or other content, some give you the ability to select from choices of content that you specify, and some provide additional types of functionality to help you do more with the content they contain. Note To use most types of content contro s n Word 2010, you must be work ng n Pr nt Layout
v ew When work ng n Draft v ew, you can ed t text n p a n text and r ch text contro s, and can change the state of a check box contro But you cannot ed t the content of other contro types n that v ew Tab e 12-1, shown short y, prov des a st and descr pt ons of the e ght ava ab e content contro types Content contro behav or n Word 2010 Draft v ew s very much the same as the behav or of content contro s when ed ted n Word 2011, whether you are work ng n Pr nt Layout v ew or Draft v ew However, the check box contro s not ed tab e n Word 2011 A so note that content contro s are Office Open XML funct ona ty, so they are not ava ab e to documents saved n the egacy fi e formats Content n contro s s converted to stat c text (or to mages, depend ng on the type of content) when saved n a egacy document
You can recognize a content control in a couple of ways. When you hover your mouse pointer on a content control in Word 2010 Print Layout view, it appears shaded (blue in most color schemes), as shown in Figure 12-1 on the left. This is also the way the control appears in Draft view (or, in Word 2011, in Draft or Print Layout view) when you click in it. When you click in or otherwise activate a control in Word 2010 Print Layout view, you either see a tag at the top that contains a title (such as the Name control that you see in Figure 12-1 on the right), or a similar tag on the left of the control that contains no text. The tag that appears at the top may have additional icons that provide other functionality for the content within the control.
Figure 12-1 A content contro as t appears when your mouse po nter hovers on t ( eft) and when se ected
(r ght) n Word 2010 Pr nt Layout v ew.
Most controls contain placeholder text or other placeholder content until user content is added. If a control contains placeholder content, that content is selected automatically when you click in the control. If a user has already edited the control, you see the border of the control when you click in it (in Word 2010 Print Layout view), but text won’t automatically be selected. In Draft view, or in Word 2011, content controls are not visible when they contain user-edited content.
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Types of Content Controls There are eight types of content controls, as shown in Table 12-1. Table 12-1 Content
control types
Control
Description
R ch text
A r ch text contro can conta n text, tab es, graph cs, and most formatt ng that you can app y n the body of the document A s ng e r ch text contro can a so conta n mu t p e paragraphs
P a n text
A p a n text contro can conta n text as we as font and paragraph formatt ng These contro s can’t take tab es or graph cs and can conta n on y a s ng e paragraph Note that the P a n Text Propert es n the Content Contro Propert es d a og box nc ude an opt on to a ow mu t p e paragraphs However, the abe on that opt on s ncorrect When enab ed, ne breaks are perm tted n the contro but not paragraph returns If you press the Tab key from a p a n text contro , your nsert on po nt moves to the next content contro To add a tab character ns de a p a n text contro , press Ctr +Tab
P cture
A p cture contro ets you c ck the p aceho der to add a p cture from your fi es Once a p cture contro conta ns an mage, c ck the p cture con on the tab at the top of the se ected contro to change the p cture, or r ght-c ck the mage and se ect Change P cture Note that when a p cture contro n a header or footer conta ns a p aceho der, you can c ck the p aceho der to add your mage when work ng n Pr nt Layout v ew w thout hav ng to open the header or footer You do, however, need to open the header/ footer ayer to format or ed t that mage
Bu d ng b ock ga ery
The bu d ng b ock ga ery content contro s a great too for prov d ng bo erp ate content opt ons n temp ates You se ect a bu d ng ga ery to be access b e from the content contro , and then you access the entr es n that ga ery by c ck ng an con tab at the top of the contro Th s contro type supports r ch content—mean ng that t can nc ude mu t p e paragraphs, tab es, and graph cs Note that not a bu t- n ga er es are ava ab e to bu dng b ock ga ery contro s, but a custom ga er es are Learn more about bu d ng b ocks ater n th s chapter
Combo box
W th a combo box contro , you can add a menu of mu t p e content cho ces from wh ch users can se ect Users can type text d rect y n the contro or se ect from the opt ons prov ded C ck the arrow on the r ght s de of the contro to se ect from the st of opt ons S m ar to a p a n text contro , a combo box contro can’t accept tab es or graph cs Combo box contro s are des gned to a ow on y a s ng e ne of text, and do not perm t mu t p e paragraphs or ne breaks Note that, n Draft v ew, combo box contro s behave ke p a n text contro s These contro s are ed tab e as p a n text contro s n Word 2011 as we , but they’re not dea for cross-p atform documents Mac users w see the b ue contro out ne when they type to rep ace the p aceho der text n a combo box contro
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Control
Description
Drop-down st
A drop-down st contro enab es you to create a st of opt ons from wh ch users can se ect W th th s contro type, users can se ect on y from the opt ons prov ded and can’t type text d rect y nto the contro C ck the arrow on the r ght s de of the contro to access the st of opt ons Note that, because the user can’t type d rect y nto th s contro , t’s not usab e at a Draft v ew or n Word 2011
n
Date p cker
S m ar to a combo box contro , a date p cker contro g ves you the flex b ty to add your own text or se ect from opt ons prov ded In th s case, c ck the arrow on the r ght s de of the contro for a ca endar from wh ch you can se ect a date
Check box
New to Word 2010, the much-requested check box contro g ves you more flex b ty for us ng content contro s when creat ng forms You can spec fy your preferred checked and unchecked symbo s from the fu symbo brary, and you can format the check box contro just ke text
DATE Fields vs. Date Pickers If you insert a DATE field in Word 2010 by any method (using the Date And Time dialog box, using the Field dialog box, or creating the field on screen), it appears to be inside a content control. In fact, this happens whether you’re working in a Word 2010 document or a legacy document, the latter of which is not even compatible with content controls. This is simply an anomaly. Call it an undocumented feature, if you will. The DATE field does no harm in its slightly odd condition, and it has a nice little bonus of an Update icon on the tag at the top of the control, which does the same thing as pressing F9 to update a selected field. Of course, in Word 2010 documents, you also have date picker content controls, so choose the best option for your document or template based on the behavior you need. Both the date picker and the DATE field give you the ability to customize the date format. The date picker gives you the slick functionality of selecting the date you want from a pop-up calendar, and the date does not automatically update. The DATE field is designed to automatically update the date to the current date (and/or time). See Also Learn more about working with date picker controls later in this section. And learn about working with fields in the section “Working with Fields,” later in this chapter.
Using Content Controls When you use content controls that already exist in a document, such as in the built-in Word templates or building blocks (document elements), you might notice that some disappear when you type in them, and others can’t be deleted at all.
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You can set some controls to be removed when their content is edited. All controls can be set to disallow deletion or even to disallow editing. Note also that several types of content controls can be used with document protection, discussed later, for documents in which you want to completely manage document layout and allow users to edit only within designated controls. Controls also provide a grouping feature that enables a quick and simple form of document protection for ease of editing. You can apply styles and formatting to content inside controls just as you can in the body of the document. However, you can also format controls to automatically use a particular style or formatting when you add content. Note It’s mportant to note that p aceho der content ns de contro s w pr nt, but the content contro tse f w
not
Content Controls and the Cloud As of this writing, content controls are one of the features that display as a placeholder when you are editing a document in Word Web App. You’ll see your content control content (like virtually all rich document content) when in Word Web App view mode, but it won’t be visible in edit mode. All you currently see for content controls in Word Web App edit mode is a placeholder that indicates the presence of a content control. Of course, if you need to edit content that resides in controls, you can always click the option in Word Web App (or directly from the Microsoft SharePoint library or Windows Live SkyDrive folder) to open the document in Word, provided that you’re working on a computer with a version of Word installed that supports content controls. This is a good thing to keep in mind for Word documents that you want to share in the cloud. See Also To learn more about the capabilities and limitations of Word Web App, see Chapter 2, “Collaborating and Sharing When and Where You Choose.”
Creating Content Controls To create a new content control, on the Developer tab, in the Controls group shown in Figure 12-2, just click the type of control you want to add it to the document at your insertion point.
Figure 12-2 The Contro s group on the Deve oper tab n Word 2010.
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The control will be added at your insertion point and will take on default settings for that control. These default settings, all of which you can customize for the individual controls you create, are as follows: n
Content controls take on the same formatting as the paragraph into which they’re inserted.
n
Plain text controls do not allow line breaks.
n
Every type of control you can create contains placeholder content. For picture controls, this placeholder is a graphic that you can click to open the Insert Picture dialog box. For all other control types, it is text, such as “Click here to enter text” for rich text and plain text controls. This text is formatted with a character style named Placeholder Text that applies gray font color by default. Placeholder text formatting is separate from the formatting for content you add to controls, so you can easily tell the difference between placeholder text and user-edited text.
n
Controls are not deleted when their placeholder content is edited.
n
Users can edit and delete controls.
n
Building block gallery controls default to showing the Quick Parts gallery.
n
Date Picker controls default to displaying selected dates using the Windows System Short Date setting. Note The System Short Date sett ng for W ndows s ava ab e through the W ndows Contro Pane , under Reg ona And Language Opt ons
n
Combo box controls have no functionality beyond that of plain text controls until you add a list of options to them.
n
Drop-down list controls have no functionality until you add a list of options to them.
For Mac Users When you use some of the built-in Word 2011 Print Layout view templates, you might notice that content controls don’t disappear when you edit the placeholder text. If you delete your text, the placeholder text returns. However, if you prefer to delete the placeholder content permanently, you just need to press Delete one extra time. That is, select the control (the placeholder content) and then press Delete. Then, press Delete again.
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You might want to do this if you’re saving the file on SharePoint 2010 or SkyDrive and want to access it for online editing. As noted earlier, as of the date this book was written, content controls appear as placeholders in Word Web App and their content is not editable. So, if the control is still there, your text won’t be visible when the document is opened for editing in Word Web App.
Formatting Controls and Editing Properties Once you’ve added a control to your document, you can name the control, customize applicable options from the preceding list, and format both the placeholder content and the useredited content within the control.
Editing Control Properties To edit the settings for a control, click in that control and then, on the Developer tab, in the Controls group, click Properties to open the Content Control Properties dialog box. The options available in this dialog box change depending on the type of control you’re editing, as detailed in the list that follows. Note If you c ck Propert es and a Propert es pane opens that d sp ays “ThisDocument
Document” at the top, your nsert on po nt s e ther not ns de a content contro , or not ns de a contro for wh ch you can ed t propert es (such as the contro surround ng a bu t- n tab e of contents bu d ng b ock entry) Just c ck the X at the top of that pane to c ose t, make sure your nsert on po nt s ns de the contro for wh ch you want to ed t propert es, and then c ck Propert es aga n Note that th s error w occur on y f Des gn Mode s act ve
See Also Learn about Design Mode in the upcoming section “Working in Design Mode.” n
General options, shown in Figure 12-3, are the same for all controls except picture controls, which don’t offer the Style option. For instructions on how to apply font and paragraph formatting to user-edited content in picture controls, see the section “Formatting Placeholder and User-Edited Control Content,” later in this chapter.
Figure 12-3 Genera opt ons n the Content Contro Propert es d a og box.
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Locking options, shown in Figure 12-4, are the same for all controls. Note that, if you set a control to disallow editing, it can’t be formatted or edited outside of Design Mode.
Figure 12-4 Lock ng opt ons n the Content Contro Propert es d a og box.
Note When sett ng contro s to not be ed ted or de eted, remember that any document
user can ed t those sett ngs To keep users from remov ng or a ter ng contro s where you need to contro ayout or content, use the document protect on opt ons d scussed n the sect on “Understand ng Document Protect on Opt ons for Content Contro s,” ater n th s chapter
n
With the exception of picture controls, each control also has control-specific properties available in the Content Control Properties dialog box. For example, in plain text or rich text controls, you can set the control to be temporary (that is, set the control to be deleted when the user edits its content) and you can set the option to allow line breaks in plain text controls. In the control-specific properties within this dialog box, you’ll find the option to select a gallery and related category for a building block gallery control, add list items for a drop-down list or combo box control, set date format for a date picker control, and set the checked and unchecked symbols for a check box control. For example, in the sample Drop-Down List Properties shown in Figure 12-5, notice that you can add, modify, remove, or reorder list entries.
Figure 12-5 Drop Down L st Propert es are ava ab e to both drop down st and combo box contro s.
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I Can’t Create Multiple Paragraphs in a Plain Text Control The Content Control Properties dialog box for plain text controls explicitly states that the option to allow carriage returns means to allow multiple paragraphs. If you’ve enabled that option but still can’t get multiple paragraphs in that control, you’re not the problem. As noted earlier, the information in that dialog box is wrong. Allowing “carriage returns” in plain text content controls doesn’t enable multiple paragraphs. It enables line breaks (Shift+Enter), also known as soft returns, only. In fact, if you copy multiple paragraphs and paste them in a plain text control, the paragraph marks are automatically converted to line breaks. To get multiple paragraphs in a single content control, use the rich text control type.
Working in Design Mode The only time you must enter Design Mode is to edit the placeholder content in your control. To enter Design Mode, on the Developer tab, in the Controls Group, click Design Mode. When you turn on Design Mode, the tags inside content controls become visible, as you see in Figure 12-6. The tags are the shapes that wrap around the content and sit inside the control.
Figure 12-6 Samp e text content contro s as they appear n Des gn Mode.
These are XML tags, used to identify the particular control when you want to act on it programmatically. XML tags are paired, as you see in Figure 12-6, wrapping around the content to which they refer. When you insert a control from the Developer tab, it is not named by default (notice the blank tag at the top of Figure 12-6). You can add a title and a tag name when you edit the content control properties. When you add a tag name, it appears in Design Mode, as you see in the second control in Figure 12-6. Note that, by default, tags on content controls have the same name as the title of the control. But you can customize this when editing content control properties, as discussed later in this section.
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Note XML tags are a so v s b e for many types of bu d ng b ocks when Des gn Mode s enab ed Th s can be very handy for dent fy ng the start and end po nts of var ous content types when you need to do advanced ed t ng XML tags surround ng a bu d ng b ock entry use the type of bu d ng b ock entry as the name of the tag (such as Cover Pages) to make t easy to recogn ze You shou d keep th s n m nd part cu ar y when work ng n Des gn Mode, because not a XML tags you see nd cate the presence of content contro s
See Also Learn more about building blocks in the section “Understanding Building Blocks: The Evolution of Documents,” later in this chapter.
I Can’t Get Out of Design Mode If you turn on Design Mode in a document that contains content controls and are then unable to turn it off, you should see a message box explaining that Design Mode can’t be turned off because placeholder text in a control contains invalid items. Additionally, when you click OK in that message box, the offending control should be selected. When this happens, the most likely culprit is usually a floating graphic object included in the placeholder text, though this can also happen when all placeholder content is removed or when one control is placed inside another while in Design Mode. See Chapter 10, “Managing Graphics,” for alternatives to using floating objects in your documents and reasons you might want to consider them. However, if you must include floating objects or other invalid items in the placeholder text, save and close the document and then reopen it. Design Mode will no longer be active. Note that floating graphics in content controls can also make the control look quite odd, because controls wrap around their content. It’s also worth noting that the issues mentioned here occur in some of the built-in Word 2010 templates available from the New tab in Backstage view, in case you’re using those as jumping-off points for creating your own.
Formatting Placeholder and User-Edited Control Content Any text (or, for rich text controls, rich content) that you add to a control while in Design Mode automatically becomes placeholder content. When you need to edit the formatting of placeholder text inside a control, the easiest option is to edit the Placeholder Text character style. When you do that, new controls you create take on the formatting of your edited style. Of course, when your rich text controls need to contain more complex formatting in placeholder text, such as different styles on different paragraphs, you can use any styles or formatting that you need and apply them directly to the placeholder content.
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Note If you de ete a ex st ng p aceho der text before add ng your own, you’re ke y to ose the
P aceho der Text character sty e If th s happens, just reapp y t wh e n Des gn Mode Or, for ease of ed t ng, you can de ete a but one character before add ng your own p aceho der text, and then de ete the ast character of defau t text If you don’t want p aceho der text to be formatted d fferent y from user-ed ted text, you can a so just c ear the character sty e wh e ed t ng the contro n Des gn Mode Do th s exact y as you wou d to c ear font formatt ng on any text Se ect the p aceho der text and then press Ctr +Spacebar
Use the Style command in the Content Control Properties dialog box to specify font and paragraph formatting for user-edited content in the control. If no formatting is specified in the control, user-edited content takes on the formatting at the insertion point. However, if you want specific formatting for the user-edited text in the control, it’s a good idea to specify it. This is particularly useful with formatting such as run-in headings, which can often occur in forms and similar content for which content controls are commonly used. For example, Figure 12-7 shows contact information for a template. The headings for the contact information use a character style and the body content (which will be the user-edited content) uses the active paragraph style. To ensure that users get the body style when they edit content, and don’t inadvertently carry over the character style, set the Style in the control properties.
Figure 12-7 Contact nformat on n temp ates s a common use for content contro s.
Keep in mind, however, that when you make changes to the formatting in a control after the control contains user-edited content, your changes won’t be reflected automatically on existing content. If a user adds new content at the beginning of the control, it will take on your new formatting. However, from within existing content, formatting will follow Word formatting rules. That is, new content takes on the formatting at the insertion point. For best results when changing the formatting of controls that already contain some useredited content, apply the style or formatting you need directly to the existing content and update the formatting in the control properties. That way, you update the formatting on existing content and you ensure that future editing will result in the formatting you want. For picture controls, you can format the picture placeholder to take on the formatting you need for the user-added picture. When you select the picture placeholder within the picture control, you get the Picture Tools Format contextual tab. So, you can format placeholder attributes—such as applying a picture style—and that formatting will be retained when the placeholder is replaced with a picture. Note that, because picture sizing is proportional by default, if the user-added picture has different proportions from the placeholder, the
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smaller of the dimensions set in the placeholder is kept and the user-added picture is resized proportionally. Note P cture formatt ng opt ons that appear n the Adjust group on the P cture Too s Format
tab, such as Reco or or the new art st c effects, are not reta ned n a user-added p cture f app ed to the p aceho der Inc denta y, they are a so not reta ned on a new mage f the Change P cture command s used, regard ess of whether the or g na mage s ns de a p cture content contro
Use the XML Tags to Format User-Edited Content The left side of the XML tag inside any content control stores the formatting for the user-edited content in that control. So, to apply a style or formatting, instead of using the Content Control Properties dialog box, you can just select the left tag in a control and apply the formatting you need as if you had selected text. The formatting will not appear on placeholder text, but it will be used automatically when the content of the control is edited. Of course, to see and access the tags that surround a control, you must be working in Design Mode. Formatting the left tag is interchangeable with the option Use A Style To Format Contents in the Content Control Properties dialog box. However, it’s a bit more flexible because, in addition to being able to apply linked or character styles, you can also apply direct formatting. Thanks for this very cool tip go to Tristan Davis, a Senior Lead Program Manager on the Microsoft Office product team, who also provided other insights used in this chapter and in Part 5 of this book, “Templates, Automation, and Customization.” Note that this tip is particularly handy for picture controls that don’t offer the style option in the Content Control Properties dialog box. For example, you might want to apply a style to the content control that provides space before or after the paragraph, paragraph alignment, or even character spacing and positioning, depending on the placement of the Picture control. Keep in mind that paragraph and font formatting will apply only to pictures formatted with the In Line With Text graphic layout, which is the default for picture content controls. It is, in fact, the only layout to use with picture content controls (if you’d like to be able to open your document or template, that is). See Also For more on using font and paragraph formatting to format graphics, see Chapter 10.
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Caution As noted a coup e of t mes n th s sect on, content contro s and text wrap don’t p ay
n ce y together However, that statement requ res some c ar ficat on A though t’s not dea to p ace content contro s ns de text boxes, t is done (and I’ve had to do t on occas on myse f), and t’s not ke y to cause any major d sasters on ts own The most mportant th ng to remember n terms of float ng objects and content contro s s to never app y text wrap to any content w th n a contro For examp e, f you app y a text wrapp ng sett ng that causes the p cture p aceho der n a p cture contro to float (that s, any wrap sett ng other than In L ne W th Text, wh ch turns off text wrap), you’re ke y to get a document corrupt on error message when you next open the document If th s happens, however, t’s typ ca y a safe and cons stent fix to just choose the opt on to recover the document, turn off text wrap n any content contro s, and then resave the document
Nesting Controls You can nest controls in the user-edited content of a control, but not in placeholder content. You’re likely to find this useful only when you want to contain a large part of a formatted document inside a control. In that case, add the placeholder content for the host control as regular user-edited content (that is, not as placeholder content at all). Remember that placeholder content can’t be edited outside of Design Mode, so when users click in a control that has placeholder content, they either replace all of it or none of it. In a case where you want to include a large part of document content as placeholder text, it’s likely that you’ll want the user to be able to retain some of it, so it should be saved as user-edited text in any case. If you need to nest controls inside a host control, start with a rich text control and add the text content you need outside of Design Mode so that the user can edit it. Then, while still outside of Design Mode, insert each nested control you need. You can later edit any of the controls in Design Mode as needed. When you click into placeholder text in a control while Design Mode is active, you’ll notice that you can’t nest new controls within it. You can use a workaround by inserting them separately and then pasting them into your placeholder text, but Word will let you know it doesn’t want you to do that, because you’ll be unable to exit Design Mode. As in similar cases of Design Mode remaining on, you can save, close, and reopen the document to turn it off. But, for best results, heed Word’s warning here. You can encounter usability problems if you try to add nested controls as placeholder text within a control. Remember that placeholder text is not designed to be edited by the user.
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Understanding Document Protection Options for Content Controls There are essentially two ways to protect the document structure when you want users to edit content only in content controls. If you don’t need to password-protect the restrictions (that is, if you aren’t concerned about users turning off protection), the easiest approach— and the one that was designed for this task—is to group controls. If you do need to be able to password-protect the restrictions so that users can’t gain access to editing the document structure or content outside of controls, using the Restrict Editing options (commonly known as document protection).
Grouping Content Controls When you select a portion of the document containing content controls and then use the Group command on the Developer tab, users are able to edit content only in that portion of the document that is within content controls. This command is incredibly easy to use, and the only downside to it (if it is a downside) is that you can’t password-protect the setting. To group controls:
1. Select the portion of the document you want to include in the protection. Be sure to select complete paragraphs because incomplete paragraphs may not be correctly included in the group.
2. On the Developer tab, in the Controls group, click Group and then click Group again. Notice that there are both Group and Ungroup commands available here to make it as easy to group or ungroup controls as it is for shapes or other graphics. The Group command makes any content that is not inside a control inaccessible to editors. So, you can even select a portion of your document that contains no content controls and apply this setting to quickly provide a level of protection against editing. Of course, keep in mind that grouping or ungrouping content in the document is just as easy for any other user who is familiar with the feature. Note Content ns de a grouped area can st be cop ed and pr nted Cop ed content doesn’t reta n the group behav or when pasted un ess you copy and paste the ent re group
Using Restrict Editing Options If you need a further level of protection—that is, the ability to set a password on your restrictions— check out the Restrict Editing options. This is the feature most commonly known as document
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protection. The same document protection options are available from both the Review tab and the Developer tab in Word 2010, under the Restrict Editing command. This command is also available on the Info tab in Backstage view, under Protect Document. When you click this command, you see the Restrict Formatting And Editing pane shown in Figure 12-8.
Figure 12-8 The Restr ct Formatt ng And Ed t ng pane n Word 2010.
Note If you see a command named Restr ct Perm ss on By Peop e or Restr ct Perm ss ons, that
s a d fferent type of document protect on It’s ca ed Informat on R ghts Management (IRM) and s on y ava ab e n vo ume cense ed t ons of Office 2010 and Office for Mac 2011 IRM s for restr ct ng access by spec fic users, so t’s not re ated to the type of protect on you m ght use when you need to restr ct ed t ng for use w th content contro s
Access the options for protecting documents so that users can edit only content inside controls under Editing Restrictions in the Restrict Formatting and Editing Pane. Four options are available under that heading: n
The Tracked Changes restriction forces Tracked Changes to remain on, but allows any type of editing. This option can be enabled only for the entire document.
n
The Comments restriction allows no content editing, but it does allow users to add or edit comments. This option has an Exceptions setting that allows you to select portions of the document to keep freely editable, and to assign editing rights for those exceptions to everyone or just to specified users.
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The Filling In Forms option is one of the options to consider for use with content controls. This option can be enabled for the entire document or by section. (Note that you will see the option to select sections only when multiple sections exist in the document.) When you enable forms protection, users can access or edit content only inside controls. More specifically, users can add or edit text only within controls because formatting and the ability to insert or paste objects is prohibited. The exception to this rule is picture controls, to which users can add a picture while forms protection is active. However, once a picture is added in a Picture control, it can’t be replaced while this protection is active. Caution Do not enab e F ng In Forms protect on mode when us ng bu d ng b ock ga -
ery contro s These contro s are not ava ab e to users when the document s protected for forms In these cases, or when you want users to be ab e to format and ed t any type of content ns de contro s, cons der protect ng part of the document n No Changes (Read On y) protect on mode nstead n
The No Changes (Read Only) option does not allow any editing of the document. However, as with the Comments option, you can select portions of the document to make them freely available to all users or only those you specify. When you need to enable users to access building block gallery controls, or to format and work with objects inside content controls, the No Changes (Read Only) option might be your best bet. To allow editing of content controls while in No Changes (Read Only) mode, select controls one at a time and then, under Exceptions, click Everyone or select specific users to permit access to. If you use this option, however, keep the following in mind: ❑
If you select an entire control as an exception to the protection setting, users can still enable Design Mode and can still delete or edit the control (unless the options to restrict editing or deletion are enabled in the Content Control Properties dialog box).
❑
When you select a control as an exception in this protection mode, placeholder text does not behave like placeholder text. It behaves like user-edited text, which means that users can click in and edit placeholder text without being in Design Mode.
Once you’ve set the options you need, click Yes, Start Enforcing Protection. The dialog box that opens gives you the option to include a password. You’re not required to add one. However, if you don’t add a password, or if users have access to the password, any user can turn off the editing restrictions.
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Using Document Property Quick Parts In versions of Word for Windows prior to 2007, you might have used fields to add information to your document, such as Title or Author. In Word 2007, with the introduction of content controls and other new dynamic content options, Document Property Quick Parts replaced and substantially improved on this functionality. Document Property Quick Parts are plain text content controls that are bound to data saved in the document properties. So, for example, if you insert three Title controls in the document and you edit one of them, the other two update automatically. If you edit the Title property in Document Properties, all instances of the Title control that appear in your document update automatically.
For Mac Users Though you don’t have Document Property Quick Parts as an independent feature in Word 2011, they do exist in some built-in document elements (such as cover pages and headers), and they work the same in your documents as they do in Word 2010. So, they’re good to know about. And if you want to take advantage of this functionality in your custom content, you can also copy them from a built-in document element into your own document templates. To do this, just select and copy the entire placeholder (it’s a good idea to include the paragraph mark to make sure you’ve included the control). Also note that Word 2011 still offers the USERPROPERTY field code that gives you similar functionality. This field (which is compatible only with Word for Mac) automatically populates placeholders with information you have stored in Word Preferences, User Information. For examples of the USERPROPERTY field in use, see the built-in Coordinated Forms templates (which include memos, fax cover sheets, agendas, and more) under the Print Layout View category in the Word Document Gallery. To access the Word Document Gallery, on the File menu, click New From Template. Document Property Quick Parts are available on the Insert tab, in the Text Group, under the Quick Parts command. Figure 12-9 shows the list of available controls.
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Figure 12-9 Document Property Qu ck Parts are content contro s that are bound to data stored n the document.
You can add or edit data for several Document Property Quick Parts (such as Title) through the Document Properties pane on the Info tab in Backstage view or the Document Properties dialog box. Others, including Abstract and several company information options, are linked to custom XML data (stored under the hood of your Office Open XML document) that Word automatically generates when you insert and then add content to one of these controls. Some types of custom XML data are available to your documents through built-in functionality such as these Document Property Quick Parts. Developers can also create their own custom XML data for many purposes, such as creating custom data binding for content controls. See Also For more on this subject, see the upcoming sidebar “Binding Content Controls to Custom Data.” Regardless of what data is bound to a content control, the major benefit here is that you can edit the data at the source (whether that’s in Document Properties, in custom XML within the file format, or perhaps on a server) or in any instance of the relevant bound content control in your document, and it will update in all instances of that same bound control. Note The Document Property menu n the Qu ck Parts ga ery s unava ab e when you’re workng n a egacy document Th s s because, as noted ear er n th s chapter, content contro s and the r data b nd ng capab t es are Office Open XML funct ona ty, ava ab e on y to the Office Open XML (that s, Office 2007 and ater) fi e formats
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Binding Content Controls to Custom Data Office Open XML developers can bind content controls to custom XML data stored in the document or to external data sources, such as data in a SharePoint 2010 list. So, for example, you can program controls to update with the latest information from a specified server location when the document is opened. As you might imagine, this is very powerful functionality that can enable developers to automate content well beyond the individual document or template scenario. See Also To get started learning about Office Open XML, see Chapter 24, “Office Open XML Essentials.” If you’re already experienced with Office Open XML development and ready to jump into tasks such as data binding, check out the Word Content Controls Resource Center at the MSDN Office Developer Center, available at http://msdn.microsoft. com/en-us/office/gg278014.aspx. For some of the best developer content out there on this and related subjects, you might also want to check out Brian Jones’s and Zeyad Rajabi’s Office Solutions blog. Brian and Zeyad are members of the Microsoft Office product team and are among the consummate experts on Office Open XML (which is probably an understatement). Their blog is a terrific wealth of information and resources on many Office Open XML developer topics. Find them at http://blogs.msdn.com/brian jones and search the blog for ”content controls.”
Tip If you need bound contro s for other nformat on beyond what s sted n the Document
Property Qu ck Parts, cons der us ng one of those contro s and just chang ng the name If you don’t need to use a g ven property fie d for another purpose (such as Abstract, Comments, or Company Fax) and you don t need to b nd hte contro s to externa data, there s no reason not to repurpose t for your own nformat on For examp e, ma ng abe temp ates nc ude mu t p e abe s on one page It’s a good dea to use bound contro s when creat ng that type of temp ate because then users can ed t the r contact nformat on n one abe and t w update on a abe s automat ca y But what do you do f you want to break the address nto mu t p e contro s (such as street, c ty, state, posta code) for ease of des gn or ed t ng? Just use Document Property Qu ck Parts that you don’t need n that temp ate for another purpose and use the Content Contro Propert es d a og box d scussed ear er n th s chapter to ed t the t t e of the contro You can a so ed t the p aceho der text for that contro n Des gn Mode Then, you can dup cate that custom zed, bound contro for subsequent abe s throughout the sheet so that they are a bound to the same property It’s a ways faster and eas er to take advantage of the bu t- n bound contro s when you can, rather than creat ng your own from scratch
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Understanding Building Blocks: The Evolution of Documents Building blocks (known as document elements in Word 2011) take the concept of AutoText and make it much smarter. Some types of building blocks just insert formatted content at the insertion point, but others do quite a bit more. For example, insert an entry from the Cover Page gallery, and it will insert as the first page of your document by default, adding a first page header and footer if one isn’t already active for the first section of your document. If you later select a new cover page option for the front of your document, the existing page gets swapped automatically for the new one, but much of the content you added to the cover page remains intact and is automatically formatted to match the new design. As mentioned earlier in this chapter, many building blocks (such as Cover Pages) include content controls—specifically, in Document Property Quick Parts—which enable your content to be retained when the design is swapped. When a building blocks entry is saved, it’s assigned to a gallery that represents the type of content, and to a category within that gallery. Built-in building block galleries in Word 2010 include AutoText, Cover Pages, Headers, Footers, Page Numbers, Tables, Table Of Contents, Bibliography, Text Boxes, Watermarks, Equations, and Quick Parts. Note In Word 2010, not ce that the ga ery prev ews for bu d ng b ock ga ery entr es that n-
c ude themed content, such as Cover Pages and Headers, update automat ca y to reflect the act ve document theme—just ke many Qu ck Sty e ga er es do
Within each gallery, there are precreated categories (such as Built-In or General) by which entry previews are organized, and you can create your own categories as well. For example, notice the custom Client Presentations category in the Table Of Contents gallery shown in Figure 12-10.
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Figure 12-10 A bu d ng b ock ga ery conta n ng both bu t n and custom categor es.
Building block entries can be saved to a master building blocks template, to Normal.dotm, or to another global template for availability to all documents—as discussed later in this chapter. You can also save unique building block entries in any Word 2010 template.
For Windows Users: Respect for AutoText and the Return of AutoComplete If you used AutoText in earlier versions and then used building blocks in Word 2007, you might have been disappointed to see that AutoComplete for AutoText entries went away in 2007. Well, in case you haven’t already noticed, it’s back in Word 2010. AutoText entries from legacy documents are still automatically imported into the Auto Text building block gallery in Word 2010, as they were in Word 2007. And the AutoText gallery still doesn’t appear on the Ribbon by default (but, of course, you can add it now that you have a customizable Ribbon). In Word 2010, when you select content in your document and then press Alt+F3, you get the Create New Building Block dialog box addressed later in this section. This behavior is the same as it was in Word 2007. However, when you use this method to access the dialog box in Word 2010, you’ll see that the default gallery for your new entry is AutoText. (You might recognize the Alt+F3 shortcut as the legacy keyboard shortcut for saving a selection as an AutoText entry—and, for Mac users, this shortcut still serves that purpose.) As for the return of AutoComplete, this means that if the first word in the name of your AutoText entry is at least four characters long, you can start typing it and then just press Enter to insert the entry. To do this, type the name of the entry until you see a ScreenTip appear, and then press Enter. Note that, if you have more than one building block entry with names that start the same way, you might need to type more than four characters before the ScreenTip appears.
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For Mac Users As mentioned earlier, Mac users have built-in document elements (building blocks) for several types of content, but you cannot create your own building block entries in Word 2011. You don’t have quite all of the same galleries that are available in Word 2010. The following six types of document elements are available in Word 2011: Cover Page, Header, Footer, Table Of Contents, Bibliography, and Equations. Additionally, AutoText is still available from the Insert menu in Word 2011, and the feature is unchanged from earlier versions. For example, use the familiar keyboard shortcut Alt+F3 to save selected content as a new AutoText entry. Caution The page number feature on the Document E ements tab n Word 2011 s not
re ated to bu d ng b ocks; t s actua y the egacy page number funct ona ty that nserts a page number n the header or footer, ns de a float ng text frame If you ke stab e, easyto-use documents, avo d features that use text frames as much as poss b e You don’t need them for automat c page number ng—they just add unnecessary comp cat on In fact, Word for W ndows removed th s method of add ng page numbers n the prev ous vers on, so hopefu y Word for Mac w soon fo ow su t To earn more about work ng w th page number ng, see Chapter 11, “Sect ons ” To earn more about why text frames are often a bad dea, check out Chapter 10
Note that, if you open a template that contains custom building block entries in one of the six available document element types, those will appear in the relevant galleries in Word 2011 and you can use them. However, built-in entries in some document elements galleries in Word 2011 (such as Cover Pages) use custom thumbnails. So if your template contains custom entries for that gallery, the previews might be a different size and lower resolution than the thumbnail previews for the built-in entries. When this happens, you can disregard it—you get the same results when using built-in and custom entries, as long as the custom entries have been properly created.
A Note About the Equation Tools The fantastic XML-driven equation tools were introduced in Word 2007 to replace the ugly old Microsoft Equation 3.0 (Equation Editor for Mac in Word for Mac), and they are available from a building block gallery in Word 2010 and Word 2011. These improved equation editing tools are new to Word 2011, and work exactly the same as they do in Word 2010. In fact, when you use them in Word 2011, you’ll see the surrounding content control container for an equation, just as for a table of contents or bibliography that you insert from those galleries, exactly as it appears in Word 2010 Print Layout view (rather than the way that most content controls appear in Word 2011).
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Note The same equat on too s are a so new y ava ab e for W ndows users n PowerPo nt
2010 and Exce 2010 They are not bu d ng b ocks and are not stored n content contro s n those programs, because bu d ng b ocks and content contro s are Word funct ona ty But equat on too behav or n a text box n PowerPo nt 2010 or Exce 2010 s essent a y the same as t s n Word 2010
If you used the Equation 3.0 tools of the past, the fact that equations no longer need to be embedded objects probably makes you happy all by itself. But you can see just by looking at the Equation Tools Design contextual tab (shown in Figure 12-11) that these equation tools are also much more flexible and powerful.
Figure 12-11 The Equat on Too s Des gn tab, shown n Word 2010 Note that a tab w th comparab e too s s ca ed Equat on Too s n Word 2011
On the Insert tab in Word 2010 (the Document Elements tab in Word 2011), you can insert a blank equation to access the Equation Tools tab or select an equation from the gallery. Notice at the bottom of the gallery that—as with all building block types in Word 2010—you can save your own custom equations as new entries as well. To customize your equation settings for Word 2010, on the Equation Tools Design tab, in the Tools group, click the dialog launcher to open a dialog box that’s filled with so many settings, it’s likely to make mathematically inclined hearts leap for joy. Word 2011 users can find an abbreviated but still useful set of equation tool customization options in the Word Preferences dialog box. Like content controls and building blocks, equation functionality is rooted in Office Open XML, so it’s not available in legacy documents. If you copy an equation created with these new tools and paste it into a legacy document, the equation will be converted to a picture when the document is saved. For legacy documents, Equation 3.0 (Equation Editor for Mac in Word 2011) is available through the Object dialog box. To access the legacy functionality in Word 2010, on the Insert tab, in the Text group, click Object. In Word 2011, on the Insert menu, click Object. Also note that, if you have existing Equation 3.0 objects in documents when you upgrade them to the new file formats, you’ll still need to edit them in Equation Editor or replace them with new equations using the new tools. Legacy equation objects do not convert to the new equation format.
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Inserting Building Block Entries With many types of building block entries, such as Quick Parts, you can insert them where needed, as often as needed. However, some types of building blocks have additional properties, as mentioned earlier, that enable them to automatically swap in your document when you select a different entry from the same gallery. These building block types may in fact delete some of your content, so it’s important to understand how they work. The following list explains all building block types that swap when you select a new entry: n
Cover Page, Table Of Contents, and Bibliography galleries are designed with the idea that you usually need only one of any of these in a given document. So, when you click an entry in one of these galleries to insert it, if your document already includes an entry from the same gallery, it will be replaced. However, Word does give you ways to include several entries from any one of these galleries in your document. If you just click to insert a cover page, it’s inserted at the front of your document. If you click to insert a table of contents or bibliography, it’s inserted at your current document location. But if you right-click an entry in one of these galleries, you get the option to insert the building block at the beginning or end of the document, beginning or end of the section, or at the current document position. When you use the default setting, inserting a new entry just by clicking will replace the first entry of that same type. However, when you use the right-click options to insert more than one of any of these content types in a document, existing entries of the same type are not replaced. Note that if you later just click to insert an entry, any existing cover page at the front of your document, or the first table of contents or bibliography in your document, will be replaced. In the case of cover pages, content you’ve added or edited inside content controls is retained when you swap to a new design (provided that the same content controls appear in the new design), but formatting customizations are not saved. Similarly, customizations made to tables of contents and bibliographies (other than those made to related paragraph styles, such as the TOC and Bibliography styles) are not retained when you select a different gallery entry. Companion Content Though you can add several tables of contents to the document at once using building blocks, these tables will all contain identical entries by default. To learn how to include different content in each table of contents within a document, see “Reference Tables and Tools,” available in the Bonus Content folder that you’ll find online as part of the companion content for this book, at http://oreilly.com/catalog/9780735651999.
n
Header, Footer, Page Number, and Watermark building block entries also swap, but do so according to header and footer rules. That is, the active header, footer, or page number at your insertion point is swapped when you select an entry from one of these galleries.
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For example, if your insertion point is on a page that uses a first page header, only the first page header (and any other first page headers linked to it) is changed when you select a new option from the Header gallery. However, it’s important to note that any header or footer option you select from the Header and Footer galleries is placed in the header or footer on the active page. Odd Page and Even Page gallery entries are provided for cases where you enable Different Odd & Even Pages in your document and need that type of formatting, but they can be added to any active header or footer, and using those options does not enable the Different Odd & Even Pages setting. Caution Any content n the act ve header or footer s rep aced when you se ect an entry
from one of these ga er es, whether or not t was created from a bu d ng b ock As w th any type of bu d ng b ock that swaps, the on y content automat ca y reta ned s content ns de bound content contro s that a so ex st n the new header or footer To reta n other content when you se ect a new header or footer, first copy the content and then se ect the new header or footer Because that cop ed content s n your c pboard, you can paste t as needed nto the new header or footer
Note On y watermarks for wh ch you see prev ews n the Watermark ga ery are bu d ng
b ock entr es Watermarks app ed from the Pr nted Watermark d a og box a ways app y to the ent re document and do not swap w th those app ed to nd v dua headers However, as addressed n Chapter 11, both the Pr nted Watermark d a og box and Watermark ga ery opt ons use egacy WordArt and are far ess flex b e than s mp y add ng a shape n the header/footer ayer and app y ng new text effects, as addressed n Chapter 10
n
Building block entries assigned to the custom versions of the galleries mentioned in this list, such as cover pages, have the same behavior as entries in the relevant built-in gallery. For example, if you click to insert a cover page from the built-in Cover Page gallery and later click to insert a cover page from the Custom Cover Page gallery into the same document, the new cover page will replace the first. Word can make these types of distinctions either because of the building block location (as with headers or footers) or because of XML tags surrounding the building block entry (as with cover pages and watermarks). Note As ment oned ear er n th s chapter, Word 2010 users can see the XML tags that surround bu d ng b ock entr es by enab ng Des gn Mode from the Deve oper tab
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Shortcuts and Alternative Options for Inserting Building Block Entries In Word 2010, the familiar F3 keyboard shortcut that you might use for inserting an AutoText entry works for any type of building block entry (provided it has a unique name). Just type the name of the entry and then press Enter. (In Word 2011, this behavior works only with AutoText entries, not document elements.) When you use this method of inserting building blocks in Word 2010, however, note that all swapping behavior goes away (which might be exactly what you want in a given instance). That is, type the entry name and then press F3 to insert the content of that building block entry at the insertion point. So, if your insertion point is on page 12 and you insert a cover page using this method, it inserts on page 12—not at the start of your document. Insert a header using this method, and the content of that header building block is added at the current insertion point, even if that’s in the body of the document. Also in Word 2010, you can insert any building block from the Building Blocks Organizer dialog box, discussed in the section “Managing Building Blocks,” later in this chapter. When you use this entry point, you get the same behavior as the default behavior for inserting the entry from its gallery (for example, swapping for cover pages).
Creating Your Own Building Blocks In Word 2010, to save any content as a building block entry, start by selecting the content you want to save. This content can include a combination of text, tables, fields, graphics, and content controls. With the content selected, use one of the following methods to open the Create New Building Block dialog box: n
Press Alt+F3.
n
At the bottom of the gallery to which you want to add your new entry, click Save Selection To Gallery.
When you use the Alt+F3 keyboard shortcut method, the assigned gallery in the dialog box (shown in Figure 12-12) will default to AutoText, as noted earlier. Otherwise, the gallery will default to the gallery from which you opened the dialog box. Regardless, you can change the gallery assignment at any time when this dialog box is open.
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Figure 12-12 The Create New Bu d ng B ock d a og box n Word 2010.
Additionally, keep the following points in mind when saving new entries: n
When you type a description for your new entry, that description appears in the ScreenTip when users point to the entry preview in the gallery. Note If ScreenT p descr pt ons don’t appear when you po nt to a ga ery entry, check your sett ngs for th s funct ona ty C ck the F e tab and then c ck Opt ons On the Genera tab, n the ScreenT p Sty e st, se ect Show Feature Descr pt ons In ScreenT ps
n
Just as with the legacy AutoText feature, building block entries can be saved to any loaded global template or to the active template. Select any available template from the Save In list in the Create New Building Block dialog box. Note that with building blocks, you can move an entry from one template to another without resaving the entry or using the Organizer (which you may have used in previous versions to move or copy AutoText entries between templates). Building block entries aren’t, in fact, available through the Organizer. (However, in Word 2011, AutoText entries are still available there.) See Also To learn about global templates, see Chapter 22, “The Many Faces of Microsoft Office Templates.” To learn how to move building block entries between templates, see the upcoming sidebar “Saving to Normal.dotm or Building Blocks.dotx.”
n
Finally, notice that you have the option in the Create New Building Block dialog box to set each entry to be inserted on its own, in its own paragraph, or on its own page.
Every option available in the Create New Building Block dialog box is also available from the Modify Building Block dialog box, discussed in the section “Managing Building Blocks,” later in this chapter. Once you click OK in the Create New Building Block dialog box, your new entry appears in the relevant gallery, if that gallery is exposed in your Word window—in other words, on the Ribbon, Quick Access Toolbar, or in a building block gallery content control within the document. (For more information about accessing custom galleries, see the upcoming sidebar ”Where Are My Custom Building Block Galleries?”) However, the entry is not saved until you
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save the template to which this entry was added. If you can’t save the template before exiting your current Word session, you’ll be prompted to do so when you exit Word. Caution There s an except on to the ru e that you’ be prompted to save the temp ate before
ex t ng Word 2010 By defau t, Word saves changes to Norma dotm automat ca y when you ex t the program You can, however, enab e the opt on to be prompted when you’ve made changes to Norma dotm To do th s, n the Word Opt ons d a og box, on the Advanced tab, se ect Prompt Before Sav ng Norma Temp ate, wh ch appears under the Save opt ons For Word 2011 users, even though you can’t save custom bu d ng b ock entr es, th s po nt st app es to you when sav ng AutoText entr es or other types of content (such as recorded macros that you save n Norma dotm) In Word 2011, find the opt on to be prompted to save changes to the Norma temp ate n the Word Preferences d a og box, on the Save tab
Saving to Normal.dotm or Building Blocks.dotx Normal.dotm is, for most purposes, the equivalent of Normal.dot in versions of Word prior to Word 2007 and Word 2008 for Mac. It is where your global user settings are saved for Word and where recorded macros are saved by default. However, although you can save building block entries to Normal.dotm, building blocks have their own global template (two of them, in fact, in Word 2010): Building Blocks. dotx (for your custom entries) and Built-In Building Blocks.dotx (for built-in entries). Note that having two default global templates for building blocks is new to Word 2010. In Word 2007, built-in and custom building block entries were saved in Building Blocks. dotx. Also note that, for Word 2011, the built-in document elements are stored in template files named for the type of content they contain, such as Cover Pages.dotx. Building blocks templates are .dotx files (that is, regular macro-free Word templates) and have a folder assigned specifically for this content type. If you create a custom template (saved in any Word template file format) that consists just of building block entries, or for which those entries are the only content you want to access, you can save it to the Document Building Blocks folder to make those entries globally available to all your Word documents. Similar to Normal.dotm, if you move, rename, or delete the existing Built-in Building Blocks.dotx template, a new one will be generated containing the default entries. In fact, because building block entries from any template become globally available just by saving the template in your Document Building Blocks folder, renaming the template won’t prevent the unwanted entries from appearing. So, if you do not
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want to see the built-in entries for any gallery, delete them from Building Blocks.dotx rather than deleting that template. You can do this easily through the Building Blocks Organizer, discussed in the section “Managing Building Blocks,”later in this chapter. Caution For Mac users, note that the g oba temp ates for document e ements are not rep aced f you de ete them
See Also For information on where to find your Document Building Blocks folder (the Document Elements folder for Word 2011), as well as where Word 2010 users can find the master version of Built-In Building Blocks.dotx, see Chapter 22.
Where Are My Custom Building Block Galleries? First of all, it’s important to clarify that custom categories and custom galleries are not the same thing. A gallery can contain multiple categories. Word 2010 users can create custom categories for any existing building block gallery. For example, you can assign a new Cover Page entry to the Custom category and it will appear in the Cover Page gallery, under the heading Custom. But the Custom Cover Pages gallery is a separate gallery that doesn’t appear on the Ribbon by default. Word comes with several custom galleries available through the Create New Building Block or Modify Building Block dialog boxes. Though you can assign an entry to one of these custom galleries, the galleries don’t automatically appear anywhere other than in the Building Blocks Organizer. You can add any gallery to the Ribbon or Quick Access Toolbar in Word 2010 (on the Customize Ribbon or Customize Quick Access Toolbar tab of the Word Options dialog box, find these galleries under All Commands or Commands Not In The Ribbon). Additionally, as mentioned earlier, you can insert a building block gallery content control in a document or template and assign your custom gallery (or any building block gallery) to that control. For example, I recently created templates for a client that has multiple options for its company logo. The client wants users to be able to select their preferred logo each time they create a document. So, I used a custom gallery, added a custom category to it, and saved each logo (correctly sized for the template) as an entry. Then, I just inserted a building block gallery content control where the logo belongs in the template, specified my custom gallery in the Content Control Properties dialog box, and selected a logo from the gallery to appear by default.
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When you’re using custom building block galleries, there’s no easy way to rename a custom gallery, but you don’t have to. Remember that you can rename a Ribbon command or (as discussed earlier in this chapter) change the title of a content control to make the name more intuitive for users. Unless users venture into the Building Blocks Organizer, they never even need to see the actual gallery name.
Managing Building Blocks The Building Blocks Organizer is surely one of the most efficient new Word features. From this single location, you can manage all building block entries in all available templates. Note that “available templates” refers to Building Blocks.dotx, Normal.dotm, any other global templates, and any active template (that is, the active document if it is a template, or the active document’s attached template). Using the Building Blocks Organizer, you can: n
Edit the properties of any building block entry, such as renaming it, changing its assigned gallery or category, or even moving it to another template just by changing the entry’s Save In property.
n
Delete building block entries.
n
Insert an entry from any available template, and any gallery (whether that gallery appears on the Ribbon), into your document.
n
View all available building blocks sorted by name, gallery, category, or source template.
To access the Building Blocks Organizer, on the Insert tab, click Quick Parts and then click Building Blocks Organizer. Or, right-click any entry in a building blocks gallery and then select Organize And Delete to open the Building Blocks Organizer and automatically locate the entry in the same step. In the Building Blocks Organizer, shown in Figure 12-13, just select an entry and then select Edit Properties, Delete, or Insert, as needed. The Edit Properties option opens the Modify Building Block dialog box, which contains exactly the same options as the Create New Building Block dialog box. Notice in the Building Blocks Organizer dialog box that the description of the selected entry appears below the preview. This description is the same one discussed earlier that appears in the ScreenTip when you point to the entry in its gallery. Add or edit descriptions in the Create New or Modify Building Block dialog boxes.
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Figure 12-13 The Bu d ng B ocks Organ zer d a og box n Word 2010.
Note Not ce that the Bu d ng B ocks Organ zer has no re at onsh p to the Organ zer d a og box
that you may know from ear er vers ons of Word That Organ zer d a og box s st ava ab e, however, for mov ng or copy ng sty es or M crosoft V sua Bas c for App cat ons (VBA) modu es between documents and temp ates (or, n Word 2011, for a of ts or g na uses, nc ud ng mov ng AutoText entr es and too bars)
See Also For help using the Organizer to manage styles, see Chapter 8, “Styles.”
Working with Fields Despite the fact that some Word for Windows field functionality was supplanted by the arrival of content controls in Word 2007 (namely, document property fields being replaced by Document Property Quick Parts), fields in general are still present throughout your Word documents, and they are still one of the most important features for advanced Word users to know. Note As noted ear er, Word 2011 users st have USERPROPERTY fie d The DOCPROPERTY fie d s ava ab e n Word 2010 for s m ar funct ona ty, but s on y recommended for use w th egacy documents that don’t support content contro s
A field is, essentially, dynamic text. It’s information stored in your document that displays a result. Fields are used for many built-in features—from tables of contents to page numbers to embedded objects—and can be used to expand the capabilities of other features, such as
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with the LISTNUM fields and STYLEREF fields discussed later in this chapter. Many fields can be customized to display just the information you need in exactly the format you need it. You can even nest fields inside one another as an easy alternative to some types of automation, or to simplify formatting options, such as when the information that the field displays is conditional. To access the Field dialog box shown in Figure 12-14, in Word 2010, on the Insert tab, in the Text group, click Quick Parts, and then click Field. In Word 2011, on the Insert menu, click Field.
Figure 12-14 The F e d d a og box shown n Word 2010 (top) and Word 2011 (bottom).
In Word 2010, you can select a field from the Field Names list and customize it through settings shown automatically when you select the field name. Or, after selecting the field name, click Field Codes at the bottom of the dialog box for an Options button that you can click to open the Field Options dialog box. In Word 2011, click the Options button to access customization options.
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However, for advanced users, this dialog box is not usually the fastest or easiest way to create, or especially to edit, a field. Most fields can be created and edited directly on screen. So, why should you really care about fields or how to create or edit field codes on screen? First, because if you understand how fields work, you can use them to easily automate many things you might not know Word can do—from something as simple as a field to display the number of pages in the active section, to a customized cross-reference field to suppress nondelimiter characters in a paragraph number (such as when you want a cross-reference to “Article II” to display as “II”). Note In case you’re cur ous, the fie d name for the first examp e n the preced ng paragraph s
SECTIONPAGES The sw tch for suppress ng nonde m ter characters ( earn about sw tches n the next sect on, “Understand ng F e d Construct on”) s \t
Understanding Field Construction A field code consists of a field name and, where applicable, information used to customize the field. This custom information can be information from the document, such as a bookmark or style name, or options you can specify that are known as switches. A switch is an option that customizes the information or the formatting of information displayed by the field. For example, look at the codes for a few common types of fields: n
The following field is a default page number field. It displays the page number in Arabic numerals.
n
The page number field in the image that follows is customized using a formatting switch. A switch always starts with a backslash followed by an identifying character. Some switches, including this one, also require more information. In this case, you specify the format as uppercase roman numerals by typing ROMAN in uppercase letters.
n
The hyperlink field shown in the following image is a default hyperlink to the Microsoft home page. It contains only the field name and the target location.
n
The hyperlink field in the next image is customized with two switches. The \n switch doesn’t require additional information; it simply indicates that the target location will be opened in a new window. The \o switch requires text after it in quotation marks,
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as you see here, because it’s used to specify the ScreenTip text that appears when you point to the link.
Creating Fields If you know the name of the field you want to create, along with any specific syntax it requires, you can create that field right on screen with just a few keystrokes. To try this, start by creating a basic page number field, as follows.
1. Type the word PAGE and then select it. Though field names are not case-sensitive, it’s good practice to always type them in uppercase letters to match the way they are generated by Word.
2. Press Ctrl+F9 (Command+F9 in Word 2011) to convert the selected text to a field and then press F9 to update the field to display the result. Be careful about what’s selected when you convert the text to the field. If any extra characters are included, such as punctuation, you’ll get an error result. Mac users, note that the Mac OS Exposé utility application takes over the F9 (or Fn+F9) keyboard shortcut by default. If you want to use this keyboard shortcut for updating fields, you can change or remove the Exposé shortcut in System Preferences. Or, you can preserve the Mac OS defaults and use the alternative keyboard shortcut Command+Option+Shift+U to update fields.
3. To toggle between viewing the selected field and its result, press Shift+F9. Or, press Alt+F9 to toggle between the code and result for all fields in the document at once. Note Us ng A t+F9 to togg e fie d codes s the same as chang ng the Word sett ng to d sp ay fie d codes nstead of the r va ues In Word 2010, find the sett ng for th s behav or n the Word Opt ons d a og box, on the Advanced tab, under Show Document Content In Word 2011, the same behav or s enab ed n the Word Preferences d a og box, on the V ew tab, under the Show head ng, when you se ect F e d Codes If you don’t know the name of the field you need, you can find it in the Field dialog box. To access this dialog box, on the Insert tab, click Quick Parts and then click Field. As you scroll through the Field Names list, see the description for the selected field directly below that list.
Customizing Fields For fields that require more information than the field name, such as a HYPERLINK field that requires a target address or a STYLEREF field that requires a style name, simply type that
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information in quotation marks after the field name and then select all of that text to convert the text to a field, as outlined in the steps in the preceding section. For example, to create the HYPERLINK field with a target of the Microsoft home page, as shown earlier, type HYPERLINK “www.microsoft.com”, select everything from the H in HYPERLINK to the end quotation mark, and then follow the steps provided earlier for converting this to a field and displaying its result.
My Hyperlink to a Network File Path Doesn’t Work When you create a hyperlink by typing the text for the field and converting it to a field code, hyperlinks to network locations have a unique requirement. For Word 2010, you need to type two backslashes between each folder in the path, rather than the single backslash that typically appears. For Word 2011, you need to include a double backslash only at the beginning of the path. For example, to link to Book1.xlsx, located in the default Documents folder on both Windows and Mac OS: n
In Word 2010, type HYPERLINK “C:\\Users\\\\Documents\\Book1. xlsx”. If you put just a single backslash between folders in the path, the target displayed in the field result may be a distortion of the path you typed, and the link will not work. Note that, if you work in a network environment (such as using a host drive on a virtual machine), you might need more backslashes than you expect. For example, my VMware Windows 7 machine uses a host drive name \\vmware-host. So, to type a path on that drive, I need to add an extra two backslashes before that drive name, such as “\\\\vmware-host\\Shared Folders\\Documents\\Book1.xlsx”.
n
In Word 2011, for a comparable path, you need a double backslash at the start of the path only, such as “file://localhost/Users/Shared/Documents/Book1.xlsx”.
Then select everything from the H in HYPERLINK through the end quotation mark and press Ctrl+F9 (Command+F9) followed by F9. However, in the case of hyperlink fields, you don’t even need to type HYPERLINK or the quotation marks or take the step of converting it to a field code (by default, at least). Converting network paths and web addresses to hyperlinks is an AutoFormat As You Type feature. So, after you type the network path accurately, just press the spacebar to convert it to a hyperlink.
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Note that you can’t edit the display text for a hyperlink in the field code, and if you edit the target in an existing hyperlink field, the display text won’t update. However, you can edit the display text directly from the field result without affecting the target or anything else about the field code. To avoid deleting the code and leaving only the display text result, don’t delete the last character in the existing display text until after you type the new display text. And, if you ever have difficulty editing a field code or its result, with your insertion point in the field, just press Ctrl+K (Command+K in Word 2011) to make the changes you need through the Hyperlink dialog box. If you want to add switches to any field, just type all of the information you want to include as it would appear in the field code once created, and then select all of that text to convert it to a field. For example, to create a table of contents generated from outline levels one and two, with hyperlinks from the table entries to their corresponding headings in the document, follow these steps. Note If you’re go ng to try th s for yourse f, be sure to use a document that conta ns at east
one out ne eve one or two head ng (such as text formatted w th Head ng 1 or Head ng 2 sty e), or you’ get an error resu t
1. Type TOC \o “1-2” \h. The \o switch indicates to generate the TOC from outline levels, the levels in quotation marks indicate the top and bottom levels you want to include (if you don’t specify levels, three levels are used by default), and the \h switch adds hyperlinks from each entry to its corresponding location in the document.
2. Select all of that text and then press Ctrl+F9 (Command+F9) followed by F9 to convert to a field and update the result. If you don’t know the available field options or correct syntax for a particular field type, there are two easy ways to find it. First, in the Field dialog box, select the field in the Field Names list, click Field Codes, and then click Options for the Field Options dialog box (in Word 2011, just select the field and then click Options). In this dialog box, you see a list of available switches and/or formatting customizations, along with descriptions and an example of the correct syntax.
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See Also For an even easier source of help, in Word 2010, click the Help button on the right edge of the Ribbon, and in the help search box, type Field Codes in Word. Office.com has an article by this name that provides detailed help for almost every field code, including a complete description of syntax and available switches. For Word 2011, the same article is not available from built-in help, but you can access it on Office.com. Just go to http://office.com and search for “Field Codes in Word” for the same article. Although the article refers to Word 2010, it applies to Mac users as well. The direct link is http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/wordhelp/field-codes-in-word-HA102110133.aspx?CTT 1.
Why Doesn’t My Field Update Correctly? If you have a field that stops updating correctly when you make changes in your document, the most likely cause is a field switch. Field switches exist to provide customization options when the defaults won’t work. But when you specify some types of switches, you take away part of the dynamic nature of the field. Think of this in another way. If you specify the Start At value for footnotes or endnotes in a given document section, that value won’t automatically adjust if you change the number of footnotes in a preceding section. Similarly, if you specify a value or a format in a field code, that code will no longer update that value or format automatically. So, if you get the result you want with default settings, don’t add switches that prevent settings from being dynamic (unless that is your intention). You can delete switches from existing field codes as easily as you can add them when you create new codes, as discussed in the next part of this chapter. See a common example of this issue, and how to avoid it, in the following section, “LISTNUM Fields.” See Also For further examples of creating custom fields, see the next two sections in this chapter, “LISTNUM Fields” and “STYLEREF Fields.” These fields are specified because of how frequently they can be helpful, how generally little-known they are, and the fact that they’re good examples of useful fields that aren’t available through a built-in feature other than the Fields dialog box.
LISTNUM Fields A LISTNUM field is, literally, an outline list stored inside a field code. Practically speaking, a LISTNUM field is designed for occasions when you need a paragraph number within an outline that doesn’t conform to the formatting requirements of your list style or multilevel list. For example, when you need to have multiple outline numbers appear in the same paragraph, as shown with bolded text in the following sample, do this with a LISTNUM field.
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When you add a LISTNUM field in an existing outline list, it will automatically take on the formatting of the active list. For this reason, it’s a good idea to avoid adding too much customization to your LISTNUM fields unless you must, as discussed in the sidebar “Why Doesn’t My Field Update Correctly?” earlier in this chapter. For example, to add the a) in the preceding image, use a LISTNUM field. To do this, simply apply the correct paragraph style for your list level for the paragraph numbered 3, and then type the text of that paragraph as you normally would. Except, instead of typing a), type LISTNUM, select it, convert it to a field, and then update its result. By default, a LISTNUM field will take on the correct number, one list level lower than the list number that precedes it. The paragraph number 3 represents the first level in the list, so the LISTNUM field automatically displays the correct number (a letter, in this case) for the second level in the list. When you then use the style for your second list level in the next paragraph, it numbers automatically to b), because the LISTNUM field became an automatic part of your outline. LISTNUM field switches include the ability to set the specific level in the list (\l) or the specific start at value to display (\s). For both switches, specify a number after the switch. Additionally, you can specify a LISTNUM Field List Name to give your LISTNUM field a particular list format. To create a name for any existing list style or multilevel list, just type a name in the LISTNUM Field List Name box that you find in the Define New Or Modify Multilevel List dialog box (Customize Outline Numbered List dialog box in Word 2011). To see this option, you must expand the dialog box. See Also To learn about working with multilevel lists and list styles, see Chapter 8. Once you create a list name, you can specify the name in a LISTNUM field. To do this, type the name in quotation marks after the field name, and then type any switches. Note that the order isn’t important, as long as the field name comes first. If you type another switch before the list name, the field will work as well. This flexibility in field syntax is common to most fields. For example, using the LISTNUM Field List Name you can create a LISTNUM field that automatically takes on the formatting of that list regardless of where you place the field in the active document. To create that field, type LISTNUM “SampleList”, select the text you just typed, and then convert it to a field.
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Caution Just as w th us ng sw tches, be carefu about overus ng LISTNUM F e d L st Names If
you’re go ng to p ace the LISTNUM fie d n an ex st ng st, t w automat ca y take on that st’s formatt ng If you don’t spec fy a st name, and you change the formatt ng of the st n wh ch the fie d appears, the fie d w automat ca y change formatt ng to match If you’ve spec fied a st name, the formatt ng n your fie d w cont nue to reflect the named st, regard ess of how the act ve st changes
STYLEREF Fields STYLEREF fields are quite simple to use, but not as well known as they deserve to be, which is why they’re mentioned here. A STYLEREF field can be a great way to format headers in a long document when you want the topic on any given page to be reflected in the headers. By default, STYLEREF fields show the text of the first instance of the field to appear on a given page. So, without any section breaks or new headers, you can have the most recent top-level heading, for example, appear in the header on every page. Assuming that your top-level headings use the Heading 1 paragraph style, the field code for this example would be STYLEREF “Heading 1.” This field type also has several switches, including ones that enable you to display the paragraph numbers in or out of context with your outline, or to suppress any nondelimited characters in the paragraph number. Find a complete list of available switches for the STYLEREF field, along with descriptions of each, in the Field Options dialog box mentioned earlier. To get to the Field Options dialog box for this specific field:
1. In Word 2010, on the Insert tab, click Quick Parts and then click Fields. In Word 2011, on the Insert menu, click Fields.
2. In the Style Names list, select STYLEREF.
3. Click Field Codes and then click Options. (In Word 2011, just click Options.) The Field Options dialog box that opens displays options for the selected field.
Using Reference Fields Reference fields—from TOC or INDEX to the new and unique CITATION fields for bibliographies, or TC and XE table entry fields—have qualities and behaviors that differ from those mentioned in this chapter’s general discussion about creating and editing fields. But being able to create and edit fields on screen is particularly useful when it comes to working with reference fields. Companion Content Once you’re comfortable with the preceding content in this chapter about working with fields, find more information specifically about working with reference fields in the article “Reference Tables and Tools,” available in the Bonus Content folder that you’ll find online at http://oreilly.com/catalog/9780735651999.
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Editing Fields Just as you can create field codes right on screen with a few keystrokes, you can edit field codes directly as well, whether you created them on screen or through a built-in feature such as Table Of Contents. To edit a field code, toggle the field so that you can see its code (Shift+F9 to toggle the selected field, or Alt+F9 to toggle all fields in the document), and then simply edit the code as if you were creating it. For example, when you generate an automatic table of contents in Word from one of the built-in options in the Table Of Contents gallery, or from the Indexes And Tables dialog box, it‘s created from outline levels one through three and includes hyperlinks from each entry to its referenced location, as well as other options. To change the number of levels and remove the hyperlinks, just press Alt+F9 to toggle all field codes, and then edit the code as if you were creating it. That is, change the levels to what you want them to be and delete the \h switch that controls the hyperlink. Caution When a reference tab e uses the \h sw tch for hyper nks, a separate hyper nk fie d
code s added to each entry For th s reason, f you press Sh ft+F9 to d sp ay the se ected TOC fie d code, you m ght get odd resu ts When work ng w th reference fie ds, a ways use A t+F9 to d sp ay fie d codes
Companion Content Learn more about working with reference fields in the article “Reference Tables and Tools,” which you can find in the Bonus Content folder available as part of the online companion content for this book, at http //ore y com/cata og/9780735651999.
When you’ve finished editing, just press F9 to update the selected field and then Alt+F9 to toggle field codes back so they display their results. This is a simple example of how editing field codes on screen can be an enormous timesaver and help you avoid recreating or reformatting content.
Converting Fields to Static Results If you want to remove a field code and leave only its result, such as to convert an embedded object to a picture (discussed in Chapter 10), select the field code (or its result) and press Control+Shift+F9 (Command+Shift+F9 in Word 2011, or Fn+Command+Shift+F9 in Word 2011 when working on a Mac laptop). Whatever the displayed result of the field is (whether it’s text or an image), it remains and the field code is removed so that the content is no longer dynamic.
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Nesting Fields It won’t happen often, but it’s good to know that you have the option to nest one field inside another when you need it. If you’ve ever nested functions in Microsoft Excel, nesting fields is a very similar concept. A nested field is just a field whose arguments are other fields. There are many reasons for nesting one field inside another, but the most common is when you need to display different information based on a given condition. In these cases, you would start with an IF field and then use other fields to specify arguments of that conditional statement, as demonstrated later in this section. There’s one note of caution to consider before you proceed with the steps to create a nested field. Some Word users, even very talented and experienced Word developers, get carried away with nested fields. So, if your nested field begins to look like an essay, ask yourself if you’re overcomplicating things before you do more work than is necessary. Remember that the idea behind any field is to provide a simple approach when you need dynamic content. If your field looks like a complex computer program, a macro or another solution may be a better option. That said, when you have a good reason for your nested field, and it is the simplest solution, you might be surprised at how truly easy it can be to create. For example, say that you want to use a STYLEREF field in the document header, as described earlier in this chapter. Perhaps the first part of your document needs to display the top-level heading in the header, and the second part needs to show more detail—by displaying the second-level headings throughout the chapter, for instance. If you have no other reason to add a section break between those document portions, don’t do it for the STYLEREF field— just use a nested field. That is, if the heading text is the name of the first chapter, display the text of the Heading 1 style; if not, display the text of the Heading 2 style. That field code, when complete, would look like the following code.
To create this field:
1. Type all of the text that will be included in your field code. For this example, type IF STYLEREF “Heading 1” “My first section” STYLEREF “Heading 1” STYLEREF “Heading 2”.
2. Convert the inside content to field codes where needed first, one at a time. That is, select the first instance of STYLEREF “Heading 1” in that text and convert it to a field code (Ctrl+F9 or Command+F9). Then, select the second instance of that same text and convert it. Then, select STYLEREF “Heading 2” and convert that.
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3. Select the entire text of what will be the nested field code, from the I in IF to the close quotation mark after Heading 2, and then press Ctrl+F9 (Command+F9) to convert it to a field, followed by F9 to update the results for the entire nested field. Note If you’re try ng th s nested fie d examp e for yourse f, t w work best n a document conta n ng severa Head ng 1 and Head ng 2 paragraphs, w th one of the Head ng 1 paragraphs match ng the text n the fie d Companion Content You can find a sample document with a completed example of this nested field, named Nested field sample.docx, in the Chapter12 sample documents folder that you’ll find online at http //ore y com/cata og/9780735651999.
Part III
PowerPoint
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Chapter 13
Creating Presentations: From Theme to Master to Slide In this chapter, you will: n
See what’s new in PowerPoint for creating presentations
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Understand the evolution of PowerPoint design templates
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Learn about the relationship between themes and masters
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Get best-practice tips for creating documents that live in PowerPoint
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Discover ways to simplify working with masters and layouts
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Understand how to effectively create, customize, and use slide layouts
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Learn to effectively manage slide elements from text to embedded Word tables
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Find tips for managing and sharing slides
Microsoft PowerPoint has come a long way in recent years. The previous release (for both Windows and Mac OS) introduced a tremendous amount of new functionality (such as themes and customizable slide layouts, just for starters), giving you more power over your presentations and more flexibility. Today, PowerPoint 2010 and PowerPoint for Mac 2011 bring further advances, ranging from multimedia tools to slide show formatting to technologies that simplify both working with and presenting to others. So, if the program is that fabulous, why are you still frustrated? If you are, have no fear—it’s not just you. Of course it’s good to have more options and better tools. But they’re not always intuitive at first glance, especially when there is a lot of change all at once. Sometimes it just feels easier to do what you’ve always done and disregard the new stuff or do everything manually. But then you just keep getting frustrated because, well, PowerPoint can’t read your mind. Fortunately, it doesn’t have to be that way. Using the tools provided for the task is almost always the best way to go, and it doesn’t have to take a great big learning curve to get there. Yes, I am a die-hard PowerPoint fan. This program is cool, powerful, fun to use, and it just keeps getting better. But, like any software program, it’s also not perfect. So, the PowerPoint chapters of this book will show you how to make the most of key features that will simplify your work and give you the power you need to create incredible presentations. They’ll also give you a heads-up about the occasional pitfall.
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To begin, this chapter is where you’ll find the nuts and bolts. We’ll look at core concepts for how the pieces of a presentation fit together—from theme to master to layout to slide. And we’ll explore best practices for how to work with each of these elements to create exactly the presentations you want. See Also In the three chapters that follow, learn about working in PowerPoint with presentation graphics (Chapter 14, “Creating Professional Presentation Graphics”), multimedia (Chapter 15, “Creating Multimedia Presentations”), and creating great slide shows (Chapter 16, “Putting on a Show”).
Chapter Assumptions You’ve created slides and used a slide master. You know what slide layouts are and how to apply them. You are familiar with the basics of themes and how they work. In short, you’re pretty comfortable with the core basics of creating and formatting presentations in a recent version of PowerPoint on either Windows or Mac OS. See Also If you’re not comfortable with the fundamentals of themes, check out Chapter 5, “Doing More with Less Work: Key Cross-Program Features,” for a thorough introduction to this important formatting functionality before continuing here. This chapter won’t take your time explaining basics such as what placeholders are or the difference between a slide and a slide master. Instead, it will focus on bringing the core elements together to help you create effective, custom presentations. See Also For those who want more basic-level information than what is covered in this chapter, find a list of resources in the section “Who Will Benefit Most from This Book” in the introduction.
Exploring What’s New for PowerPoint Presentations in Office 2010 and Office for Mac 2011 If you’re coming to Microsoft Office 2010 or Office for Mac 2011 from Office 2007 or Office 2008 for Mac, you might already be familiar with the enormous amount of change that occurred in those releases, and all you need to know in this section is what’s new for the current release. But if you’re coming from an earlier version of PowerPoint on either platform, the heading of this section might seem a bit misleading. That is, the list provided here will appear very short relative to all the changes you see.
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Either way, stick around. Major features like themes and customizable layouts that were added in the last release are covered in this chapter. But because there is a lot that’s brandspanking-new to everyone, this section provides a quick introduction for features applicable to this chapter that were first introduced in PowerPoint 2010 and 2011. Note Th s s far from a comp ete st of new features for PowerPo nt 2010 or PowerPo nt 2011
New and mproved features for presentat on graph cs, mu t med a, and s de shows are covered n the chapters that fo ow Th s chapter s concerned spec fica y w th features for creat ng and manag ng s de presentat ons
Sharing More Easily Some of the most common frustrations about working with others have been addressed in this release, with the addition of some impressive technology and some simple, handy tools: n
When you save your presentations to the cloud—either in a Windows Live SkyDrive folder or a Microsoft SharePoint 2010 library—you can take advantage of new coauthoring capabilities. Among other things, this feature enables you to simultaneously edit the same presentation with other people who are using PowerPoint 2010 or PowerPoint 2011. See Also To learn about saving your files to the cloud and what you can do with them when you get there, including an introduction to the free Windows Live SkyDrive, see Chapter 2, “Collaborating and Sharing When and Where You Choose.” In that chapter, also find help for getting started with coauthoring and learn more about this technology as well as other important tools you’ll find online, such as PowerPoint Web App.
n
The new Slide Sections feature is simple and can be very useful, particularly when you’re working on a presentation with others. It enables you to organize slides within a presentation into groups that you name. Use it to simplify tasks, such as assigning slides to individuals on a group project or quickly printing a set of related slides. Note that Microsoft Word enthusiasts shouldn’t get too excited about this feature’s poorly chosen name, lest you risk being disappointed. Slide sections have no relationship to what you know as sections in Word. The sections tool in PowerPoint doesn’t manage any formatting. It is solely about helping you keep your presentations organized. See Also Learn more about slide sections in the section “Managing Slides,” later in this chapter.
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The Compare And Merge feature is back in PowerPoint for Windows in this release (after a hiatus in the previous version) and new to PowerPoint for Mac. This feature enables you to compare two presentations and review the differences to accept or reject changes. See Also Learn more about working with the Compare And Merge feature in the section “Managing Slides,” later in this chapter.
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One exciting new exclusive feature in PowerPoint 2010 is a multimedia feature, but it’s really about giving you an easy (and pretty slick) way to share your presentations, so it warrants a mention here. The new Create A Video feature quickly creates a video of your presentation that includes media playback, animations, transitions, and (if you choose) your narrations, timing, and use of the new laser pointer tool (also a PowerPoint 2010 exclusive). Just tell PowerPoint to do its thing and then get back to work while it creates the video in the background. See Also For more about this tool, see Chapter 15. And for more on slide show tools such as narrations, timing, and the laser pointer, see Chapter 16. Note Unfortunate y, the s ght y sad Save As Mov e feature n PowerPo nt 2011 sn’t new,
and t sn’t the same as the Create A V deo too n PowerPo nt 2010 Save As Mov e doesn’t nc ude your narrat ons, and sn’t compat b e w th much of your med a or the snazzy new and mproved an mat ons and trans t ons For nformat on about var ous presentat on shar ng opt ons, see Chapter 15
n
You might already know that you can save your slides as pictures in both PowerPoint for Windows and PowerPoint for Mac. That feature creates a folder containing an image file for each slide. But PowerPoint 2010 introduces one more nice little exclusive with Save As Picture Presentation. This feature saves a copy of your presentation with each slide as a full-slide picture in a new PowerPoint presentation file. It s a fast and easy way to share slides that you don t want edited. To access this feature, click the File tab, click Save & Send, and then click Change File Type. PowerPoint Picture Presentation is available under the heading Presentation File Types.
Simplifying Slide Editing A handful of new and improved tools are designed to help simplify tasks when you’re creating presentations. n
Drag shapes and pictures on a slide, layout, or master, and see dynamic guides appear to tell you when the object is aligned to others. This feature, known as smart guides, is new to PowerPoint 2010 and still around in PowerPoint 2011.
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This tool is mentioned here because it can save a lot of time when you’re editing slides or presentation designs. But keep in mind that it’s just for times when you need to create one-off slide content or design elements for layouts and masters. This feature is not designed to work with placeholders, so it’s not a tool for most of your work with customizing layouts or when you’re manually editing the position of on-slide content that resides in a placeholder. See Also Get tips for working with smart guides in Chapter 14. n
PowerPoint 2010 introduces the single document interface (also known as SDI), which gives you a completely independent PowerPoint window for each of your open presentations. So, for example, if you work with multiple monitors, you can play back a slide show for one presentation on one monitor while editing slides for another presentation on the other.
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PowerPoint 2010 also gives you an exclusive view of your presentations with the new Reading view. This view is designed for those times when you want to see exactly what your slide show will look like when you play it back, while retaining access to your other programs and open presentations. As you see in Figure 13-1, the Status bar in Reading view gives you basic slide show tools along with access to other PowerPoint views, while playing back your slide show within the individual presentation window.
S de show and menu nav gat on Figure 13-1 A presentat on shown n the new PowerPo nt 2010 Read ng v ew.
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For Mac Users The updated interface across Office 2011 gives you a lot of benefits for working with PowerPoint presentations. For example, open Slide Master view, and you get a contextual Slide Master tab on the Ribbon with key tools that you’ll learn about in this chapter. Additionally, you’ll see improvements on the contextual Table Layout tab of the new Ribbon that go beyond the new interface. If you also work in Office for Windows, you might already be familiar with these features, but they’re sure to be welcome regardless. The Table Layout tab appears when you click into a table, and it’s where you’ll find new tools such as options for showing banded rows and columns, separate control over horizontal and vertical cell alignment, and cell margins. See Also For more information, see the “Working with PowerPoint Tables” section later in this chapter.
Understanding the Themes–PowerPoint Connection Themes give you a lot of power to customize your documents, presentations, and workbooks, and make it easier for just about anyone to create better content. They give you a single set of formatting to use across Word, PowerPoint, and Excel. And they enable you to update the formatting of an entire document, presentation, or workbook with just a click. But you probably already know all of that. See Also If you didn’t already know all of that, check out Chapter 5 for a detailed introduction to themes before continuing here. In this chapter, we’re concerned with how themes relate to your PowerPoint presentations. Themes were born in PowerPoint and their core still resides there. You can choose whether to make use of a theme in Word or Excel (but you should have a really good reason if you choose not to). But the same can’t be said for PowerPoint, because the theme underlies the basic structural elements of a PowerPoint slide. To put it a different way: if you are the id to your presentation, the theme is the ego. Disregard the ego, and havoc will surely ensue. So, before we get to the guts of working with features like slide masters and custom layouts, this section takes a look at underlying concepts such as the central relationship between themes and masters. Even if you’re not usually the type to take apart the car to understand how it runs, give it a try in this case. Sure, you could skip forward to learn about the mechanics of customizing masters, layouts, and slides. But understanding the concepts that control how the pieces fit together can simplify many (if not most) of the tasks ahead.
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Exploring the Evolution of PowerPoint Design Templates In versions of PowerPoint prior to 2007 for Windows and 2008 for Mac, there were design templates. Back then, you applied a design template to a presentation (or to specified slides in a presentation) to change the appearance of the slide master, including the following elements: n
Slide background
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Graphics on the master
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Size and placement of placeholders on the master
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Layout of the title slide (called a title master back then)
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The fonts and text formatting used in the master (such as font size and bullet style)
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Color scheme (you could have more than one color scheme option for a slide master) ❑
A color scheme in earlier versions contains eight colors, including those designated for use with text, backgrounds, shadows, object fill, accent, hyperlink, and followed hyperlink. The hyperlink and followed hyperlink styles do double-duty as accent colors in objects such as charts.
If you worked in those earlier versions, you might recall often using the Blank or Title Only slide layouts because you couldn’t customize individual slide layouts at all. And you might recall other features less than fondly, such as the old MS Graph charts, which were ugly, cumbersome, and inserted as embedded objects on your slides. Those charts took on the last four colors in your active color scheme as the first four chart series fill colors and used standard color variations thereafter. If you tried to customize chart colors and then later needed to update the chart, you probably found MS Graph to be more than a little bit finicky about keeping your customizations. The beauty of the design template lay in the idea that if you switched to a different design template, content for which you’d actually utilized the slide master and color schemes would update automatically to take on the new design. But that swapping behavior was a great concept with a fairly weak implementation, because you were often compelled to disregard the master and color scheme to get the look you needed. Then, along came themes. Themes take the concept of swappable design elements and add the power and flexibility of customization. When used in PowerPoint, the theme includes the fonts, colors, graphic effects, and Background Styles gallery options that are also available for themes when used in Word and Excel. Additionally, a theme in PowerPoint includes one or more slide masters.
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Note Remember that the Background Sty es ga ery that you know for s de backgrounds n
PowerPo nt s not actua y a PowerPo nt-exc us ve e ement of themes That feature s a so ava ab e n Office 2010 as a set of add t ona theme fi s for shapes n PowerPo nt, Word, and Exce
With the exception of graphic effects and a gallery of slide background options, that sounds an awful lot like the presentation designs from earlier versions, right? Not exactly. The thing that makes themes so far superior to the legacy design templates is their flexibility. Because you can customize so many elements of a theme’s appearance—particularly slide layouts—you’re not compelled to do your own thing and ignore the master, color scheme, or other formatting. So, when you need to update the theme in a presentation, it actually can be one-click easy. n
A slide master now includes a set of customizable layouts. The built-in layouts you customize, as well as custom layouts that you add to the master, are included when you save that master in a theme.
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Each slide master can have unique sets of theme colors, fonts, graphic effects, and Background Styles gallery options. ❑
As addressed in Chapter 5, a theme color set consists of 12 colors, including 2 text colors, 2 background colors, 6 accent colors, and 1 color each for hyperlink and followed hyperlink. Additionally, the theme color palettes across PowerPoint, Word, and Excel provide a range of tints and shades for the text, background, and accent colors. Notice that theme color sets are where you get a lot more flexibility and more options that enable you to stick with the theme tools provided. For example, the six accent colors are used as object fills, such as for the first six series of Excel charts (now natively available in PowerPoint, of course) or the objects within a SmartArt graphic. What’s more, additional chart series use tints and shades of your six accent colors. And if you choose to customize chart colors, just as with customizing any Office Art graphic, your customizations hold.
Examining Theme Structure If you talk to people who work only in Word or Excel, they’ll probably tell you that a complete theme consists of a set of colors, fonts, and graphic effects. If you talk to people who work only in PowerPoint, they’ll likely tell you that a complete theme consists of those three things, plus the slide master, layouts, and Background Styles gallery options. As it turns out, both answers are right and wrong. Every Office 2010 and Office 2011 Word, Excel, and PowerPoint file includes an underlying file named theme1.xml, which provides colors, fonts, and graphic effects (the last of which also incorporates the Background Styles gallery options).
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If you were to crack open the XML for a theme file itself (as shown in Figure 13-2), you’d see a theme folder that contains subfolders for the slide masters and slide layouts, as well as a subfolder named theme that contains the theme1.xml file.
Figure 13-2 The core theme fo der structure under the hood of a theme (.thmx) fi e.
So, essentially, a complete theme (that is, a .thmx file) includes the core theme elements (the theme1.xml file) and the PowerPoint slide design (in other words, the slide master and layouts). Note also, however, that each slide master can have its own set of core theme elements, as mentioned earlier. So, if a theme includes multiple masters, it might also include multiple theme files. Note If you want to exp ore under the hood, note that f there are mu t p e theme fi es stored n one theme or one PowerPo nt presentat on, they are consecut ve y numbered—such as theme1 xm , theme2 xm , and so on
See Also For information about customizing themes, including customizations that can be done only under the hood, see Chapter 5. To learn how to start exploring the XML underlying your documents, see Chapter 24, “Office Open XML Essentials.”
The relationship can seem a bit circular in nature—a theme includes one or more slide masters, but each slide master can be related to a different theme. But it’s actually pretty simple. Just keep the following in mind: n
A theme can include multiple slide masters.
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Each slide master can be related to its own set of core theme elements.
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Therefore, a complete theme can include multiple sets of core theme elements—one for each slide master it contains.
However, just because a theme can include multiple masters doesn’t mean it should. Customizable slide layouts dramatically reduce the need for multiple masters in the same presentation (and thus in the same theme). So when might you still need multiple masters in a presentation or in a theme? n
You need unique theme fonts for use with just specific layouts. Keep in mind that you need a unique master for this scenario only if the fonts for the specified layouts should be theme-aware. If fonts for a specific layout should always
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remain the same (that is, there isn’t a reason for those fonts to change when a new theme is applied), you can directly apply unique fonts to specific layouts without them being part of the theme. n
You need unique theme colors for use with just specific layouts. Just as with fonts, if colors that you need to apply to specific layouts won’t benefit from being theme-aware, just directly apply them to content on the layout; you don’t need to create a separate master to get a separate set of theme colors. But with colors, this concept goes a step further. You actually can have multiple sets of theme colors attached to the same master, and included in the same set of core theme elements. The feature is called Extra Color Schemes, but the catch is that the only way to add them is through the XML. For example, if you’ve opened a legacy presentation in a version of PowerPoint that contains themes, you might have noticed that each color scheme that was included in the legacy presentation appears in the Theme Colors gallery. PowerPoint imports them using the Extra Color Schemes feature. However, if you need unique theme colors for specific layouts and either you don’t want to venture under the hood and into the XML, or you want the unique colors to be the defaults on specific layouts (so that users don’t have to apply the correct set of colors), then a separate master with its own set of theme colors is the way to go. See Also If you’ve tried to work with legacy presentations in a recent (theme-enabled) version of PowerPoint, you’ve probably also noticed that those color schemes don’t import as you might expect. Learn more about converting legacy presentations in the sidebar “A Note About Legacy Presentations,” later in this chapter.
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You need unique theme effects or a unique gallery of slide background options for specific layouts. Are you sure about this? If you need more variations of graphic effects in a single presentation than you can fit in a theme effects set, consider consulting a designer or a presentation coach. Unless there is a darn good reason for using a completely different set of theme effect styles for different slide types, it’s probably not a good idea. Graphic effects can be very cool, but unless you want your presentation to be about graphic effects, use them consistently and sparingly.
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You need a unique design and overall layout for multiple slide layouts. Not necessarily. If a single layout needs a unique design, that’s what customizable layouts are for. And even if a handful of layouts need the same background graphics, for example, or title placeholder positioning, customizing the layouts is likely to make your theme much more usable than asking the user to contend with multiple masters.
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Caution If you’re gett ng the mpress on that you shou d avo d the use of mu t p e masters,
you’re r ght A though th s feature s a strength n terms of ts flex b ty for PowerPo nt, and there are occas ons when t’s he pfu , t’s often a usab ty n ghtmare Part cu ar y f you are creat ng themes, temp ates, or presentat ons for others to use—and n s tuat ons where presentat ons are ke y to be ed ted by mu t p e part es—cons der whether there s a s mp er so ut on that w be eas er for others to manage
See Also Learn more about the strengths and weaknesses of multiple masters in the section “Exploring the Master–Layout Relationship,” later in this chapter.
Tip If you a ways (or usua y) use the same theme for your presentat ons, you can set t as the defau t so that new presentat ons automat ca y use your preferred theme To do th s n PowerPo nt 2010, just r ght-c ck your preferred theme and then c ck Set As Defau t Theme To do th s n PowerPo nt 2011, first app y the theme that you want to use as the defau t Then, on the Themes tab, c ck the arrow bes de the Save Theme command and then c ck Set Current Theme As Defau t
See Also For help creating your own themes, see Chapter 5.
Creating Documents That Live in PowerPoint The secret to PowerPoint presentations that are easy to create, edit, and manage is this: PowerPoint is easy. Really, that’s it. PowerPoint provides the tools to make your work simple and straightforward. Just use the available tools, and most of the time you spend in PowerPoint can be downright pleasant—quick, simple, and painless—and the presentations you create may be far better than you expect. But there’s a catch (c’mon, you knew there would be). If you don’t use the available features—if you insist on using workarounds and overcomplicated solutions rather than learning to use the tools that PowerPoint benevolently provides—it just might make you miserable. It may even seem as if PowerPoint is laughing as it watches you dig yourself in forever deeper. So, don’t tempt it. No matter how many shiny new capabilities it adds, PowerPoint is set in its ways. That’s because—despite how much personality a software program may appear to have—it is still a software program. This is not The Matrix (I hope), but you are the only member of the You + PowerPoint team that has the ability to compromise. Just use the features the way they’re designed to be used, and you and your presentation will get along swimmingly. That doesn’t mean making cookie-cutter presentations at all. In fact, once you understand the rules, you can often find creative ways to bend them to take your presentations further. There is no spoon.
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First and foremost, whether you are creating a slide presentation or using PowerPoint for a print document such as a pitch book, remember that PowerPoint is best at compartmentalized content that can make use of masters and layouts. If you need a lot of text to flow from one page to the next (such as for a report), or need many complex pages with content such as multiple financial tables, your document will almost certainly be easier to create in Word.
Distinguishing the Strengths of Word and PowerPoint Why say that a document that requires multiple complex pages with lots of financial tables is better built in Word than PowerPoint? Because Word tables are more powerful and flexible (if you have doubts, try to decimal-align a column of numbers in a PowerPoint table), and Word styles make it easier to have multiple text sizes and formats on a page while keeping formatting consistent throughout the document. In contrast, when your document consists of mostly graphics—such as charts and diagrams—with a small or moderate amount of text, and everything is compartmentalized by page, PowerPoint layouts might help you create those complex pages more quickly and easily. Many people decide what program to use based on the program they use most often and thus are most comfortable with. But when you do that, you do yourself (and often the document) a disservice. Before you start an important new document, consider the features available to you in each program—for example, compare the benefit of styles versus layouts for your particular project—and use that information to choose the best program for the task. Each application really does have its strengths and when you take advantage of them, you might be amazed at how easy it is to create better content than you ever thought possible. See Also For more about using the best program for the task, see Chapter 4, “Planning Your Documents.” A good rule of thumb: use PowerPoint as a home for your document when you can answer yes to at least one of these questions: n
Will the document be delivered as an on-screen presentation?
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Do you need to use slide masters for any purpose other than what you can do with paragraph styles and the header/footer layer in a Word document?
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Do you need to use slide layouts for any type of page layout that you can’t accomplish as easily (or more easily) with styles and/or tables in a Word document?
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Once you determine that your document belongs in PowerPoint, consider the following: n
With few exceptions, if the slide layout you’re using doesn’t fit the layout you need, don’t use it. Either customize a layout or, for single-use layouts, use the Blank or Title Only slide layouts and do your own thing. However, the layouts are there for a reason and can substantially reduce your work. What’s more, a presentation full of slides that don’t use layouts with placeholders is sure to be a struggle, at best—so, please don’t misinterpret the preceding bullet point as an instruction to disregard layouts.
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Use theme-ready elements, including colors, fonts, and slide backgrounds, unless you intentionally want specific formatting to remain even if the theme changes.
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Use slide masters and layouts. If you have to place the same item on more than one slide, ask yourself whether you could use a master or layout instead to accomplish what you need in one step rather than many.
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Use the Align, Distribute, and Order tools (as well as smart guides, mentioned earlier) to position content precisely. Nudging and guesswork defeats the purpose of using PowerPoint and will never give you the best results. When you use the available drawing tools, it takes almost no time to position content perfectly. See Also The arrange tools (align, distribute, and order options) and smart guides are addressed in Chapter 14.
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Watch file size carefully. PowerPoint provides features to help you minimize file size even when you need a wealth of graphics and media in your presentation, such as the ability to compress pictures or to paste them in a variety of formats (using Paste Special). And, in PowerPoint 2010, you have a new tool to compress media files. One of the most common causes of PowerPoint document corruption is bloated file size. See Also For information about new and improved picture tools on both platforms of Microsoft Office, see Chapter 5. To learn about working with video and audio in Office 2010 and Office 2011, including compression tools, see Chapter 15 And for help with managing picture file size versus quality for presenting on screen, see the sidebar "Determining The Right Picture Resolution for Your Presentation," later in this chapter..
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If a task feels like a lot of work, stop doing it. Take a moment to consider whether there’s a way to make it easier, because there probably is. And, because making it easier means using the right tool for the task, it’s also likely to improve your results. To learn about how to choose the best picture resolution for your presentations, see the sidebar "Determining The Right Picture Resolution for Your Presentation," later in this chapter. For example, pay attention to AutoCorrect actions (such as automatically fitting text to a placeholder), and set your defaults to the result you most often want (such as turning
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off AutoFit for body text). You have many options for working effectively with AutoFit, so don’t continually fight with it—you won’t win. For help with this example, see the sidebar “What Can I Do to Stop Font Size from Automatically Changing?” later in this chapter. If you’re thinking that the preceding list isn’t much help if you don’t know whether you’re using the referenced features effectively, you’re absolutely right. But the information you need to answer those questions is available in this and the referenced chapters, so keep reading.
Setting Up a Presentation It’s common to forget that a PowerPoint presentation is a document, but it is. So, understanding the elements that can appear on the page, and how a given element may appear under different circumstances (such as on screen or in print), can simplify your work considerably. In this section, we’ll look at how slide layout and page setup can affect your presentation.
Control the Layout—Don’t Let It Control You This heading refers to the way that placeholders behave in slide layouts. The idea behind placeholders (such as the title and subtitle placeholders on a title slide) is to provide the size and positioning (and in some cases, the formatting) for slide content so that all you have to do is drop the content into place. The problem that often arises is when people use slide layouts that don’t really fit the content or layout they need, and they adjust the size or formatting of placeholders on individual slides. Of course, the entire purpose of placeholders is to help you keep layout and formatting consistent. So, when the layout is reset, manual customizations—such as text formatting, and size and positioning of objects—are lost. Working with placeholders is much easier since the previous release, when layouts became customizable. You can now customize placeholders on any layout or create your own placeholders to get exactly the size and position you need. The important thing is to take the extra step to go into the slide layout to make your change, rather than making the change on each individual slide. See Also Learn when to customize the master versus the individual layout, and how to customize layouts, in the section “Managing Masters and Layouts,” later in this chapter. Of course, there are exceptions to what you can set up on the slide layout or in the slide master. When you need custom formatting—such as direct font formatting on just a few words in a text placeholder, or a border around a content placeholder—how can you avoid losing those customizations?
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When you need to reset a placeholder position on a slide, you can use either the Reset option (in PowerPoint 2011, this is called Reset Layout To Default Settings) or reapply the active layout from the Layout gallery. Reset behaves the way that reapplying a layout used to behave (prior to the days of customizable layouts and themes); that is, all customizations are lost, and the slide is reset to use only the positioning and formatting that appear on the slide layout. However, if you instead simply reselect the active layout (just click the thumbnail for the layout you need in the Layout gallery), your placeholders return to their prescribed size and position, and all custom formatting remains. To use these options: n
In PowerPoint 2010, on the Home tab, in the Slides group, find both the Reset option and the Layout gallery. These options are also available when you right-click a slide or a slide thumbnail in the Slides pane.
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In PowerPoint 2011, on the Home tab, in the Slides group, click Layout to access the Layout gallery. Find the option Reset Layout To Default Settings at the bottom of the gallery.
So, what happens when you need text or objects to have a custom size or position on just one individual slide? Don’t move or resize placeholders on individual slides—use custom objects. n
When you insert a text box (either a traditional text box or a WordArt text box) from the Ribbon, rather than using an existing text or content placeholder, you get a custom object that isn’t affected by changes in slide layout. Keep in mind, however, that custom text boxes don’t have the formatting that’s preset in placeholders (such as several levels of bulleted text), so you’re on your own in terms of formatting your custom text. You can, however, customize default text box formatting for a presentation, template, or theme. To do this, select a text box that contains the formatting you want to use as your default (text formatting is included in the settings), right-click, and then click Set As Default Text Box. In PowerPoint 2010, insert a text box from the Insert tab. Or, on the Home tab, in the Drawing group, text box is the first available option in the Shapes gallery. In PowerPoint 2011, insert a text box from the Home tab.
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When you place other object types (such as a picture, table, diagram, or chart) from the Insert tab onto a slide that has an empty placeholder designed for that content type, your new object is automatically placed in that empty placeholder and sized accordingly. If the slide contains similar placeholders, but they already have content, using the Insert tab to insert an object will insert the custom object you need without attaching it to a placeholder.
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Note For Mac users, f you drag an object from the Med a Browser—such as a p cture
from your Photo brary or a c p art mage—drag t to a b ank area on the s de to have nsert t as a custom object; drag t to a p aceho der to have t fi that p aceho der
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Of course, when you need a custom object, the goal is to avoid attaching it to a placeholder so that it isn’t affected by changing, reapplying, or resetting the layout. So, when you need objects to be independent of placeholders, the easiest thing to do is usually to use the Blank or Title Only layout, as mentioned earlier. However, if you need a custom object on a slide that has empty placeholders, there are easy workarounds, as follows: ❑
Insert the object into the empty placeholder. Then, select and cut the object (Ctrl+X or Command+X), and then paste (Ctrl+V or Command+V). The object will be pasted back on the slide, but it will sit on top of the placeholder rather than using the placeholder. If you move the pasted object, you’ll see that the empty placeholder remains.
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One important limitation to the preceding workaround is that, if you inserted a picture into an object placeholder and PowerPoint cropped it automatically, cutting it actually cuts only the visible portion of the image. This means that when you paste it back in, you paste the cropped version without cropping information retained. So, even resetting the image won’t return the cropped portion. Instead, you can cut the empty placeholder, insert the image, and then paste the placeholder back. Or, just insert the object onto any blank slide and then cut and paste the object onto the slide where you need it. When you paste an object onto a slide that has an empty placeholder (rather than inserting the object), the placeholder is ignored.
What Can I Do to Stop Font Size from Automatically Changing? The AutoFormat As You Type options, which AutoFit body or heading text to placeholders, are enabled by default (and in most of the built-in themes). But, when AutoFit takes action, a SmartTag appears outside the bottom-left corner of the text box, from which you can disable it. Click the arrow to expand the SmartTag options, and you’ll see something like Figure 13-3. Note AutoF t opt ons are the same n PowerPo nt 2010 and PowerPo nt 2011
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Figure 13-3 AutoF t opt ons for the content p aceho der on a s de us ng the T t e And Content ayout, shown n PowerPo nt 2010
The options you see in the AutoCorrect SmartTag depend on the type of placeholder, the slide layout, and your AutoCorrect settings. The options to split text between slides, continue on a new slide, or set the placeholder to two columns are available only in built-in layouts with a single body content placeholder (such as Title And Content), but are available whether or not you have AutoFit enabled for body text. You can use these SmartTags to affect individual placeholders only. Or, click Control AutoCorrect Options and then click AutoFormat As You Type for a list of options, including (at the bottom of the list) the options to AutoFit title text and body text to placeholders (in PowerPoint 2011, the option controls only body text). Note that you can also access these options in PowerPoint 2010 in the Options dialog box, on the Proofing tab. In PowerPoint 2011, find these options in the Preferences dialog box, on the AutoCorrect tab. Once you turn off AutoFit for title or body text, the AutoFit SmartTags for applicable placeholders will no longer contain the options to AutoFit text to the placeholder or stop fitting text to the placeholder. However, you’ll still see the SmartTags that provide access to the AutoCorrect Options dialog box. Of course, these AutoFit settings are how you control what happens when you’re working on a presentation (and the AutoCorrect Options approach affects only your work on your computer). If you’re the one creating a presentation, template, or theme for others to use, and you prefer to keep placeholders from using AutoFit, you might want to change those settings in the master layer, so that they affect all slides that are created based on an applicable master or layout. Find the option Do Not AutoFit on the Text Box tab of the Format Shape dialog box. When you apply this setting to a placeholder on a master or layout (you must do this from the Slide Master view, not from a placeholder on an individual slide), it affects any slides that use that master or layout.
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Now that you know the options, here’s the recommendation: it’s usually a good idea to keep AutoFit enabled (annoying though it may be) and use the SmartTags to disable the setting where needed. Even if you don’t want AutoFit to change your font size, seeing the changes made by AutoFit is a good indication that your slide contains too much text or needs a different type of layout. See Also For more information about using the right layout for your content and the types of content that make effective slides, see the section “Creating Effective Slides and Layouts,” later in this chapter.
Managing Page Setup There’s not a lot to be concerned about when it comes to PowerPoint page setup—which doesn’t refer to page layout, of course, but typical page setup considerations like paper size and orientation. But the few issues that warrant mentioning on this subject also happen to be common sources of frustration (or at least confusion): understanding slide size and orientation options, and working with headers and footers.
Understanding Slide Resolution Have you joined the widescreen, HD revolution yet, or are you still creating standard shows? At the time of this writing, standard slide shows still appear to be the most common, but the proliferation of widescreen, HD projection screens seems to be occurring at a pretty quick pace. So, by the time you’re reading this, that statement might already seem out-of-date. The default new presentation size is still the standard 4:3 aspect ratio, landscape slide. If you want a widescreen presentation, you have options for 16:9 and 16:10 resolution. So, what’s the difference between them? n
The 16:9 widescreen is the standard resolution for HDTVs and is pretty common as the resolution in digital cameras. It’s the square of the standard resolution (that is, 42:32), resulting in a ratio of approximately 1.78 (width to height).
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The 16:10 widescreen is the standard resolution for computer widescreen displays. It’s a ratio of approximately 1.6.
If you don’t know which type of display you need for your presentation, just go with the one you prefer. If your choice doesn’t match the display exactly, you’ll see black bars like the “letterbox” you get when watching an even wider cinema resolution on your HDTV. (Personally, I prefer 16:9, but note that you do get a bit more vertical space on your slides with 16:10.)
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Converting a Presentation to Another Aspect Ratio When you convert an existing theme or existing slides to a different aspect ratio, it’s important to be aware of the changes that occur automatically and review your content to ensure that results are desirable. Fact is, you’re very likely to need to make some manual fixes, but they can be pretty fast and easy to do. When you change resolution, the slide, layout, and slide master content all stretch or contract to adjust to the new resolution automatically. This is great for things like text placeholders and Office Art graphics such as charts and SmartArt diagrams, and saves you a lot of time, but it will distort the resolution of images. For example, when you convert a standard slide show to widescreen (or even if you convert 16:10 to 16:9), the slides get wider, and the content automatically stretches horizontally to fit the new resolution. To address this, just page through your slides (and, if you’ll be creating new slides in the presentation, check through the master and all slide layouts as well) to ensure that no images or other media (such as videos) are distorted in an undesirable way. What qualifies as undesirable? Some design elements—such as background graphics in a theme— might look absolutely fine when they’re stretched or contracted, even though they are technically distorted. But photos and other graphics (such as a logo image) are unlikely to have good results. When you see an image that needs to be adjusted, you can address it in one of two ways: n
For images or other graphics/media that appear on a slide and in a placeholder, just reapply the slide layout as discussed earlier in this chapter. The aspect ratio will automatically be corrected. Note that correcting the aspect ratio will change the crop of images, so make sure that you’re happy with the results. If not, recrop the image as needed.
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For custom images or other graphics on slides (that is, an object that is not in a placeholder), and any object on the slide master or a slide layout that requires adjusting:
1. Right-click the image and then click the applicable Format option at the bottom of the shortcut menu (such as Format Picture).
2. On the Size tab of the dialog box, clear the check box labeled Lock Aspect Ratio.
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3. Still on the Size tab, notice that the height and width scale percentages of the distorted object don’t match. Change one to match the other. (Changing the larger one to match the smaller one will ensure that the object fits the slide.) Then, click out of the box where you make that change. If the dialog box is not obscuring the object, you will see it change with the dialog box still open.
4. Select Lock Aspect Ratio now that the aspect ratio has been corrected. Then close the dialog box. As you tuck this information away in your repertoire for your next widescreen presentation, keep in mind that changing the aspect ratio is just one type of change you might make to slide proportions. The same issues that require review when you change aspect ratio also apply if you change slide size or orientation. See Also For help working with images, such as using the improved cropping tool, see Chapter 5.
For Mac Users The PowerPoint Presentation Gallery (which opens by default when you start PowerPoint, or when you select New From Template on the File menu) gives you the option to select the aspect ratio when you create a new presentation based on a built-in theme or template, or from your saved custom themes and templates. This is one of the very cool new customization tools that enable you to select theme fonts, theme colors, and aspect ratio—and preview the results—before you even create the presentation. But when it comes to selecting the aspect ratio, it’s important to keep in mind that the same distortion issues discussed in the preceding sidebar apply if you select widescreen for a theme or template that was created in standard aspect ratio, or vice versa. All built-in themes and most built-in templates use the standard 4:3 aspect ratio. So, if you create a widescreen presentation based on one of these (or you create a standard presentation based on one of the two built-in widescreen templates), use the preceding sidebar for guidance on checking through the existing slide master, slide layout, and any on-slide content and adjusting as needed.
Understanding Screen Size vs. Slide Size When formatting a presentation that will be printed, pay particular attention to the width and height measurements in the Page Setup dialog box (shown in Figure 13-4).
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Figure 13-4 The Page Setup d a og box for manag ng s de s ze and or entat on sett ngs.
Notice that, when set to letter-sized paper (8.5 by 11 inches), the page width and height are both 1 inch smaller than the indicated slide size. The difference between width and height settings versus the slide size setting happens regardless of the size you select. PowerPoint builds the margins into the page size, so what you see on screen doesn’t include page margins. This is important if you’re using PowerPoint for a document that will be delivered in print, because what you see on screen is not actually the full page size. In part, this is useful, because if you have objects that bleed to the edge of a slide, they’ll still print on printers that can’t accommodate bleeds. However, when you need to print a true bleed or otherwise need to use the full paper size, you have two options. n
In the Page Setup dialog box, change the Height and Width settings to the paper size you need. For example, for a landscape, letter-sized page, type 11 as the Width setting and 8.5 for the Height setting. (If your default unit of measurement is something other than inches, adjust the preceding measurements accordingly.) When you change the measurements, the Slide Sized For setting changes to Custom.
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Alternately, if you just want to use more of the page when printing, but want to retain the standard slide size setting for on-screen use, use the Scale To Fit Paper setting. ❑
In PowerPoint 2010, click the File tab to open Backstage view and then click Print. Under the Settings heading, click to expand the Print What list (which defaults to Full Page Slides) and then click Scale To Fit Paper.
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In PowerPoint 2011, on the File menu, click Print. Find the Scale To Fit Paper option in the Print dialog box.
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Typically, it’s not necessary to use these two options together. For example, if you change the slide size to the full paper size and place objects that bleed off the slide—but Print Preview still doesn’t show the slide bleeding to the edge—your active printer may not accommodate bleeds from PowerPoint, or you might need to change the printer’s settings to print a bleed. You can, however, save a copy of the document as a PDF file (or an XPS document if you work in Office 2010) or print it to a virtual printer to preview the full bleed. n
In PowerPoint 2010, click the File tab to open Backstage view, click Save & Send, and then click Create PDF/XPS Document. Or, on the Print tab in Backstage view, change your active printer to a virtual printer such as Send To OneNote 2010.
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In PowerPoint 2011, in the Print dialog box, click PDF and then click Save As PDF. Or, in the Print dialog box, click Preview to virtually print the document to the Mac OS Preview application.
Managing Slide Orientation When you’re dealing with slide orientation, you usually encounter one of two issues: content being distorted when you change orientation, or the need to have both landscape and portrait slides in a single presentation. For the first of these issues, see the earlier sidebar, “Converting a Presentation to Another Aspect Ratio,” for help addressing distortion that happens when content adjusts to a different page height or width. But also consider why you’re changing the orientation. For example, you might be creating a print document to accompany your presentation, or perhaps you’re creating a portrait version of your company template for other users. Regardless, before you think about just changing orientation, cleaning up distorted objects, and then calling it a day, ask yourself whether the slide layouts in your presentation lend themselves as effectively to the new orientation. Chances are that at least some of them don’t. And neither a slide presentation nor a print document will be visually effective if it’s designed for a different purpose. See Also For related tips, see the section “Creating Effective Slides and Layouts,” later in this chapter. As for the second common orientation issue, you probably already know that you can’t have both portrait and landscape slides in the same presentation. But if you must have both (or rather, provide the appearance of having both), you do have a couple of workaround options: n
For text slides in print presentations, you can create custom layouts with rotated text (and rearrange other placeholders, such as footer and page number) to approximate the look of opposite orientation pages. You can also customize the built-in Title and Vertical Text and Vertical Title and Text layouts.
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See Also For help doing this, see the section “Customizing and Creating Slide Layouts,” later in this chapter. n
For on-screen presentations, you can link slides between presentations to have both landscape and portrait slides appear in an on-screen show. For help, see following sidebar, “I Need to Show Portrait and Landscape Slides in the Same Presentation.”
I Need to Show Portrait and Landscape Slides in the Same Presentation When you need both portrait and landscape slides in an on-screen presentation, just use hyperlinks to get this done in a snap. Each slide in a presentation behaves like a bookmark within that file. So, you can simply apply a hyperlink from a slide in the landscape presentation to the slide you need in the portrait presentation. Then, add a hyperlink in the portrait presentation to return to the correct slide in the landscape presentation. Hyperlinks in PowerPoint can be applied to any object, so you can apply the hyperlink to an existing object on the slide or insert a shape to use for the link. (If you don’t want the shape you’re using for the link to appear on screen during your show, you can set both the shape fill and outline to None. If you do that, just be sure you know where the shape is located when you need to click it during your show.) To add a hyperlink to a slide in another presentation, select the object to which you want to add the link and then do the following:
In PowerPoint 2010:
1. On the Insert tab, in the Links group, click Hyperlink. Or, press Ctrl+K.
2. In the Insert Hyperlink dialog box, select Existing File Or Web Page in the Link To options, and then use the Look In options to locate the file to which you want to link.
3. To link to a specific slide in that file, click Bookmark. Each slide title in the selected presentation is listed in the Bookmarks dialog box.
In PowerPoint 2011:
1. On the Insert menu, click Hyperlink. Or, press Command+K.
2. In the Insert Hyperlink dialog box, select Document and then click Select to locate the file to which you want to link.
3. To link to a specific slide in the selected file, in the Insert Hyperlink dialog box, click Locate. Then, in the Select Place In Document dialog box, click the expander arrow beside the Slide Titles heading to select from all slides in the target presentation.
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Once you specify a slide to bookmark, it appears after a pound (hash) sign (#) at the end of the address in the Insert Hyperlink dialog box, as shown in Figure 13-5.
PowerPoint 2010
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Figure 13-5 The hyper nk to a s de n another presentat on on your system nc udes the fi e path fo owed by the pound s gn and the target s de t t e
Before you’re done with this task, you must also add a hyperlink on the target slide to return you to the correct slide in your original presentation. And remember, don’t click a hyperlink on a slide until you see the insertion point change to the hand icon, which indicates you’re hovering over a link. Clicking a slide in a slide show when you see the default arrow insertion point advances your active show to the next slide.
Understanding Headers and Footers Customizable slide layouts and the ability to edit footer content directly on slides can sometimes make the best practices for working with header and footer content in PowerPoint seem a bit more elusive. Fortunately, they don’t have to be. The list that follows provides you with key points on using headers and footers in PowerPoint, including how-to tips and what to avoid: n
Slides have footer, date, and slide number areas available from the Header And Footer dialog box (accessible from the Insert tab in PowerPoint 2010 and the View menu in PowerPoint 2011). Notes and handouts have a separate set of footer, date, and page number settings available from the same dialog box, and they also have an available header.
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You can, potentially, have a separate footer on every slide in the presentation, or on each master and each slide layout.
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Although it appears that you can have only one set of header and footer options for all notes and handouts in the presentation, it is possible in PowerPoint 2010 to have one header and footer for your notes pages and another for your handouts. In PowerPoint 2011, notes pages and handouts always share the same header and footer.
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See Also For help working with headers and footers in notes and handouts, see the upcoming sidebar “Insider Tip: Create Unique Headers and Footers for Notes and Handouts.” n
Be careful applying footers to slide layouts. Though existing slides that use that layout update automatically to take on the new footer, when you apply that layout to new slides or change the layout of existing slides, the footer will not update automatically. But have no fear: there is a workaround. See Also For more information, see the sidebar “The Footer Doesn’t Update When I Change Slide Layouts,” later in this chapter.
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If you turn off a footer but don’t delete the content from the footer text box, that content might still reside in your presentation. So, if you share that document, and your recipients open the Header And Footer dialog box, they would still see the content even if it’s set to not appear on the slide. If you have a footer that is applied only to an individual slide, when you turn off that footer and apply the new setting to the slide, the footer content is deleted from the dialog box. However, if you apply a footer to a slide master or slide layout, the footer is retained in the Header And Footer dialog box, whether you turn it off on an individual slide or on the master or layout where you applied it. This is an important consideration when you’re sharing files electronically. It’s a good idea to ensure that no private or otherwise inappropriate information remains in the Header And Footer dialog box, even if it doesn’t appear on slides. To remove this content, just delete the content in the footer text box before disabling it, and then click Apply To All. However, when you click Apply To All, note that any unique footer information on individual slides will also be removed. (To avoid sharing unwanted content, remember to check the Notes Master and Handouts Master as well, if they might have been edited in your presentation.) Caution If you use Office 2010 and you’ve come to re y upon the Prepare For Shar ng
pane on the Info tab n Backstage v ew to et you know f potent a y pr vate content (such as document property nformat on) res des n your fi e, remember that th s pane doesn’t a ways cover every poss b ty Header and footer content n PowerPo nt s a good examp e of potent a y h dden content that you have to check for on your own because t s not addressed by those opt ons
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If you use the Fixed option under Date And Time in the Header And Footer dialog box, the privacy issues discussed for footers in preceding paragraphs hold true as well, because you can type anything into the Fixed box that you can type into the Footer box. In fact, if you’re not showing the date and time on your slides but you do need both a header and a footer, using the Fixed option under Date And Time for your header text is an easy workaround, as it works exactly the same as the footer.
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Note Keep an eye on Date And T me when us ng handouts, because the date appears on
handouts by defau t To remove t from handouts, you can just de ete the date p aceho der from the handout master Or, n the Header And Footer d a og box, on the Notes And Handouts tab, se ect Date And T me, se ect F xed, c ear the text n the F xed text box, and then c ck App y To A
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Remember that the footer, date, and slide number text boxes are just placeholder text boxes that you can format and move as needed. For example, if you need a header but no footer, place the footer text box at the top of the appropriate layout or master. However, if you edit the text of the footer directly in the placeholder, the results might not be what you expect. Editing the placeholder won’t turn on the footer, and the text may not update on your slides as expected if you edit the placeholder on a master. For the most consistent results, format and position the placeholder as needed, but edit its content in the Header And Footer dialog box. See Also The exception to this rule is the workaround for creating unique headers and footers for notes pages and handouts, addressed in the sidebar “Insider Tip: Create Unique Headers and Footers for Notes and Handouts,” which follows this list.
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To create a footer for all slides that use a given layout or master in a presentation, create that footer when the desired master or layout is active and use the Apply setting in the Header And Footer dialog box to apply it, just as you would when applying a footer to individual slides. Use Apply To All only if you want all slides, regardless of layout or master, to take on those settings.
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You can apply Header And Footer dialog box settings to multiple selected slides, regardless of their layout or master. To do this, select the slides in Slide Sorter view in the Slides pane before opening the Header And Footer dialog box. Then, after you change the information in that dialog box as needed, click Apply.
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You can access the footer, date, and slide number placeholder text boxes directly on any slide once that content is enabled. So, you can delete them from just one slide without having to go through the Header And Footer dialog box. Note that, if you use the Header And Footer dialog box to reapply the footer, date, or slide number to a slide for which you deleted the applicable placeholder, the placeholder is automatically returned.
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Insider Tip: Create Unique Headers and Footers for Notes and Handouts As mentioned earlier, this option is exclusive to PowerPoint 2010. However, PowerPoint 2011 users who receive a presentation that contains unique header and footer text for notes and handouts can view and print that content with the correct headers and footers. Note that the ability to create separate headers and footers for notes and handouts isn’t really a feature; it’s a workaround. So, don’t expect the task to be very pretty. Brace yourself, and then do the following:
1. On the View tab, click Handout Master. (This works if you start with the Notes Master as well. But the steps that follow assume that you start with the Handout Master.)
2. With the Handout Master open, on the Insert tab, click Header And Footer. Then add the desired header and footer information and click Apply To All.
3. On the View tab, click Notes Master In this master, you’ll see the header and footer content that you added to the Handout Master.
4. On the master itself, edit the text in the header and footer placeholders as desired. Don’t open the dialog box.
5. Click the File tab and then click Print. On the Print tab in Backstage view, in the Print What list, select Notes Pages.
6. If you see the correctly edited header and footer, great. But whether you do or not, select a handouts option from the Print What list to preview the header and footer for the Handouts Master and confirm that it displays the correct header and footer. If both options show the desired headers and footers, you’re finished. If not, take one more step.
7. In the Print What list, select Notes Pages. Then, at the bottom of the Settings list, click Edit Header & Footer. You will see the header and footer text that you manually edited on the master in that dialog box. Just click Apply To All, and you should see the update in the Print Preview. When you make the change from this entry point (that is, accessing the dialog box from the Print tab), Apply To All (at least in this case) only affects the master for the content you’re currently previewing. Well, I warned you that it wasn’t pretty. But if you use notes and handouts, this somewhat convoluted tip is likely to come in mighty handy one day.
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The Footer Doesn’t Update When I Change Slide Layouts Though you can apply unique footers to different slide layouts, their behavior isn’t perfect. In fact, you’ll get more consistent results (with less room for error) when you stick to adding footers to masters or slides. When you apply a footer to a slide layout using the Header And Footer dialog box, that footer appears automatically on any slides to which that layout is already attached. However, when you apply that layout to additional slides, the footer won’t update automatically. But if you did add a footer on a layout and then need to apply that layout to new slides, to add the correct footer to the slide:
1. With the slide active, on the Insert tab, click Header And Footer.
2. Turn off the Footer option and then click Apply.
3. Reopen that dialog box, and you’ll see the new layout’s footer information in the Footer box. Click to enable the footer and then click Apply again.
Working with Masters and Layouts As we’ve already discussed, the role of the slide master and slide layouts changed significantly in Office 2007 and Office 2008 for Mac with the introduction of customizable slide layouts. The functionality remains the same in PowerPoint 2010 and PowerPoint 2011, but that makes it no less important to cover in detail. Knowing how to make effective use of slide masters and layouts is an essential key for creating presentations that look professional and are well crafted and easy to manage.
For Mac Users Although the ability to customize layouts isn’t new, the new Ribbon in PowerPoint 2011 gives you easier access to tools for working with the master and layouts on the Slide Master tab. This tab automatically becomes available when you open Slide Master view.
Exploring the Master–Layout Relationship As mentioned earlier, you can still have multiple slide masters in a presentation (when you have a good reason for it). n
Each master appears in the Themes gallery as a separate theme in the current presentation, as shown in Figure 13-6.
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Figure 13-6 The Th s Presentat on category s v s b e at the top of the Themes ga ery when the ga ery s expanded. n
The layouts attached to each master appear in succession in the Slide Layout gallery, as shown in Figure 13-7.
Figure 13-7 The S de Layout ga ery n PowerPo nt 2010.
However, because slide layouts are customizable, the need for multiple masters is far less common than it used to be. In fact, when multiple masters appear in PowerPoint 2010 or PowerPoint 2011 presentations, it’s more likely to be a sign of trouble than an intentional design element. See Also To learn why the commonly used Keep Source Formatting feature is so important to avoid, and how it relates to the accidental proliferation of excess masters in your presentations, see the section “Managing Content from Other Presentations,” later in this chapter.
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When you open Slide Master view, you see the master and each layout attached to it in the Slides pane, as shown in Figure 13-8.
Figure 13-8 The S des pane n S de Master v ew
d sp ays the s de master and ts ayouts.
If an additional master existed in the presentation shown in Figure 13-8, it would appear in the Slides pane below the collection of layouts that are attached to the first master, followed by its set of slide layouts. To easily differentiate between a slide master and a layout, notice in Figure 13-8 that the thumbnail for the master is larger than those of the layouts. In PowerPoint 2010, the master is also numbered (it is not numbered in PowerPoint 2011, but otherwise looks the same). Note also that you can point to any layout in this pane for a ScreenTip displaying its name and indicating whether it is attached to any slides in the active presentation.
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Managing Masters and Layouts To access the slide master and layouts, open Slide Master view. For quick access to Slide Master view, Shift+click on the Normal view shortcut that appears on the Status bar. Alternatively, access this view from the View tab in PowerPoint 2010 or the View menu in PowerPoint 2011. The following guidelines and best practices for working with masters and layouts assume that you are working in Slide Master view.
Note If you don’t see the S des pane (wh ch d sp ays the master and ayout thumbna s, as shown n F gure 13-8) when you open S de Master v ew, t may just be co apsed To check, move your nsert on po nt to the very eft edge of the PowerPo nt w ndow If the nsert on po nt changes to a doub e-backed b ack arrow, just drag to the r ght to expose the pane If t does not, c ck the Norma v ew con on the status bar to open the defau t Norma v ew (wh ch nc udes the S des pane) and then Sh ft+c ck the same con to reopen S de Master v ew w th the S des pane exposed n
You can copy, duplicate, or rename any master or layout from the options available when you right-click the thumbnail for that master or layout in the Slides pane. Once you copy a layout or master, you can paste it into the Slides pane in the same or another PowerPoint presentation or template.
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When you add a new master to a presentation or template, it contains the default set of 11 built-in slide layouts, regardless of which layouts are attached to other masters in the file.
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Think carefully about whether you need to edit the master or a layout. Changes made to the master will affect all of its layouts until an element on a layout is customized. Once you customize any element on a given layout, that element will no longer update when the same element on the master is changed. For example, if you change the format of bulleted text on an individual layout and then change the format for all bulleted text in the presentation from the master, the text levels you edited on the customized layout will not change to reflect those changes from the master. Caution When you open S de Master v ew n PowerPo nt 2010, pay attent on to what’s se ected before you beg n ed t ng Though t may ook ke the s de master s n front of you, t’s not! When you open S de Master v ew, your act ve v ew s the ayout attached to the act ve s de Th s s mportant because, f you make changes to the ayout that you ntended to make to the master, not on y w those changes not be part of the master, but the ayout you ed ted w then be detached from the master for future changes to the custom zed e ements (Note that th s s not the case for Mac users When you open S de Master v ew n PowerPo nt 2011, the s de master s act ve )
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In PowerPoint 2010, the Page Setup group that appears on the Design tab also appears on the Slide Master tab. But don’t be fooled. Paper size, orientation, and slide number Start At value can be set only once for the presentation.
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You can rename any layout and delete layouts that are not in use. If you apply a layout to any slide in the presentation, you can’t delete it. However, if you’re creating a presentation, template, or theme for others to use, it’s usually a good idea to retain all built-in layouts. If you copy a slide from another presentation, and a layout with the same name and the same type and number of placeholders doesn’t exist in your destination file, the original layout will be added to your presentation with elements of its original theme left behind. So, for example, you might not see a use for the Two Content layout in your presentation. But if you delete it and then someone pastes a slide that uses the Two Content layout from a different theme, that layout will be added to your presentation (usually with much of its original formatting) rather than the slide updating automatically to take on the formatting of your theme (as it would do if the Two Content layout still resided in your theme). See Also For more details, see the section “Customizing and Creating Slide Layouts,” later in this chapter.
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If you delete a built-in layout that you later need, there are a few ways to replace it. As with most tasks for managing slide masters and layouts, the first two options that follow use the Slides pane in Slide Master view: ❑
Create a new, blank presentation and copy the layout you need from that presentation. In the Slides pane in your destination presentation, select the layout that you want to appear before the layout you add, and then paste. Note that layouts in the Layout gallery appear in the order that they appear in the Slides pane. So, when you add new layouts, add them in the position you want them to appear in that gallery.
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Insert a new master into the same presentation, copy the layout you need, delete the unwanted master, and then paste the copied layout as needed.
For either of the preceding options, if you select an existing layout before pasting, the pasted layout will appear immediately after the selected thumbnail, as already noted. Or, you can click between thumbnails before pasting to indicate the exact paste location you want. ❑
If you use Microsoft Visual Basic for Applications (VBA), you can quickly get the deleted built-in layouts back with a single line of code. (If you don’t already use VBA, this very easy timesaver is one example of why you might want to give it a try.)
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See Also For details, see the upcoming sidebar, “Insider Tip: Replace Deleted or Changed Layouts Using VBA.” n
In PowerPoint 2010, the Preserve Master setting makes an important difference in behavior when multiple masters exist in your presentation. ❑
When you insert an additional master in Slide Master view, this setting is enabled by default, telling the presentation to retain this master whether or not it is attached to any slides.
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If you apply a theme to just selected slides, or paste slides into your presentation and retain their source formatting, the master that is added does not have the Preserve setting enabled by default (so the master disappears if you delete the slides to which it was attached).
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The first master in the presentation is not set to be preserved by default. So, if you apply another master to all slides in the presentation, it will be deleted unless you have enabled the Preserve setting.
To enable the Preserve setting for any master, right-click the master in the Slides pane and then click Preserve Master. Or, on the Slide Master tab, in the Edit Master group, click Preserve. When this setting is enabled, you see a pushpin icon to the left of the slide master thumbnail in the Slides pane, directly below the number of the master. In PowerPoint 2011, the Preserve Master setting is not available. All masters use the default preservation behavior as described under this bullet point. Caution There’s a good reason that the first (or on y) master n a presentat on s not set to be preserved by defau t f you have on y one master and you choose a d fferent theme, you probab y want the new theme to rep ace the or g na rather than become an add t on to the presentat on Keep n m nd that f you app y a new theme (e ther n S de Master v ew or wh e ed t ng s des), f the act ve master s set to be preserved, the new y app ed theme w be added to the presentat on as an add t ona master n
New layouts that you add to the master, whether you create a new layout or paste it from another master or presentation, take on the current formatting of the master layout by default for background graphics and any applicable placeholders.
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In versions of PowerPoint prior to 2007 for Windows and 2008 for Mac, the main text placeholder on the master layout was the object area for all layouts. This is no longer the case. Customizing the size of the text placeholder in the master layout will only affect slides formatted with a single text and content area (such as the Title And Content layout).
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If you’re coming to PowerPoint 2010 or PowerPoint 2011 from a version earlier than 2007 for Windows or 2008 for Mac, notice that text and content layouts are now combined. For example, a Title And Content layout can contain either text or objects, such
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as a table, chart, or diagram. When a content layout is applied to the active slide, either start typing text and the placeholder will behave like a typical text placeholder, or click the appropriate icon in the center of the content placeholder to add the type of content you want. Content type options in addition to text include tables, charts, SmartArt diagrams, pictures, clip art, and media clips (such as video). Point to an icon on the layout for a ScreenTip that indicates the type of content that option will insert. Note that, if you delete all content from a content placeholder, it again becomes accessible for text or any of the six available object types. Also note that when you have an empty content placeholder on a slide, you can insert one of the available content types from the Ribbon and it will automatically be added to the placeholder. n
Eleven built-in slide layouts appear in a new, default presentation. All of them can be customized. In PowerPoint 2010, however, you may notice that only nine of the layouts appear in the Layouts gallery. The two layouts that contain vertical text are intended for use when you’re editing in Japanese. If Japanese is not an enabled Microsoft Office editing language on your computer, these layouts won’t appear in the gallery. (This is not the case in PowerPoint 2011, where all 11 built-in layouts appear in the Layout gallery by default.) See Also For help accessing the built-in vertical layouts in PowerPoint 2010, see the sidebar “How Can I Use the Vertical Text Layouts in my Presentation?” later in this section.
Insider Tip: Replace Deleted or Changed Layouts Using VBA You don’t have to be a programmer to try this tip. Even if you’ve never seen a line of code before, this is an example of how you as an experienced Microsoft Office user can save time and work more effectively by taking advantage of VBA. In this case, you can apply any built-in layout to a slide easily by using a single line of code in the Immediate window of the Visual Basic Editor. If the layout you apply when using this method doesn’t currently exist in your presentation, it will be added as a slide layout attached to the active slide master. So, you can use this method to quickly replace a built-in slide layout that you deleted. (Also note that if you customize a built-in layout and later want to reset it to the default, one easy option is to delete your customized version and then use this method to replace the default version of that layout.)
Working with Masters and Layouts
To try this tip, with your presentation open in Normal view, select the slide to which you want to apply a layout. Then, do the following:
1. Press Alt+F11 to open the Visual Basic Editor.
2. If you don’t see the Immediate window (it appears by default as a pane at the bottom of the Visual Basic Editor), press Ctrl+G (Ctrl+Command+G in Office 2011).
3. Click into the Immediate window and then type the following: ActiveWindow.Selection.SlideRange.Layout =
When you type the equal sign, you’ll see a list of available constants representing slide layout types, as shown in Figure 13-9. That is, this list is the available set of built-in layouts. Notice that it includes more items than you see in a new presentation. Note that the items in this list all begin with the text ppLayout, followed by the layout name. However, this layout name doesn’t always match the name that appears in the Layout gallery. Most notably, layouts that are referred to as Content in the gallery are referred to as Object in this list. So, for example, the Two Content layout is listed as ppLayoutTwoObjects.
Figure 13-9 The st of ava ab e constants for PowerPo nt s de ayout types, as shown n the Immed ate w ndow of the V sua Bas c ed tor
4. Select the layout you want from this list and then press Enter to apply the layout to the active slide.
5. Press Alt+F11 to switch back to the PowerPoint slide window. If you added a slide layout to the presentation with this action, open Slide Master view to access your newly added layout. See Also To learn about the fundamentals of VBA, including more about using the Immediate window and explanations of terms like “constants” and their usage, see Chapter 23, “VBA Primer.”
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Customizing Slide Masters As you probably already know, when you want content or formatting to appear on every slide that uses a given slide master, add that content or formatting to the slide master and it’s automatically added to all slides that use that master. However, because of customized slide layouts, there are now exceptions to the way in which changes to the slide master may affect the slides that use it. If an element on a slide layout is customized (such as a placeholder inherited from the master layout), that element becomes disconnected from the master and won’t be affected by future changes to that element on the master. In the interest of doing the least work possible, always add formatting that you want to apply to all, or even most, layouts to the master. You can then remove unwanted additions from any layouts that shouldn’t use them. For example, if you want 9 of 11 layouts to use certain title text formatting, apply it to the master and then just change the formatting of the title on the 2 remaining layouts. Note When you add graph c e ements (such as a ogo) to the master, you can’t access them
from nd v dua ayouts On y the master ayout p aceho ders can be ed ted for nd v dua ayouts But th s doesn’t mean you need to add the graph c separate y to each app cab e ayout s mp y because you don’t want t to appear on a ayouts If a graph c needs to appear n the same s ze and pos t on on the major ty of ayouts, you can st nsert t on the master Then, for ayouts that shou dn’t take on the graph cs from the master, you can h de background graph cs for the nd v dua ayout
See Also For help, see the following section, “Customizing and Creating Slide Layouts.”
Use the following guidelines to help edit and manage slide master formatting: n
Each slide master contains five placeholders, including the title, text, date, footer, and slide number. These are known as the master layout elements. If you delete any of these placeholders, they become available to reapply from the Master Layout command (called Master Elements in PowerPoint 2011) on the Slide Master tab. Note that if you delete a master layout element from the slide master, the corresponding placeholder is not deleted from existing individual slide layouts. However, custom formatting you applied to that master layout element will be removed from the corresponding placeholder on individual layouts. (In fact, formatting may revert to an undesirable default of 18-point, left-aligned text, so take care when you do this to make adjustments as needed.)
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However, if you delete a master layout element, new slide layouts that you add to that master will not contain a placeholder for the deleted element. (Note that the master element known as the text placeholder in PowerPoint 2010 is known as the body placeholder in PowerPoint 2011.) n
As mentioned earlier, the main text (body) placeholder defines the main content area for the Title And Content layout (as well as the Title And Vertical Text layout), but it no longer defines the content area for all layouts.
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Though five levels of bulleted text appear in the text placeholder of the master layout, you can have up to nine levels. So, if you’re creating a presentation, template, or theme for others to use, it’s a good idea to define formatting for all nine levels. See Also For help adding the additional four levels and formatting the text and bullets on the slide master (or on any slide or layout), see the section “Working with Text,” later in this chapter.
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Remember that placeholders are not text boxes, even though they look like them. If you add text to the placeholders on the slide master, that text will be ignored. See Also Also note that you can’t change placeholder text on the master layout. You can, however, change placeholder text in a slide layout to affect what is displayed on slides that use the layout—for details, see the next section, “Customizing and Creating Slide Layouts.”
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When you apply a background to the master from the Background Styles gallery on the Slide Master tab, it’s applied to all layouts attached to that master—even overwriting custom backgrounds applied to individual layouts. However, any existing slides in the presentation that have individual background settings will retain those settings. With the slide master active, if you select the Format Background option from the Background Styles gallery and customize the background through the Format Background dialog box instead of selecting a theme Background Style gallery entry, the new background is applied to all layouts attached to the master except those that have customized backgrounds. To apply a background that you customize in the Format Background dialog box to all layouts, including overwriting any custom backgrounds, click Apply To All. Note, however, that this action won’t override custom backgrounds applied to individual slides. To reset individual slides in PowerPoint 2010 so that they take on the master background, with the slide active, on the Design tab, click Background Styles, and then click Reset Slide Background.
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For Mac Users Reset Slide Background is not available in PowerPoint 2011. However, if you use VBA, you can use the Immediate window discussed earlier in this chapter to reset the slide background with one line of code. To do this, press Alt+F11 to open the Visual Basic Editor. In the Immediate window, type ActiveWindow.Selection.SlideRange. FollowMasterBackground = True, and then press Enter. Press Alt+F11 to return to your slide.
Customizing and Creating Slide Layouts Some of what you need to know about customizing layouts was covered under the preceding section, “Customizing Slide Masters,” because it’s essential to know how masters affect layouts before you begin to customize or create your own layouts. The following list provides additional guidelines, how-to instructions, and best practice tips for customizing and creating your own layouts. n
To customize a layout, you must be in Slide Master view. To customize any individual layout, just select that layout from the Slides pane in Slide Master view and then customize the layout as you would customize a slide master.
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You can move, resize, or delete any placeholder on any layout. You can also add your own placeholders to any layout. However, for ease of sharing layouts with others and sharing content between presentations, avoid deleting placeholders from or adding them to a built-in layout. When you need a different complement of placeholders on a layout than a built-in layout provides, create a custom layout. The reason for this is that when you copy slides between presentations that use different themes, built-in layouts with added or removed placeholders are not recognized as the built-in layout.
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To insert a new placeholder on a layout, on the Slide Master tab, click Insert Placeholder and then click the placeholder type you want from the options you see in Figure 13-10.
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Figure 13-10 nsert custom p aceho ders from the S de Master tab.
Your insertion point will change to a crosshair. You can then drag to insert the new placeholder at the exact size and position you want. n
New text and content placeholders are created with five levels of default-formatted bulleted text—so don’t be concerned if you insert one of those placeholder types and get what looks like much more text than you bargained for. Just delete whatever text you don’t want and format the text as appropriate for your new placeholder. All other types of placeholders come with a title that indicates their type, such as the chart placeholder shown in Figure 13-11.
Figure 13-11 A chart p aceho der on a s de ayout.
Note that you can delete the text in a text or content placeholder, but you’ll still be able to add text (up to nine levels) in that placeholder on slides using that layout. And, if you customize the formatting of that text before deleting it, your customizations are retained when you use that placeholder on a slide.
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You can also edit or format the text in other placeholder types. For example, you can change the bulleted title ”Chart” shown in Figure 13-11 to ”Click icon to add a chart” and format it in small, red font. You’ll see the edited text appear with the new formatting in the placeholder on slides that use that layout. However, that text won’t appear in print or in a slide show (just like master layout placeholder text), and it can’t be edited from a slide. Tip A qu ck way to reduce font s ze when you nsert a p aceho der that’s too sma for the defau t text formatt ng s to se ect the p aceho der and then press Ctr +Sh ft+< (Command+Sh ft+< n PowerPo nt 2011) As you may reca , th s keyboard shortcut reduces font s ze n Word as we as n PowerPo nt text boxes It a so works perfect y n PowerPo nt on ed tab e text n any se ected object n
As mentioned earlier, notice that you don’t have a title master for each slide master (as you did in versions earlier than 2007 for Windows and 2008 for Mac) because you have access to the Title Slide layout (which is essentially the same thing). It’s also worth noting that one of the other built-in layouts is called Section Header. This is a nice addition and worth pointing out because title masters in earlier versions of PowerPoint were often used for both title and section divider slides, even when the two slide types required different formatting.
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If a layout needs different graphic elements than the master, you can hide all of the master graphics (such as accent shapes or logos) and add your own to the specific layout. To do this, select the layout to customize and then, on the Slide Master tab, in the Background group, click Hide Background Graphics (Hide Graphics in PowerPoint 2011). You’re probably already familiar with using this feature to hide background graphics on individual slides. Having it available to layouts as well often comes in handy. Note, however, that using Hide Background Graphics on a slide layout applies to the graphics the layout inherits from the slide master. When you use this command on a slide, it refers to the graphics on that slide’s layout. When you apply this setting to a layout, any objects inherited from the slide master (other than the five master layout placeholders) will be hidden on that layout. However, if the layout shares a background style with the master, that will be retained. To hide only certain graphics from the master layout on an individual layout, apply Hide Background Graphics and then copy the graphics you want from the master onto the applicable layout. If you hide background graphics, and part or all of the slide background disappears, that background was added to the slide master as a graphic sitting on the slide rather than using a background style. This behavior is desired in some cases—for example, where you might want to use a graphic as an overlay and use the background style to change the background color only.
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By default, new layouts that you add will be named Custom Layout, then 1 Custom Layout, 2 Custom Layout, and so on. You can change the name of any layout—and it’s a good idea for ease of use, particularly if others will be using the presentation or template. To rename a layout, right-click the layout thumbnail and then click Rename. Or, on the Slide Master tab, in the Edit Master group (Slide Master group in PowerPoint 2011), click Rename.
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Custom layouts that you add become available automatically in the Layout gallery for the presentation or template in which you create them. If you save a custom theme from the active presentation, your custom layouts will also be available as part of that theme. See the section “Understanding the Themes–PowerPoint Connection,” earlier in this chapter, for more details on saving custom themes in PowerPoint.
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As mentioned earlier, layouts appear in the Layout gallery in the order that they appear in the Slides pane while in Slide Master view. You can reorder layouts as desired, but if you are creating a theme or a template, keep one important detail in mind. When a new presentation is created based on your theme, the first slide in the Layout order is the initial slide that appears in the presentation by default. If you then click New Slide on the Home tab (or use the Ctrl+M shortcut) to add a second slide, the layout for the new slide will automatically be the second slide in the gallery. The automatic layout selection does not continue past the first two slides. It is designed with the idea that the first slide a user typically wants is the title slide, followed by a title and content slide. So, for example, say that you save your theme to the Themes gallery and then apply it to a new presentation that contains just a title slide. If the Title Slide layout is not the first slide in the Layout gallery for your theme, when you insert a second slide, you will get another title slide. The layout will advance automatically only from the first to the second layout in the Layout gallery, and only for the first and second slides in the presentation.
How Can I Use the Vertical Text Layouts in My Presentation? The two built-in layouts named Vertical Title And Text and Title And Vertical Text are available in the PowerPoint 2010 Layout gallery only if Japanese is an enabled editing language for the Microsoft Office programs on your computer. (As noted earlier, they appear by default in PowerPoint 2011 regardless of editing language.) In PowerPoint 2010, if you want to use these layouts but don’t need to edit presentations in Japanese, you can just update the placeholders on the layout and they’ll work perfectly.
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To do this, open Slide Master view and then do the following:
1. Select the vertical text layout that you want to add to the Layout gallery.
2. Click on the layout itself (as opposed to its thumbnail in the Slides pane) and then select either the Title or Text placeholder.
3. Cut the selected placeholder (Ctrl+X) and then immediately paste it back (Ctrl+V). The layout will then show up in the Layout gallery. This action identifies the layout as having custom elements, which tells PowerPoint to leave it in the presentation, template, or theme whether or not it is applied to any slides. If you want these layouts to continue to show up in all new presentations, after you use this workaround to add the layouts to the gallery, just save the active presentation as a custom theme and then set that custom theme as your default for new presentations. Note that if you want the layout to show up for use only on a slide in an active presentation and want it to disappear if the slide is deleted; or you want it to be recognized as the built-in layout so that it takes on the same layout in a destination presentation when copied and pasted, you can use the Immediate window in VBA to apply the desired vertical layout, as described in the sidebar “Insider Tip: Replace Deleted or Changed Layouts Using VBA,” earlier in this chapter,
Insider Tip: Get Identical Size and Position for Placeholders on Multiple Layouts If you’ve customized many layouts—for example, to create custom themes or templates—you’ve probably run into the need to customize identical size and position for placeholders on more than one layout (such as to identically format and place the title and caption on both a Picture With Caption and Content With Caption layout). If so, you might also have run into situations where you switch between the layouts or the slides to which they’re applied and notice small but annoying differences in the size or position of placeholders. When this occurs, it’s because you can set size and position in the PowerPoint window to 1/100 of an inch (or the approximate equivalent for other units of measurement). But depending upon your formatting (and your attention to detail), a difference that small can be very noticeable.
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This issue is another example where the Immediate window in VBA can be absolutely indispensable. Using this tool, you can grab the exact size and position of an object on one layout and apply it to an object on another layout. Note Yes, I ment on VBA and the Immed ate w ndow a ot n th s chapter That’s because
I spend a ot of t me creat ng custom themes and PowerPo nt temp ates, and these too s s mp y he p me do a better job n ess t me If you’ve never used VBA and are re uctant to try, a I can say s don’t knock t unt you try t VBA s far and away one of the most powerfu and mportant document product on too s you’ find anywhere, and t’s one of the th ngs that makes M crosoft Office so much more powerfu (and s mp y more v ab e for creat ng custom content) than any other product v ty su te n my exper ence It’s a so probab y eas er to use than you th nk But a so remember that th s s a book for exper enced users, and that s why I prov de t ps ke th s one If you teach or support users, don’t send them (or yourse f) nto the V sua Bas c Ed tor unt they are a ready comfortab e w th the features n the app cat on w ndow
To get the size and position for a selected object, just press Alt+F11 to open the Visual Basic Editor and then do the following:
1. In the Immediate window, type the following. Remember, however, to use the down arrow key to start a new line. Pressing Enter in the Immediate window runs the active line of code. ?ActiveWindow.Selection.ShapeRange.Width ?ActiveWindow.Selection.ShapeRange.Height ?ActiveWindow.Selection.ShapeRange.Left ?ActiveWindow.Selection.ShapeRange.Top
2. Click into the topmost of the four lines that you just typed, and then press Enter four times to get the answer to each question. The result will look something like the following, with the measurement value of the selected object appearing on the line beneath each query statement. Note that these measurements are in points, and thus—with many decimal places—far more precise than you can get in the dialog box. ?ActiveWindow.Selection.ShapeRange.Width 632.0413 ?ActiveWindow.Selection.ShapeRange.Height 350.375 ?ActiveWindow.Selection.ShapeRange.Left 36.74228 ?ActiveWindow.Selection.ShapeRange.Top 132
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3. Press Alt+F11 to return to the presentation and then select the placeholder to which you want to apply these size and position values. Then, press Alt+F11 to return to the Visual Basic Editor.
4. Edit the lines in the Immediate window to be statements rather than queries. That is, specify the size and position of the object rather than ask what it is. The result will look like the following (but will have the measurements collected from your original selected object): ActiveWindow.Selection.ShapeRange.Width= 632.0413 ActiveWindow.Selection.ShapeRange.Height= 350.375 ActiveWindow.Selection.ShapeRange.Left= 36.74228 ActiveWindow.Selection.ShapeRange.Top= 132
Notice that the question mark is deleted from each line and the value is moved up to the applicable line, following an equal sign. You can use the Delete and Backspace keys to accomplish this.
5. Click into the topmost of the four lines and then press Enter four times to apply the settings to the selected object. Then, press Alt+F11 to return to your presentation and view the results. See Also For more about the Immediate window and all VBA fundamentals, see Chapter 23.
Creating Effective Slides and Layouts Up to this point, we’ve covered the mechanics of creating and customizing slide masters and layouts. But, before moving on, let’s spend a bit of time discussing what makes an effective slide from a design perspective. The tips in this section don’t apply to presentations you create as print documents. This is about creating slides that capture and keep your audience’s attention, and help get your points across effectively. When planning your slides, consider the following: n
If you’re delivering the slide in person or adding a voice-over, you should display only key points on the slide. Avoid having slides that repeat the same text you’ll be saying or that will be included in any voice-over. The audience doesn’t need you to read the slides to them, and doing so will usually lose their attention. Instead, use the slides to guide the audience, provide a framework for your presentation, and highlight important points that you want to emphasize.
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Keep slides clean and accessible, with text or graphics that are large enough to be seen clearly. Crowded slides are hard to read, and lose the audience’s attention. For example, if you think you need eight charts on a slide, stop and think about it. Is the audience really going to look at those eight charts? If they do, how much are they going to absorb from all that information? Similarly, if you have so much text on a slide that you have to reduce font size, consider splitting the content onto multiple slides or displaying some of the text content in graphics.
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Bullets are boring and don’t grab attention. So, should you avoid them completely? Maybe not, but you can often do better than bullets without extra work. ❑
If you need your text slides to be text slides, consider using different text formatting for different levels (such as a unique font color), instead of bullets, to give your presentation a cleaner feel.
Note If a text eve doesn’t use a bu et, press ng Tab and Sh ft+Tab won’t work to change the act ve paragraph to a d fferent eve Instead, on the Home tab, use the Decrease And Increase L st Leve (ca ed Decrease And Increase Indent n PowerPo nt 2011) to change text eve s In PowerPo nt 2010, you can a so use the keyboard shortcut A t+Sh ft+ eft or r ght arrow to ncrease or decrease the text eve ❑
Are you sure you need text slides to be text slides? Remember that you can convert a bulleted list in PowerPoint to a SmartArt diagram in just a couple of clicks. A simple diagram can often make a much clearer statement with more impact than plain, bulleted text—even if it contains the same content, and even if it still uses bullets. In fact, if you want a more professional-looking slide but can’t part with your bullets, note that many SmartArt diagrams are designed to display bulleted text. The value of a diagram is not just that it adds color or layout to your text, but that the diagram type itself (such as list, process, radial, or hierarchy) can help visually convey your point. For example, compare the two images shown in Figure 13-12. Which would you rather include in your presentation? Notice that the diagram selected in the second image includes some bullets as well, but the graphical elements both organize the content and help to visually convey the point of the information on the slide.
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Figure 13-12 Compare p a n, bu eted text to the same nformat on conveyed n
a s mp e SmartArt d agram.
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See Also For the full scoop on working with SmartArt, see Chapter 14. n
With all of the great design elements at your disposal in Office 2010 and Office 2011, be careful not to let design overwhelm content. As discussed in several chapters throughout this book, when you use formatting effects, use them consistently and sparingly (such as using the same type of gradient across all shapes in a diagram, even if colors in each shape are different). This also applies to the slide master and layout. For example, just because 10 colors (and several shades of each) are available in your active theme doesn’t mean that you need to use all of them in the presentation (and certainly not all together on one slide). Use clean designs for on-screen presentations to make it easy for the audience to see the slide content clearly.
See Also For more on using graphic formatting effects, see Chapter 14. For tips on effective document design, see Chapter 3, “Understanding Electronic Documents,” and Chapter 4.
Managing Slides and Slide Elements In this section, we’ll look at slide elements for creating presentations, including considerations for charts, new text formatting options, tables, and tips for working with embedded objects. We’ll also look at some tools for managing slides, including the new Slide Sections feature and the return of Compare And Merge to PowerPoint for Windows (a brand-new feature in PowerPoint for Mac). See Also For help working with SmartArt diagrams, shapes, and other Office Art objects in PowerPoint, see Chapter 14.
A Note About Legacy Presentations Always work in the current file format when possible—that is, the Office Open XML Formats with four-character file extensions that are the default file formats in Office 2010 and Office 2011, such as .pptx file for PowerPoint presentations. If you’re sharing presentations with others who use a version of PowerPoint earlier than 2007 for Windows or 2008 for Mac, encourage them to download the free converters. Or, go one step beyond and save your presentation to the cloud—then, those you share with can view and edit your presentation online using PowerPoint Web App regardless of what version of PowerPoint they use.
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Remember that much of the available functionality in PowerPoint 2010 and PowerPoint 2011, such as SmartArt diagrams, new graphic effects, and native Excel charts in PowerPoint presentations, are not available to documents saved in the legacy file formats. Objects created with the new graphics engine (such as SmartArt) are automatically converted to bitmap images when opened in a version of PowerPoint earlier than 2007 for Windows or 2008 for Mac, whether the recipient uses the free converters to open the file or you save the file to the legacy format. But if you save the file down to the legacy format, note that file size may also increase significantly when saving a presentation with many graphics—potentially making the presentation more difficult to share. When you save files to the cloud and view or edit them in PowerPoint Web App, there are some limitations as well. For example, you can’t edit charts or embedded objects online. But you can replace images and create and edit SmartArt diagrams. See Also For an introduction to the basics of working with and sharing files that use the current Microsoft Office file formats, including information about the free converters for both Windows and Mac users or earlier versions, see Chapter 1, “Welcome to Office 2010 and Office for Mac 2011.” To learn more about saving your documents to the cloud and working with Office Web Apps, including the capabilities and limitations of PowerPoint Web App, see Chapter 2.
Working with Charts When you create a chart in PowerPoint 2010 or PowerPoint 2011, you automatically get an Excel 2010 or Excel for Mac 2011 chart (provided that the corresponding version of Excel is installed on your computer). If you’ve worked with charts in PowerPoint in this release or the previous one, you already know that Excel charts are not embedded objects in PowerPoint, but live, editable objects just like shapes or diagrams. Select a chart element, and you’ll get the same Chart Tools contextual tabs that you get in Excel. And, because the chart becomes an active slide element, it automatically takes on the active theme and related formatting. Note If Exce s not nsta ed on your system, charts that you create on your PowerPo nt s des w
st
use the MS Graph add- n program used to create charts n ear er vers ons of Exce
If you paste a chart from Excel into PowerPoint using the default paste method (Ctrl+V), you’ll now get the same result as if you created the chart in PowerPoint. However, watch out for two issues.
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If your Excel chart is a PivotChart, it will become a regular chart when pasted into PowerPoint. PivotChart functionality is not supported in PowerPoint. However, the chart will retain all other formatting and layout settings and remain fully functional.
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When you paste a chart from Excel into PowerPoint, you get a linked chart by default. So, if you don’t save the source workbook or it becomes unavailable, the source data will be inaccessible. When you first paste the chart from Excel into PowerPoint using Ctrl+V, you’ll see a paste SmartTag at the bottom-right corner of the chart. You can click that SmartTag for the option to embed the data in the chart, so that you don’t need the source workbook. However, if you choose to embed the data, just be sure that you know what the source workbook contains, because the entire workbook will be embedded. That means that anyone viewing your presentation electronically will have access to the workbook data. If you want to embed the information only for the specific chart, choose the embed option. Then, edit the source data for the chart and delete any content you don’t want to be saved with your presentation. Or you can make a copy of the workbook and deleted unwanted elements before pasting your chart into PowerPoint. (Note that this guidance also applies to charts that originate in Excel that you paste into Word.) Alternately, if you paste the chart as a linked chart and accidentally lose the data, you can paste the chart back into Excel to retrieve that data.
See Also For help working with the Excel charts, see Chapter 20. For help getting back chart data that you’ve lost, see the sidebar “How Can I Retrieve Lost Chart Data?” in that chapter.
My PowerPoint 2010 Chart Doesn’t Update with Changes in Theme Color There was a bug in PowerPoint 2007 (originating in Service Pack 2) and PowerPoint 2010 that broke the themeability of colors in Excel charts on PowerPoint slides. This bug occurred when you replicated slides containing charts, such as by using the duplicate (Ctrl+D) command. For example, if you changed a slide background from light to dark, dark text on your slide would remain dark instead of swapping to the light background color automatically. This bug has now been fixed. You will need to update the Chart Style on charts that were already broken in order for them to theme correctly, but new charts will not break because of this issue.
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So, if you still run into it, just make sure your installation is up-to-date with service packs and hotfixes. Windows 7 and Windows Vista users can just go to Windows Update (in the Control Panel or on the Start menu under All Programs) to ensure that you’ve got the updates you need. (If your machine isn’t able to download automatic updates because of corporate security policies, you might want to advise your system administrator.)
Working with Text When you work with text in Word, you have styles, of course. When you work with text in PowerPoint, you have masters and layouts to help manage the formatting. So, in keeping with our discussion about managing slides and slide elements, note that the best way to manage the majority of font and paragraph formatting on your slides is to apply it on the master or layouts for consistency and ease of use throughout your presentation. There are no significant changes to speak of in terms of text formatting in the current versions. But there are nonetheless some important points to keep in mind for making your text easily manageable and optimizing the appearance of the text in your presentations. If, however, you’re coming to Office 2010 or Office 2011 from a version earlier than the previous, many things are new (all of which are addressed in this section), including multiple text columns in a single placeholder, nine levels of bulleted text, text effects (that is, WordArt that you apply directly in any text box), and more sophisticated font formatting such as character spacing, all caps, and small caps.
For Mac Users As with many features in this release, the new Ribbon might make it seem like a lot of functionality is new because it’s more accessible. You might not even have noticed it before if you didn’t go digging through menus and palettes. For example, on the Home tab, in the Font group, you have quick access to text effects (among other things), and the options in the Paragraph group on that tab include such features as text columns. That said, the Format Text dialog box (which is not new) remains a personal favorite (and a feature I wish were available in PowerPoint for Windows as well). This dialog box brings together everything you need for text formatting in one consolidated location, as you see in Figure 13-13.
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Figure 13-13 The Format Text d a og box n PowerPo nt 2011
From here, you can access virtually all features for font, paragraph, bullets and numbering, text effects, and text box content formatting. There are several ways to access this dialog box, such as through the Options commands at the bottom of text-related galleries. But you can go straight to it from related commands on the Format menu (such as Font and Paragraph) or when you right-click a selection that contains text. Windows users, note that you have access to all of these features as well. They’re just divided into a few locations, including the Font, Paragraph, Bullets And Numbering, and Text Effects dialog boxes.
Exploring Paragraph Formatting The following best practices focus mainly on managing bullets and numbering across your master and layouts, but also include tips for working with some newer features—such as text columns and (for PowerPoint 2010) the Tabs dialog box—both of which were introduced in the previous version. Perhaps the most important tip here actually applies to any formatting you do, but is particularly important when it comes to bullets, numbering, and other paragraph formatting: avoid making changes directly on slides. Always work from the outside in (just as you would in a Word document) to help keep your presentation as consistent (and thus, as professionallooking and easy to manage) as possible.
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Working from the outside in means that you start by applying any formatting that can apply to the entire presentation (that is, format the slide master), then apply formatting that will apply to all slides using a particular slide layout (format the slide layouts), and only then apply custom formatting as needed to any individual slides. This approach saves you time and effort by helping you do the least amount of work possible. It also makes your presentation easier to manage. Remember that anything you customize on an individual layout will no longer respond to changes on the master. Similarly, things you customize on an individual slide will not respond to changes on the layout. (Additionally, if you reset the layout for a slide, custom text formatting will be lost.) Once you have your overall approach down, consider the following to help you handle the details:
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To apply formatting to all levels in a text box (such as font or font size), select the bullet for the top level to select all text in the placeholder, or select the placeholder object itself.
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To apply formatting to an individual level, such as changing bullets or indents, just click in that level. You can also select the entire paragraph for a level in a placeholder to apply font formatting to that level.
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As mentioned earlier, bulleted text layouts have nine levels of text available, even though you only see five by default. Of course, if you need more than five levels of text on a slide, you might want to ask yourself if your document belongs in PowerPoint at all (and hopefully that won’t ever happen in a slide presentation). But if you’re creating a presentation, template, or theme that others will use, it’s important to format all nine levels in case others will make use of them.
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To format levels six through nine on the slide master or a slide layout: 1. Place your insertion point at the end of the level-five paragraph and then press Enter (Return), followed by Tab to demote the new paragraph to the next level. As mentioned earlier, if the active text level isn’t bulleted, you can’t use Tab and Shift+Tab to change the paragraph to another level. In that case, use the indent buttons on the Home tab or, in PowerPoint 2010, use Alt+Shift+left and right arrow.
2. Type any text as a placeholder for the level and then repeat this action for the remaining levels. Format outline levels as needed. Remember that, when you want to make changes to multiple levels at once, you can select the bullet for a higher level to select all the levels that come after it as well.
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Caution There are two mportant th ngs to keep n m nd for the ower eve s of your outne F rst, when you save a theme after custom z ng these eve s, the p aceho der content you add for these eve s sn’t saved Don’t be a armed—your formatt ng for a n ne eve s s st there Second, font s ze custom zat on s (frustrat ng y) not carr ed over to a s de ayouts For best resu ts, copy the content you add for eve s s x through n ne to every bu eted p aceho der on your ayouts and confirm that the formatt ng s as ntended for a n ne eve s, on a app cab e ayouts Expect to have to custom ze the font s ze on some, such as the Two Content, Compar son, and Content W th Capt on ayouts
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If you change font color for a text level but want the bullet or number attached to that level to remain the original color, set the bullet or number color separately. To do this, click in the level for which you want to set the bullet or number color and then do the following: 1. On the Home tab, in the Paragraph group, click to expand the bullet or number options and then click Bullets And Numbering. (In PowerPoint 2011, the options when you expand these lists are called Define New Bullet and Numbering Options, respectively.) You can also access Bullets And Numbering when you right-click. Or, in PowerPoint 2011, access these features in the Format Text dialog box.
2. Change the color on the appropriate tab of the Bullets And Numbering dialog box. Regardless of the bullet or number color you want, note that you should not leave the color palette setting at Automatic if you want the color to be different from the paragraph text color. Select the specific color from the palette instead (and remember to select a color from the Theme Colors portion of the palette if you want the bullet or numbering color to be theme-aware). n
In the Paragraph dialog box in PowerPoint 2010 (or the Paragraph tab of the Format Text dialog box in PowerPoint 2011), remember that you now (since the previous versions on both platforms) have quite similar indent and spacing options to those you might know from Word. (To access this dialog box in PowerPoint 2010, on the Home tab, in the Paragraph group, click the dialog launcher.) Find options in that dialog box for paragraph alignment; left, hanging, or first-line indents; spacing before or after the paragraph; and line spacing settings including single, double, exact, and multiple options. Note that the Before Text indent is the left indent and will behave like a left indent if you set the Special indent setting to None. As in Word, First-Line and Hanging are the options available as Special indents. Paragraph and Line Spacing options work here exactly as they do in Word.
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In the Paragraph dialog box in PowerPoint 2010, also notice that you have a Tabs button, which opens a Tabs dialog box (introduced in PowerPoint 2007). Using that dialog box, shown in Figure 13-14, you can set default tab stops (the measurement of 1 shown in this example refers to 1 inch—tab stops are set in your default unit of measurement), set or clear individual tabs, or clear all tabs in the active text box or placeholder.
Figure 13-14 The Tabs d a og box n PowerPo nt 2010.
All of these options work as they do in Word, including the fact that you can edit the default tab stops only from the dialog box (not on the ruler). This advanced tab functionality is currently exclusive to PowerPoint 2010. However, in both PowerPoint 2010 and PowerPoint 2011, you can still set, move, and remove individual tab stops on the ruler. To show the rulers (horizontal and vertical) in PowerPoint 2010, on the View tab, in the Show/Hide group, click Ruler. To show the rulers in PowerPoint 2011, on the View menu, click Ruler. ❑
To move an indent or tab stop on the ruler, drag it just as you would on the ruler in Word. However, to drag an indent or tab in smaller increments than your grid setting (0.083 inches by default if your default unit of measurement is inches), hold the Ctrl key while dragging (as opposed to the Alt key in Word).
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To remove a tab stop from the ruler, drag the tab stop down off the ruler as you have in the past.
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Notice that each outline level’s indents show up separately instead of being crunched together on the ruler at the same time (as they were in versions prior to 2007 for Windows and 2008 for Mac). This makes it easier to adjust indents for individual levels, because you don’t have to use the Ctrl key to drag the indent from one level over another.
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Text columns are available in any text placeholder or custom text box. To apply a multiple-column setting, on the Home tab, in the Paragraph group, click the Columns icon and then click the number of columns you want. Click More Columns (Column Options in PowerPoint 2011) to open the dialog box where you can specify the number of columns and set space between columns.
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Also notice that columns in PowerPoint are newspaper columns, meaning that content automatically wraps from one column to the next as you add content. There are no column breaks in PowerPoint, so use the columns feature only where it makes sense for your text to automatically wrap to new columns as needed. Otherwise, use separate placeholders (or text boxes) for static columns that you can control independently.
Exploring Font Formatting Font formatting finally grew up in the previous releases of PowerPoint for Windows and Mac, with features such as the long-awaited All Caps and Small Caps font attributes, as well as Character Spacing. Some of these more sophisticated font features, such as those mentioned here, are only available through the dialog box (not on the Ribbon). To access the Font dialog box in PowerPoint 2010, on the Home tab, in the Font group, click the dialog launcher. In PowerPoint 2011, on the Format menu, click Font or use any previously referenced method for accessing the Format Text dialog box. Of course, formatting fonts is generally simple and straightforward. But a few additional font formatting options warrant pointing out, as follows: n
On the Home tab, in the Font group, notice the Clear All Formatting icon (shown at left). This feature clears font formatting (including text effects) from selected text objects. Alternately, you can use the keyboard shortcut Ctrl+Spacebar for the same results.
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Note that the options to expand or condense character spacing work exactly as they do in Word. Though you can change spacing by as little as one-tenth of a point, it usually requires a full point or two to see a significant difference in text spacing (this varies based on point size and selected font). So, condensing a font by just one- or two-tenths of a point can be a good way to fit text without reducing font size, and won’t create much of a visible difference in most cases. However, also keep in mind that some WordArt formatting can have a dramatic effect on text, which might cause character spacing to look different than you expect.
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Remember that you can apply WordArt formatting to any text object or any selected text on a PowerPoint slide. Also notice that the terms WordArt and Text Effects (and Text Styles in PowerPoint 2011) are used fairly interchangeably throughout PowerPoint to refer to the same thing. For example, on the Insert tab in PowerPoint 2010 (or on the Home tab, under Text Box in PowerPoint 2011), you see a WordArt option. However, the dialog box for formatting WordArt in PowerPoint 2010 is called Format Text Effects, and the gallery of WordArt on the Format tab in PowerPoint 2011 is called Text Styles. Note that some WordArt Styles can be applied only to the entire object; this is because some WordArt Text Effects (such as 3-D Rotation or Bevel) can be applied only to the
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entire object. However, you can select just some text in a text object (such as a text placeholder or a custom text box) and apply Text Fill and Text Outline settings, as well as some Text Effects and WordArt styles. See Also For more on using WordArt, text effects, or whatever you prefer to call them, see Chapter 14.
Working with PowerPoint Tables Native PowerPoint tables improved greatly in PowerPoint 2007 for Windows and caught up across platform in PowerPoint for Mac 2011. If you use a lot of tables in your PowerPoint presentations, you will probably need to embed tables less often than you did in earlier versions, and that’s terrific. You can do quite a lot now in your PowerPoint tables, such as selecting multiple cells—or even multiple columns or rows—to apply paragraph and font formatting. Unfortunately, you still have a limitation when working with decimal tabs in PowerPoint tables. In PowerPoint 2010, you can use the Tabs dialog box mentioned earlier to place a decimal tab in multiple selected cells. (This functionality is not available in PowerPoint 2011.) However, on either platform, decimal tab stops in PowerPoint tables don’t work as they do in Word. That is, they don’t create align decimals even when they are the only tab stop in the cell. You still have to place a tab character (use Ctrl+Tab to do this inside a table, just as you do in Word) to access the tab stop. So, if you need complex financial tables in your PowerPoint presentation, you probably still want to embed that Word table for ease of formatting and editing. On the other hand, when it comes to typical text tables, native PowerPoint tables now have everything you need. In fact, because tables in PowerPoint have access to the Office Art graphics engine for formatting, native PowerPoint tables are now an easier approach (with more flexible formatting) than embedding that table from Word unless you need formatting for complex financials. In particular, note that the top category of Table Styles in PowerPoint (labeled Best Match For Document—or Best Match For Theme in PowerPoint 2011) pick up the graphic effect formatting for your active theme. Also note that, if you copy a table from Word 2010, Excel 2010, or Excel 2011 and use the default paste method to paste it into PowerPoint on the same platform (Ctrl+V on Windows and Command+V on Mac), it will paste as a native PowerPoint table. See the Mac sidebar that follows for help getting tables from Word for Mac 2011 to PowerPoint for Mac 2011. When you insert a table onto a PowerPoint slide from a content placeholder, from the Insert tab, or by pasting it from another program, you get the Table Tools Design and Layout contextual tabs in PowerPoint 2010. In PowerPoint 2011, you have the Tables tab always available,
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and the contextual Table Layout tab appears when a table is active. Check out these tabs in Figure 13-15.
PowerPoint 2010
PowerPoint 2011
Figure 13-15 Take advantage of s m ar funct ona ty that you know from Word tab es n PowerPo nt 2010 and PowerPo nt 2011.
As you see with features such as the ability to control cell margins, PowerPoint tables have come a long way in recent versions. PowerPoint 2010 users, note the very cool, exclusive Lock Aspect Ratio option on the Table Tools Layout tab. PowerPoint 2011 users, although you see a couple of features that are exclusive to PowerPoint 2010, notice how far PowerPoint 2011 tables have come in this version—you get a lot more flexibility that’s definitely worth a try.
For Mac Users At the time of this writing, pasting a table from Word 2011 to PowerPoint 2011 doesn’t give you the option to paste it as an editable PowerPoint table. But there is an easy workaround when you need to do this. After you copy the Word table, first paste it into Excel 2011. Then, copy the table in Excel 2011 and paste it into PowerPoint using the default Command+V paste method, and it will paste as a live PowerPoint table.
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Working with Embedded Objects Though Excel charts with embedded data are still native, editable objects on PowerPoint slides, the same is not true for embedded objects from other programs. When you need to embed an object (so that it remains editable in its original program), use the following best-practice guidelines to help simplify your work. (Note that this list focuses primarily on embedded Word tables and Visio 2010 diagrams.) n
Default paste behavior when you’re copying objects from Word (or, for Office 2010, from Visio) differs by program and platform: ❑
When you use the default paste method to paste text or tables from Word 2010 to PowerPoint 2010, they paste as native PowerPoint text boxes or tables (respectively).
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In Office 2011, text pastes as a text box, but a Word table pastes as a linked Word document object by default.
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When you use Ctrl+V to paste a diagram from Visio 2010 into PowerPoint 2010, it pastes as a picture.
To paste content as embedded objects instead so that you can continue to edit them as needed in their source program (and without needing access to the original source file, as you do with a link), use Paste Special. In PowerPoint 2010, you can access the Paste Special dialog box from the Paste options on the Home tab, or with the keyboard shortcut Ctrl+Alt+V. In PowerPoint 2011, access Paste Special on the Edit menu or with the keyboard shortcut Ctrl+Command+V. When the object you’ve copied is text or a table from Word, in the Paste Special dialog box, select Microsoft Office Word Document Object. When the object originated in Visio, the Paste Special option to select is Microsoft Visio Drawing Object. n
Editing embedded objects is much easier than it has been in the past. Notice that you have the same blue border on embedded Word and Visio objects as you get for Office Art graphics. You can resize embedded objects from within PowerPoint (remember to use the Shift key and size from the corners to retain aspect ratio—as with any graphic object—if dragging to resize) and just double-click to edit the object in its source program. Of course, as with embedding content in almost any software program, the source program must be installed on your machine for you to edit the embedded object.
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How Can I Easily Edit an Embedded Word Table Without Recolor Picture? If you’ve used embedded Word tables in earlier versions, you may have depended on Recolor Picture when pasting a table onto a PowerPoint slide with a dark background (this feature was sadly demolished in favor of the duotone recoloring capability as of the previous release). The premise in earlier versions was that you could recolor the object for the way it appears in PowerPoint, but still see the text normally on the plain white Word page when you open the object to edit the table. Recolor Picture, however, no longer works for embedded objects. But don’t start looking for cumbersome workarounds—you don’t need them. Instead, when you open the object to edit it in Word, you can apply a dark page color from the Page Background options on the Page Layout tab (the Layout tab in Word 2011 Print Layout view). Page backgrounds don’t print by default, so it won’t appear on the slide in PowerPoint. However, using a dark page background will allow you to recolor the table so that it looks correct on the dark background in PowerPoint. And, because the page background from Word doesn’t show up in PowerPoint, you don’t have to worry about matching the background color of the slides. All of the table and text formatting that you apply to the object will show up when you return to the PowerPoint slide, but the page color will not, so the table will appear exactly as you need it to on your slide background. (Remember to use None as the fill or outline color setting for table elements if you want them to take on the slide background color in PowerPoint.)
Managing Slides As mentioned at the start of this chapter, PowerPoint 2010 and PowerPoint 2011 include two simple but very nice new (or returned) features for organizing and managing slides: Slide Sections and Compare And Merge. Before we get to these features, however, take a brief look at some slide management basics—in particular, using the Slides pane and Slide Sorter view to access and organize slides, or to share slides between presentations. The Slides pane and Slide Sorter view are interchangeable for many slide management tasks, including moving quickly to a specific slide or reordering slides by dragging them. You can also paste a slide from one presentation into another in either of these locations. Use the following tips to help you work more efficiently when using the Slides pane and Slide Sorter view: n
The Slides pane is open by default in Normal view. If you don’t see this pane, place your insertion point over the left edge of the screen until you see a double-backed black arrow and then drag to the right to expand the pane. This pane includes a tab for
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slide thumbnails, and a tab for an outline of slide titles and any text in text placeholder outline levels. In addition, as addressed earlier in this chapter, when you work in Slide Master view, this pane shows thumbnails for slide masters and layouts. n
To open Slide Sorter view, on the View tab (View menu in PowerPoint 2011), click Slide Sorter. Or, click the Slide Sorter view shortcut on the Status bar.
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To move to any slide in the presentation, just click that slide in the Slides pane or doubleclick the slide in Slide Sorter view.
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To delete a slide from the presentation, just select the slide in either the Slides pane or Slide Sorter view, and then press Delete.
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To add a slide at a specific location, in either Slide Sorter view or the Slides pane, click between slides where you want the new slide to appear, and then press Ctrl+M, or right-click and then click New Slide. If you select a slide before inserting a new slide, the new slide will appear after the selected slide.
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To copy or move a slide from one presentation to another, select the slide in either the Slides pane or Slide Sorter view and then copy. In the new presentation, click in the Slides pane or Slide Sorter view at the location where you want the new slide to appear and then paste. By default, slides take on the destination formatting. If you intentionally want to add the master from your source presentation to the destination presentation, expand the Paste Options that appear immediately after pasting (the paste SmartTag in PowerPoint 2011) and then click Keep Source Formatting. However, using the Keep Source Formatting feature is by far the most common source of size and stability problems in presentations in my experience, especially when you’re copying content from legacy presentations. This is because Keep Source Formatting adds a master and a full set of layouts every time you use it. So, be very certain that this is your intent before you use it. See Also For more on the Keep Source Formatting feature, including how to get along without it and save time in the process, see the sidebar “Managing Content from Other Presentations,” which follows this list.
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Notice that you can perform several actions from the options available when you rightclick a slide in either the Slides pane or the Slide Sorter, such as adding a slide, deleting or copying a slide, or changing the slide background. In PowerPoint 2010, on the Slides pane, you also have access to the Layout gallery when you right-click a slide.
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For most actions in either the Slides pane or the Slide Sorter view, you can select multiple slides at once. As with most selection actions, hold the Shift key to select multiple neighboring items, and the Ctrl key (Command key in PowerPoint 2011) to select noncontiguous items.
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Because you can have multiple themes in a PowerPoint presentation (as discussed earlier in this chapter), you can apply a theme to any slide or group of slides. When you have multiple slides selected in the Slides pane or in Slide Sorter view, just click the theme that you want to apply from the gallery. You can right-click a theme in the gallery for the option to apply it just to selected slides, but a regular click will apply it by default when you have multiple slides selected. If the selected theme isn’t already active in your presentation, a new slide master and accompanying set of layouts will be added to accommodate this theme—so use this capability sparingly.
Managing Content from Other Presentations I hate the Keep Source Formatting feature. I know that’s some pretty strong language, but I can’t help it. In the past couple of years, almost any time a client has called me about corrupt behavior in a presentation, or unmanageable, ballooned file size, this feature has been the culprit. As mentioned earlier, when you use Keep Source Formatting, it adds the master and full set of layouts from the source presentation to your destination presentation. Used very sparingly and intentionally when you need a unique master for the content you’re pasting (such as if you’re pasting a slide from a client’s presentation into your own and want to retain their branding on their slide), it’s a timesaver. But if you’re using it, as people often do, to avoid work when pasting slides from legacy presentations into PowerPoint 2010 or PowerPoint 2011 presentations, you might be creating a mess that is neither fun nor easy to clean up. For example, I have several client companies that have migrated in the past couple of years from Office 2003 or earlier to Office 2007 or Office 2010. The 2003 version template and the presentations created from them look very similar, of course, if the branding hasn’t changed. So, when users paste a slide into a new presentation and see that they’d have to do some clean-up work, they use Keep Source Formatting to retain the original appearance. Not only do they add that excess master and set of layouts every time they paste with this option, but they’re also making the slides inconsistent from one to the next, since each will then use a different master. I’ve seen my share of presentations with dozens of nearly (but not quite) identical masters, monstrous file sizes, and ugly behavior. The last thing you want is to end up with a deck containing dozens of slides and have it misbehave just before the presentation. And you know that’s what will happen, right? So, don’t take the chance. Doing a bit of cleanup once you paste your slides into the new presentation is a lot faster and
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easier than dealing with the problem later and having to clean up dozens of slides on a tight deadline. For example, consider the following: n
When slide layout or formatting look wrong after you paste, the best first step is almost always to reapply the slide layout. On the Home tab, in the Layout gallery, first check to see if a desirable layout is in use.
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Note that the layout might have come along with the slide, and might be messing up formatting. If so, and the selected layout in the gallery isn’t one you recognize from your new presentation, just apply an appropriate layout.
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Of course, if content doesn’t move into place when you reset or apply a layout, that means it wasn’t created using placeholders. In that case, if there is a layout that fits the slide, it’s usually fastest to create a new slide with the layout you need and then copy the content into it. Manual workarounds, fudging, and fussing will never get you far in PowerPoint. Remember that this program is all about precision and simplicity.
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Charts are a common pain point when you’re pasting legacy content. Doubleclick the chart for the option to convert it to an Excel chart. When it converts, it is not likely to be perfectly formatted. However, just apply a style from the Chart Style gallery to get most of your formatting in one click. Then, you can just customize font size or any other brand-specific customizations you need.
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If your pasted slide has a diagram created with the sad, old Diagram And Organization chart tool, just double-click for the option to convert it to a SmartArt diagram or shapes. Go with SmartArt if you can and then just apply a SmartArt Styles and color style option to update the formatting in no time. A few clicks will almost certainly give you a better-looking diagram than the one you had originally.
If you need to clean up a presentation in which Keep Source Formatting has been used to excess:
1. Select all slides in the Slides pane.
2. Determine which is the correct theme in the This Presentation category of the Themes gallery (be careful with this step if many themes look alike; it’s most likely the first, but not necessarily).
3. Click to apply the correct theme to all slides. If you’re not sure which This Presentation theme is correct, and the theme you need appears in another category of the gallery (such as Custom), apply it from there.
4. Right-click each excess theme in the This Presentation category of the Themes gallery and then click Delete.
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You can then page through your deck and see what, if any, cleanup is required on your slides. (However, if you’re going to clean up a large presentation where you see many excess masters in the This Presentation category of the Themes gallery, it’s a good idea to save a backup copy of the presentation first.) See Also When I automate custom PowerPoint templates for corporate clients, I often include a tool that automatically checks their presentations for excess masters and offers to help clean them up. This functionality is part of a PowerPoint VBA add-in. You can check out and even download a simple example of this type of tool in my article “Creating VBA Add-ins to Extend and Automate Office Documents,” available from the Office Developer Center on MSDN at http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ gg597509.aspx. Note that this article will be most useful to those with some VBA experience.
Determining The Right Picture Resolution for Your Presentation People often believe that they need to use very high resolution images in their presentations when they’ll be presenting on a large screen, resulting in massive file sizes and presentations that can be slow to respond. But the size of the projection screen actually has nothing to do with determining what resolution you need. The maximum resolution of the projector is actually what matters in terms of the picture resolution that will provide the smallest file size without compromising quality. Typical projectors today have a maximum resolution of 1024 x 768. However, high definition projectors are becoming more and more popular (with a common resolution of "HD" (High Definition), which is 1920 x 1080). The key is to make sure that the resolution of your full-slide images is at least as high as the maximum projector resolution. For example, if you use the print quality (220 ppi) picture compression option in PowerPoint 2010 or PowerPoint 2011 and your slide is 10 inches wide, your full-slide images will be 2200 pixels wide—so you’ll be just fine. If PowerPoint picture compression doesn’t seem to get the job done, there are thirdparty tools as well. But before you venture into other applications, check to see if your images are images or objects pasted from another application. For example, if you paste images directly from Adobe Photoshop, they might be Photoshop objects and so PowerPoint picture compression won’t affect them. If this occurs, try ungrouping the object to convert it to a picture and then try compression again.
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To access picture compression in PowerPoint 2010, select a picture and then, on the Picture Tools Format tab, in the Adjust group, click Compress Pictures. In PowerPoint 2011, on the File menu, click Reduce File Size. Note Many thanks to PowerPo nt MVPs Steve R ndsberg (http://www.pptfaq.com and
http://www.pptools.com) and Troy Cho ar (http://www.tlccreative.com) for ns ght and gu dance on th s top c
Using Slide Sections to Organize Presentations As introduced early in this chapter, slide sections are a simple and effective tool that enables you to name a selection of contiguous slides for easier collaboration and quick access to portions of your presentation. To create a section, just select contiguous slides in the Slides pane or Slide Sorter view and then, on the Home tab, in the Slides group, click Section and then click Add Section. As shown in Figure 13-16, you see section names before the section in either the Slides pane or in Slide Sorter view.
Figure 13-16 S de sect ons are v s b e n both S de Sorter v ew and the S des pane. R ght c ck a sect on
head ng n e ther ocat on for the shortcut menu you see here n S de Sorter v ew.
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When you first create a section in PowerPoint 2010, it is untitled. You can access the option to rename the section from the Section menu on the Home tab in the Slides group or when you right-click the section heading, as you see in Figure 13-16. In PowerPoint 2011, you are automatically prompted to rename the section when you create it, but you can access the rename command at any time. You can rearrange slides by section, collapse and expand sections for easy navigation, or delete slides by section from the section management tools on the Home tab or in the shortcut menu that appears when you right-click a section heading. In PowerPoint 2010, the Slide Show menu (in an active slide show) also includes the option Go To Section (in addition to the existing Go To Slide feature), and you can print slides by section.
Using the Compare And Merge Feature Compare And Merge is a nice way to see changes between two presentations, particularly when you’re working on a presentation with others and want to see what’s changed. It’s not a robust document-comparison tool like the Compare feature in Word, but it will give you a good sense of what has changed between the two versions and let you decide whether to accept or reject changes. It’s fairly simple and straightforward, but there are a few points that are worth mentioning for ease of use, as follows: n
To compare presentations, start with one version open on your screen. It’s a good idea to make a copy before you start because the comparison occurs directly in the open presentation. Then, on the Review tab, click Compare and select the file to which you want to compare the open presentation.
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When you start a compare, a Revisions pane (called Compare Changes in PowerPoint 2011) appears on the right side of the screen, as shown in Figure 13-17. Note that no content is added to the open presentation automatically. In PowerPoint 2010, you also see an icon on the top-right corner of the slide thumbnails in the Slides pane when the slide contains changes. And, when the slide is active, you see icons on the slide itself that you can click to review changes.
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Figure 13-17 The Compare And Merge feature, shown n PowerPo nt 2010 (top) and PowerPo nt 2011
(bottom).
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It’s common for only the Accept or Reject command on the Review tab to be available at one time. This does not mean that you don’t have the option to accept or reject a change. If it’s available, click Accept to view the changes from the other version on your slide. You then have the option to reject that change and revert to your active presentation’s version of the applicable content.
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Notice in the Revisions (Compare Changes) pane that you can also see a thumbnail of what the active slide looks like in the other presentation. To see this in PowerPoint 2010, click the Slides tab in the Revisions pane.
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There are limitations to this functionality, especially when changes have been made to content other than text and theme formatting. For example, changes to a SmartArt diagram will result only in an indicator that the diagram was changed; the detail will not tell you what that change is. However, don’t dismiss this feature so quickly. Remember that you can just accept the change to see the other version on your slide. Then, reject it to return to your original if preferred.
You do need to access separate files to compare for this feature. But if your presentation is saved to a SharePoint library or a SkyDrive folder, you get automatic versioning (in SkyDrive, this becomes active when others make changes to your file; in SharePoint, versioning settings are controlled by your SharePoint administrator). So you can retrieve a previous version, save it as a file, and then use Compare And Merge to compare it to your current version. See the following sidebar, “Share Content Like Never Before,” for more about presentation sharing and collaboration benefits in the cloud.
Share Content Like Never Before PowerPoint 2007 and Microsoft Office SharePoint Server 2007 first introduced slide libraries, which enable you to save individual slides to a library that your group or your entire organization can search and reuse in presentations as needed. It’s an amazing capability that is still available in PowerPoint 2010 for use with SharePoint 2007 or later. However, this feature is for enterprise users (and it’s available only in Office for Windows). Enterprise users must have the Professional Plus edition of Office 2010 to add slides to a slide library (though you do not need this edition to access slides in a SharePoint slide library in which you have usage rights). However, Office 2010 and Office 2011 did something pretty great. Before this version, much of the collaboration tools that were heavily talked about (like slide libraries) were exclusive to large enterprise customers (and usually only for Windows users). Now, with the SkyDrive integration that’s been mentioned many times throughout this book, most of the impressive new collaboration tools are available to pretty much everyone.
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You already know that you can save your presentations to a SharePoint 2010 library or a SkyDrive folder to share, view, and edit them using PowerPoint Web App. But when you save those presentations up there in the cloud, remember that you can also open them in PowerPoint 2010 or PowerPoint 2011 on your computer to simultaneously edit them with other people who are using one of those versions of PowerPoint as well. See Also To learn about saving presentations to the cloud, using coauthoring features (including simultaneous editing), and using Office Web Apps, see Chapter 2. To learn about SharePoint slide libraries, see the Office.com article “Use Slide Libraries to share and reuse PowerPoint slides,” available at http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/powerpointhelp/use-slide-libraries-to-share-and-reuse-powerpoint-slides-HA010338394. aspx?CTT 1.
Chapter 14
Creating Professional Presentation Graphics In this chapter, you will: n
Discover what’s new for working with presentation graphics in Office 2010 and Office for Mac 2011
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Get help for determining the best type of graphic for your content
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Learn how to create, use, and customize SmartArt graphics
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Explore how to get more from Office Art drawing tools
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Get tips for working with graphics elements across programs
The best advice I can give to you on the subject of creating graphics for your documents is:
The fact is that, good or bad, graphics get attention. No matter what the reason for a particular graphic, we all add graphics to documents to make a point or emphasize information— in short, to get the content noticed. A poorly crafted business graphic is like wearing sweaty gym clothes to walk the red carpet at the Academy Awards. You’ll definitely get attention, but is that really the impression you want to make?
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For example, take a look at the bulleted list in the following image:
A graphic can certainly improve on this handful of boring bullets, such as the clean and simple organization chart that follows.
But, what about this next graphic?
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Personally, I’d take a boring bulleted list any day of the week over the type of attention this graphic would get. So, am I telling you to stick to boring bulleted lists if you’re not a graphic design whiz? Absolutely not. As a matter of fact, it took less than a minute (literally) to create the first organization chart shown in this section and about ten minutes to create the mess you see in the preceding image. One of the best reasons to use Microsoft PowerPoint 2010 or PowerPoint for Mac 2011 to create presentation graphics for your documents is that creating the perfect graphic is faster and easier than making a mess, even if you can’t so much as draw a straight line. I encourage you to think of this chapter as being about Microsoft Office graphics rather than PowerPoint graphics. You might already have seen this chapter referenced many times in the Microsoft Word and Excel parts of this book. That’s because the Microsoft Office graphics engine—commonly referred to as Office Art—is shared across the three programs, and you’ll see almost all of the same Office Art tools in Microsoft Word, Excel, and PowerPoint. PowerPoint, however, is the natural home for this information since you’re likely to use the most graphics in your presentations (and PowerPoint is designed for Office Art graphics, such as charts and diagrams, to play a major role in your presentations). There are also some tools that are exclusive to PowerPoint or tasks that are easiest to accomplish in PowerPoint (regardless of the program in which your document lives), so we’ll look at those as well. In this chapter, you will explore what you need to know before you create your presentation graphics—from determining the best type of graphic for your information to graphic formatting considerations by document type. Then, dive into key graphics features with tips and best practices for creating the perfect business graphic every time. Note When ta k ng about Office Art, th s chapter refers to PowerPo nt, Word, and Exce Note, however, that W ndows users can a so use many types of Office Art n some M crosoft Out ook 2010 tems For examp e, n the body of a formatted (that s, not p a n text) ema message, you can nsert SmartArt, charts, and shapes You can do the same n the body of a ca endar tem, task, or journa entry, or n the notes area of a contact Because Out ook s ca ng on Word capab t es for th s behav or, I don’t ment on Out ook separate y throughout th s chapter But t’s worth a note that you can do th s, shou d t ever come n handy
Chapter Assumptions This chapter assumes that you’ve created diagrams and worked with shapes in previous versions of PowerPoint (or another Microsoft Office program), and that you’ve used diagrams or other graphics (from any source) in your Word documents (or you’ve at least thought about it).
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So, I won’t take your time with basics here unless they’re new or notable. Instead, we’ll look at the underlying concepts that can help experienced users capitalize on the benefits of Microsoft Office graphics. We’ll also explore best practices and techniques for creating truly professional business graphics with astonishingly little work. See Also For a list of resources for those who want more basic-level information, see the section “Who Will Benefit Most from This Book” in the introduction.
Exploring What’s New for Presentation Graphics As you might already know, the Microsoft Office graphics engine was essentially redesigned in the Office 2007 and Office 2008 for Mac releases. Virtually everything was either new or improved. There was the introduction of the incredible SmartArt graphics, the new charting engine, much improved shapes, and advanced graphic formatting effects for all of the above. See Also Some of what was new to PowerPoint in the previous release is new to Word in this release on both Windows and Mac OS, including improved shapes, shape formatting tools, and the new incarnation of WordArt. To learn about what’s new for graphics in Word, see Chapter 10, “Managing Graphics.” Quite a lot is new and improved for editing and formatting pictures in Office 2010 and Office for Mac 2011. But that functionality is completely shared across Word, PowerPoint, and Excel, so you can learn all about it in Chapter 5, “Doing More with Less Work: Key Cross-Program Features.” And because charts (although part of Office Art graphics) live in Excel, check out Chapter 20, “Charts,” to learn about working with the Excel charting tools that are available in Excel, PowerPoint, and Word. While SmartArt graphics, shape editing, and Office Art formatting are all addressed in this chapter, they’re no longer all new. But there are some cool new features, nice improvements, and the occasional fixed foible, as follows: n
SmartArt graphics, first introduced in Office 2007, are improved in Office 2010 and Office 2011, with some nice details and many more built-in layouts. In case they’re new to you, SmartArt enables you to create a wide range of diagram types, essentially by typing a bulleted list. There are built-in SmartArt layouts for a wide range of diagram types, such as list, process, radial, and hierarchy. And, as with all Office Art graphics, SmartArt styles coordinate with your active document theme, so you can make them look beautiful and professional in literally just a couple of clicks.
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When used in PowerPoint or Excel, SmartArt now gives you the ability to convert diagrams to shapes. This is a great tool for times when you need to customize beyond what you can do with SmartArt, but don’t want to waste time starting from scratch. The ability to convert SmartArt to shapes is available to Office 2007 users after installing Service Pack 2. However, it’s improved in Office 2010 and Office for Mac 2011, because the converted shapes now behave like genuine Office Art shapes, such as by including adjustment handles.
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In PowerPoint, you can now also convert a SmartArt graphic to text. Since PowerPoint 2007 and 2008, you have been able to convert text to a SmartArt graphic. However, if you need to quickly extract the text from your diagram, in PowerPoint on both platforms, you can now go the other direction and convert diagrams to text.
Note On y PowerPo nt offers the convert to text opt on However, you can access the text pane for SmartArt n any program that nc udes SmartArt So, when you need to extract a text from any SmartArt graph c, just c ck n the text pane, se ect a (Ctr +A on W ndows or Command+A on Mac OS), and then copy
If you have used SmartArt in the past and been frustrated by the lack of flexibility, I encourage you to give it another chance—there is a method to its madness. This is one of my all-time favorite Microsoft Office features for good reason—SmartArt makes it truly easy to create genuinely beautiful and effective presentation graphics. Explore the section "Making Smart Choices with SmartArt" later in this chapter to learn more, including tips for what to do when you run into a SmartArt limitation. n
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Shapes are improved once again with nice new details and fixes for a couple of common frustrations that you might have experienced in the previous release: o
In PowerPoint (or Excel) 2007 and 2008, you could convert most any shape to a freeform object in order to edit points. Now, you don’t have to do any conversion. Edit points is directly accessible on virtually all shapes.
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In the previous release, you might have experienced frustration both with drawing freeform objects (the Shift key didn’t work to constrain angles) and with edit points (quite a lot about that feature just didn t work well). Well, Shift to constrain freeform drawings is now fixed and edit points has more than mended its ways.
Custom shape actions get my vote for the best new features for working with shapes— but if you’ve never heard of them, you’re not alone. That’s because, in PowerPoint 2010, they’re not on the Ribbon (but you can add them). And in PowerPoint 2011, they’re only available on a sub-menu when you right-click. I have no idea why the folks who
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make PowerPoint made this great feature so hard to find, but once you take the steps to access it, you’ll be very glad you did. If you use Microsoft Visio or just about any vector drawing applications, you are probably already familiar with tools like the new custom shape actions. In PowerPoint, these tools enable you to join, combine, intersect, or subtract overlapping shapes to create your own custom shapes. See Also To learn more about working with the freeform tool, using edit points, and both accessing and using the new custom shape features, see the section "Editing Shapes," later in this chapter. n
New to PowerPoint 2010 (and an existing feature in PowerPoint 2011), alignment and layout becomes easier with smart guides (called dynamic guides in PowerPoint 2011). These guides appear automatically to show you when content is aligned, as you drag objects in proximity to one another. In PowerPoint 2010, smart guides work exclusively with shapes, pictures, and media objects that are not inside placeholders. In PowerPoint 2011, dynamic guides work with virtually any on-slide object, including placeholders and Office Art objects (such as charts and SmartArt diagrams). Smart guides (dynamic guides) appear by default. In my experience, they’re often useful and not at all intrusive. But if you disagree and prefer not to use them, do the following to disable them: o
In PowerPoint 2010, in the Grid And Guides dialog box, clear the option Display Smart Guides When Shapes Are Aligned. To access this dialog box, on the Home tab, in the Drawing group, click Arrange, point to Align, and then click Grid Settings.
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In PowerPoint 2010, on the View menu, point to Guides, and then click Dynamic Guides to clear the selection.
See Also Dynamic guides are also available in Word for Mac 2011 Publishing Layout view. See Chapter 10 to learn about working in this graphics-friendly Word view.
Determining When to Use Office Art Microsoft Office is not a suite of graphics programs. That’s probably (hopefully) not news to you. But the tools for creating presentation graphics are powerful, flexible, and easier to use than you might expect. Still, these tools are about creating presentation graphics—diagrams, charts, accent shapes—not about graphic design. I have seen some talented designers push the envelope and create absolutely breathtaking design elements using only Office Art tools (such as freeform drawing and edit points). But if you are a designer or working with one, and you are creating bespoke graphic elements for your documents, you’re more likely to want to use professional graphics applications such as the Adobe Creative Suite programs, Illustrator and Photoshop.
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You can see examples of external graphic elements right in some built-in Office 2010 and Office 2011 content. For example, if you explore built-in themes, you’ll see some that clearly include design elements not created in Microsoft Office, such as background design elements in the Hardcover, Couture, and Pushpin themes. See Also Read Chapter 5 to learn about creating themes and for information about the Open XML Theme Builder tool that you can use to help incorporate background style elements and other external graphics into your themes. See Chapter 10 for information about the best picture file types for use in Microsoft Office documents. And see the section "Getting Your Vector Graphics into Microsoft Office," later in this chapter, to learn about how to use vector graphics in Microsoft Office so that they respond to changes in theme color.
Determining the Best Diagram for Your Content When deciding how to create a new business graphic, you can determine the general graphic type you need and the best method to use for creating it by looking at the type of information as well as what you need to convey about that information. n
If your information is quantifiable data, it’s likely that the best graphic is either an Excel chart or a dynamic Visio diagram. Ask yourself what you want to convey about your data. For example, to show impressive sales figures, you might want a line chart that displays changes in sales volume over time, or a column chart to compare sales across regions or against competitors. Or, you might want to use a PivotDiagram to enable recipients to look at the same sales figures broken out in multiple ways, such as by region, by product, or by quarter. See Also Read Chapter 20 to learn about working with Excel charts. To learn about PivotTables, see Chapter 21, “Powerful Reporting, Easier Than You Think: A PivotTable Primer.” Companion Content To learn about PivotDiagrams and other Visio features mentioned in this chapter, see "Visualizing Data with Excel and Visio," available in the Bonus Content folder online at http://oreilly.com/catalog/9780735651999. Note Mac users m ght be d sappo nted by severa ment ons of V s o n th s sect on, be-
cause t s a W ndows-on y program I’ve ong been a fan of V s o but I’ve not had occas on to use d agramm ng software made for Mac OS, so I can’t make a persona recommendat on for an a ternat ve program However, there certa n y are we -rev ewed programs out there One that I’ve heard good th ngs about s ca ed Omn Graffle Pro In fact, a ook at The Omn Group webs te overv ew of th s product nd cates that Omn Graffle Pro can mport and export V s o fi es and ut ze custom data You can earn more about t and downoad a free tr a at http://www.omnigroup.com/products/omnigraffle/
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If your information is organizational or other hierarchical data for which you can use an organization chart, determine how much information needs to be included and what you need to do with that data. o
If you have a reasonably limited amount of data (small enough to fit on one page), create a SmartArt organization chart in PowerPoint. With the available formatting effects for SmartArt, you can easily create a professional-looking diagram that automatically coordinates with your document theme. And adding shapes, editing text, or changing hierarchy in a SmartArt organization chart is as easy as editing a bulleted list.
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If you have an extensive amount of data that needs to be laid out across more than one page, if you need to use the same data in other programs, or even if the data is likely to change frequently, consider creating an organization chart from Excel 2010 data using the Visio Organization Chart Wizard. Visio can generate the shapes you need from a simple worksheet, break the chart across pages for you, and hyperlink between related shapes on pages. You can even change formatting throughout the diagram all at once.
If your information is qualitative—such as laying out a timeline, defining relationships, or explaining a process—ask similar questions to those you ask when planning an organization chart. o
If the information simply needs to be displayed in a high-quality, professionallooking diagram that coordinates with your document, use SmartArt.
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If the information is highly technical, complex, or requires interactivity (such as hyperlinks between individual shapes in the diagram), consider using Visio.
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If PowerPoint is more appropriate for your diagram type than Visio but SmartArt doesn’t offer the diagram options you want, create your diagram using shapes.
See Also For help creating flawless business graphics using shapes and drawing tools in PowerPoint, see the section "Using Drawing Tools to Their Fullest," later in this chapter. Alternatively, if you’re an experienced Office Open XML developer, you can create your own SmartArt layouts. To learn more, see the article “Creating Custom SmartArt Layouts with Office Open XML for Office 2007 and Office 2010,” which is available on the MSDN Office Developer Center at http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/gg583880.aspx (and note that, despite the name, this article applies equally to Office for Mac 2011). If you’d like to create your own SmartArt layouts but you don’t have experience working with Office Open XML, see Chapter 24, “Office Open XML Essentials,” to get started. n
If your information is a combination of qualitative and quantitative data, such as a workflow diagram in which you need to store cost and resource data or a floor plan in which you need to store data about equipment, use Visio to create your diagram and take advantage of the Shape Data and Data Graphics tools discussed in the online article referenced earlier.
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If the business graphic you need isn’t a diagram at all—for example, when you need to create a logo or other branding elements—use shapes and drawing tools in PowerPoint. If you think you need a vector graphics program or even a professional designer to create such a graphic, you might be right—but give PowerPoint a try before considering more complex or expensive alternatives. As discussed in the preceding section, PowerPoint is a presentation graphics program, not a graphics design software. But you might be able to take it quite a bit further than you think. See Also To learn about how to push the envelope with Office Art drawing tools, check out the section "Using Drawing Tools to Their Fullest," later in this chapter.
Making Smart Choices with SmartArt When you first insert a new SmartArt graphic, the appearance is unlikely to impress you. Default formatting for most SmartArt layouts is a simple, solid fill and no formatting effects. But don’t be deterred by a disappointing front door. Once you step inside and take a look around, you’re likely to love what you see. SmartArt is nothing more than a tool for creating business diagrams. It just happens to help you create absolutely beautiful diagrams (with professional-quality formatting that automatically coordinates with your document theme) in almost no time—so it’s probably worth a look. In this section, we’ll walk through creating, editing, and customizing SmartArt diagrams, and address common troubleshooting issues (including how to work around limitations) encountered when using this cool tool.
Creating a SmartArt Diagram You have a few choices for where to start when using SmartArt diagrams: n
If you’re creating a slide presentation, just click the SmartArt icon in any content placeholder (see Figure 14-1) to select a diagram layout. When you click this icon in PowerPoint 2010, the Choose a SmartArt Graphic dialog box opens. In PowerPoint 2011, the SmartArt tab on the Ribbon becomes active. Note, however, that if you insert a SmartArt graphic from the Ribbon (on the Insert tab in PowerPoint 2010 or the SmartArt tab in PowerPoint 2011) on a slide that contains an empty content placeholder, the graphic will automatically fill that placeholder.
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Figure 14-1 The SmartArt d agram con as seen n a PowerPo nt 2010 content p aceho der ( eft) and a PowerPo nt 2011 content p aceho der (r ght). n
In PowerPoint (as noted above), or in Word or Excel, you can just insert a SmartArt diagram from the Ribbon. This option is on the Insert tab in the Office 2010 programs and the SmartArt tab in the Office 2011 programs.
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If you already have a bulleted list on a PowerPoint slide—whether in a text placeholder or any custom text box—you can convert that list to a SmartArt graphic. o
To do this in PowerPoint 2011, right-click in the list, and then point to Convert to SmartArt to select a layout.
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To do this in PowerPoint 2010, just click in the list, and then on the SmartArt tab, select the layout that you want to apply. (Note that you get a Convert to SmartArt option when you right-click as well, but this option only activates the SmartArt tab.)
Although the option to convert a list to SmartArt is only available in PowerPoint, you can easily convert a bulleted list in Word to a SmartArt graphic, as well. Just select and copy the bulleted list. After you insert a new SmartArt graphic, you can paste the copied list into the SmartArt text pane. See Also Read the section "Editing SmartArt Diagram Content," later in this chapter, for more information on working with the SmartArt text pane.
Selecting a Diagram Layout Although SmartArt graphics work largely the same in Office 2010 and Office 2011, accessing them is not quite the same: n
In Office 2010, the Choose a SmartArt Graphic dialog box is nicely organized, with tips to help you select the right layout, as you can see in Figure 14-2.
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Figure 14-2 The Choose a SmartArt Graph c d a og box n Office 2010.
Similar to the way that Excel charts provide guidance on what type of data is best for the particular chart, SmartArt diagrams help you determine which diagram to use, based on what you need to convey about the information in your diagram. In addition, as you can see from the description of the selected diagram layout shown in Figure 14-2, some layouts also provide direction about the amount and organization of text that’s appropriate for the type of diagram. Others also help you determine the best arrangement on the page for the particular diagram (that is, utilizing height or width). n
In Office 2011, the Insert SmartArt Graphic group gives you quick access to the same diagram layouts that are available in Office 2010, but without the usage tips. If you point to a SmartArt category, a ScreenTip displays that briefly tells you what that diagram category is best for, such as the Process category ScreenTip, “Create a diagram to show steps or a timeline.” But when you point to the preview of an individual layout, you see just its name, as shown in Figure 14-3.
Figure 14-3: The nsert a SmartArt Graph c group on the SmartArt tab n Office 2011.
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The available diagram types are referred to as SmartArt layouts. They’re considered layouts because they’re largely interchangeable. That is, you can change the layout of an existing SmartArt diagram to any other layout that fits your content. Note There are more than 130 bu t- n SmartArt ayouts n Office 2010 and Office 2011
However, be aware that some ayouts are repeated under more than one category A so not ce, n F gure 14-2 shown ear er, that the Choose a SmartArt Graph c d a og box n Office 2010 nc udes an Office com category Th s category s known as a connected ga ery because t connects to on ne content and per od ca y updates to prov de add t ona , recommended SmartArt ayouts that are hosted on Office com Connected ga er es are not current y ava ab e n Office 2011
One of the factors that make SmartArt diagrams simple to use is that they think like multilevel bulleted lists, which you notice as soon as you begin to read the diagram descriptions. Some diagram types are intended for single-level lists only; others might accommodate more than one level of text but are better suited to a single level, or they might be limited in the number of items that they can accommodate. For example, as you saw at the beginning of this chapter, a three-level bulleted list converts to a three-level organization chart. To look at another example, think about a simple process. In bullet form, that process might look like the following list:
To display this list as a diagram, you might select a Basic Chevron Process, as shown in the following image:
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Or, you might choose a timeline, such as the Circle Accent Timeline shown in the next image, for which I demoted the numbered steps to a second level.
However, the layout named Vertical Chevron List, shown with two different approaches in the side-by-side images that follow, doesn’t work at all with a list such as this one because most of the space is reserved for second-level text below individual first-level items. Whether you format this list as one level (shown at left) or as two levels (shown at right), it just isn’t an effective layout for this content. A layout of this sort would be far more effective, for example, if you had step numbers as the first level and a bulleted statement for each second level.
Every SmartArt diagram has an attached text pane, as shown in Figure 14-4.
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Figure 14-4 The SmartArt text pane, shown n Office 2010 ( eft) and Office 2011 (r ght).
If you convert an existing list to a SmartArt diagram, your text will automatically appear in this pane. Otherwise, you can type the text in this list or in the shapes themselves, as you prefer. If a red x appears in place of any bullet when adding a new bullet or changing bullet level, as you can see in Figure 14-5, it means the layout you selected can’t display that text. As previously mentioned, some layouts are limited as to how many levels (or how many total items) they’re able to use in any configuration. For example, notice that the Gear layout shown in Figure 14-5 can use only three level-1 bullets. You can, however, add a second level of text under each top-level item.
Figure 14-5 The SmartArt text pane d sp ays a red x bes de text that the act ve ayout can t d sp ay.
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Caution If a ayout can’t d sp ay your text, that text w not be saved So, f you save and c ose
the fi e, the next t me you open the fi e, any text that was abe ed w th a red x w have been ost Th s s the case n any program n wh ch you can create SmartArt graph cs, n both Office 2010 and Office 2011 Note that the text pane n Office 2010 warns you when th s s the case, as shown n F gure 14-5 In Office 2011, you don’t see a warn ng, but the behav or s the same
You might be able to change the level of the bullet to make it appear in the diagram (press Tab or Shift+Tab at the beginning of the paragraph to do this, just as in any multilevel list). Or, if changing the level is not appropriate for your content, select a different layout. See Also Learn how to change SmartArt layouts under the next heading in this section. Also, learn about using the SmartArt text pane to do more than you might expect, in the section "Editing SmartArt Diagram Content," later in this chapter.
Understanding and Using SmartArt Styles and Formatting As mentioned earlier, when you first create a SmartArt diagram it might look a bit uninspired—plain shapes, solid fill, and no particular text formatting worth noting. However, SmartArt is designed to coordinate automatically with your active theme. You can choose from a gallery of color styles and formatting styles that use your theme colors and theme effects, respectively. So you can literally format a diagram to match your theme flawlessly in just a couple of clicks. Note Office 2010 users, remember that when you work w th SmartArt sty es and formatt ng, you have L ve Prev ew funct ona ty ava ab e So, you can po nt to opt ons n a ga ery to see how each w ook on your d agram Then, just c ck to app y the one that you ke The SmartArt Tools Design tab (SmartArt tab in Office 2011), includes both the colors and styles galleries, as shown in Figure 14-6.
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Figure 14-6 The SmartArt Too s Des gn tab n Office 2010 and the SmartArt tab n Office 2011.
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The SmartArt Styles gallery (SmartArt Graphics Styles in Office 2011) offers several Quick Styles, each of which applies a set of formatting effects to the entire diagram. The top row of the gallery (first five styles in Office 2011) coordinates with the specified effects (such as shadows, bevels, and reflections) in your active theme. The rest of the styles use 3-D effects that don’t change with the theme, although some of these do include your active theme fill styles.
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The Change Colors option (Colors in Office 2011) provides another gallery that coordinates with your active theme colors and offers options for recoloring your entire diagram at once. A common pet peeve in the colors gallery is that the colorful options (those that use multiple colors from your theme) that are available for many layouts begin with the Accent 2 color from the theme instead of Accent 1. This was originally done so that the Accent 1 color could be reserved for specific styles where it needed to always be used in a specific diagram position—such as the top level of an organization chart or the center shape in a radial diagram. But that doesn’t change the fact that the Accent 1 theme color might be your primary brand color, so it’s the color you want to be most prominent in your graphics. When working in Office 2010 or Office 2011, the only way to change the colors that are available is to manually apply the color you want to individual shapes using the SmartArt Tools Format tab (Format tab in Office 2011). However, new shapes that you add will still take on the defaults saved in this layout, so this option is a fairly cumbersome workaround. Alternatively, if you (or someone you work with) use Office Open XML, you can add a custom color gallery entry that starts with the Accent 1 theme color. See Also Learn more about what you can do with SmartArt in Office Open XML and get resources for how to get this done in the sidebar "Customizing SmartArt Using Office Open XML," later in this section. Note In Office 2010 and Office 2011, both the SmartArt sty es and co ors ga er es change to reflect your act ve theme co ors, theme effects, and d agram ayout
See Also To learn more about theme formatting, including customizing and creating your own themes, see Chapter 5. In that chapter, you can also see a diagram of the SmartArt styles gallery that shows exactly how theme effects map to SmartArt styles. From the Ribbon tabs shown in Figure 14-6, you can also change the layout of the active diagram and customize several aspects of the diagram:
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You can change the layout of an existing SmartArt diagram without losing any of your content. o
In Office 2010, you can use the Layouts group on the SmartArt design tab to change the layout for an existing SmartArt diagram. The layouts from the same category as your active SmartArt layout appear in the Layouts gallery. You can also click More Layouts at the bottom of the gallery to access the dialog box from which you can select any SmartArt layout. Note that this is one place where the Office 2010 Live Preview functionality is particularly useful. When you point to layouts in this gallery, you see them previewed on your active graphic.
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In Office 2011, when a SmartArt layout is active, the Create SmartArt Graphic group on the SmartArt tab becomes the Change SmartArt Graphic group, as you see in Figure 14-6. Select any layout, just as you would do when creating a new SmartArt diagram, and the layout of your active diagram will swap automatically.
The Create Graphic group (Edit SmartArt group in Office 2011) contains the Right To Left tool, which you can click to change the direction of the diagram flow. Other than the Right To Left tool, most options in the Create Graphic group in Office 2010 simply provide an additional method for accessing features available from the text pane or the diagram itself, as discussed in the section "Editing SmartArt Diagram Content," later in this chapter. In Office 2011, notice that the options to add or reorganize shapes are not on the SmartArt tab. Instead, you have a set of tools at the top of the text pane (shown in Figure 14-7) that provides an alternate method for adding, removing, and reorganizing shapes.
Figure 14-7 The too bar at the top of the SmartArt text pane n Office 2011
prov des qu ck mouse access for add ng, de et ng, or reorgan z ng shapes.
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The Create Graphic group (Edit SmartArt group) also contains a couple of tools that are exclusively for working with organization charts. These include the ability to change the layout of a selected node within the hierarchy and to add assistant shapes. It’s important to note that not all layouts in the Hierarchy category are organization charts. Layout names in this category that include the term hierarchy rather than organization chart do not have access to these tools. In Office 2010, the option to add an assistant is under the Add Shape pop-up menu. In Office 2011, both the layout and assistant tools are under the Org Chart command.
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Be sure to also note the Reset group at the end of the SmartArt Tools Design tab (SmartArt tab). The Reset option removes all formatting that you have applied to the diagram and resets it to its default format. Tip If you format an nd v dua shape and want to reset that formatt ng to match the sty e, don’t use the Reset command on the R bbon Do ng so s ke y to cause you much more work than necessary Instead, just r ght-c ck the shape, and then c ck Reset Shape
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As discussed earlier, the Convert options differ by program. In PowerPoint, you have the option to convert a diagram to shapes or to text; in Excel, you can also convert a diagram to shapes. The Convert group is not present for SmartArt diagrams in Word. In PowerPoint or Excel, you can also copy any shape out of a SmartArt diagram and paste it elsewhere in the document, where it will behave like a typical built-in shape. If you copy a selected shape in a SmartArt diagram in Word and then paste it elsewhere in the document, shapes or pictures are not pasted. Only text within a shape is pasted in Word, and it appears as a bulleted paragraph.
When a SmartArt diagram is active, a second contextual tab—the SmartArt Tools Format tab (Format tab in Office 2011)—is also available. This tab (shown in Figure 14-8) contains most of the same formatting galleries and options that you’ll see on the Drawing Tools Format tab, discussed later in this chapter, along with a selection of tools for editing individual shapes in your diagram.
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Figure 14-8 The SmartArt Too s Format tab n Office 2010 and the Format tab n Office 2011.
The Shape Styles and WordArt Styles (Text Styles in Office 2011) groups are likely obvious to you. You can select and format individual shapes within the diagram. However, there are a few things to note about other groups on this tab: n
The Size and Arrange groups (which are condensed in Figure 14-8 for Office 2010, due to screenshot size constraints) contain the same size and arrange options that you’re probably familiar with from working with other object types, such as pictures. However,
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it’s important to note that most of the features in these groups that are available to SmartArt are only available to the graphic as a whole, and not to individual shapes. You can rotate shapes within a SmartArt graphic. But align and order tools are not available to individual diagram shapes. You can use the align tools to align the graphic as a whole on the slide, or relative to other objects on the slide. And you can use the size commands to resize the overall graphic. In Office 2010, the Ungroup command is available to SmartArt diagrams in PowerPoint and Excel; it does the same thing as using Convert to Shapes. n
The Shapes group on the SmartArt Tools Format tab in Office 2010 provides the familiar Change Shape options that work precisely as they do for shapes that are not part of a diagram. That is, you can change the shapes within your diagram to other builtin shapes. In Office 2011, use the Shape command on the SmartArt tab for the same behavior. Note, however, that changing shapes using this method only changes existing shapes in the diagram. New shapes that you add to the diagram will use the shapes that are defined in the layout.
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Although you can’t resize individual shapes by using the Size group commands on the SmartArt Tools Format tab (Format tab), you still can do so. Just drag the corner handle of a shape to resize it proportionally, as you would for shapes that are not inside diagrams. Office 2010 also offers Larger and Smaller commands on the SmartArt Tools Format tab that behave the same as when you drag the corner handle of a shape. In both Office 2010 and Office 2011, however, when you resize individual shapes in some layouts, other shapes in the layout automatically resize proportionally. For example, if you want the last shape in a process diagram to stand out as larger than the rest, increase the size of the last shape; all other shapes will become proportionally smaller to accommodate the larger shape without changing the diagram area. Note The behav or of shapes n a d agram when you res ze an nd v dua shape s d ffer-
ent for many of the ayouts that are new to Office 2010 and Office 2011 In Office 2007 and Office 2008 for Mac, any ayout wou d res ze shapes proport ona y to accommodate a change n the s ze of one shape Th s s st the case for ex st ng ayouts that are st ava ab e n Office 2010 and Office 2011 However, many new ayouts (such as the C rc e Accent T me ne or Increas ng Arrows Process ayouts, shown ear er) a ow you to res ze an nd v dua shape w thout affect ng other shapes n the d agram
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Office 2010 includes one additional exclusive feature on this tab—Edit In 2-D. This option is only enabled when your diagram contains 3-D Rotation settings. Edit In 2-D temporarily removes the appearance of 3-D rotation so that you can easily access shapes for editing (as well as the text within those shapes) without having to remove and reapply the 3-D Rotation setting. When you’ve finished editing, just click Edit In
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2-D again to turn off this feature. Your 3-D Rotation settings (as well as any other formatting that was visibly removed by the Edit In 2-D feature) are returned. Note that Edit In 2-D is not available if only a bevel is applied to your graphic rather than a 3-D Rotation setting. The purpose of Edit In 2-D is not to remove any 3-D effects, but to flatten objects that are more difficult to edit while rotated.
Customizing SmartArt Using Office Open XML SmartArt layouts and styles are designed and built using Office Open XML. So if you work with Office Open XML, you can do many things with your SmartArt diagrams that are not possible from within the Microsoft Office programs. For example: n
If you want a color style option that starts with the Accent 1 theme color or a SmartArt Style gallery option that looks a bit different from those available in the gallery, you can add additional, custom entries in these galleries.
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If you want to change the shape type used in a diagram (such as by changing rectangles to rounded rectangles in an organization chart) and want new shapes added to that diagram to take on your specified shape instead of the default for that layout, you can make the change in Office Open XML.
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As mentioned earlier, for those more experienced with Office Open XML, you can even create your own custom SmartArt layouts.
See Also If you’re already experienced with Office Open XML, see the article “Creating Custom SmartArt Layouts with Office Open XML for Office 2007 and Office 2010,” which is available on the MSDN Office Developer Center at http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/ library/gg583880.aspx. (Note that, despite the title, the content in this article applies to Office 2011 as well.) In this article, you learn how to customize SmartArt styles and layouts as well as how to create your own. You can also download samples from that article, including a custom SmartArt color style that begins with the Accent 1 theme color. If you’ve not used Office Open XML but are interested in giving it a try, see Chapter 24 to get started.
Editing SmartArt Diagram Content When I create SmartArt diagrams, I rarely click inside a shape. My favorite thing about working with SmartArt diagrams is that you can actually build the diagram by just typing a bulleted list. In fact, the diagram shapes and text pane are largely interchangeable for many tasks, as follows:
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n
Add and edit text in either the text pane or the shape itself.
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Apply text and shape formatting to selected shapes or text by selecting content in the text pane or selecting shapes.
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Add or remove shapes by taking actions in either the text pane or in the graphic itself.
Let’s examine the options a bit more closely: n
By default, when you create any SmartArt diagram, the text pane automatically appears. To close the text pane at any time, click the X in the top-right corner of the pane. To open the pane when you don’t see it, click the icon that appears on the left edge of the diagram frame when selected. In Office 2010, this icon is a pair of opposing arrows; in Office 2011, it is a miniature figure of a text pane. Note that you can also drag the text pane (by its title bar) to any convenient place on the screen. To reattach the pane to the diagram frame, simply close it and then reopen it using the previously-referenced icon.
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Remember that the diagram is a visual representation of the outline in the text pane. So, to add a new shape to the diagram using the text pane, simply add a new bullet where you want that shape to appear. To do that, press Enter (Return) from the end of the preceding paragraph, just as you would to add a bullet in any outline list. Depending on the level of the bullets in question and the active diagram layout, keep in mind that adding a bullet might add a new shape or it might add another paragraph in the active shape. For diagram layouts that use multiple outline levels, promote or demote bullets in the text pane to change either the shape type associated with the bullet or to change the level of the text as it appears in a shape. So, by using Enter (Return), Tab, and Shift+Tab to add and change the levels of bullets within your outline, you add or change the levels of shapes (or their text) in the corresponding diagram. Similarly, you can delete a bullet from the text pane to delete the associated shape or shape content from the diagram.
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If you prefer to edit shapes directly, just click in a shape to add or edit text. Or, rightclick a shape for the option to add a new shape before or after the selected shape (or above or below the selected shape in applicable diagram types). Note The Add Shape opt on that s ava ab e when you r ght-c ck a shape a so g ves you
the opt on to add an Ass stant shape n an organ zat on chart An Ass stant s the on y shape n an organ zat on chart that you can’t add by demot ng or promot ng bu ets n the text pane
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If demoting or promoting a bullet in the text pane will create a new shape, you can’t demote or promote that same text directly in the shape. This is one of the reasons why editing the diagram directly in the text pane is easier, because when you do, the text moves into a new shape or a lower level within the same shape automatically, as appropriate for the layout. n
Notice that because shapes are automatically selected when you select the corresponding bullet in the text pane, you can select text in the text pane to format the associated shape or text. Just click in a bullet to select the associated shape; you can then apply any shape formatting that you would when selecting the shape itself. Or, select any text in the text pane to apply font or WordArt formatting. Note, however, that all formatting applied will be reflected in the diagram itself—the appearance of the text in the text pane is not affected.
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In Office 2007 and Office 2008, replacing pictures in a SmartArt diagram that contains picture placeholders was often frustrating at best. Fortunately, working with pictures in SmartArt diagrams has improved enormously in Office 2010 and Office 2011. You can now add pictures either using the picture icon on a shape within the graphic or using the associated picture placeholder in the text pane, as you can see in Figure 14-9. When you need to replace a picture, just select the shape or the placeholder in the text pane, and then click Delete. The placeholder icon will return, with which you can select a new picture.
Figure 14-9 Use p cture p aceho ders n shapes or the text pane to add
and rep ace mages n SmartArt d agrams.
Note that, in addition to improved behavior for working with pictures, the new SmartArt layouts added in Office 2010 and Office 2011 include a range of picture layouts. See the new Picture category in the Choose a SmartArt Graphic dialog box (the Create SmartArt Graphic group on the SmartArt tab in Office 2011).
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Delete Accent Shapes in a SmartArt Diagram You can select and move any shape in a SmartArt diagram. However, accent shapes (such as connector arrows between shapes) can’t be deleted. You already know that you don’t have access to the Order commands when working in SmartArt diagrams, so you can’t send a shape behind another to hide it. And, the Selection And Visibility pane recognizes a SmartArt diagram as a single object, so you can’t use it to hide individual shapes in the diagram. Okay, so what can you do? The solution is a somewhat old fashioned and a bit of a hack, but it works. Select the shapes that you don’t want to appear in the diagram. Then, on the SmartArt Tools Format tab (Format tab), in the Shape Styles group, change the Shape Fill and Shape Outline settings to None. Keep in mind, however, that the shapes are still there when you do this. So, if you select the entire diagram to make changes or reset the graphic, those shapes might once again appear. Also, check the results when printing documents containing a graphic with shapes hidden in this way because some printers might cause the shapes to appear on the page.
Customize Layout in a SmartArt Diagram You want to lay out or align shapes in a SmartArt diagram differently than the automatic layout. You know that you don’t have access to the Align and Distribute tools in a SmartArt graphic, so what do you do? I used to recommend setting up a grid in PowerPoint using guides, and then aligning shapes manually to that grid. Fortunately, however, you no longer need to deal with such an awkward hack. Think of a SmartArt layout as a template. If you use a document template, you might customize it to make it your own—starting with a template is often faster than starting from scratch, even when the template is not exactly what you need. The same goes for SmartArt. SmartArt graphics are absolutely amazing in my opinion and one of my favorite features to work with. But in order to be so easy to use, they often have to have limitations, as well. The key limitation in SmartArt diagrams is that a layout has to subscribe to at least one method of diagrammatic logic (that is, one type of diagram organization, such as linear, cyclical, or hierarchical). A SmartArt graphic can’t veer from the type of diagrammatic logic in use, but diagrams in the real-world often need to do exactly that.
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So, when you need a graphic that is sort of like a SmartArt diagram but needs some customization that you can’t do in SmartArt, create the SmartArt diagram, and then use the Convert to Shapes feature discussed in the preceding section to make your customizations. (If your diagram is in Word, just copy it to PowerPoint, convert to shapes, and then copy it back into your document.) Even when the layout isn’t exactly the final diagram you need, you can save time on both creation and formatting by using SmartArt, and then just convert it to shapes in a click when you need that diagram to think outside of the box.
Using Drawing Tools to Their Fullest I have long been a believer that the drawing tools in Microsoft Office, particularly in PowerPoint, are very much undervalued. It’s true that, as we discussed earlier, PowerPoint isn’t a graphic design program. But, when it comes to creating business graphics, this program can probably do quite a bit more for you than you think. In this section and the “Editing Shapes” section that follows, learn how to get creative with the drawing tools in PowerPoint and use some fairly simple tools to take your business graphics to a new level. Note I refer to PowerPo nt here (and throughout th s sect on) rather than M crosoft Office, even though the draw ng too s are arge y the same n PowerPo nt, Word, and Exce Th s s because PowerPo nt prov des add t ona too s that make work ng w th draw ng objects much eas er than the same act ons n Word or Exce For examp e, use draw ng gu des as an a gnment too or drag your nsert on po nt across a port on of a s de to se ect mu t p e objects (a so known as a marquee) So, f you need to create and format mu t p e draw ng objects, t’s often eas er to create the content n PowerPo nt, even when your document ves n Word or Exce
The on y except on to th s recommendat on s when work ng n Word 2011 Pub sh ng Layout v ew Pub sh ng Layout v ew s a so des gned for work ng w th objects such as Office Art drawng too s and nc udes s m ar too s for that purpose as those n PowerPo nt, such as gu des and marquee se ect on Note that when you drag to marquee a se ect on n Pub sh ng Layout v ew, you do not need to comp ete y surround objects to nc ude them n the se ect on Cons stent w th many profess ona graph cs app cat ons, Pub sh ng Layout v ew nc udes any object n the se ect on that crosses your path as you drag
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Getting It “Perfect” Is Easier than “Close Enough” The less work you do, the better your results will be. That’s my favorite theme for creating documents across the Microsoft Office programs, and nowhere is it more true than when you are creating business graphics in PowerPoint. In fact, so many easy ways are available to create graphics precisely that you have to work pretty hard to overcomplicate things. However, that’s exactly what most people do. I’ve seen this phenomenon in every PowerPoint class I’ve ever taught. For some reason, one of the hardest things for people to accept about a software program is that it’s not hard. When you let PowerPoint be as easy as it can be, you might just impress yourself with what you can do. Let’s start with a few shortcuts. If you’d like to try these commands as we address them, start by inserting a shape on a slide, as follows: Note Because we’re work ng w th draw ng objects and not creat ng a s de presentat on, start w th a b ank s de ayout so that no p aceho ders get n the way For he p work ng w th s de ayouts, see Chapter 13, “Creat ng Presentat ons From Theme to Master to S de ” n
You can insert shapes from the Home tab. In Office 2010, find the Shapes gallery in the Drawing group on this tab. In Office 2011, the Shapes gallery is in the Insert group. Note In Office 2010, you can a so access the Shapes ga ery on the Insert tab or, when a draw ng object s se ected, from the Draw ng Too s Format tab
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As always, after you click in the gallery to select the shape you want, you can either click on the slide to insert the shape at its default size, or you can drag to insert the shape at the size you need.
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In Office 2010, if you need to create multiple instances of the same type of shape, you can right-click a shape in the Shapes gallery, and then click Lock Drawing Mode. Then, just click or drag to insert the same shape multiple times, in different sizes or configurations, as needed. Press the Esc key to turn off drawing mode. Caution Don’t use Lock Draw ng Mode when you need severa dent ca shapes In such cases, you do ess work and ach eve better resu ts f you nsert and format one shape and then dup cate t to create the others
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Regardless of whether you prefer to work with the mouse or the keyboard, certain keystrokes are very important when working with shapes and objects. Let’s take a look, in Table 14-1, at what using the Shift, Alt, and Ctrl (Command in Office 2011) keys can do for you when moving, resizing, and duplicating objects. Table 14-1 Keyboard
Key Sh ft
Ctr
shortcuts for working with shapes
Actions n
When dragg ng an object’s corner hand e to res ze t, the Sh ft key constra ns proport ons
n
When dragg ng an object to move t, the Sh ft key constra ns ang es so that the object stays on the same vert ca or hor zonta p ane
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In both Office 2010 and Office 2011, when us ng the arrow keys on your keyboard to move an object, press the Ctr key to move objects n sma er ncrements than the gr d Note that, for severa other shortcut tasks w th draw ng objects, the A t and Ctr keys have oppos te behav or n Office 2010 and Office 2011, as addressed n the next two rows of th s tab e
A t (Ctr n Office 2011)
Ctr (A t n Office 2011)
Arrow keys
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When dragg ng an object to move t, the A t (Ctr ) key enab es you to move n sma er ncrements than the gr d
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When dragg ng any hand e to res ze an object, press the A t (Ctr ) key to res ze n sma er ncrements than the gr d (By defau t, the gr d s set to 0 083 nches [0 212 cent meters] By us ng the A t key, you can move 0 01 nches [0 025 cent meters] at a t me )
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When dragg ng any hand e to res ze an object, the Ctr (A t) key causes the object to res ze from ts center
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When dragg ng an object to move t, the Ctr (A t) key causes the object to be dup cated rather than moved
Both Office 2010 and Office 2011 ntroduce new keyboard shortcuts for res z ng and rotat ng draw ng objects n
Use Sh ft+arrow keys to res ze a se ected shape
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Use Sh ft+Ctr +arrow keys to res ze a se ected shape n sma er ncrements than the gr d
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Use A t+ eft or r ght arrow keys to rotate a draw ng object
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Use A t+Ctr + eft or r ght arrow keys to rotate a draw ng object n sma er ncrements than the gr d
Note that you can use many of these keyboard shortcuts even more effectively in combination. For example, use Shift+Ctrl (Shift+Alt in Office 2011) while dragging a corner handle to resize an object proportionally from the center.
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For Mac Users When you drag to resize or move shapes, Office 2011 provides one of my favorite Macexclusive features: you see a ScreenTip showing you the size or position of the object as you size or move it. When creating Publishing Layout view documents or templates in Word, or laying out PowerPoint slide masters and layouts, this simple little tool can save a surprising amount of time.
Want to stick strictly with the keyboard for duplicating objects? Simply select the object, and then press Ctrl+D (Command+D in Office 2011), but don’t stop there. If you need to duplicate the object several times (such as to create a grid of shapes), don’t touch the mouse after you duplicate the object. Instead, use the arrow keys to move the new object to the exact position you want. Then, press Ctrl+D (Command+D) again—PowerPoint will remember the distance between the first two shapes and create the third at the exact same distance from the second. How about sticking strictly to the mouse for duplicating objects? No problem. Right-drag an object (that is, hold the right mouse button while dragging), then release where you want the duplicated object to appear. When you release the right mouse button, you get the options to Move Here, Copy Here, or Cancel. Just click the option you need to complete the action. Note Mac users do need a two-button mouse for the r ght-drag method of dup cat ng objects Ctr +drag w
not prov de the same resu t
Note Terr fic as Ctr +Z (Command+Z) s to undo unwanted act ons, the Esc key can he p you
avo d the need to undo when us ng the mouse to perform many act ons n PowerPo nt S mp y press Esc before re eas ng the mouse button to cance res z ng, mov ng, or dup cat ng of objects
Knowing the standard shortcuts is a good first step in creating more precise graphics. But, hand in hand with the shortcuts, the most important tools you have for working precisely in PowerPoint are logic and organization. Take a moment before creating shapes to think through the steps that will require the least amount of work.
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For example, suppose that you want to use shapes to create a diagram. Several shapes in the diagram will be the same type and size and use most of the same font formatting. How can you do the least work and still achieve the best result? Try the following steps:
1. Create and size the first shape, and then add the necessary text to that shape based on whatever shape will contain the most text. Using this technique allows you to apply font formatting that will work for all duplicated shapes without needing to resize text.
2. Apply all formatting to that first shape that will be identical in the duplicated shapes. Even if the new shapes will use different colors or have other formatting differences, save time by applying your fill, borders, and graphic effects before duplicating anything. For example, if you want different colored gradient fills, setting up the gradient in the first shape still saves you time because you can retain the type and direction of the gradient in subsequent shapes and merely change the color. Note that, if you’re using theme formatting (and I hope you are), this step might just be a single click to apply fill, border, and effects. Remember that the Shape Styles gallery on the Drawing Tools Format tab (Format tab in Office 2011) automatically coordinates with the colors and formatting effects from your active theme.
3. Duplicate the shapes. If your finished graphic needs to be constrained to a certain height or width, duplicate the shapes across or down to create the most shapes needed in a single row or column. Space the shapes and be sure that they fit before doing any further duplication or formatting, in case you need to resize them.
4. If you need to resize the collection of objects, group them and then either resize using the Size options on the Drawing Tools Format tab (Format tab) or by dragging a corner handle. When you group before resizing, PowerPoint maintains the same amount of space between shapes while resizing.
5. Before making any formatting changes to the shapes in a diagram, consider which shapes might need the same formatting and always select all applicable shapes to act on them at the same time. As you can see in the preceding steps, by using your own powers of planning and organization, along with the simple timesaving tools provided by PowerPoint, perfect can indeed be much easier than “close enough.”
Accessing and Managing Shapes Both Office 2010 and Office 2011 have terrific exclusive features for accessing shapes on slides and in documents. n
The Selection And Visibility pane is an Office 2010 exclusive feature with which you can select an object on the slide, hide the object without deleting it from the slide, rename an object, or reorder objects.
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Dynamic reordering is a new feature in PowerPoint 2011 (and Word 2011 Publishing Layout view) that you can use to see and access all objects on the slide, layout, page, or master, in a visually stunning, instant 3-D view.
Using the Selection And Visibility Pane in Office 2010 In the illustration that follows, the larger of the two concentric boxes is in front of the smaller one, so that the semitransparent fill can partially mask the smaller shape.
The problem is that you need to change the shape or formatting of the smaller shape. How do you select it? If you have the space on the slide, you can drag around the smaller shape to marquee it. But, what if the slide is too crowded to give you a clear place from which to drag, or what if the shapes are grouped (as they are in this case)? If you’re a keyboard fan, you can select the group and the press Tab to cycle through selecting different shapes within the group. Note that pressing Tab will cycle through shapes included in the group first, and then will continue to select other objects on the slide, one at a time. Alternatively, if you use Office 2010, you can use the Selection And Visibility pane. To access this pane, on the Home tab, in the Editing group, click Select, and then click Selection Pane. n
Every object in the current view is listed individually in the pane. As you see in Figure 14-10, just click the shape name to select it—despite the fact that the shape is behind another and they’re grouped. (Note that you can apply formatting, move objects, or even add or edit text in individual shapes while they’re grouped.)
Note The Se ect on And V s b ty pane s ava ab e n Word 2010 and Exce 2010, as we new to Word 2010
It s
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Figure 14-10 The Office 2010 Se ect on And V s b ty pane.
So, what if there are dozens of objects on the slide—how do you know which one you need? It takes just a minute to click through them in the pane. If your objects are grouped, notice that the group appears as an option at the top of the list of individual items, so you can narrow the field more quickly by clicking group names first to see which group fits your shape (you can also collapse groups to see more objects at once). But, once you find the shape you need, you can also rename it in the pane so that you can find it again more easily later. Simply click the shape name again after selecting it to access the text box for that shape name (just as you might do to edit a file name in a Windows Explorer). Then, replace the existing name with the shape name that you want, and then press Enter. Note Those of you who use V sua Bas c for App cat ons (VBA) w be p eased to see th s s mp e new access po nt for renam ng objects on a s de Keep n m nd that the names you g ve to shapes or other objects here can a so be used n your VBA macros If you don’t yet use VBA but wou d ke to earn, don’t forget to check out Chapter 23, “VBA Pr mer ”
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This pane also offers the ability to hide any object without deleting it. While designing diagrams or other slide content, it can be handy to temporarily hide elements as you decide what you want for your final graphic. This tool can also be useful when working with stock content that you frequently reuse, to hide certain elements on a slide during a specific presentation. Caution If you use the Se ect on And V s b ty pane to h de s de content, remember that the content rema ns n the presentat on and anyone who opens the presentat on can easy unh de that content Because th s s one of the features that the Document Inspector searches for, t’s a good dea to run the Document Inspector before shar ng a PowerPo nt fi e f there’s a poss b ty that s de content has been h dden Learn about the Document Inspector and other opt ons for manag ng h dden document content n Chapter 2, “Understand ng E ectron c Documents ”
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Finally, you can use this pane to easily reorder objects, even those that are grouped. Use the reorder arrows that you see in Figure 14-10 to move objects in front or behind others. Note that the position of the object in the pane will also change when you change its order on the slide.
Using Dynamic Reordering in PowerPoint 2011 Mac users, are you disappointed that you don’t have the Selection And Visibility pane in Mac Office? Although that pane can do more than the Office 2011 feature we’re about to look at, you have no reason to feel slighted. The new dynamic reordering in PowerPoint 2011 (and Word 2011 Publishing Layout view) is no consolation prize. In fact, it’s one of the sexiest software features I’ve ever seen. When I first saw this feature, I thought it was beautiful but probably not all that useful. Today, I doubt that I work in PowerPoint 2011 or Word 2011 Publishing Layout view any day without using it multiple times. It gives you an instant 3-D look at your active view, as shown in Figure 14-11. Note No stat c mage, part cu ar y n a b ack and wh te book, can do th s feature just ce So p ease trust me on th s; you must try th s one for yourse f
Figure 14-11 Dynam c reorder ng shown on the t t e s de ayout for the bu t n Sky theme (the comp ete
ayout s shown as a thumbna above r ght for compar son).
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To access dynamic reordering, on the Home tab, in the Format group, click Arrange, and then click Reorder Objects.
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Move your mouse pointer across objects to see their number in the object order, and then just drag an object to reorder it.
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When you’re happy with the new order, press Return (or click Close) to return to your slide or layout, or press Esc or Cancel to return to your work without accepting your changes.
Note Dynam c reorder ng shows grouped objects as a s ng e ayer, so ungroup them before us ng th s too when you need to reorder objects w th n the group For examp e, for F gure 14-11, I ungrouped the bu et-shaped objects before creat ng th s screenshot A so note that dynam c reorder ng n PowerPo nt 2011 shows you a objects on the s de or the ayout, depend ng upon wh ch s act ve When you use th s feature n Word 2011 Pub sh ng Layout v ew, you see a objects on both the page and the master ayer, but you can st on y reorder objects on the act ve ayer
See Also Read Chapter 10 to learn about Word 2011 Publishing Layout view, including dynamic reordering.
Formatting Shapes Effectively In Chapter 4, “Planning Your Documents,” I referenced one of my favorite quotes when talking about designing document content. When it comes to formatting graphics for your documents, that quote warrants another mention.
“Dress sharply and they notice the dress. Dress impeccably and they notice the woman.” —Coco Chanel Woman, man, or document, the same holds true. You have a wide range of formatting effects available to your Office Art graphics, and some of them are absolutely beautiful and extremely professional. But use them wisely. Throwing every effect and the kitchen sink onto your shapes isn’t going to help your information make an impact. Remember that the purpose of a business graphic is to get your important content noticed—nobody will give you their business because you know how to use gradients, shadows, and bevels in your presentation graphics. That said, what type of formatting can you apply to shapes? Let’s take a look. For this topic, we’ll focus on the Shape Styles group of the Drawing Tools Format tab (Format tab in Office 2011), as shown in Figure 14-12.
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Note A though th s sect on addresses shape formatt ng, note that the fi , ne, and effect op-
t ons d scussed here are much the same as you have for formatt ng p ctures, nd v dua SmartArt shapes, Exce chart e ements, and WordArt (a so known as Text Effects n Word 2010 and Text Sty es n Office 2011)
Office 2010
Office 2011
Figure 14-12 The Shape Sty es group on the Draw ng Too s Format tab n PowerPo nt 2010 and the Format tab n PowerPo nt 2011.
Note In PowerPo nt 2010, note that the features n the Shape Sty es group on the Draw ng Too s Format tab are a so ava ab e n the Draw ng group on the Home tab
The Shape Styles gallery is often the best place to start for formatting shapes because it includes formatting that coordinates with your active document theme. So not only do you automatically get formatting that matches other content in your document, but using styles means that you apply all of the fill, line, and effect formatting you need with one click and ensure that your formatting choices are consistent from one shape to the next. See Also To learn more about theme formatting, including customizing and creating your own themes, see Chapter 5. In that chapter, you can also see a diagram of the Shape Styles gallery that shows exactly how theme effects map to Shape Styles. But when you need custom formatting for individual shapes, explore the fill, outline, and effect options in this group, as follows: Caution When you use Shape F or Shape Out ne opt ons (F and L ne opt ons n Office 2011),
remember that you must se ect a co or from the Theme Co ors port on of the pa ette (as addressed n Chapter 5) for the co ors you app y to swap automat ca y f the app ed theme changes
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If you need a custom color that’s not in your theme (and you don’t need the color to be theme-ready), at the bottom of the Shape Fill (Fill in Office 2011) or Shape Outline (Line in Office 2011) gallery, click More Colors to type in any RGB color value.
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In Office 2010, you can use HSL color values in addition to RGB. In Office 2011, you can also enter CMYK or HSB values. n
You can get additional fill options (such as Picture, Texture, and Gradient) at the bottom of the Shape Fill gallery in Office 2010. In Office 2011, the Fill Effects command at the bottom of the gallery opens the Format Shape dialog box. However, in either Office 2010 or Office 2011, the Format Shape dialog box (shown in Figure 14-13) is the best place to go in most cases for fill effect options because you get basic settings and all customization options in one spot. To access this dialog box, right-click a shape, and then click Format Shape. In Office 2010, you can also open this dialog box by clicking the launch icon on the bottom-right corner of the Shape Styles group on the Drawing Tools Format tab. In Office 2011, on the Format menu, click Shape.
Figure 14-13 The F tab of the Format Shape d a og box, shown n PowerPo nt 2010 (top) and PowerPo nt 2011 (bottom).
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Gradient fills in particular became far more flexible in Office 2007 and Office 2008 and remain so in the current releases. You can now set up to ten gradient stops with individual color settings for each stop, as shown in Figure 14-14.
Figure 14-14 Grad ent fi opt ons shown n PowerPo nt 2010.
A common pet peeve with gradient fills is that, when you first select the option, the default gradient uses the Accent 1 theme color regardless of the color applied to your selected shapes. However, you have access to the full color palette (including, of course, the full Theme Color palette) along with other color settings to choose exactly the color you need. As you add gradient stops using the icons to the right of the gradient slider, you can drag to reposition them as needed. The gradient creates graduated colors that progress from your specified colors from one stop to the next. Office 2011 users note that gradient behavior is the same for you, with very similar options. You see Add Color and Remove Color commands under gradient settings, which are the equivalent of the Office 2010 Add Gradient Stop and Remove Gradient Stop icons. In both Office 2010 and Office 2011, you can select the gradient type (called style in Office 2011), including linear, radial, rectangular, and path. Depending upon your selected type, you might also be able to specify the angle and direction of the gradient. In both Office 2010 and Office 2011, you can select different colors for gradient stops or use transparency to change the color from one stop to the next. In Office 2010, you can also use the brightness control to manage stop colors in your gradient fill.
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Note that gradient line settings, mentioned later in this section, offer most of the same options and behave very much like gradient fills. o
Pattern fills are back! If you used Office 2007 or Office 2008, you might have noticed that pattern fills (such as diagonal stripes, often referred to as hash marks) were gone. This was especially annoying to chart users who depended upon fills such as hash marks to represent forecast values.
o
If you need a picture fill in a shape and find the picture fill options in the Format Shape dialog box a bit unruly to manage, there is an easier way. You can insert the picture, format it as needed, and then apply the shape. This feature was introduced in Office 2007 and 2008 as Picture Shape and might seem to have disappeared in Office 2010 and Office 2011, at first glance. But it’s just been moved and renamed. To apply a shape to a selected picture, on the Picture Tools Format tab (Format Picture tab in Office 2011), click the arrow below the Crop command to expand its options (beside the Crop command in Office 2011), and then click Crop To Shape (Mask To Shape in Office 2011). If the picture doesn’t fit in the shape as you’d like, you can use the greatly improved cropping tool in Office 2010 or Office 2011 to adjust it easily. See Chapter 5 for tips on working with the advanced cropping functionality. Note In Office 2010, the opt on to app y transparency to a p cture s not ava ab e
(Th s sett ng s ava ab e for p ctures n Office 2011 ) However, f Office 2010 users fi a shape w th a p cture, you can set transparency on the F tab of the Format Shape d a og box Note that us ng Crop To Shape app es a shape to the p cture rather than mak ng the p cture a fi , so th s s not an a ternat ve method n Office 2010 for ga n ng access to the transparency sett ng (However, f you use Office Open XML and prefer to nsert your p ctures as p ctures rather than shape fi s, you can add transparency eas y n the XML markup See Chapter 5 to earn more ) o
Note that the Slide Background Fill option that you see in Figure 14-13 for Office 2010 enables you to use the Background Styles gallery entries for the active theme as shape fills. This option is also available from the bottom of the Shape Styles gallery under the heading Other Theme Fills. And it’s available in Word 2010 and Excel 2010, as well. In Word 2010 in particular, this feature can be very useful for further coordinating your Word documents with your document theme. See Chapter 10 for more information about using this feature.
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This feature is not available in Office 2011. However, if you receive a document that uses the slide background fills, they are supported—that is, you will see them correctly in Office 2011. n
Similar to working with shape fills, although you can get some line formatting options in the Shape Outline (Line) gallery, the Format Shape dialog box is often the best place to go when you need to do much more than apply a solid line color. In this dialog box, you can format gradient lines and set several line style options. Note that Figure 14-15 shows line style settings in PowerPoint 2010. To access the same settings in PowerPoint 2011, in the Format Shape dialog box, on the Line tab, click Weights And Arrows. (In Office 2011, note that the Compound line setting is referred to as Line Style.)
Figure 14-15 L ne sty e opt ons as shown n PowerPo nt 2010.
Most of the line style settings are very straightforward, but two warrant additional explanations. o
The Cap Style refers to the start and end points of a line. It can be flat, square, or round.
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The Join Style refers to the formatting of corners on shapes, where lines meet. By default, this option is set to round corners, and it’s a personal pet peeve of mine. For example, if you apply a heavy outline to a shape that has sharp corners, such as a rectangle, the round join type will cause the shape to appear much like a rounded rectangle, as you see here.
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If you wanted a rounded rectangle, you probably would have created a rounded rectangle. So, if you want sharp corners on your sharp-cornered shapes, change the join type to miter. Of course, the rounded corner option might come in handy in some cases. You also might want to check out the bevel join type option, which creates the more unique beveled corners, as you see here.
Note that none of the join type or cap type options are obvious on your shapes and lines unless your outline is fairly thick. Tip If you use the Open XML Theme Bu der referenced n Chapter 5 to create custom themes, note that the ne jo n type (a ong w th a coup e of other ne formatt ng opt ons, such as grad ent nes) s consp cuous y m ss ng from the ne formatt ng opt ons that you can custom ze us ng that too But that doesn’t mean you can’t nc ude custom sett ngs for these features n your theme You have to add them manua y n the theme1 xm fi e (us ng Office Open XML), but do ng th s s much eas er than you m ght th nk If you’re new to Office Open XML, see Chapter 24 to get started If you a ready know the bas cs of Office Open XML, just app y the formatt ng you want n your theme to a shape on a PowerPo nt s de and then open the XML document part for that s de Copy the markup you need and paste t nto the markup for the formatt ng effects for your theme When you do th s, take note f prefixes on tags n the markup you copy need to be changed to fix the prefixes used for theme effect formatt ng tags n theme1 xm n
The Shape Effects menu (Effects menu in Office 2011), shown in Figure 14-16, includes galleries of preset options for shadow, reflection, glow, bevel, and 3-D rotation. In Office 2010, this menu also includes galleries for soft edges and a gallery of preset combinations of effects.
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Office 2010
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Office 2011
Figure 14-16 The Shape Effects menu n Office 2010 and the Effects menu n Office 2011.
Office 2010 introduces improvements for many formatting effects, such as the ability to customize reflections and soft edges. This enhanced functionality is available in Office 2011 as well, but it’s not new to Mac users (the same flexibility was available in Office 2008). Unlike the previous recommendation to go to the dialog box directly for fill and line formatting, the effect galleries are more often the best place to start. In each gallery, you can choose from a range of commonly-used options that might be exactly what you need. But even if they’re not what you need, you can usually save time on customizing settings by applying one of the preset options first. Using the galleries often saves time because many of these effects have multiple setting options, such as shadows. When you start with a preset option for a shadow, for example, you get initial settings for each option that both give you an idea of what those settings do and a place from which to start customizing, as is shown in Figure 14-17.
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Figure 14-17 Sett ngs for a shadow ga ery entry shown n the Format Shape d a og box.
One of the best things about the formatting dialog boxes for Office Art elements is that you can see the changes as you make them, while the dialog box is still open. This is true in both Office 2010 and Office 2011. So you can experiment with those settings and see how adjustments affect the results on your selected content. Tip In Office 2010, Office Art formatt ng d a og boxes are mode ess, mean ng that you can eave the d a og box open and c ck back onto a s de, page, or worksheet to take other act ons or se ect d fferent content to format For examp e, f you n t a y open the Format Shape d a og box when formatt ng a se ected shape, and then c ck back onto a s de to seect a p cture, the open d a og box automat ca y becomes the Format P cture d a og box The on y downs de to the mode ess behav or of these d a og boxes s that there s no Cance button But f you don’t ke the formatt ng you app y, you can just undo the act on (Ctr +Z), even wh e the d a og box s st open o
At the bottom of each gallery in the effects menus, you see an Options command that opens the Format Shape dialog box where you can further customize settings.
o
In the Format Shape dialog boxes in Office 2010 and Office 2011, note that you see some tabs that might not be available in all cases, such as picture correction options. Keep in mind that the dialog box provides all available formatting settings you might need. For example, if you fill your shape with a picture, the picture correction options in this dialog box become available.
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The Office 2011 Effects menu doesn’t include a gallery for soft edges formatting, as you see in Figure 14-16. However, that formatting is available through the Format Shape dialog box.
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Caution If you create custom theme effects for use w th e ther Office 2010 or Office
2011, be carefu when us ng soft edges Even a sma soft edges sett ng of a coup e of po nts can wreak havoc n some Qu ck Sty e ga er es, part cu ar y for charts For examp e, you m ght open the Chart Sty es ga ery for the ne chart and be eve that the ga ery s d sp ay ng an error because you w see no nes n the sty e thumbna s But there s no error The reason you m ght not see content n prev ews s that the soft edge s e ther w der than the object tse f (such as the ne ser es n a ne chart) or just w de enough to obscure content Remember that the theme effect formatt ng you use popu ates automat ca y throughout ga er es for a types of Office Art objects For more nformat on about custom z ng themes and us ng Qu ck Sty e ga er es, see Chapter 5 o
The Office 2010 Preset gallery on the Effects menu provides several examples of effects used in combination. Although I’m not a fan of cookie-cutter content, when you first start using Office Art effects, it can be useful to try out some of these combinations just to give you an idea of what you can do. For example, take a look at Figure 14-18 for a shape shown without effects, and then with two different Preset gallery options.
Figure 14-18 The same shape shown n PowerPo nt 2010 w thout effects ( eft),
w th Preset ga ery opt on 2 (center), and w th Preset ga ery opt on 10 (r ght).
Save time applying the same formatting to additional shapes When formatting Office Art shapes (or several types of Office Art objects, such as pictures), you can use the repeat or redo command keyboard shortcuts to save time on formatting multiple objects (F4 or Ctrl+Y in Office 2010, Command+Y in Office 2011). When you format selected Office Art objects and then change your selection, you can use the redo shortcut to apply the set of formatting that you last applied. For example, if you set up a custom shadow (changing the transparency, size, blur, angle, and distance settings) and then select another shape and press the redo shortcut, the full set of shadow settings is applied to the selected shape. In fact, because Office 2010 Office Art formatting dialog boxes can remain open when you change your selection, Windows users can even use the redo command to format additional objects without closing the dialog box.
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Additionally, because it can be a challenge to stay on top of each formatting effect applied to a given shape (particularly when you use Quick Style formatting to apply several settings at once), note that both Windows and Mac OS users don’t need to spend time trying to recreate the same formatting for additional shapes. Use the Format Painter keyboard shortcuts to copy and paste formatting between shapes, text, or objects in both PowerPoint and Word (and, in Excel 2010 for Office Art shapes). To do this, select the shape containing the formatting that you want to copy, and then press Ctrl+Shift+C (Command+Shift+C in Office 2011). Next, select the shapes to which you want to apply the same formatting, and then press Ctrl+Shift+V (Command+Shift+V). Using these shortcuts instead of the Format Painter icon on the Ribbon (on the Standard toolbar in Office 2011) creates a formatting clipboard. So, for example, once you copy formatting on a PowerPoint slide, it’s available to paste on any slide, in any presentation, until you copy another set of formatting or exit PowerPoint. Note, however, that the Format Painter keyboard shortcuts create separate formatting clipboards in each program where they are available—you can’t copy formatting from one program and paste it in the other. Mouse users might also want to note that these keyboard shortcuts in PowerPoint are the equivalent of the Pick Up Style and Apply Style commands (Pick Up Object Style and Apply Object Style in PowerPoint for Mac) that you might know from early versions of PowerPoint. Although Pick Up Style and Apply Style are not available in the PowerPoint user interface by default, in PowerPoint 2010 you can add them to your Ribbon or Quick Access Toolbar through the Customize tab of the PowerPoint Options dialog box. In PowerPoint 2011, on the View menu, point to Toolbars, and then click Customize Toolbars And Menus to add these commands to a menu or toolbar.
Sizing and Positioning Objects The Size group that you see on the contextual Format tab for a selected object type provides quick access to height and width settings (and to the improved Crop tool for pictures). However, changing height and width is far from all you can control about the size and position of objects on the slide, page, or sheet. For most size and position settings, open the applicable dialog box. In Office 2011 as well as in PowerPoint 2010 and Excel 2010, this is the Format dialog box for the object type (such as Format Shape or Format Picture). Windows users note, however, that Word 2010 places size and position options for objects in the Layout dialog box.
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Note Office 2010 users w be happy to see that the m sgu ded Office 2007 dec s on to move
s ze and pos t on opt ons to another d a og box has been reversed for PowerPo nt 2010 and Exce 2010 As ment oned here, those sett ngs are back n the app cab e Format d a og box (such as Format Shape or Format P cture) where they be ong
In Word 2010, to access s ze and pos t on opt ons n the Layout d a og box, c ck the d a og aunch con n the S ze group on the app cab e Format tab You can a so access th s d a og box us ng S ze And Pos t on or More Layout Opt ons commands, ava ab e when you r ght-c ck an object (the ava ab e opt on var es by object type), or at the bottom of a Pos t on or Wrap Text ga ery
Most size and position options for Office Art objects are straightforward. Following are just a few key tips to help save you time: n
When you insert a picture on a slide, page, or worksheet, proportions are constrained by default. However, this is not the case for other Office Art objects, such as shapes. However, you can change that setting for any object on the Size tab of the applicable dialog box before changing height or width in either size or scale. Once that setting is applied to an object, you can resize the object using the Size group on the applicable Format contextual tab, and your setting to constrain or not constrain proportions will be honored. To change this setting, on the Size tab of the applicable dialog box, under Scale settings, click Lock Aspect Ratio, as shown in Figure 14-19. (This figure shows Office 2010 but the same options are available in Office 2011.)
Figure 14-19 Sca e opt ons for work ng w th objects as shown n Office 2010.
See Also The Lock Aspect Ratio setting for pictures is very important when you change the proportions of a PowerPoint presentation (such as between standard and widescreen or between landscape and portrait), because pictures become distorted. See Chapter 13 for guidance on how to quickly fix the aspect ratio in presentations after changing slide size or orientation. n
Position settings vary by program. In PowerPoint, you can position objects at a specified distance from the top and left corner (or the center) of the slide. In Excel, position options are on the Properties tab of the applicable Format dialog box, and provide settings for whether to move or size objects with cells. In Word, position options are more complex and include text wrapping settings, positioning settings, and options for layout behavior (such as whether to move objects with text). See Also For specific information about managing object layout in Word, see Chapter 10.
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In Office 2010, when you right-click a picture, a mini-toolbar appears above the shortcut menu that provides quick access to size, order, and rotation settings. Note In Word 2010, as of th s wr t ng, there s an nterm ttent bug that m ght cause the He ght and W dth commands on the P cture Too s Format tab to gnore your changes If th s happens, you can change the p cture s ze us ng the m n -too bar that appears when you r ght-c ck or n the Layout d a og box If you don’t need to set a spec fic va ue, you can a so drag to res ze the p cture
In Office 2011, as noted earlier in this chapter, remember that you also see height and width settings in a ScreenTip as you drag to resize objects.
Organizing Content Precisely with the Arrange Tools Do you nudge, fuss, and fight with objects to position them on slides (or on pages or worksheets)? If you do, you’re not alone. This is one of the most common areas where PowerPoint users waste time and end up getting inferior results for their efforts. So, unless you have time to burn and don’t really care about the quality of your results, spend a few minutes getting familiar with the simple and powerful Arrange tools—order, alignment, grouping, and rotation. The entire purpose of these features is to give you fast, precise results with no trial and error. You can find these tools on the applicable Format contextual tab for your selected object type, as shown in Figure 14-20.
Office 2010
Office 2011
Figure 14-20 The Arrange group shown on the Draw ng Too s Format tab n PowerPo nt 2010 and the Format tab n PowerPo nt 2011. n
Order actions, including Bring To Front, Send To Back, Bring Forward, and Send Backward.
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Grouping actions, including Group, Ungroup, and Regroup.
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Align actions, including both Align and Distribute options. In Office 2010, the Align options are also where you can access Grid Settings (which, in PowerPoint, includes drawing guides).
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In Excel for Mac 2011, you can also access the options to snap to grid or shape under Align options in the Arrange group. In PowerPoint 2011, access grid and guide options on the View menu, under Guides. In Word 2011, available Grid and Guides settings are on the Layout tab. Note that guides are only available in Word 2011 when working in Publishing Layout view. n
Rotation actions include Rotate and Flip presets. To set a custom rotation value, use the Size tab of the applicable dialog box, discussed earlier. Also discussed earlier in Table 14-1, you can rotate selected objects using the new rotation keyboard shortcuts, Alt+left or right arrow (add Ctrl to this keyboard combination to rotate in smaller increments).
Note In Office 2010, you can a so access the Se ect on And V s b ty pane from the Arrange opt ons on any tab where those opt ons appear Although most of these commands are straightforward, you might be able to do more with them than you expect. Use the following tips to work easily and get more from the Arrange tools: n
Working with object order was discussed earlier in the section on accessing and managing shapes using the Selection And Visibility pane (in Office 2010) or dynamic reordering (in PowerPoint 2011 and Word 2011 Publishing Layout view). Just select an object, and then use the Order commands in the Arrange group to change its front-to-back order (many applications refer to this as z-order). In addition to sending one object behind or in front of another, these tools can come in very handy when designing more complex layouts with multiple layers or when choreographing animated slides. See Also Read Chapter 16, “Putting on a Show,” for information about working with animation in PowerPoint.
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Grouping objects is a good way to save extra work. Once you’ve finished placing, aligning, distributing, and ordering objects, group them to keep your result precise. As discussed earlier, you can still select and format individual objects in a group. Grouping simply keeps the elements of your graphic together, so that they can be managed as a single object.
Caution It s poss b e to drag or nudge se ected shapes w th n a group to move or res ze them They rema n part of the group, but the r s ze or pos t on changes That’s great news when you want to access an nd v dua object n a group to make changes But because the purpose of group ng s often to keep a gnment and other pos t on ng sett ngs ntact, t’s mportant to be carefu that you don’t nadvertent y change s ze or pos t on of group e ements
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See Also Grouping (actually, ungrouping) also comes in handy when you want to get your vector artwork into Office 2010 programs, as discussed in the section "Getting Your Vector Graphics into Microsoft Office," later in this chapter. Grouping can also be used as an editing tool, such as when temporarily grouping objects to align or distribute them, as discussed in the next section, “Using Drawing Guides.” n
Align and Distribute actions can save you more time when working with shapes than probably any other feature. Consider the following to help keep it simple: o
When aligning selected objects, they will align to the object that’s furthest in the direction you’re aligning. For example, clicking Top will align all objects to the top of the object closest to the top of the slide. Note Th s s d fferent n V s o, where shapes w a gn to the first shape you se ect
f you c ck to se ect each shape However, f you drag a marquee to se ect a shapes to be a gned, the a gnment fo ows PowerPo nt sty e and a gns to the furthest shape n the d rect on of the a gnment
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When aligning smaller and larger objects, if the larger object fully covers the distance of the smaller object in the direction you’re aligning, the larger object doesn’t move. For example, to align the middles of the two shapes in the following image (move them vertically so that their middle handles align), only the smaller shape would move:
However, the following two shapes would both move toward the middle:
o
If you need equal space between several objects, select them, and then in the Align options, click either Distribute Horizontally or Distribute Vertically. (Note that a minimum of three objects are required in the selection to enable the Distribute options.)
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o
When you use the Distribute options, the outermost objects don’t move. Only those between the left and right, or top and bottom, objects adjust to create equal space between all selected objects.
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Once you align or distribute objects, be careful not to include some of the aligned objects in another Align or Distribute action, or you might throw off the first alignment. Instead, consider utilizing drawing guides in PowerPoint (or in Word 2011 Publishing Layout view) to help you get the job done, as discussed in the next section.
Using Drawing Guides PowerPoint drawing guides (called static guides in PowerPoint 2011) have three primary functions: n
Specify object positions when formatting a slide master and layouts, to help you easily keep positioning precise and consistent when you move from one layout to the next to customize placeholder size and position. See Also To learn about working with slide masters, layouts, and placeholders, see Chapter 13. Note also that you can use guides in Word 2011 Publishing Layout view to specify page divisions for some content types without putting printable borders on the page, such as for setting up a page of business cards. Learn more about working in Publishing Layout view in Chapter 10.
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Specify page layout when you need objects that aren’t inside placeholders to be aligned precisely or in the same position across slides.
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Align objects when the Align or Distribute tools can’t be used, such as when you have already aligned or distributed shapes for a custom diagram and then need to align just some of those shapes to another object.
When you show drawing guides on screen, you start with one vertical and one horizontal guide that cross in the center of the slide. When you drag a guide, it shows you the distance you move the guide, measured from the center of the slide (guides display measurements in your default unit of measure, such as inches or centimeters). Drawing guides don’t print and aren’t selected when you drag a marquee to select objects, so they’re a very handy tool for creating the layout you need. Use the following guidelines to get the most out of drawing guides. n
To toggle drawing guides (static guides) on or off, press Alt+F9 (Ctrl+Command+Alt+G in PowerPoint 2011). If you prefer to use the mouse, right-click a blank area of a slide and then, in PowerPoint 2010, click Grid And Guides; in PowerPoint 2011, point to Guides for guide options.
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As mentioned earlier, in PowerPoint 2010, you can also find guide settings under Grid Settings at the bottom of the Align options in the Arrange group of an applicable Format tab. In PowerPoint 2011, on the View menu, point to Guides. n
You get one set of drawing guides per presentation. So, if you add, move, or delete drawing guides on a slide, those changes will be reflected regardless of the active slide in the presentation. However, drawing guide settings are independent for each presentation. Drawing guide settings are also saved with the document, so if you hide the guides and turn them on in a separate work session days later, your last guide settings in that presentation will have been retained.
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To drag a guide in smaller increments than the grid, hold the Alt key while dragging.
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To measure the distance from the current location when you drag, hold the Shift key while dragging. The Shift key resets the position indicator on the guide to zero at the point of origin.
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To duplicate a guide, hold the Ctrl key (Command+Alt in PowerPoint 2011) while dragging.
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As with shapes and other objects, you can use the preceding keyboard shortcuts together to get exactly the measurement you need. For example, if you need a second guide 0.25 inches from the first, hold Ctrl+Shift+Alt while you drag (Command+Shift+Alt in PowerPoint 2011) to duplicate while showing the distance from the point of origin and moving in precise increments.
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If you no longer need duplicate guides, drag vertical guides off the right edge of the screen to delete them and horizontal guides off the bottom edge of the screen to delete them. Note that you can’t delete the default guides in this way.
Editing Shapes For a human being, change can take years of study, education, or travel. Or, we might undertake more materialistic types of change, such as going under a plastic surgeon’s knife. Shapes, on the other hand, have it easy. If you were a shape, you could change and grow practically at will. In some cases, shapes can morph into different forms just by moving their yellow diamond reshape tool. Most shapes can use the Change Shape tool to become different shapes, and all shapes can now be edited like freeform objects using Edit Points. What’s more, in PowerPoint 2010 and PowerPoint 2011, shapes can now be combined in multiple ways by using the new custom shape actions. Okay, so shapes don’t have it quite that easy. They need a human being with a mouse pointer to change their characteristics. But while your shapes aren’t self-actualized, they do make your work easier when you need custom graphic elements in your documents.
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Changing Shapes There are four ways to change the shape of a built-in shape: n
Many shapes have one or more reshape tools (the yellow diamond that appears on the perimeter of the shape when selected) that you can drag to alter the shape. Some reshape tools handle fairly basic changes, such as the depth or thickness of an arrow or the size of a pie slice. Others can dramatically change shapes. For example, look at the teardrop shape in three different forms. On the left is the default shape, and the other two options are created by dragging the reshape tool in opposite directions.
Similarly, the 4-Part Star becomes an octagon when its reshape tool is moved as far as it can go.
Some reshape tools also provide useful details that you might not know are available to you. For example, the two reshape tools on the Right Brace that’s shown in the following image change the curve of the brace and the position of the pointer on the brace, respectively.
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You can change any shape (other than connectors) to other built-in shapes by using the Change Shape tool. You can even change shapes that you customize or create with the freeform tool into built-in shapes. o
To access the Change Shape tool in Office 2010, first select the shapes that you want to change. Then, on the Drawing Tools Format tab, in the Insert Shapes group, click to expand the Edit Shape options, point to Change Shape, and then
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click to select the shape that you want. (Change Shape is also available on the SmartArt Tools Format tab, in the Shapes group.) o
In Office 2011, you might think this tool is missing unless you’re working in SmartArt. But, on the SmartArt tab, in the Edit SmartArt group, the Shapes command is available to change the shape of selected shapes whether or not they’re in SmartArt. This is the only location where you’ll find this command in Office 2011 by default. But if it’s something you need frequently, you can add it to a menu or toolbar. To do this, on the View menu, point to Toolbars, and then click Customize Toolbars And Menus.
One of the best things about the change shape tool is the fact that it doesn’t work on connectors. This means that you can select an entire diagram or other graphic at one time and change the shape of all of the primary shapes without worrying about any connectors included in your selection. n
As discussed earlier in this chapter, the new custom shape actions are the best new PowerPoint feature you’ve probably never heard of. The feature is actually called Combine Shapes, and the available options are shown in Figure 14-21. But if you’ve never heard of them and never seen them, you have good reason: the options are not available in the PowerPoint 2010 user interface by default and they’re buried deep in the belly of the PowerPoint 2011 interface, under a right-click submenu.
Office 2010
Office 2011
Figure 14-21 Comb ne Shape act ons shown n PowerPo nt 2010 and PowerPo nt 2011.
Take the following steps to access these tools: o
In PowerPoint 2010, add these commands to the Ribbon or the Quick Access Toolbar. To do this, in the PowerPoint Options dialog box, on the Customize Quick Access Toolbar or Customize Ribbon tabs, select the Combine Shapes command. This command is available from the Commands Not In The Ribbon list, under Choose Commands From.
Editing Shapes o
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In PowerPoint 2011, select the shapes to act upon, right-click, and then point to Grouping to see the custom shape actions listed beneath the grouping commands.
You might be familiar with similar tools for working with shapes in programs like Visio or Adobe Illustrator. This new feature in PowerPoint has fewer options than you might know from the related tools in those programs, but they can be extraordinarily useful. For example, I recently used these tools to create a mask out of several shapes as a semi-transparent overlay in a Word template. Figure 14-22 provides a simple example of what each of these custom shape actions can do, to help you get started. Or g na shapes over app ng square and c rc e
Un on
Subtract (se ect square f rst)
Comb ne
Intersect
Subtract (se ect c rc e f rst)
Figure 14-22 Examp es of the new Comb ne Shapes too s (a so known as custom shape act ons). n
For those times when there is no built-in shape to suit your needs, and the reshape tool doesn’t give you enough flexibility, you can now edit points (discussed under the next heading) on any shape to create absolutely anything you want.
Edit Points to Create Virtually Anything In Office 2010 and Office 2011, you no longer have to start with the freeform tool or convert shapes to freeform objects to edit points. Just select a shape and enable the edit points feature, and you can literally edit each point in the shape independently. For example, look at the rectangle in the following image. This is how a selected shape looks when edit points is enabled. Each black square is a point that you can manipulate.
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After a few clicks, that rectangle now looks like the image that follows.
Using edit points is quite easy to learn, but if you’ve used it in the past, there are some changes in behavior. In Office 2007 and Office 2008, this feature changed and not for the better—behavior was frustrating and inconsistent. All that appears to be fixed now and edit points is once again (and even more so than in earlier versions) a friendly, easy-to-use tool. Following are key points to help you master this feature and even have some fun with it: n
To begin using this feature, just right-click a shape, and then click Edit Points.
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If you click anywhere on the slide outside of the shape being edited, edit points automatically turns off.
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When you click a point, you see two blue handles with white boxes on the end. These handles control the curve of the segments on either side of the point. If you change the type of point (between smooth, corner, and straight), the appearance of the segments on either side of the point might change, but the behavior of the point handles does not.
n
To control the size of the curve in a segment, drag the white box at the end of a point handle closer to or further from the point. The shorter the handle, the tighter the curve; the longer the handle, the looser the curve can be. Each handle only controls half of a given segment. Use the handles on either side of a segment to control the full bend of a curve. To get a feel for the angles you can create with the handles on any point, drag a handle in a variety of directions to see how the curve changes. Remember that you can press Esc before releasing your drag on the handle to cancel the action. Note A though Ed t Po nts mode ooks near y dent ca n Office 2010 and Office 2011,
Mac users get a n ce tt e exc us ve benefit n th s mode When you drag a hand e or otherw se move or change a po nt, a b ue gr d appears n front of your shape to he p you a gn more prec se y
n
Edit points is one of very few features for which many tools are only available by shortcut methods. You can right-click for the option to add or delete points, open a path, or change the type of point. You can also use the following keyboard shortcuts to manage edit points:
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Ctrl+click on a line segment to add a new point. When you hover your mouse pointer on a line segment, you can also drag to add a new point.
o
Ctrl+click on an existing point to delete that point. (Note that, in Office 2011, this action treats Ctrl as a right-click replacement and opens the shortcut menu by default.)
o
Hold the Shift key while dragging an adjustment handle and the point to convert the point to a smooth point.
o
Hold the Alt key while dragging an adjustment handle to convert the point to a corner point.
o
Hold the Ctrl key while dragging to convert the point to a straight point.
Note Thanks to PowerPo nt MVP Echo Sw nford (http://echosvoice.com) for turn ng me on to some of the coo keyboard shortcuts for work ng w th ed t po nts
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When hovering over an object in Edit Points mode, if your insertion point looks like a box inside a cross, your insertion point is over a line segment. If it looks like a box surrounded by four triangles, your insertion point is over a point.
n
When you right-click anywhere on the shape perimeter, you see the option Open Path. Or, if you right-click on a line while in Edit Points mode, you’ll see Close Path. Open path separates segments to form a line; close path joins segments to turn a line into a shape. Note, however, that shapes for which you open a segment path can still use shape fill and effect formatting.
n
In addition to using edit points to create custom drawings, it can be a very useful editing tool. When you use single or multi-segment freeform lines (instead of connectors), you can enable edit points to shorten, lengthen, or change the angle of a given line segment.
Note If you want to create your own freeform draw ng (or mu t -segment ne) from scratch
nstead of convert ng a shape to a freeform, start w th the Freeform opt on under the L nes category n the Shape ga ery To use th s too , don’t drag to draw Instead, just c ck each t me you want to turn a corner and then doub e-c ck to end the draw ng Remember that you can turn corners nto curves ater by us ng ed t po nts
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Getting Your Graphic into Other Programs If you’re using PowerPoint to create graphics for use in Word or Excel, and you want the graphic to remain an editable, Office Art object, just copy and paste it between programs using default copy and paste methods. If you want to paste your graphic as a picture, PNG is the picture format that provides the best resolution for most graphics you create with SmartArt or drawing tools in Microsoft Office. In fact, PNG provides by far the clearest image when you use many Office Art formatting effects. See Also See Chapter 10 for a table that provides a summary of picture file formats and their recommended use in Microsoft Office programs. To use your Office Art graphics outside of the Microsoft Office programs, or to share just the graphic itself as a picture, you can use the Save As Picture command in Office 2010 or Office 2011. This command is available in PowerPoint, Word, and Excel. Just right-click the graphic, and then click Save As Picture. The Save As Picture dialog box will open, in which you can select a location and name for your new picture file. In most cases, PowerPoint selects the best picture format for your object. But, if you need to save your graphic in a different picture format, just change the Save As Type setting in the dialog box before saving the picture. Note A so keep n m nd that, f you need a p cture n a d fferent format than the fi e you have
handy, you can use the M crosoft Office P cture Manager to export t to another fi e format To access M crosoft Office P cture Manager, on the Start menu, c ck A Programs, then c ck M crosoft Office, and then c ck M crosoft Office Too s A so note that, when you r ght-c ck a p cture fi e n W ndows Exp orer and then po nt to Open W th, M crosoft Office P cture Manager shou d be one of the ava ab e opt ons
Getting Your Vector Graphics into Microsoft Office When you create graphics in other applications, such as Adobe Illustrator, you might export them from the original file using a Microsoft Office-compatible picture format and just insert them like you would any image. But you can also use options that enable you to work with the graphics you create in other programs, much like you do Office Art objects. That is, those graphics can respond to changes in your theme colors. Note In add t on to the opt ons addressed here, you can use externa graph cs when creat ng
custom themes For examp e, use an mage of a texture to create a texture fi n custom theme effects, or use a custom graph c to create s de background ga ery entr es for your theme
See Also To learn about customizing themes and tools to help you get this done, see Chapter 5.
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In Office 2010, you have two options for making external graphics theme-ready in your Microsoft Office documents—Office 2011 enables just the first of these: n
The improved picture editing tools in Office 2010 and Office 2011 include improved recolor tools that work with your active document theme colors. You might have used this tool to add a color wash on a photograph, but you might be able to use it more creatively to get complex background graphics to recolor with your theme. o
The trick to this approach is that you need to export a separate PNG image for each color that appears in the graphics in the source program. So, for example, if your graphic includes many elements but a total of three colors, you would export three PNGs—one each for the collection of elements formatted with the same color. You can then insert the PNGs in the Microsoft Office program, recolor them using the picture recolor tool, arrange, and then group them to recreate your original graphic.
o
There is an important catch, however, to this otherwise simple approach for recoloring PNGs in Microsoft Office. Before you export a PNG from the source program, recolor the elements in that PNG to a medium gray shade. If you export them in their original color, that color will affect the colors you apply with Office Art picture recolor options. Getting the best gray shade can take some trial and error, and the right shade depends largely upon your theme colors.
Note Extreme y v brant co ors m ght be d fficu t (or even mposs b e) to match us ng th s method
n
If you work in Office 2010, you have another option. Depending upon how your original art was drawn, you might be able to export it from its source program as a Windows Metafile (WMF) or Enhanced Metafile (EMF) picture and then convert it to Office Art shapes in PowerPoint, Word, or Excel. Note A though you can export a graph c as a WMF or EMF from many graph cs app cat ons on Mac OS, as we , the ab ty to convert those graph cs to Office Art shapes s not ava ab e n Office 2011 because the metafi e formats are W ndows graph c formats After you insert the WMF or EMF image into PowerPoint, Word, or Excel, just ungroup it. The first time you click Ungroup, you get a warning that this is an imported image and that ungrouping it will convert it to a Microsoft Office drawing object. Click Yes to confirm at this warning. You might then need to ungroup a second time to break the object into multiple shapes. Once you do, you can then use the same drawing tools discussed in this chapter for editing and formatting Office Art shapes.
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I frequently use this approach when creating sample slides in PowerPoint templates for corporate clients, especially for map graphics. By converting a map to shapes, users can recolor or reformat individual countries in the maps as needed. Caution The resu ts you get when you ungroup a metafi e us ng th s method are extreme y dependent upon how the or g na artwork was drawn Keep n m nd that the p eces you want to ungroup nto shapes had to be or g na y drawn as shapes For examp e, f a rectang e was drawn as four s ng e nes n the or g na program, t w not ungroup as a rectang e n Office 2010 You can also use this method to customize Clip Art drawings. When you insert a Clip Art drawing, it’s inserted into your Office 2010 program as a metafile picture. Use this method to convert the drawing to shapes and then you can customize it to create anything you like. Note Th nk C p Art sn’t worth your t me? Th nk aga n Office com C p Art prov des we
over 100,000 C p Art objects to choose from Th nk of a C p Art draw ng as you wou d any temp ate—there m ght be someth ng you can reuse and custom ze to create exact y the graph c you need w th much ess work Office 2011 bu t- n C p Art mages a so nc ude a w de range of beaut fu object mages w th a pha channe s (that s, transparent backgrounds) so that they can fit more eas y nto your content To access C p Art n Office 2010, on the Insert tab, c ck C p Art In Office 2011, on the Home tab, c ck P cture, and then c ck C p Art Browser Note that you can search Office com C p Art d rect y from the Office 2010 C p Art pane but not from w th n Office 2011 programs However, both Office 2010 and Office 2011 users can browse and down oad C p Art free from http://office.com/clipart
Chapter 15
Creating Multimedia Presentations In this chapter, you will: n
Learn about embedding versus linking media files in your presentations
n
Understand how to work with a range of video and audio file formats
n
Explore options for creating a high-quality video of your presentation
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Discover a range of new video formatting tools
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Learn about editing media in PowerPoint 2010
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Get tips for using PowerPoint 2010 media bookmarks to make your presentations more dynamic
Well, it’s about time. No more packaging files to send your presentation to others or show it from a different computer, just because your slide content includes a video or two. No more worrying about maintaining paths for linked video files so that your media will play. If you’re a PowerPoint user, you might already know what I’m about to tell you: we can finally embed video in PowerPoint presentations. But the story doesn’t stop there. Microsoft PowerPoint 2010 and PowerPoint for Mac 2011 offer tremendous advances in working with media in your presentations; simple details like improved media controls and video formatting tools give you a more professional experience. And some big wins for PowerPoint 2010—such as basic video editing, the ability to play back online videos right from a slide, and the capability to easily create a high-fidelity video of your presentation—are true game-changers when it comes to the level of multimedia presentations you can create. This is all good news, and you’ll learn about these great new features and others in this chapter. But that’s not all there is to it. There are some limitations to this new functionality, such as the fact that embedded media has limited backward compatibility. So this chapter also takes you through the potential downsides and, where available, their workarounds. Note that, because most of the functionality covered in this chapter is new or improved, you won’t see a list of new and improved features up front. We’ll just jump right in. Are you ready? Okay then. Lights, camera, action! (I’ve always wanted to say that.)
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Chapter Assumptions This chapter assumes that you are an experienced PowerPoint user and have created presentations and formatted slide content in at least a recent version of PowerPoint on Microsoft Windows or Mac OS. It also assumes that you have at least some familiarity with media files, even if that just means downloading and playing back songs and videos on your computer or your phone. Although most features addressed in this chapter are new to PowerPoint, you are not. So, as with most of the content in this book, this chapter covers what experienced users need to know to make the most of both existing and new capabilities. See Also For a list of resources for those readers who want more basic-level information, see the section “Who Will Benefit Most from This Book” in the introduction.
For Mac Users PowerPoint 2011 isn’t quite as much of a powerhouse upgrade for multimedia as PowerPoint 2010, but it’s no slouch either. You get embedded video and a broad range of video formatting tools. And some of the Office 2010-exclusive features are tools that Mac OS users don’t need, such as trimming video (because you’ve got that capability in the free QuickTime player). But if you re initially disheartened when you see some of the great bells and whistles you don’t get in this version, stick with me. The new video formatting tools can take you further than it might seem at first. And, if you use video and audio in your presentations, you’ll want to know about both the requirements and the limitations for sharing embedded media across versions and across platforms.
Embedding and Managing Media When you insert video or audio files onto your PowerPoint slides, they are now embedded by default. So, as long as you deliver your presentation using Office 2010 or Office for Mac 2011, and you don’t need to share the live presentation file for playback with people who are using an earlier version of PowerPoint, you’re all set. Well, almost. Consider four essential issues when inserting media files: n
You must save your files in the Office Open XML Formats (the Office 2010 and Office 2011 file formats, such as .pptx or .pptm for PowerPoint presentations) to embed media. If you embed media and then save your presentation in the legacy formats
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(such as .ppt, the Office 97 through Office 2004 PowerPoint presentation format), you will see a compatibility warning, and embedded media will be converted to pictures when you save. Caution When you are us ng (or shar ng w th those who use) PowerPo nt 2007 or
PowerPo nt 2008 for Mac, the embedded med a n your PowerPo nt 2010 and PowerPo nt 2011 presentat ons w p ay If t doesn’t, check Office 2007 or Office 2008 to ensure that the atest updates are nsta ed However, note that many features you can add to v deo n the current vers ons are not supported n pr or vers ons For examp e, f you app y a v deo sty e, t s not reta ned wh e the v deo s p ay ng back n PowerPo nt 2007 or PowerPo nt 2008 Th s caut onary note s ntended on y to warn you that p ayback m ght not ook the same to rec p ents who are watch ng the presentat on n the ear er vers on, depend ng on the opt ons you’ve app ed If you’re shar ng the fi e w th other ed tors who are us ng the 2007 or 2008 vers ons, they can ed t the presentat on and save t n those vers ons w thout concern—when you next open the presentat on n PowerPo nt 2010 or PowerPo nt 2011, your med a formatt ng w st be ntact
n
When you embed a media file, you are actually embedding a copy of that file. This means that when you format or edit the media on your slides, your actions have no effect on the original source file. So, feel free to have fun with the media in your presentations, knowing that you can get the original back (by inserting it again from the original source file) at any time.
n
Media files, especially video files, are often very large. PowerPoint won’t stop you from embedding a 100 MB video clip on a slide, for example. But don’t expect hundreds of megabytes of media files to play back problem-free during your slide show. And if it seems as though they do, please don’t be surprised when the presentation file itself demonstrates performance problems. So what can you do? PowerPoint 2010 gives you built-in tools for compressing embedded media files that can often help. But for both Windows and Mac OS users, you can often manage quality versus size with the media file format you select. See Also For more information, see the “Compress Media and Improve Compatibility” section later in this chapter.
n
Both PowerPoint 2010 and PowerPoint 2011 have become more flexible in the media formats that you can insert and playback. For example, you can now embed QuickTime movies in PowerPoint 2010. To insert and play back media in any format, however, the right codecs need to be installed on your computer. What is a codec? The word is taken from the terms coder and decoder (or compressor and decompressor, depending on who you ask). It’s essentially the format that allows the media file to be coded (or compressed) to create the file, and decoded (or decompressed) to play it back. Each operating system comes with different codec filters built
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in. For example, in many countries (including the United States), Windows comes with Windows Media Player built in, which provides support for formats including Windows Media files (WMV for video and WMA for audio); Mac OS comes with Quick Time installed, which provides support for formats such as MOV Quick Time movies. Note W ndows users, note that the med a codecs that PowerPo nt supports out of
the box vary by W ndows vers on For examp e, n some countr es, W ndows Med a P ayer s not nsta ed as part of W ndows But you can st down oad t for free from http://microsoft.com/downloads
So, if you try to insert or play back a media file and get an error message, try installing the necessary codecs. For example, if you’re a Mac OS user and want to insert or play back WMV files, download and install the free Windows Media Components for QuickTime (a third-party tool that you can download from either Microsoft’s or Apple’s website); if you’re a Windows user and are unable to insert or play back QuickTime files, download and install the free QuickTime player from Apple. (Note that some codecs for other formats might be available from third parties, and may carry a fee.) See Also To download the free Quick Time for Windows, visit www.apple.com/quicktime. To download the free Windows Media Components for QuickTime by Flip4Mac, visit www. microsoft.com/downloads/en/details.aspx?FamilyID 915d874d-d747-4180-a400-5f06b1b5e559. For more about media formats supported in Office 2010, see the Office.com help article “Compatible audio and video file formats in PowerPoint 2010” available at http://office. microsoft.com/en-us/powerpoint-help/compatible-audio-and-video-file-formats-inpowerpoint-2010-HA010336709.aspx?CTT 1. This article provides good background on media file formats, but note that it does not provide complete lists of supported formats. For example, it references extended format compatibility such as Quick Time movies, but does not include them in the list. You may also be able to use formats that are not mentioned in that list at all, such as DivX and H.264, when you have the appropriate codecs. For a list of media formats supported in Office 2011, see the Office for Mac help article, http://mac2.microsoft.com/help/office/14/en-us/powerpoint/item/ de03a4fa-8592-4c98-9a3c-2cbfdb3931d7. For additional information about working with codecs on Windows, see the Windows 7 help page “Codecs: frequently asked questions” at http://windows.microsoft.com/en-US/ windows7/Codecs-frequently-asked-questions. For additional information about working with codecs on Mac, see the Apple webpage on extending QuickTime at www.apple.com/quicktime/extending/components.html. Note that this is another resource where you can download the Flip4Mac Window Media Components for Quick Time.
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Use a Video As a Dynamic Background If you’ve ever tried to place objects in front of a video on a PowerPoint slide or place a video on a slide layout to run in the background, you were likely disappointed to discover that video always has to play in front. Well, that’s no longer true. In both PowerPoint 2010 and PowerPoint 2011, video now respects Z-order (front-to-back position). So, you can place objects in front of video, or even place video on the slide master or a slide layout to play in the background during a slide show. See Also To see how running video behind other objects enables you to display captions during your video, see the section “Use Bookmarks to Navigate or Choreograph Your Media,” later in this chapter.
Insert Video or Audio into Your Presentation To insert a video or audio object from your files:
In PowerPoint 2010
1. On the Insert tab, in the Media group, click Video or Audio (as applicable). The Insert Video or Insert Audio dialog box appears.
2. To embed the media object in your presentation, just select the file you need and then click Insert. To insert the media object as a link to the source file, click the arrow on the right edge of the Insert button and then click Link To File. Note When you nsert an SWF fi e (an Adobe F ash format) nto PowerPo nt 2010, t s st as a nked object by defau t and can’t be embedded
nserted
When you select a video in your presentation, the Video Tools Format and Playback tabs become available, as shown in Figure 15-1. When you select an audio object in your presentation, you get the Audio Tools Format and Playback tabs shown in Figure 15-2.
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Figure 15-1 The V deo Too s Format and P ayback tabs n PowerPo nt 2010.
Figure 15-2 The Aud o Too s Format and P ayback tabs n PowerPo nt 2010.
In PowerPoint 2011
1. On the Home tab, in the Insert group, click Media for the options to insert a movie or audio file from the Media Browser or from your files. If you choose to insert the file from the Media Browser, the browser opens to the applicable tab—the Movie Browser or Audio Browser. If you choose to insert the media from a file, the Choose A Movie or Choose Audio dialog box opens. Note The opt ons to nsert from the Med a Browser or from your fi es are a b t m s eadng The content that you access through the Med a Browser s saved n your fi es The d fference between the two opt ons s that the Med a Browser accesses and d sp ays med a fi es such as mov es and aud o from your app cab e med a brar es (such as Tunes or Mov e), whereas when you se ect the opt on to choose from your fi es, you manua y browse to the ocat on on your system where the med a fi e s saved
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2. To insert a media object using the Media Browser, just drag the object to your slide. It is automatically embedded. To insert the media file as an embedded object using the Choose A Movie or Choose Audio dialog box, just select the file and then click Insert. To insert the media object as a link to the source file, you must insert it using the Choose A Movie or Choose Audio dialog box. In that dialog box, select the Link To File option before you click Insert. When you select a video in your presentation, the Format Movie tab becomes available. When you select an audio object in the presentation, the Format Audio tab becomes available. Both tabs are shown in Figure 15-3.
Figure 15-3 The Format Mov e and Format Aud o tabs n PowerPo nt 2011.
Use Improved Media Playback Controls It’s definitely worth a mention that PowerPoint 2010 and PowerPoint 2011 provide improved controls for playing back media both on slide in Normal view and during your slide show. Play, pause, jump to a specific point on the video timeline, and adjust audio level without leaving the slide show. When in editing mode (Normal view), you can also jump forward or back by .025-second intervals.
Work with Linked Media Files Embedding media is a great advance in PowerPoint and certainly the best way to go when your media is a manageable size (or can be reduced to a manageable size) to ensure that performance remains good when you deliver your presentation. But if you need a lot of high-resolution video in your presentation, and compression options are not sufficient (and if that presentation won’t need to travel to many other computers as a live PowerPoint presentation), linking media files can still be a handy way to reduce file size, which can improve playback performance.
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Caution If you use nked med a n your presentat on and then need to share that presenta-
t on w th others, mak ng a mov e of the presentat on m ght be your best bet PowerPo nt 2010 st nc udes the Package For CD feature, but t’s a b t d uted from prev ous vers ons PowerPo nt 2011 no onger g ves you the opt on to save your presentat on as a package
In PowerPo nt 2010, c ck the F e tab, c ck Save & Send, and then c ck Package Presentat on For CD to access the Package For CD feature When you do, PowerPo nt d sp ays a st of tems that w be nc uded n the package However, the st s not ent re y accurate It says that the PowerPo nt V ewer w be nc uded n the package, but that s no onger the case Instead, when rec p ents p ay the CD, t w open to a webpage from wh ch they can down oad the v ewer For both PowerPo nt 2010 and PowerPo nt 2011, when you need to share a presentat on just for p ayback, cons der send ng t as a v deo nstead PowerPo nt 2010 nc udes the new, superb Create A V deo feature, wh ch creates a fu -fide ty v deo w th a of your med a p ayback, trans t ons, and more The PowerPo nt 2011 Save As Mov e feature, however, has not changed n th s vers on It doesn’t support med a p ayback (among other th ngs), so t’s not a great cho ce for shar ng mu t med a presentat ons However, you can eas y use a th rd-party app cat on, such as TechSm th’s Camtas a for Mac, where you can a so ed t and custom ze the v deo Learn about the opt ons for both PowerPo nt 2010 and PowerPo nt 2011 n the sect on “Create a V deo of Your Presentat on,” ater n th s chapter
Insert a Video from a Website in PowerPoint 2010 In previous versions of PowerPoint, if you post a video to a website (such as You Tube) and then want to play it back during your presentation, you need to add a hyperlink on a slide to take you to that webpage for playback. This is still the case in PowerPoint for Mac, but it’s not the end of the world—you can still get to the video and then get back to your presentation pretty easily. But if you’ve needed this functionality in the past, you might have wondered if there was a way to play that video directly from the slide rather than opening it in a browser. In PowerPoint 2010, you now have the option to insert a video onto your slide from a website and then play it back during your presentation right on the slide—no hyperlinks or browsers involved. To do this:
1. On the Insert tab, in the Media group, click the arrow at the bottom of the Video command and then click Video From Web Site.
2. In the dialog box that opens, paste the embed code for the video you want to insert and then click Insert. If the video can be embedded, the embed code is typically available from the webpage where the video is posted. You might see an embed command on the page, or you might need to right-click the video to see that option, depending upon the site. Just select and copy the embed code when it displays on screen.
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Note If you see a message that PowerPo nt cannot use the embed code you have pasted and
you know that you cop ed t correct y, PowerPo nt m ght requ re a d fferent type of code There are two types of embed codes ava ab e The correct embed code type to use n PowerPo nt starts w th the object tag That s, the word object appears after an open ang e bracket Preferences).
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As you can imagine, there are many uses for storing data in variables, document properties, or system-level resources such as the Registry. To explore this topic, use the Object Browser in your Visual Basic Editor to look up the Variable object, the property named CustomDocumentProperties, and the GetSetting and SaveSetting functions (the last two are functions used for storing data on the system level).
Storing Data on the System The SaveSetting function warrants an additional mention here, particularly for Mac users, because this information isn’t easily accessible in Help on the Mac. When you use the SaveSetting function on either platform, you essentially create a named location on the system where the value you indicate is stored. You can then access that value using the GetSetting function from VBA in any Microsoft Office program. n
On Windows, the locations you create are added as keys in the Windows Registry under the key: HKEY CURRENT USER\Software\VB and VBA Program Settings\.
n
On Mac, the locations you create are added as files (with the file extension .plist) in Library>Preferences (located in your Home folder). Note that earlier versions created these files in the Microsoft subfolder within Preferences, but that is no longer the case.
The structure of this function is as follows: SaveSetting "AppName", "Section", "Key", "Setting"
Each of the four arguments is a value you define. For example, if you are automating the creation of documents for a company with multiple brands, you might create an AppName for the company name, such as NorthwindTraders, and then define a section for storing the user’s brand preferences, as follows: SaveSetting SaveSetting SaveSetting SaveSetting SaveSetting
"NorthwindTraders", "NorthwindTraders", "NorthwindTraders", "NorthwindTraders", "NorthwindTraders",
"BrandPrefs", "BrandPrefs", "BrandPrefs", "BrandPrefs", "BrandPrefs",
"Department", "Marketing" "Title", "Marketing Manager" "Location", "London" "Paper Size", "A4" "LetterStyle", "Personal Letterhead"
Typically, you would collect this information from the user via a UserForm (dialog box) or from another data source. If you ran the preceding SaveSetting functions, the data you collected would be stored as follows: n
In the Windows Registry, you’d then see a key named NorthwindTraders with a subkey BrandPrefs. Within BrandPrefs, you would see each of the five values specified along with their data.
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In your Mac Home folder Library>Preferences, you’d see one file named NorthwindTraders.plist that includes all of the data for any sections and values within those sections.
The most important difference between using this function on Windows and on Mac is that you can edit the Windows Registry values you create directly in the Registry if desired. On Mac, you can view the .plist file in Text Edit, but trying to edit that file directly in Text Edit will destroy your data. There are tools available for editing .plist files on Mac, or you can just replace stored values by using the SaveSetting function again to resave the value you need. On both platforms, you can delete the setting from the Registry or Preferences folder if they are no longer needed without affecting any other data or functionality on the system. See Also Pref Setter is a user-friendly third-party tool for editing .plist files on the Mac. Find it at www.nightproductions.net.
Working with Object Model Member Arguments In addition to the variables that you can declare for use in your procedures, many items in the VBA object models include elements that use the same data types as variables to specify settings for that item. The elements, known as arguments (similar to arguments in an Excel formula), can be required or optional. An argument might be as simple as the index number of an object to specify it within the collection, such as the third table in the active document, written as ActiveDocument. Tables(3). Or, it might be a series of parameters that define how an action is to be executed, as is commonly used for VBA methods. Take a look at a few examples. n
When you use the FollowHyperlink method of the Document object in a statement, you get the options shown in Figure 23-10 in the Quick Info ScreenTip that appears after you type the open parenthesis following FollowHyperlink.
Figure 23-10 The Fo owHyper nk method s ava ab e n Word, PowerPo nt, and Exce .
Most of the arguments shown in Figure 23-10 are optional. Typically, optional arguments appear in brackets, but as you see here, that’s not always the case. You can’t follow a hyperlink without an address. This example is an exception. In most cases, if an argument appears in parentheses but seems to be key information, a default value is used when the parameter is omitted. For example, Selection.Move
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has parameters to define the unit and count by which to move the active selection. If those parameters are omitted, the default for unit is a character and for count is 1. So the insertion point is moved one character forward. n
When you use the Add method for a Table object, you get the arguments shown in Figure 23-11.
Figure 23-11 Parameters for add ng a tab e to a Word document.
The Add method is used for many objects in Word, PowerPoint, and Excel. It has different arguments, of course, for each, depending on the type of object being added. For the Table object, the range argument (that is, the location where you want the new table to appear), number of rows, and number of columns are required. Notice that the required parameters here (those not inside brackets) specify particular data types. The range is an object variable (referring to the Range object), and the number of rows and columns both use the long data type (as noted in the Quick Info). Note that the optional AutoFit behavior setting is a variant (default) data type, but it requires a value from an available set of constants. Learn about constants in the upcoming section “Using Constants.” n
The HomeKey method, shown in Figure 23-12, is used with the Selection object. It’s the VBA equivalent of using the Home key on your keyboard.
Figure 23-12 The HomeKey method d sp ay ng opt ona parameters.
The two available arguments used here—both of which are optional and use the variant data type—determine how far your insertion point moves (Unit) and whether the selection is extended (equivalent to holding the Shift key when you press the Home key) or your insertion point is simply moved to the new location. Both arguments require selections from a set of available constants, as we’ll discuss shortly in the “Using Constants” section. There are two ways to specify most arguments in statements such as those in the preceding list of examples. The first approach is to type the values for the arguments between parentheses immediately following the method (as you saw in the Quick Info ScreenTips for the three sample methods shown in Figures 23-10 through 23-12). When you use this approach, type a comma after each value you add. You’ll see that the active argument (the one for which you can add a value at your insertion point) is shown as bold in the ScreenTip. If you don’t intend to include a value for each argument, type consecutive commas until the argument you want to specify is bolded. If you place an argument in the wrong position between
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parentheses, the method won’t work correctly. Notice, however, that this approach can be confusing and difficult to read when you need to edit or troubleshoot a macro. Note Some types of arguments can be spec fied s mp y n quotat on marks after the statement name, as w th the SaveSetting funct on demonstrated prev ous y n the s debar “Stor ng Data on the System ”
Instead, for methods that take more than a single argument, specify each by typing the argument name, followed by a colon and an equal sign, followed by the value you want to assign. Separate each argument you specify with a single comma, and note that argument order doesn’t matter when you use this approach. Take a look at the following two examples: ActiveDocument.FollowHyperlink Address:="http://office.com", NewWindow:=True Selection.HomeKey Unit:=wdStory, Extend:=wdExtend
Using the explicit approach shown here helps to keep your code easy to read, edit, and troubleshoot.
How Much Do You Really Need to Know About Arguments? It’s important to know the syntax for specifying arguments or parameters, but in most cases, you don’t need to worry about the data type or whether the argument is required. Of course, you typically see the data type for required arguments in the Quick Info. But you’ll often know the type for optional arguments as well, simply from using the program. Because you’re an experienced user of the program you’re automating, you’re more likely to actively look for an argument that you know should be available for a given method (such as specifying a file type or setting a password for the file when you save a new document) than to need help understanding the ones you happen to find. In the case of the SaveAs method to save a file with a new name or file type (SaveAs2 in Word 2010), not even the file name is a required argument because the Save As dialog box, as you’ve surely seen, always provides a default name. Word and PowerPoint default either to the first phrase in the document or, for blank documents, to the document or presentation number assigned when a new document was generated. In Excel, the Save As dialog box always defaults to the book number assigned when the workbook was generated. Remember that one of the most important tools you have for working in VBA is your knowledge of the program you’re automating. As an advanced user, you’ll likely find that VBA is easier for you to learn than it is for a professional developer who doesn’t
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use the programs. Think of it this way: if you’re already a pretty good skier, you’ll probably learn how to snowboard much faster than someone who designs snowboards for a living but has never set foot on a mountain. However, there will still be times when you’ll need help determining what data type to use for an argument’s value or knowing when an argument is required. You can find a description of each argument for most applicable object model members, along with its data type and whether it’s optional or required, in the help topic for that item. See Also Learn how to find the help you need in the section “Getting Help,” later in this chapter.
Using Constants As mentioned previously, many items in VBA require the use of another data type, known as a constant. Unlike variables that can change as needed, constants are used when a defined set of options exists for the feature. Most constants in VBA are either specific to the individual program object model or are available in VBA for any Microsoft Office program. Note It’s poss b e to define your own constants n VBA as we However, the d scuss on of constants n th s chapter s m ted to bu t- n constants, genera y referred to as intrinsic constants
Constants specific to the Word object model start with the letters wd; those specific to the Excel object model start with the letters xl; those specific to PowerPoint start with pp; and those for use across the Microsoft Office programs start with mso. There are also sets of constants that are specific to the Visual Basic language and available to VBA in all of the Microsoft Office programs—these constants begin with the letters vb. Because constants are defined members of an object model, you can search for them in the Object Browser. For the purposes of searching the Object Browser, note that a set of constants is considered an enumeration class, and the constants within that enumeration are the members of that class. Sets of available constants for a given argument are also usually easy to find through VBA help. Additionally, Auto Lists are available for many constant sets, particularly object and property constants. Take a look at a few examples. n
The Type property of the Field object is available as a set of constants, provided in an Auto List when you type a valid statement for using this property. The example shown in Figure 23-13 is the beginning of a conditional statement.
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Figure 23-13 F e d type constants, shown n the Word 2010 V sua Bas c Ed tor.
See Also Learn about conditional statements in the section “Using Conditional Structures,” later in this chapter. Note that available constants might differ by platform or application. For example, the field type list in Figure 23-13 shows Word 2010 field types. Most, but not all, field types are available in both Word 2010 and Word 2011. n
Because different header or footer types are available in each section, the Header and Footer objects have a set of constants from which to select when you use those objects, as you see in Figure 23-14.
Figure 23-14 Ava ab e header and footer constants are the same n Word 2010 and Word 2011. n
The first macro you saw in this primer (in the section “Recording Macros”) recorded four consecutive statements for adding four paragraphs to the document. If you had written that macro instead, you could have used the constant vbCr, which is the VBA constant to indicate a carriage return. In that case, that first macro could have been written with the following code, in just two statements instead of six: Selection.Style = ActiveDocument.Styles("Heading 1") Selection.TypeText("Company Overview—" & vbCr & vbCr & vbCr & vbCr)
Note The ampersand (&) s used to comb ne the text and constant port ons of the text
str ng, just as you can do to comb ne text, funct ons, and ce references nto a text str ng n Exce Learn more about us ng operators n VBA n the sect on “Us ng Operators,” ater n th s chapter
n
Many arguments for different methods use the same sets of constants, which often are not available in Auto Lists, but are still easy enough to find. For example, the HomeKey method shown earlier uses constants for both of its arguments. The Unit argument uses the wdUnits set of constants; the Extend argument uses the wdMovementType set of constants.
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The easiest way to learn which constant set you need is to search VBA help for the applicable method. This is because, in some cases, not all members of a constant set are available to all methods that use those constants. For example, wdUnits includes 16 constants, but only 4 are available when used with the HomeKey method. (The four available in this case are wdLine [the default if you don’t specify the argument], wdStory, wdRow, and wdColumn—the last two of which apply only when your selection is in a table.) If you searched for the HomeKey method in VBA help, you’d see information about the available constants for both arguments. See Also Note that the upcoming ”Getting Help” section shows you how to use the Object Browser and VBA help reference together to save time. Comprehensive VBA help might not appear to be available in Office 2011, but Mac users, take heart—the “Getting Help” section provides an easy solution.
VBA by the Numbers: Using Numeric Values in Place of Constants It doesn’t take a mathematical genius to know that a term comprising several alpha characters, such as wdLine or msoThemeColorAccent2, is not a number, right? Actually, it is. A set of constants is referred to as an enumeration because each constant represents a numeric value. When writing your code, if you know the numeric value that corresponds to the constant you need, you can use that value instead. If you select a constant in the Object Browser, the definition you see in the browser (below the search results window) indicates the numeric equivalent. Similarly, when you use a constant in your macro, you can right-click the constant and then click Quick Info to see its value, as shown in Figure 23-15.
Figure 23-15 The numer c va ue of the wdL ne constant
Understanding Collection Objects Objects for which there can be many instances of the object type within a given scope are available as both an object and a collection object. A collection comprises all instances of a given object type within the specified scope. This distinction is important because the object and its collection object can have very different members (that is, a very different set of available properties and methods). For example, compare the two statements that follow: Documents(1).Tables.Count Documents(1).Tables(1).AllowAutoFit = True
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The first of the two preceding statements uses the Tables collection object. The second uses the Table object, specifying the first table in the collection. Both statements also use the Document object, specifying the first document in the Documents collection. (Note that the Documents collection in the Word object model refers to all currently open documents. The first document in the collection refers to the most recently opened document.) The Table object has a very broad set of members, as you see in Figure 23-16. It’s used whenever a single object is being referenced from the collection. Notice that only a fraction of this object’s member list is visible in a single screen.
Figure 23-16 Members of the Tab e object, shown n the Object Browser.
In contrast, the Tables collection object has very few members (shown in Figure 23-17), including only those items that can apply to the entire collection at once.
Figure 23-17 Members of the Tab es co ect on object, shown n the Object Browser.
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To Toggle or Not to Toggle When you record some formatting options, such as applying bold or italics, you see the constant wdToggle set as the property’s value. That’s because, as you’ve likely noticed when using some types of font formatting, these settings toggle on and off—so you could, for example, apply a style that contains bold formatting to unbold text that was previously bolded. However, when you write VBA macros, you can set toggle commands to absolute values where you need them, rather than using the wdToggle constant. To do that, simply use either True or False as the value instead of wdToggle. Writing the macro Selection.Bold = True, for example, will apply bold text regardless of whether the selection was bolded before you ran the macro.
I Can’t Find Properties or Methods That Should Clearly Be Available to My Object If you can’t find a member of an object that you just know has to be there, the problem probably isn’t a limitation in VBA; it’s syntax. More often than not, the Range object is the solution. For example, if you want to act on all cells in a specific table, you might be looking for the following: Documents(1).Tables(1).Cells…
However, when you get the Auto List after you type the C for the word Cells, you see that Cell is an option, but the Cells collection is not. Does this mean that VBA can’t act on all cells in a table at once? Of course not. What VBA is looking for is the following: Documents(1).Tables(1).Range.Cells…
The Range object is often used to specify that you’re identifying the preceding object as the active scope of your statement. So, before you decide that you can’t do what you need to do with a given object, try using Range in your statement, as shown in the preceding example, and see what options you get in the Auto List that follows that range.
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The Range object is also important to know because it can give you added flexibility. People new to VBA often use the Selection object too frequently because they don’t know how to identify objects in the document without first selecting them, but that slows down your code and often limits what you can do. You can use the Range object to identify any element in your document, which lets you take action without having to first select that item in the document. So, it’s less code for you to write and less code for the program to execute. For example, you could use the following statement to identify the page number on which the first table in the document ends, without having to first select that table: ActiveDocument.Tables(1).Range.Information(wdActiveEndPageNumber)
Grouping Statements Say that you’re in a restaurant and you need three things from the waiter. If you ask for some ketchup, then ask for a glass of wine when the waiter drops off your ketchup, and then ask for a glass for your friend when the waiter returns with your wine, that’s a lot of work for the waiter (not to mention, he might be tempted to sneeze in your soup). Instead, if you say to the waiter, “I need some ketchup, please. I’d also like another glass of wine, and my friend will have one as well,” you’ve given the waiter three tasks that he can execute together. That is, you’ve just grouped a set of statements (and saved yourself from a possible cold). Though VBA won’t sneeze in your soup, macros do run more slowly when you force the program to execute several related tasks independently. Grouping related statements together helps make your code more efficient (and saves you time writing code, because you’ll be writing less). Statements can be grouped using the With…End With structure, as you saw in the recorded macro example in the earlier sidebar, “Why Does My Recorded Macro Have So Many Lines of Code, When I Did Only One Thing?” You can use With…End With anywhere that two or more statements apply to the same object, or the same combination of objects, properties, and methods. For example, the very first macro we looked at in this chapter contains six statements, all of which apply to the Selection object. So, if you had written that macro instead of recording it, you could have typed the following: With Selection .Style = "Heading 1" .TypeText "Company Overview—" & vbCr & vbCr & vbCr & vbCr End With
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Note Recorded macros w somet mes nc ude ength er statements than are necessary when
you wr te the macro Th s s typ ca y because a recorded macro often exp c t y states defau ts that are assumed f om tted For examp e, n the recorded vers on of th s macro, the sty e was app ed w th the statement Selection.Style = ActiveDocument.Styles(“Heading 1”) However, a sty e s app ed us ng the sty e defin t on n the act ve document by defau t So when wr tten, as you see n the preced ng code, that nformat on can be om tted
Though you might not be saving much by grouping statements when the macro is just two lines long, imagine something a bit lengthier. For example, say that you wanted to do several things to the first table in the document. Instead of starting each line with ActiveDocument. Tables(1), you can group the statements using a With…End With structure, as follows: With ActiveDocument.Tables(1) .Style = "Table Contemporary" .Range.Style = "Table text" .Columns(4).Shading.ForegroundPatternColor = wdColorLavender .Rows(1).Range.Style = "Table heading" .Rows(1).HeadingFormat = True End With
In fact, you can take that grouping a step further. Notice that the first row of the table is referred to more than once. You can add a nested With…End With structure for those rows as follows: With ActiveDocument.Tables(1) .Style = "Table Contemporary" .Range.Style = "Table text" .Columns(4).Shading.ForegroundPatternColor = wdColorLavender With .Rows(1) .Range.Style = "Table heading" .HeadingFormat = True End With End With
With grouping structures, just remember that all items in the With statement must apply to all statements between With and End With, if the statement starts with a period (which indicates that it uses the object referred to in the With statement). For example, you can do some things directly to the Row object that you can’t do directly to the Column object, such as applying a style. In that case, you might want to first select the column for which you need to apply a paragraph style, as you see here: With ActiveDocument.Tables(1) .Style = "Table Contemporary" .Range.Style = "Table text" With .Columns(4) .Shading.ForegroundPatternColor = wdColorLavender .Select End With
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In the preceding code, Selection.Style doesn’t have to refer to the object in the With statement, because it isn’t using that object. Caution As ment oned ear er n th s chapter, remember that With…End With structures (as
we as the code structures descr bed n the upcom ng sect on “Loop ng Code”) requ re a pa r of statements For ease of ed t ng and to reduce errors, whenever you type the first part of the structure (the With statement, n th s case), type ts pa red c os ng statement (End With) as we , so that you don’t forget to do so ater
How Can I Apply Theme Fonts and Colors with Word VBA? In the preceding examples of grouping structures, you may have noticed that an intrinsic constant was used to apply a shading color. The set of constants you get when you apply colors in Word VBA code are from the standard Microsoft Office color palette that was available in versions prior to Office 2007 and Office 2008 for Mac. These are not theme colors. However, the wdThemeColor… constants are available only to Office Art objects in Word 2010 and Word 2011, such as shapes. (Note that in Excel and PowerPoint VBA, the xlThemeColor… and msoThemeColor sets of constants, respectively, are available to most content types.) So, how do you apply colors that will update if the document theme changes? If you record a macro in Word to apply a color from the Theme Colors palette (such as to a paragraph border), you’ll see a numeric value in the resulting code that appears to represent the color you selected. That value actually represents the position you selected in the Theme Colors palette. So, using that value in your own macros will consistently apply the theme color at that palette position. For example, in the preceding grouping structure code sample, if you wanted to apply the Theme Color palette position for the Accent 1 color instead of the standard color lavender, the line of code to apply the color would read as follows: .Shading.ForegroundPatternColor = -738131969
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But you don’t have to take the time to discover the 60 values that comprise the 10 Theme colors in the palette and their variations. I’ve done it for you. Companion Content Find a macro named ThemeColorReferenceTable in the file named Sample macros.dotm that’s available in the Chapter23 sample files folder online at http:// oreilly.com/catalog/9780735651999. That macro will generate a new document with a table representing the Theme Colors palette. The color and associated value number for each position in the palette are applied to the table, so you can save that table and use it as a reference tool whenever you need it. Applying theme fonts in Word VBA is much simpler. Wherever you would specify the font name, you simply specify that name as “+Headings” or “+Body” to apply the theme heading or body font, rather than using the name of a specific font. For example, the first line of code in the following example applies the font “Cambria.” The second line applies the active theme’s heading font. ActiveDocument.Paragraphs(1).Range.Font.Name = "Cambria" ActiveDocument.Paragraphs(1).Range.Font.Name = "+Headings"
Insider Tip: Get More Flexibility for Theme Colors When You Use VBA The preceding sidebar provided a workaround for situations where you can’t use the theme color constants in Word. But in cases where you can use those constants in Word, PowerPoint, and Excel, you can also use VBA to give you more design flexibility than you get from within the program—without sacrificing the capability for colors to change automatically when you apply new themes. Use the TintAndShade property with an ObjectThemeColor property to specify any percentage for a tint or shade of the applied theme color. For example, the following code applies the Accent 3 color to a shape and then sets it to be 35 percent lighter than the applied theme color (a tint that is not available in the color palette for mid-range colors): With Documents(1).Shapes(1).Fill.ForeColor .ObjectThemeColor = wdThemeColorAccent3 ....TintAndShade = 0.35 End With
When using the TintAndShade property, use positive percentage values for tints (to lighten the color) and negative percentage values for shades (to darken the color).
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See Also You can also get more flexibility for customizing tints and shades of theme colors for all Microsoft Office content to which theme colors can be applied when you use Office Open XML. Learn more about using Office Open XML to customize document content in Chapter 24, “Office Open XML Essentials.”
Looping Code If I had to pick one feature of VBA that’s the most useful on a daily basis for document production and document troubleshooting, it would be loops. Loops enable you to act on several instances of a given object within one macro. Fortunately, as much as loops can do for you, they’re also extremely easy to use. In this primer, we’ll look at variations on two of the most common types of loops, For loops and Do loops.
Using For Each…Next and For…Next Loops A For Each…Next loop enables you to act on all instances of a given object within a specified range. For example, you might use this type of loop to format all tables in your document at once or to change the fill color of all text boxes in your document to a particular theme color. Similarly, a For…Next loop enables you to specify a range of instances of the given object on which you want to act. For example, say that all tables in your document other than the first five need to have the same formatting. You can use a For…Next loop to specify that the formatting should apply to only those tables you want. To use a For Each…Next loop, start by declaring a variable of the object type upon which to act and then use that variable in your loop. Take a look at the code for the two examples given in the preceding paragraph. n
Apply the style Table Contemporary to all tables in your document. Dim atb as Table For Each atb in ActiveDocument.Tables atb.Style = "Table Contemporary" Next atb
The use of atb as the variable name for the table object is just a personal choice. As mentioned earlier in this chapter, you can use any name for a variable that meets VBA naming requirements (no spaces and a letter for the first character) and isn’t the name of any member of an available object model.
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Remove any user-defined styles from the active document. Dim ast as Style For Each ast in ActiveDocument.Styles If ast.BuiltIn = False Then ast.Delete End If Next ast
Specifying the variable in the Next statement, as shown in both preceding examples, is optional. However, it’s good practice to do this to avoid confusing the statements you need to keep or alter when you edit a macro, particularly when you use multiple loops in the same procedure. To use a For…Next loop, start by declaring a numeric variable data type to use for counting the instances upon which you want to act. Following is the code for the example given earlier (formatting all but the first five tables in the document). Dim myI as Integer For myI = 6 to ActiveDocument.Tables.Count ActiveDocument.Tables(myI).Style = "Table Contemporary" Next myI
Notice that I could have used a With…End With structure instead of retyping ActiveDocument each time I needed it. Of course, that would be more helpful if I were doing more than just applying a table style, as you see in the following example: Dim myI as Integer With ActiveDocument For myI = 6 to .Tables.Count With .Tables(myI) .Style = "Table Contemporary" .AutoFitBehavior (wdAutoFitWindow) End With Next myI End With
In the preceding code, notice that I use the For…Next loop with nested With…End With structures to make this macro as efficient as possible to write, and as efficient as possible for Word to execute.
Using Do Loops A Do loop, aside from being fun to say, can be another useful way of creating a loop for specified instances of an object. (Note that this type of loop is usually referred to as a Do… Loop structure, which helps to clarify the fact that, like For…Next loops or With…End With structures, a Do…Loop actually requires a pair of statements.)
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Do…Loop structures can either be executed while a qualification is true or until a qualification
becomes true. Similar to For…Next loops, a Do While…Loop is usually used with a numeric variable. A Do Until…Loop may be used with a numeric variable or until a given condition is true. Take a look at a couple of examples. n
Say that you’re troubleshooting a document. Using Open And Repair in Word 2010, you find that a floating object is causing the unstable document behavior. However, you don’t see any floating objects in the document (this would happen if floating objects were off the page, or hidden behind opaque document elements because of the Behind Text wrapping style). Using a Do…Loop, you can delete all floating objects in the body of the document, as follows: With ActiveDocument Do Until .Shapes.Count = 0 .Shapes(1).Delete Loop End With
In the preceding code, notice that ActiveDocument.Shapes(1) refers to the first shape in the document. In this case, you wouldn’t use a For…Next loop with a counter, because each time a shape is deleted, the shape object reference .Shapes(myI) would refer to a different object. Instead, if you continually delete the first shape until there are no more shapes, you don’t need to be concerned with the way VBA counts the shapes in the document as their number is being reduced. In the case of deleting all shapes in a document, you may wonder why a For Each… Next loop wasn’t used, since we want to act on all instances of shapes in the docu-
ment. For Each…Next loops are an easy solution in most cases that require acting on all instances of an object type. However, there are two reasons why the Do…Loop was the better choice here. First, there’s less code with a Do…Loop in this case because you don’t need to declare the object variable before executing the loop. Second, there’s an anomaly when you use a For Each…Next loop specifically to delete floating graphics (that is, members of the Shapes collection object), and one or more shapes may be left behind. Using the Do…Loop structure instead ensures that all shapes are deleted. n
The following code uses a Do While…Loop instead of a For…Next loop for formatting all tables other than the first five with the Table Contemporary style and AutoFit To Window behavior. Dim myI as Integer myI = 6 With ActiveDocument Do While myI 3 Then .PageSetup.Orientation = wdOrientLandscape End If End With
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Say that you’re applying a template to a document that uses only built-in Word styles, such as Normal and Headings 1–9. Once you’ve reformatted the document content as needed, you may want to clean up the document styles to help ensure that the document continues to be formatted with the styles you want. The following code removes any styles from the document that are not built in: Dim ast As Style For Each ast In ActiveDocument.Styles If ast.BuiltIn = False Then ast.Delete End If Next ast
If…End If structures are often used with multiple conditions, such as when you want to set one value if the condition is true and another if it’s false, as you see in the following example: With ActiveDocument If .Range.Information(wdActiveEndPageNumber) > 3 Then .PageSetup.Orientation = wdOrientLandscape Else .PageSetup.Orientation = wdOrientPortrait End If End With
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The preceding example adds an extra qualifier to the similar code shown earlier, so that if the document is three pages or shorter, your macro ensures that the document uses portrait orientation. If statements can also contain multiple conditions by including ElseIf statements. For
example, say that you have many tables in your document with different layouts, but all financial tables have either four or six columns. Those financial tables with four columns should use the custom table style named Table Financial 4, those with six columns should use the style named Table Financial 6, and all other tables in the document should be formatted using Table Normal style. Dim atb As Table For Each atb In ActiveDocument.Tables With atb If .Columns.Count = 4 Then .Style = "Table Financial 4" ElseIf .Columns.Count = 6 Then .Style = "Table Financial 6" Else .Style = "Table Normal" End If End With Next atb
Notice that both If and ElseIf statements require Then at the end of the line. Also notice that, regardless of the number of conditions in an If statement, End If is still required at the end of the complete structure. Note For s mp e If structures where there s a s ng e cond t on, you can get an except on to
the pa red statement requ rement You can often add just a s ng e statement on one ne and eave off the End If statement For examp e, the If…End If statements n the first two examp es g ven ear er cou d have been wr tten on a s ng e ne
Dim ast As Style For Each ast In ActiveDocument.Styles If ast.BuiltIn = False Then ast.Delete Next ast
Creating Select Case Statements Although If structures are the most common conditional structure used in VBA, Select Case can be an extremely efficient alternative in some situations, so it is definitely worth a
look.
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Here, Select Case is used for one of the previous If statement examples: Dim atb As Table For Each atb In ActiveDocument.Tables With atb Select Case .Columns.Count Case 4 .Style = "Table Financial 4" Case 6 .Style = "Table Financial 6" Case Else .Style = "Table Normal" End Select End With Next atb
For this code, the If structure and Select Case structure are very similar and essentially equally good choices. Where Select Case can be more useful is when several options meet a given condition. For example, say that a long report document has been through a lot of hands and had content copied and pasted from several sources, and now you want to go through it and quickly clean up the styles. Perhaps you want to replace the style for paragraphs formatted with a number of different body text styles with Normal style, and replace the use of a few custom heading styles with the Heading 1 style. Notice in the code that follows that multiple options for a given case are separated by commas. Dim myI As Integer myI = 1 With ActiveDocument For myI = 1 To .paragraphs.Count With .paragraphs(myI) Select Case .Style Case "Body Text", "Body Text 2", "Body Text 3" .Style = "Normal" Case "Body Heading", "Document Heading", "Page Heading" .Style = "Heading 1" End Select End With Next End With
If you used an If statement instead of Select Case here, the code would be as follows: Dim myI As Integer myI = 1 With ActiveDocument For myI = 1 To .paragraphs.Count With .paragraphs(myI)
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If .Style = "Body Text" Or .Style = "Body Text 2" Or .Style = "Body Text 3" Then .Style = "Normal" ElseIf .Style = "Body Heading" Or .Style = "Document Heading" Or _ .Style = "Page Heading" Then .Style = "Heading 1" End If End With Next End With
The savings with Select Case is the ability to separate multiple options with just a comma rather than repeating the entire condition for each option. As you gain experience writing your own macros, you will run into many situations where If or Select Case is the better choice.
The Value of Indenting Code As you can see throughout the code samples in this chapter, code is indented to indicate statements within a group, loop, or condition. Where multiple structures are nested, code is indented a bit further for each level of nesting. Though VBA doesn’t require indenting code, it’s fairly standard practice to do so, because it makes the code and the logic of the macro’s progression much easier to read. For example, consider that when structures are nested, it’s essential that the end statements of paired structures fall in the correct order. So, for example, if you nest an If… End If structure inside a For…Next loop, the End If statement needs to appear above Next (that is, if the If structure starts inside the loop, it has to end inside the loop). Indenting phrases can make it much easier to diagnose this type of hierarchy issue. To indent a line of code, press the Tab key at the beginning of the line. Your indent will remain when you press Enter. Press Backspace or Shift+Tab to remove the indent. Note that you can customize the indent width on the Editor tab of the Options (or, for Office 2011, Preferences) dialog box. Tab width is set to four characters by default. To indent several lines of existing text, select those lines and then press Tab. Similar to how outline numbered lists behave, using Tab and Shift+Tab with one or more paragraphs selected will demote or promote the text rather than deleting it. However, if only one statement is selected, you must be sure to select the entire statement, or pressing a keystroke will replace the existing text.
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Using Operators VBA uses both symbols (such as &, , , +, -, /, *) and terms (such as And, Or, and To) for operators, depending on the usage. In all cases, however, operators follow standard mathematical syntax rules. Take a look at a few examples. n
When I finish writing a chapter of this book, I need to copy all of the Heading 1 and Heading 2 paragraphs to update the table of contents. To do that, I make a copy of the document, from which I delete any paragraphs that don’t have those two styles applied. Dim apr as Paragraph For each apr in ActiveDocument.Paragraphs If apr.Style "Heading 1" And apr.Style "Heading 2" Then apr.Range.Delete End If Next apr
The less than and greater than operators are used together here to mean “is not equal to.” Note that I could also have written the If portion of that statement as follows: If Not apr.Style = "Heading 1" And Not apr.Style = "Heading 2" Then
Notice that the use of Not to mean “anything other than” is repeated for each option meeting the condition. n
If, instead, I wanted to delete all paragraphs that match either of those criteria, I would have written the following code: Dim apr as Paragraph For each apr in ActiveDocument.Paragraphs If apr.Style = "Heading 1" Or apr.Style = "Heading 2" Then apr.Range.Delete End If Next apr
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What if I wanted to delete all paragraphs that use Heading 1 or Heading 2 style, but only if they don’t appear in a table? Dim apr as Paragraph For each apr in ActiveDocument.Paragraphs If (apr.Style = "Heading 1" Or apr.Style = "Heading 2") And _ apr.Range.Information(wdWithinTable) = False Then apr.Range.Delete End If Next apr
In the first line of the If structure, the space followed by an underscore at the end of the line breaks a single statement of code to a second line. Breaking the line is not required, but is used when the line of code is too wide to read in a single screen.
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Notice in the preceding code that the conditions that use the logical operator Or are grouped in parentheses, with the And operator outside the parentheses. Just as in a mathematical equation, that phrasing ensures that the condition within the parentheses is evaluated first. As you’ve seen in examples throughout the primer to this point, an ampersand combines arguments into a text string, and typical arithmetic operators can be used on numeric values as they are in Excel formulas, including +, - ,*, and /. The plus sign can be used in some cases to combine text strings, but when you want to mix different types of variables in a text string, the plus sign can cause a “Type Mismatch” error, because it tries to calculate a result rather than combine the strings. So, using the ampersand to combine arguments into a string is always a good practice. Notice also throughout these examples that comparison operators can be used either individually or together, such as < to indicate “less than” or < to mean “less than or equal to.” See Also Although the operators mentioned in this section are likely to be all that you need, they’re not an exhaustive list of every operator available in VBA. To learn about others, search for the topic Operator Keyword Summary in VBA help. Note A though t’s not nc uded n the aforement oned Operator Keyword Summary, the term
To can be used to represent a range of va ues (such as a more effic ent a ternat ve to us ng a greater than and ess than range comb ned), as you’ve a ready seen n some code examp es n th s chapter Cons der the fo ow ng examp es, wh ch are nd v dua nes of a code from a For…Next oop and a Select Case statement
For myI = 1 to ActiveDocument.Shapes.Count Case 2, 3 To 10, 14
Introducing Message Boxes and Input Boxes When creating macros for others to use, you’ll likely need to either give the user information or have the user specify information. Use message boxes to share information and input boxes to collect it.
Using Message Boxes A message box might simply provide information, or it might require a response, such as Yes, No, Cancel, Abort, Retry, or Ignore. The MsgBox command is one of several in VBA that can be used both as a statement and as a function. Use a MsgBox statement to provide information; use MsgBox as a function when you need a response from the user.
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To create a message box statement, type MsgBox with the string of text you want the user to see. For example, take a look at the following message box statement and the message box it produces when run in Word, shown in Figure 23-19. MsgBox "You’re an unstoppable VBA genius!"
Office 2010
Office 2011
Figure 23-19 Not ce that message boxes and nput boxes automat ca y coord nate w th the v sua aesthet c of M crosoft Office on the r respect ve p atforms.
Even if your message box doesn’t require a reply, however, you might want to get a bit more creative with it. The MsgBox command includes optional arguments that let you customize the title bar and add an information icon, as shown in Figure 23-20. MsgBox "You’re an unstoppable VBA genius!",vbInformation,"My Message Box"
Figure 23-20 A message box w th custom t t e bar and nformat on con, shown n Office 2010 ( eft)
and Office 2011 (r ght).
The intrinsic constant vbInformation is one of a set of options in the buttons argument that enables you to add both an icon (as you see here) and response buttons. The third argument customizes the title of the message box. Notice that including a title in Office 2011 reduces the size of the message box body text and places the title within the body area of the message. Also notice that the custom icons are not provided in Office 2011. Instead, the information icon is read as the application icon (Word, in this case). n
To use MsgBox as a function (that is, to require a response from the user), first declare an integer variable for your message box so that you can use the response in the macro, as you see in the following example: Dim myRes As Integer myRes = Msgbox("Are you an unstoppable VBA genius?", vbQuestion _ + vbYesNo, "My Message Box")
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If myRes = vbYes Then Msgbox "I knew it!", vbExclamation, "You’re a genius!" Else Msgbox "Hang in there.", vbCritical, "It will get easier!" End If
The first message box in the preceding code is shown in Figure 23-21.
Figure 23-21 A message box prov d ng opt ons
to the user, shown n Office 2010.
Depending upon the user’s response, one of the two message boxes shown in Figure 23-22 is returned.
Figure 23-22 Message boxes custom zed n rep y to a user response.
See Also Both message box and input box functions also include optional arguments for adding context-sensitive help files to those boxes. For additional resources where you can find information on VBA tasks that are not covered in this primer, such as creating custom help files for your VBA projects, see the “Getting Help” section, later in this chapter.
Using Input Boxes Input boxes are similar to messages boxes, except that they’re always used as a function because they always require a response. Take a look at the following example: Dim myInp As String myInp = InputBox("How would you score on a basic VBA exam?", _ "My Input Box", "Perfect") Msgbox myInp & " is pretty good!", vbExclamation, "My Input Box"
The input box from this code sample is shown in Figure 23-23. Notice that the Office 2010 and Office 2011 input boxes are more similar than message boxes. For example, note that the title bar is utilized in Office 2011 message boxes.
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Figure 23-23 An nput box shown n Office 2010 ( eft) and Office 2011 (r ght).
The text of the message box shown in Figure 23-23 is referred to as the prompt, the title bar text is the title argument (as in a message box), and the value you see in this image is the default value of “Perfect” specified in the third argument. Note that input boxes also include optional arguments for vertical and horizontal position on the screen (not shown here) for cases where you don’t want the box to automatically appear in the center of the screen. Because the input box was declared as a string variable, notice that the response is used as part of a text string in a message box, as shown in the preceding code sample and in Figure 23-24.
Figure 23-24 A message box constructed us ng a comb nat on of a str ng var ab e and text str ng.
If, instead, you need to use a response as a numeric value, declare the variable accordingly. In the following example, the input box asks for the number of columns to include in a new table being created by the macro. The variable defined as the input box reply is declared as an integer. (Notice that the input box in this case has only a prompt and a title bar—no default value is set, so the text box within the input box appears blank to the user.) Dim myInp As Integer myInp = InputBox("How many columns would you like?", "My Input Box") With Selection .Tables.Add Range:=.Range, NumRows:=5, NumColumns:=myInp End With
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Caution There s a poss b e prob em, however, w th the preced ng code samp e If the response
s not an nteger ( nc ud ng f the user cance s the nput box w thout add ng a rep y), the macro w end n an error You can, however, add what’s known as an error handler to correct for any error that may occur Error hand ers are an mportant part of wr t ng macros effect ve y
Companion Content To learn how to work with code errors and create error handlers, see the article “Managing VBA Errors,” available in the Bonus Content folder as part of the online companion content for this book, at http //ore y com/cata og/9780735651999. You’ll find an example in that article of an error handler created specifically for the preceding macro.
Running One Macro from Another When you create a solution, such as developing a set of document production macros for yourself or creating a set of macros to help users format a template, you’re likely to have some of the same commands repeat in multiple macros. When those duplicated commands run to more than a few lines of code, it can be helpful to put the duplicated code into its own macro and run it as part of each macro that needs it. That way, you don’t have to write that code out in every macro where you need it. Running one macro from another is also commonly done when several macros use the same variable definitions. For example, say that you declare the following public variables in the General Declarations section of the module: Public myName as String, myComp as String, myIn as Integer
If several macros need to use the same values for that information, create a procedure just to store the values of those variables. That entire macro might look something like this: Public Sub VarDefs() myName = Application.UserName myComp = ActiveDocument.BuiltinDocumentProperties("Company").Value myIn = 1 End Sub
To then use these variable definitions in any macro in the project, simply call the macro that includes the definitions. The statement to call a macro is just the word Call plus the macro name. If the macro exists in a different module from the macro where you’re calling it, also specify the module name. For example, to call the preceding macro from a macro in the same module, type the following statement: Call VarDefs
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If the macro from which you want to call VarDefs is in a different module, the statement would look like the following (assuming that VarDefs is in a module named myMod): Call myMod.VarDefs
Note that, as long as the variables are declared as public, you don’t actually have to specify Public in the Sub statement of the preceding macro to make the contents of that procedure available to other macros in the project. However, if you want to allow the contents of that procedure to be shared only by other macros in the same module (such as in cases where macros in a different module might need to share a different set of values for the same variables), use Private Sub () to start the macro. Keep in mind that private procedures don’t appear in the Macros dialog box available from the Developer tab, so identifying a procedure as private is also a good way to keep it hidden from the user. Caution When you ca one macro from another for the purpose of us ng var ab e defin t ons, make sure the ca to the source macro appears pr or to where you use those var ab es n the dest nat on macro
Note Your macros m ght share many types of var ab es n a g ven project The preced ng var -
ab e examp e s just ntended to po nt out one p ace where the M crosoft Office programs may offer you a s mp er so ut on than VBA, depend ng on your part cu ar needs For add ng document property nformat on to your documents and temp ates, you can use the bu t- n Document Property Qu ck Parts
See Also For more information about Document Property Quick Parts that have information already bound to content controls, as well as for resources where you can learn about creating custom bound controls, see Chapter 12, “Dynamic Content.”
Setting Macros to Conditionally Stop Executing Commands You can add a statement to end the macro under specified conditions or to exit just a part of the macro. To end execution of a macro, use the term Exit Sub. For example, say that you want to stop a macro from running if no document is open. That code would look like this: If Documents.Count = 0 Then Exit Sub End If
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Exit Sub, however, exits the active procedure. If you have one procedure running from
another, you might need to end code execution entirely instead of exiting the individual subroutine. In that case, just use the term End. If Documents.Count = 0 Then End End If
To exit a loop when a condition is met, use an Exit statement specifically for the loop type, such as Exit For or Exit Do. Following is an example of an Exit For statement: Dim ast as Style For each ast in ActiveDocument.Styles If ast.NameLocal = "Sample" Then ast.Delete Exit For End If Next
Running Macros and Compiling Projects You can run a macro directly from the Visual Basic Editor or from the Macros dialog box available in the Microsoft Office programs, or you can customize the user interface to add the macro to either the Quick Access Toolbar or the Ribbon (or, in Office 2011, to a toolbar or menu). In Word 2010 or Word 2011, you can also assign a keyboard shortcut to a macro. n
To add a macro to the Quick Access Toolbar or the Ribbon in an Office 2010 program, using the Customize Quick Access Toolbar and Customize Ribbon tabs of the Options dialog box in the applicable program.
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To add a macro to a toolbar or menu in an Office 2011 program, on the View menu, point to Toolbars, and then click Customize Toolbars And Menus.
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To assign a keyboard shortcut to a macro in Word 2010, on the Customize Ribbon tab of the Word Options dialog box, under the heading Keyboard Shortcuts, click Customize. To do this in Word 2011, on the Tools menu, click Customize Keyboard.
You can save keyboard shortcut assignments, Quick Access Toolbar customizations, and Office 2011 menu and toolbar customizations either for the application as a whole or in the individual document or template. When you customize the Ribbon through the options dialog box, you can customize it only for the application as a whole. To customize the Ribbon for an individual document, template, or add-in in Office 2010, you have to use Office Open XML.
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See Also For more on Office Open XML, see Chapter 24. Additionally, see the article “Using VBA to Create Add-Ins,” available on the MSDN Office Developer Center at http://msdn. microsoft.com/en-us/library/gg597509.aspx. (This article applies to both Office 2010 and Office 2011. Office 2010 UI customization examples are presented in the article but the downloadable samples for the article also include an Office 2011 UI customization example.)
Do More Than You Might Imagine with One Line of Code Depending on what you need to do with VBA, you might not need to write or run a macro at all. The Immediate Window in the Visual Basic Editor enables you to run just one line of code at a time. It’s simple to use and can be an incredibly powerful tool for troubleshooting document issues or executing actions that you can’t do from within the Microsoft Office programs. Several chapters in this book include tips about using the Immediate Window and send you here for more information. Those tips include such things as resetting the used range in an Excel workbook, setting precise positioning for content on PowerPoint slide layouts and masters, or getting information about problem content that you don’t see in a Word document. To use the Immediate Window, start in the Visual Basic Editor and then:
1. On the View menu, click Immediate Window. Or Press Ctrl+G (Ctrl+Command+G in Office 2011). The Immediate Window opens at the bottom of the Visual Basic Editor by default.
2. With your insertion point in the Immediate Window, do one of the following: n
To execute an action, just type the line of code that you need and then press Enter (Return). For example, as shown in Chapter 18, “Working with Data,” to reset the used range on the active worksheet, type the following: ActiveSheet.UsedRange
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To get information, type a question mark, immediately followed by the line of code you need (no spaces) and then press Enter (Return). For example, to count the number of tables in the active Word document, type the following: ?ActiveDocument.Tables.Count
For an article that offers more detail about using this tool, including many examples, see the additional resources provided in the last section of this chapter, “Working with VBA: Next Steps.”
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Compiling Projects As you’re writing lengthy macros, or when you’re ready to use your macros, compiling the project is an important step. Compilers are actually used to translate source code to executable code, which isn’t strictly necessary for typical VBA macros. But using the compiler in the Visual Basic Editor is an essential way to help ensure that your code works properly. To compile a project, just select a module or click into a procedure in the project and then, on the Debug menu, click Compile . Depending on the size of the VBA project, compiling might be instantaneous or it might take a few moments. If VBA recognizes errors in your code, it will select the code containing the error and display a message box telling you the type of error. Companion Content Learn about recognizing, fixing, and managing errors in the article “Managing VBA Errors,” available in the Bonus Content folder online at http://oreilly.com/ catalog/9780735651999.
Getting Help In Office 2010 VBA, you can easily search for help using the Type A Question For Help box that appears on the right side of the Visual Basic Editor menu bar. In Office 2011, VBA help takes you to an online index of VBA help topics. But there are also often faster ways to get to exactly what you need: n
In the case of error messages, the Help button in those message boxes takes you directly to a help article on that specific error message. If, however, you need information on an error message any time other than right when it occurs, search for the help topic Trappable Errors. You can then use the Find feature in the help or browser window (Ctrl+F on Windows and Command+F on Mac) to quickly locate the name or number of the particular error you need. The Trappable Errors article lists each error with a hyperlink to its article.
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In the case of any object model member, right-click the name of the item where it appears in the code and then click Definition. This opens the Object Browser to the selected item—which might be enough information if you just need, for example, to see the available members of a selected object. However, in the Object Browser in Office 2010, you can right-click any item and then click Help to open the help topic on that article. Note that some items, such as individual constants, might not have help articles—but articles are available for most members of the active object model.
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For Mac Users If you use the Help menu in the Visual Basic Editor, you get program help—not VBA help. If you click the Help button on the Standard toolbar in the Visual Basic Editor, you get a link to Visual Basic Editor help. This is an index of several useful help topics broken down by application. For example, you can see a handy list of what is different from the Office 2010 version of the object model for that Office 2011 application. But it’s not searchable and not nearly as comprehensive as Office 2010 VBA help. So, are you out of luck? By now, you know when I ask a question like that, there’s usually an easy solution. The fact is that you have access to almost the exact VBA help that is available in Office 2010, because the help for Office 2010 VBA is hosted on Office.com. To get to the developer home page for Word, go to the following link (yes, it’s long and messy but you only have to type it once and then bookmark it): http://office.microsoft.com/client/helphome14.aspx?lcid 1033&NS WINWORD%2ED EV&Version 14 To get to the developer home pages for PowerPoint and Excel, just substitute the text WINWORD in the preceding URL with POWERPNT or EXCEL. (Note that characters are missing from PowerPoint in the preceding text; this is intentional.) Then, to get to the help you need, either search or (as you might find more effective in some cases) click the application Object Model Reference link and then drill down in the object model links for what you need. When searching the Object Model help to get to what you need, keep in mind that many types of VBA elements (such as properties and methods) are members of an object, so you can find help for them under the applicable object. And if you’re not sure of the object to which an item belongs, remember that the Object Browser in the Visual Basic Editor gives you a definition for the item that includes its membership information.
Saving and Sharing Macros You can export a module of code (as well as some other types of project elements), which is the equivalent of saving a copy of the file, by right-clicking the module in the Project Explorer pane and then clicking Export. Note that the file name you choose for the export doesn’t need to match the module name. Notice also that VBA modules have the file extension .bas.
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To import a module of code, such as the samples available in the online bonus content for this book, right-click the project in Project Explorer and then click Import. Caution If you export or mport modu es, remember that some modu es refer to code outs de
the modu e tse f, such as when the project conta ns a UserForm (d a og box) or when one macro ca s another from a d fferent modu e n the project Be sure that you’re aware of the project components that need to work together, so that you export or make note of everyth ng you’ need when you or someone e se mports that content ater
See Also For additional resources, such as where you can learn to create and work with UserForms, see the section “Working with VBA: Next Steps” at the end of this chapter.
Because you can share an entire VBA project by sharing the Word, Excel, or PowerPoint file in which the project is stored, exporting is more often used as backup. This is usually a good idea, because if you lose a document or template, you of course lose any code it contained. In particular, if you store a module of document production macros, for example, in Normal. dotm, exporting that module periodically for backup is an important safety measure. This is because you might solve some Word performance issues by deleting Normal.dotm and allowing Word to regenerate a new default template, in which case your macros would be lost.
Sharing Projects To share an entire project, just compile the project, save the file, and share it as you would any file. Keep in mind that some networks block files that contain macros, so you might want to use a different method for safely sharing the content (such as saving a document or template containing a VBA project to a Windows Live SkyDrive folder or a Microsoft SharePoint library). Some macro projects need to be saved as particular file types, such as for Excel and PowerPoint add-ins. Also, adding a digital signature to projects can help to avoid systems or programs blocking your macros. See Also Learn about using VBA to create add-ins and signing your code in the MSDN Office Developer Center article “Using VBA to Create Add-Ins,” at http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/ library/gg597509.aspx. You can also protect your code when sharing projects—such as when you want others to be able to use the macros, but not to be able to see or copy your source code. To do this, select the project in Project Explorer. Then, on the Tools menu, click Properties. In the Properties dialog box, you can rename the project (following VBA naming conventions), which does not affect the file name of the document, template, or add-in where the project resides. You can also click the Protection tab to require a password to view
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the code. For this feature to work, you must enable the Lock Project For Viewing option and provide a password. When you do, double-clicking the project in Project Explorer will display a box where you can type the password. Without the correct password, the macros can still be run from the user interface, but their code can’t be viewed. Note that, once you add a password, the password protection starts the next time the project is opened. Caution Be sure to keep a record of the password you choose Lost passwords m ght render your code permanent y ocked
Working with VBA: Next Steps Once you’ve mastered the basics in this primer, you’re likely to find more complex VBA to be quite easy. And there are many online resources to help you progress. n
The MSDN Office Developer Center (http://msdn.microsoft.com/office) is a fantastic resource for all things related to automating Microsoft Office. The majority of content on this site is for managed code (Microsoft Visual Studio) development (the platform often used by professional Microsoft Office developers), but far from all of it. You can find a growing number of resources on VBA as well as a volume of information on Office Open XML (which is addressed in Chapter 24).
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The Office Developer Center also has a VBA-specific site that’s a fantastic online home base for learning about VBA. And it has one of my all-time favorite friendly URLs: http://iheartmacros.com.
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In addition, when you don’t find the information you need in VBA help, search the MSDN library. The library’s resources are pretty amazing—I can’t tell you how much I’ve learned there: http://msdn.microsoft.com/library.
But in addition to general resources, there’s also more VBA topic-specific content that I’d like to point out. The online bonus content for this book includes a couple of VBA articles, and there are also a few articles available on the Office Developer Center that might be particularly handy for next steps with VBA. Note The st of four art c es that fo ows was wr tten for Office 2007 but a so app es to Office 2010 and Office 2011 In the add t ona resources at the end of each art c e, find a nk to a reated v deo wa k-through of tasks covered n t
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The Immediate window in the Visual Basic Editor (discussed in the earlier sidebar "Do More Than You Might Imagine with One Line of Code" is one of my favorite tools, and by far one of the most valuable tools for using VBA to troubleshoot document formatting. Learn more about the Immediate window here: http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/ library/dd535470.aspx.
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Get tips on using VBA specifically to troubleshoot documents here: http:// msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/dd630112.aspx.
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Learn about controlling built-in Microsoft Office commands using VBA (including an introduction to using events) here: http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/dd627337. aspx.
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See examples of how to use some of what you learned in this primer to format long documents more quickly and easily here: http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ dd554917.aspx.
Companion Content Find articles on how to create and use UserForms (dialog boxes) in VBA and how to manage VBA errors, as well as a list of all links provided in this chapter and others, in the online Bonus Content folder available online as part of the companion content for this book, at http://oreilly.com/catalog/9780735651999. Before you go, however, the next (and final) chapter in this book provides a similar primer on the basics of using the Office Open XML Formats to edit documents and create custom content.
Chapter 24
Office Open XML Essentials In this chapter, you will: n
Explore how an Office Open XML Format document is structured under the hood
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Learn how to read Office Open XML
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Discover how to create a Word document from scratch (without using Word)
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Learn how to edit Office Open XML markup
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Identify ways to use Office Open XML to save time and create customized content
In my favorite novel, Alexandre Dumas’s The Count of Monte Cristo, the imprisoned Abbe Faria writes a book without access to paper or writing implements. A 19th-century genius resourceful enough to turn MacGyver green with envy, the good Abbe fashions a pen out of a fishbone, ink out of soot and wine, and 12 rolls of parchment from 2 shirts. Not bad for an old man locked away in a dungeon. In versions of Microsoft Office prior to Office 2007, the idea of editing a document without first opening the program in which it was created is much like writing a book in a 19th-century dungeon. Without the know-how of an Abbe Faria (or, in this case, a software engineer of equal talent), you’re probably out of luck. Well, thanks to the ingenuity of some talented software engineers, you no longer need to be a fictional genius (or hold an advanced computer science degree) to understand every bit of a document’s structure well enough to even create one from scratch (if you’re so inclined). Though you never have to know a thing about the XML underlying your documents to use Office 2010 or Office for Mac 2011, if you choose to get to know the Office Open XML Formats, the benefits can be great. Using the XML content for these file formats, advanced Microsoft Office users can see and understand literally everything that goes into your Office Open XML Format documents, presentations, and spreadsheets. As discussed at several points throughout this book, the transparency of these file formats can save time, add flexibility, improve integration with external content, and simplify essential tasks such as protecting the private content in your documents or troubleshooting document problems. But my favorite thing about these new formats is just the fact that you don’t have to be a programmer to reap many of the aforementioned benefits. It’s important to reinforce that this is not an introduction to the XML programming language, but to the Office Open XML Formats. That said, in this primer, you’ll learn to understand, read, and edit the structure of an Office Open XML Format document. You’ll also get tips and
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guidance for next steps, where you can use this core knowledge of Office Open MXL to save time and take your documents further than ever before.
Chapter Assumptions As with the VBA primer in Chapter 23, this chapter assumes that this may be the first time you’ve ever seen a single line of programming code, but also that you’re an advanced Microsoft Office user and comfortable with the features covered throughout this book. Though this primer is written for Microsoft Office users, not for programmers, you might have noticed that I’ve already specified advanced users more than once. That’s because incorrectly editing a document’s XML can break a document faster than you can blink. That statement isn’t meant to scare you away. If you’re an experienced, confident Microsoft Office user, learning to edit your documents’ XML can be easy. And you can just as easily learn to quickly fix anything you may inadvertently break. Rather, it’s mentioned primarily for the trainers or tech support professionals among you who might consider sending basic or intermediate users into a document’s XML. You’ll gain tremendous power and flexibility by being able to edit a document under the hood, but please don’t consider it just another method for accomplishing document tasks—such as just one more option you’d teach in a Microsoft Word course for how to edit the definition of a paragraph style. This is an avenue for those with the skill to take document production and troubleshooting to a new level. Consider this: if a document were a car, then the document’s XML would be the engine. Before you can begin to understand what’s going on under the hood, you need to know how to drive. That said, experienced drivers are going to have a great time with the tools in this chapter.
Note As w th the VBA pr mer n Chapter 23, much of what you’ earn n th s chapter can be
app ed to any program that uses the Office Open XML Formats However, because th s chapter assumes that you’re new to any mp ementat on of XML, most examp es and a exerc ses use Word documents and tasks for cons stency
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A Note About XML Tools in Word People often ask if they can use Word as an XML editor and if the XML tools on the Developer tab are related to the file formats. The simple answer is no. Word is not designed to be an XML editor, and certainly not for the types of tasks addressed in this chapter. The XML tools on the Developer tab—as well as the Save As option to save a document in a Word XML document format—are not related to the Office Open XML Formats. They are for the use of custom XML that may be utilized in some types of developer solutions for documents, and are only available to binary document formats (such as the legacy .doc format). See Also To learn about custom XML for binary documents, see http://msdn.microsoft. com/en-us/library/aa212889(office.11).aspx. A range of available editing tools for Office Open XML tasks (including free tools you may not know you already have) is addressed in this chapter.
Introducing XML Basics for Reading Your Documents XML is a language used to contain and describe data. In the case of Office Open XML, the data is your document content, and the description includes the settings required for that document to function in the applicable program as well as the settings you apply to the document. Before we begin to explore a document’s XML, check out the sections that follow for a bit of background and basics to help you prepare for the task.
Reading a Markup Language XML is a markup language. Just as you mark up a document while reviewing it—with comments, corrections, or margin notes—a markup language marks up data with descriptive information about that data. If you’ve ever looked at the HTML source for a webpage, you already have some experience with the type of language you’ll see throughout this primer. However, instead of the paired formatting codes (called tags) wrapped around text that you see in HTML (such as text to turn bold formatting on and then off), the Office Open XML Formats use paired tags nested in a hierarchy that compartmentalizes, organizes, and defines everything you need to know about your document.
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The following example shows the word text along with its formatting definition. This word is part of a paragraph but is separated out in the markup (note that code is called markup when referring to a markup language) because it contains unique formatting. The bullet points that follow the sample markup explain in detail how to read it. text n
The w: that begins each line indicates that this information is describing a Word document. You will see different prefixes in your Microsoft Excel and PowerPoint documents. Also notice that each tag is surrounded by angle brackets (). Some elements in the markup of your Word, PowerPoint, and Excel documents may have a different prefix. As you’ll see in examples later in this chapter, a: is the prefix for Office Art graphics, and v: is the prefix for the legacy form of Office Art (such as shape formatting in earlier versions of Word).
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As with HTML markup, XML markup used to describe content is usually paired, and the second of the pair (the end tag) begins with a slash character.
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The section of markup shown in this sample is known as a run, noted by the w:r that introduces the first line of this sample. A run is a region of document content that contains the same properties. To complete the structure, the entire content of the paragraph to which the word text belongs is stored between the two ends of a higher-level paired tag, not shown here, that indicates the start and end of the paragraph ( and ). The collection of paragraphs (and any other content) in the body of the document is in turn positioned within another paired tag ( and ).
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The second and fourth lines in the sample comprise a paired tag containing the formatting for the specified text. Notice that the w:rPr tag name denotes run (r) properties (Pr). The third line simply indicates that the specified text is bolded . Because formatting information in Office Open XML is stored in a structure that defines where the formatting is to be applied, the specific formatting itself doesn’t need a paired tag. If the text for this sample were also italicized, for example, the tag would appear on its own line, also between the lines of the same paired tag in which the bold statement is nested.
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Also notice that, because the bold (or italicized) statements stand on their own, they include a slash at the end of the single tag to indicate that there is no end tag for this statement. You’ll see the slash at the end of other tags throughout this primer, wherever the item is not paired. If no information needs to be nested within a tag, it is common to see it as standalone tag. n
The specified text appears on the fifth line, between a pair of tags ( and ) that indicate it’s the text being described. A single run of text might contain many sentences if they all use the same formatting. The sample shown here is a single word just for the sake of simplicity.
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The last line in this sample is the end tag that indicates the end of the run (that is, the end of the description for this specified text).
If the preceding sample seems to be quite a lot of work for one word, don’t lose heart. It’s just an example of how you see Word formatting applied to text in the XML markup, used here to demonstrate how clearly information in the Office Open XML Formats is spelled out. Notice, for example, how easy it is to interpret tag names even if you’re seeing this for the first time, such as w to represent Word, p for paragraph, t for text, and so on. Although the markup shown here also demonstrates why working in the XML wouldn’t be considered an equal alternative to the built-in program features for many document editing needs, that’s not the reason for this example. Understanding how to read XML structure will help you work more easily when you begin to use a document’s XML in ways that can simplify your work and expand the possibilities. Don’t worry about trying to memorize any specific tags used in the preceding sample. The important thing to take away from it is the general concept of how the markup is structured. Everything in XML is organized and spelled out, like driving directions that take no turn for granted. Though the sample might seem like a lot of markup for very little content, the fact that it’s organized explicitly is the very thing that will make the tasks throughout this primer easy to understand even to those who are new to XML.
Understanding RSID Attributes If you look at the markup for one of your own documents, you may see structures similar to the preceding example along with additional attributes in the start tags for each paragraph and for section formatting. These attributes all begin with w:rsid, such as w:rsidR or w:rsidRDefault, and are each followed by a set of numbers. These attributes are revision identifiers and are used to help improve accuracy when merging two documents.
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If you don’t use the Combine feature in Word 2010 or the Merge feature in Word for Mac 2011, these attributes are unnecessary. But the RSID attributes also do no harm other than giving you a bit more markup to read through. n
If you use Word 2010 and you prefer not to have RSID attributes in your documents, you can disable the setting Store Random Number To Improve Combine Accuracy, available on the Privacy Options tab of the Trust Center. Note that doing this affects only documents you create from that point forward.
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If you use Word 2011, there is no available setting that lets you do away with RSID attributes. In fact, manually removing them from the markup will add even more attributes back in the next time you save the file in Word 2011. I don’t like clutter any more than you do, but this little bit of markup won’t really get in your way and might just come in handy one day. So, it’s best to just leave it be.
For the sake of simplicity, since these attributes are not essential to your documents, they’re not included in any markup samples throughout this chapter.
Understanding Key Terms I’ll introduce terms as they arise for each task, but there are a few terms that can be useful to know up front. n
The Office Open XML Formats are actually compressed folders containing a set of files that work together. ZIP technology (the .zip file extension) is the method used to compress the files into a single unit, and the set of files that make up an Office Open XML Format document is referred to as the document package. See Also For basic information about working with Office Open XML Format files in the Office 2010 and Office 2011 programs, see Chapter 1, “Welcome to Office 2010 and Office for Mac 2011.”
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Each file within the package is referred to as a document part.
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If you have read about XML, you probably have seen the term schema. An XML schema is a set of standards and rules that defines a given XML structure. For example, multiple schemas are available for defining different components of Office Open XML, and you’ll see references to some of these in the document parts used for the tasks throughout this chapter. But that is essentially all you need to know about them to get started. As you follow along in this chapter, you’ll automatically make use of the schemas, which simply means you’ll be making use of the language and structure of Office Open XML.
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Selecting Your Tools for Editing Office Open XML Most professional developers use Microsoft Visual Studio for editing Office Open XML, but you certainly don’t need to do that. You can use Windows Notepad (or TextEdit on Mac) for the same purpose, or any of a wide range of programs including a number of freeware, shareware, and retail XML editors. Many people who don’t need a professional development platform for their work will use a freeware or shareware XML editor to see the XML hierarchy in a tree structure that’s easy to read. When you edit XML in Notepad or TextEdit, it typically looks like running text with no manual line breaks. For those who don’t want to install another program for this purpose, you can use Windows Internet Explorer (or Mozilla Firefox on Mac OS) to view the markup in a hierarchical tree structure and easily find what you need, and then use Notepad or TextEdit to edit the markup. However, if you work on Windows and you have access to Microsoft Visual Studio 2010, you can download and install a free power tool that enables you to open Office 2010 and Office for Mac 2011 documents directly to explore and edit the markup and file structure. The screenshots of formatted markup throughout this chapter use this approach, but are very much like what you will see in any structured XML viewer (such as Internet Explorer). See Also If you are using Visual Studio 2010, download and install the Open XML Package Editor Power Tool for Visual Studio 2010, which enables you to open Office Open XML document packages directly in Visual Studio. You can access the download from MSDN at http:// visualstudiogallery.msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/450a00e3-5a7d-4776-be2c-8aa8cec2a75b. Note Mac users who have the Xcode deve oper too s nsta ed can use that app cat on to ed t
Office Open XML parts However, note that t funct ons much ke a p a n text ed tor for th s purpose It w recogn ze your fi e as XML and w co or-code the markup to make t a b t eas er to read, but t w not d sp ay the markup n the h erarch ca tree structure If you don’t a ready have Xcode and your on y current ed tor opt on s TextEd t, the co or-cod ng does make the markup eas er to read and parse You can down oad a free vers on from App e com or a very nexpens ve updated vers on ($4 99 as of th s wr t ng) from the Mac App Store
For example, Figures 24-1 through 24-4 show you the same run of markup shown earlier as it appears in the different types of viewers discussed here. Note that these look nearly identical in these images because they appear here in grayscale. Text colors may differ across viewers.
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Figure 24-1 A run of text as t appears n V sua Stud o 2010.
Figure 24-2 A run of text as t appears n nternet Exp orer.
Note When you open an XML part n Internet Exp orer, you’re ke y to see a bar across the top of the screen nd cat ng that act ve content was d sab ed If you r ght-c ck that bar and act vate content, you’ be ab e to expand and co apse sect ons of your markup by us ng the m nus s gns you see bes de each eve of markup that conta ns sub eve s
Figure 24-3 A run of text as t appears n F refox.
Note F refox doesn’t d sp ay much of the header content that you’ see n XML document parts, but that’s no prob em For most of the tasks you’ want to do n the document package, you won’t need to worry about that header nformat on Just know that t’s there so that you’re not surpr sed by a bunch of markup at the start of the fi e when you open t n an ed tor
Figure 24-4 A run of text as t appears n both Notepad and TextEd t.
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Note The markup shown n F gure 24-4 s un ke y to be a one on ts own ne It m ght fa n the m dd e of a ne and cou d we be n the m dd e of a arge b ock of markup when v ewed n a p a n text ed tor such as Notepad or TextEd t Us ng the F nd feature n the program s often he pfu when you’re confronted w th a arge b ock of markup and need to find on y a sma p ece, such as the one shown n F gure 24-4 If the text runs off the screen, however, when you open t n a s mp e text ed tor ke Notepad or TextEd t, you can at east wrap t to the act ve w ndow so that you can see everyth ng that’s there To do th s, on the Format menu, c ck Word Wrap ( n Notepad) or Wrap To W ndow ( n TextEd t)
Getting to Know the Office Open XML Formats Next we’ll cover how to access the document package for an Office Open XML Format file and how to begin to make sense of what you find there. For the best results, work through the following sections step by step, and be sure you understand and feel comfortable with the content before continuing on to the next.
Breaking In to Your Document Because each of your Office 2010 or Office 2011 Word, Excel, and PowerPoint documents is actually a ZIP folder in disguise, you can just change the file extension to .zip to access all of the files in the package. In fact, you might not even need to change the extension, depending upon the software at your disposal. There are a couple of ways to go about this. Note Renam ng the fi e to a z p extens on s eas er to do f you are v ew ng fi e extens ons If
you don’t see the extens on for your Office Open XML Format fi e (such as docx), fo ow ng are steps to change that sett ng On W ndows 7 (or W ndows V sta)
1. In any W ndows Exp orer w ndow, c ck Organ ze and then c ck Fo der And Search Opt ons
2. On the V ew tab, turn off the opt on H de Extens ons Of Known F e Types and then c ck OK To find the same opt on when work ng n W ndows XP, n a W ndows Exp orer, on the Too s menu, c ck Fo der Opt ons On Mac OS Snow Leopard (or Leopard)
1. In F nder, on the F nder menu, c ck Preferences
2. On the Advanced tab, c ck Show A F ename Extens ons
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Change the file extension to .zip or append the .zip file extension to the existing file name. To do this in Windows Explorer or Mac OS Finder, just click to select the file and then click again on the file name (this is slower than a double-click) to enter editing mode for the file name. For the same result on Windows, you can also press F2 once you select the file. On Mac, pressing Return activates the name change mode, and pressing Return again resets the file name after you change it. When you change the file extension, you’ll see a warning on either Windows or Mac OS. Just disregard this message and click Yes (on Windows) to confirm that you want to continue or, on Mac OS, click Use .Zip. (However, to protect your files, it’s a good idea to save a copy of the file with its original file extension before beginning to make changes in the XML.)
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Use an application that reads the ZIP package without changing the file extension. If you’re using Visual Studio 2010 with the Open XML Package Editor Power Tool mentioned earlier, you can open the Office 2010 or Office 2011 document directly in Visual Studio to explore and edit the package without changing the file extension. But there are some simpler options as well. Some third-party compression tools will open an Office Open XML Format package as if it were a .zip file (because technically it is), without changing the extension. One such tool that I like and use on Windows 7 is named 7-zip. There’s a nice tool for this task on Mac OS, named Better Zip, that doesn’t currently strip everything you’d need stripped out if you edit the package contents and resave the package using that tool. However, it can still be extremely handy for viewing the package structure and for accessing some files that are otherwise difficult to access on Mac OS, as discussed later in this chapter. See Also Find 7-zip for Windows at www.7-zip.org. Find Better Zip at www.macitbetter.com.
That ZIP Package Is Still a Document! When editing the files in the document package, you might not want to spend the time switching back and forth between the Office Open XML file extension (such as .docx) and the .zip extension. Well, you don’t have to! From the Open file dialog box in Word, Excel, or PowerPoint, you can open documents that belong to the applicable program even when they’re using the .zip file extension. To see your file, just select All Files from the File Type drop-down list beside the File Name text box and then select and open the file as you would when using its original extension. There’s nothing else to it. Word, Excel, and PowerPoint know that the Office
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Open XML Formats are ZIP packages and read the XML within those packages whether the file is saved using .zip or a file extension that belongs to the program. Note that you can also open the package in the appropriate program through the Open With options available when you right-click the package in a Windows Explorer or in a Mac OS Finder window. If you do this, just be careful not to accidentally set the applicable program as the default for opening this file type, or you’ll add an extra step for yourself every time you want to access the document parts in the package. However, for ease of use as well as for sharing documents with Microsoft Office users of all experience levels, it’s a good idea to make sure the file extension is changed back to its original state once you’ve finished editing the files in the document package.
For Mac Users You might be aware that when you create an archive on Mac OS, the Archive utility adds some Mac-specific files. These are not visible on Mac OS by default and Mac OS doesn’t expose the option to display them. So you can’t manually remove them—but they will break an Office Open XML Format document. When you have finished editing the document package and want to archive it again, there are third-party utilities available that give you the option to ignore Mac-specific files when creating the ZIP package. One that I like and use on Mac OS Snow Leopard is named iArchiver. When you use it, be certain to select the option in the application preferences to ignore Mac-specific files. If you use an archive utility that enables you to view and edit ZIP folders without extracting the archive contents, be sure that it gives you the option to ignore or remove Mac-specific files when it archives. Even if it claims to, test one file before committing to the tool to make sure that everything has been removed. The best way to test it is to change the file extension back to the Microsoft Office file extension and try to open the file in its source program. If the archive has been saved without any Macspecific files, it will open without an error. Another option is to use a third-party tool that enables you to edit preferences that Mac OS doesn’t expose, including the option to show hidden files and folders. When you choose this option, you can delete the files in question and then archive the file. Typically, the hidden files that cause this issue are named .DS Store, which are files used to store some Finder attributes. They are added to a folder when it is opened.
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This is a bit tricky, because each time you open a folder (or subfolder), Mac OS adds this file. So, if you’re using a third-party tool to tweak your system preferences, see if the tool also includes the option to limit when .DS Store files are added. One nice, free option that enables you to make these setting changes is a program named TinkerTool. (Thanks to one of this book’s technical reviewers, Dennis Cohen, for the tip about TinkerTool and similar products that enable you to view Mac OS hidden files.) Even if you go this route, it doesn’t hurt to use a tool like iArchiver to archive the package when you’re done editing to be sure that potentially problematic Mac OS hidden files are not included. Note also that it might be possible to let Microsoft Office fix the file for you. I don’t recommend this route, because knowingly corrupting the file format is never a good idea and could cause you to lose things you don’t notice right away. However, in a pinch, if you use a utility that doesn’t clean out all Mac-specific files (or you believe you’ve manually cleaned them out but didn’t catch them all) and you get a corruption error while trying to open the file in its Microsoft Office program, dismiss the error message and see if you get the option to recover the contents of the file. If you do, give that option a try; it’s likely that you can just save the recovered file, and all of your content will be intact. Microsoft Office can often automatically remove unknown parts from a document package to remove the perceived corruption. See Also Find iArchiver at www.iarchiver.com. Find TinkerTool at www.bresink.com/osx/ TinkerTool.html.
For Windows Users You can save a copy of your file with the .zip extension while it’s open in its source program to bypass the step of changing the extension later. In the Save As dialog box, type the entire file name, followed by .zip, inside quotation marks. The file is still saved in whatever format is listed (so you still need to choose a macro-free or macro-enabled file format, for example, as appropriate), just as if you saved it first and appended the .zip extension later. The only difference is that the components of the document package are immediately available to you without you having to take an additional step after you close the file. For example, to save a file named sample.docx as sample.zip, type “sample.zip” in the File Name box of the Save As dialog box.
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Understanding the Office Open XML File Structure Once you change the file name to the .zip extension (or open the file in a utility that obviates the need to change the extension), open the file in a Windows Explorer or a Mac OS Finder window. The following example walks you through the package for a simple Word document, originally saved with the .docx extension. When you first view the package for a Word document, it will look something like Figure 24-5.
Figure 24-5 The top eve of an Office Open XML Format Word document package.
Note that, at the top level of the package you see in this figure, Excel and PowerPoint files would look very similar except that the folder named word in this example would instead be named xl or ppt, respectively, for the applicable program. n
The docProps folder is exactly what it sounds like—it contains the files for the document and application properties, ranging from author name to word count and software version.
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The rels folder contains a file named .rels, which defines the top-level relationships between the folders in the package. Note that additional relationship files may exist, depending on the document content, for files within a specific folder of the package (explained later in this section). The relationship files are among the most important in the package because, without them, the various document parts in the package don’t know how to work together.
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The file [Content Types].xml also exists at the top level of every document’s ZIP package. This file identifies the content types included in the document. For example, in a Word document, this list typically includes components such as the main document, fonts, styles, theme, document properties, and application properties. Files with additional types of content, such as diagrams or other graphics, will have additional content types identified. This file also provides a definition for each file extension included in the package, such as .xml, .rels, and media files such as .jpg or .png.
Exploring a bit further, when you open the folder named word, you see something similar to Figure 24-6.
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Figure 24-6 The ma n document fo der n
a Word document package. n
A new Word document contains XML files (XML document parts) for the fonts, styles, settings (such as the saved zoom setting and default tab stops), and web settings, whether or not formatting related to these items has been applied in the document. If headers, footers, footnotes, graphics, comments, or other content types have been added, each of those will have its own XML document part as well. In the packages for Excel and PowerPoint files, you’ll see a similar organization, with xml document parts for file components (such as styles.xml in Excel or tableStyles. xml in PowerPoint). Additionally, the xl folder in an Excel ZIP package contains a folder named worksheets by default, because there is a separate XML document part for each sheet in the workbook. The ppt folder in a PowerPoint ZIP package also contains folders named slides, slideLayouts, and slideMasters, by default.
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In addition to the XML document parts you see in Figure 24-6, notice the theme folder—which exists in the program-specific folder (word, xl, or ppt) for Word, Excel, and PowerPoint document packages. The file contained in this theme folder contains all cross-program theme settings (that is, colors, fonts, graphic effects, and background gallery styles) that are available in the document. This file is what enables you to share custom themes by sharing documents, such as by using the Browse For Themes feature at the bottom of a Themes gallery.
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The rels folder inside the program-specific folder defines the relationships between the parts inside the program-specific folder. The relationship file contained in this rels folder is called document.xml.rels for Word documents, presentation.xml.rels for PowerPoint documents, and workbook.xml.rels for Excel documents. Depending on the content in a given folder, its rels folder might contain more than one file. For example, if an object (such as an image) exists in a Word document header, the word folder contains a part named header#.xml (where the pound sign represents
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the index number of that header in the document), and its rels folder contains a file named header#.xml.rels that stores the relationship for the image in that header. n
Content in your document from other sources (such as embedded objects, media files, or macros) is either stored in its original format (as is the case for picture files) or as a binary file (.bin file extension). For this reason, you can save time on many tasks related to working with media files (such as pictures). See Also Check out an example of a timesaving task for working with media files in the article “Using Office Open XML to Save Time Without Writing Code,” available at http:// msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/dd627338.aspx.
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As mentioned at the beginning of this section, the package shown in Figures 24-5 and 24-6 is for a .docx file. Remember that the x at the end of the file extension indicates that it’s a macro-free file format. If this were, instead, the package for a .docm file (or any macro-enabled file format), and a VBA project had been created in that file, you would also see files named vbaData.xml and one named vbaProject.bin.
Caution Not ce the cap ta zat on of fo der names n F gure 24-6 XML s h gh y case-sens t ve
So, for examp e, the fo der named word s owercase ntent ona y Typ ca y, the first term s owercase and subsequent terms prov ded as part of a s ng e word are n t a -capped, such as docProps for document propert es When you start ed t ng document parts and packages, th s s extreme y mportant to keep n m nd because one ncorrect y cap ta zed term cou d break your so ut on For examp e, f you create a custom R bbon tab for an Office 2010 temp ate, cap ta z ng a group name ncorrect y w cause that group not to appear
If you return to the top level of the package and then open the docProps folder, you’ll see the properties files shown in Figure 24-7.
Figure 24-7 Two propert es fi es appear by defau t n the document propert es fo der of an Office Open XML document package.
By default, this folder contains the files app.xml (for application properties such as word count and program version) and core.xml (for document properties such as the Document Properties summary information like author and subject). Additionally, if you use the options to save a preview picture or a thumbnail for your document, you see a thumbnail image file
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in the docProps folder. For Word 2010, this is an .emf file; for Excel 2010, it is a .wmf file; for PowerPoint 2010 and all Office 2011 applications, it is a .jpeg file. Note If you’re runn ng the Office 2010 on W ndows 7 or W ndows V sta, you’ find an op-
t on n the Save As d a og box n Word or Exce to save a thumbna mage of your document In PowerPo nt, or n a three programs when runn ng W ndows XP, you’ see the opt on Save Prev ew P cture n the Document Propert es d a og box In Office 2011, find the opt on to save a prev ew p cture on the Summary tab of the Document Propert es d a og box n a three programs Note that, desp te hav ng d fferent mage fi e types for the thumbna , thumbna s saved n Office 2010 and Office 2011 fi es w appear when you’re v ew ng the document on the other p atform However, mage qua ty may vary across p atform In both Office 2010 and Office 2011, a so note that sav ng a thumbna can add to fi e s ze; n more comp ex documents, the s ze ncrease m ght be s gn ficant
Taking a Closer Look at Key Document Parts To help you get accustomed to reading XML file content, let’s take a look at it in a few of the essential document parts. Figure 24-8 depicts the [Content Types].xml file for the sample package shown earlier in Figure 24-5.
Figure 24-8 The [Content Types].xm fi e for a s mp e Word document. n
The first line of any XML file in an Office Open XML Format ZIP package will look very much like the first line in Figure 24-8. This line simply defines the type of XML structure being used. As noted earlier, if you’re viewing the file in some editors, such as Firefox, header information might not be visible. It will always be visible in an editing tool, however, including Notepad or Text Edit.
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Notice that the second line, which begins
