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Tips and Tricks - Current Issue

Insert Captions in a Word 2007 Document

When you insert tables, pictures, and other objects in your Word 2007 document, you can easily add a caption to them. The caption will also help you refer to the object within the document.

To insert a caption for your table or picture, just follow these steps:

  1. Select the object.
  2. On the “References” tab, in the “Captions” group, click “Insert Caption.”
  3. In the “Label” box, select the object type (Equation, Figure, or Table).
  4. In the “Position” box, specify the placement of the label (above or below the selected item).
  5. In the “Caption” box at the top of the screen, enter any additional information, then click “OK.”
If you insert a new caption, Word will automatically update the caption numbers. However, if you delete or move a caption, you must manually update the caption numbers. To do this, select a specific caption or the entire document, and then press the “F9” key.

Cell Formatting in Excel

When you enter data into a cell in Excel, it is handled differently depending on what type of formatting is assigned to the cell. For example, if “Currency” formatting is selected, Excel will automatically convert “3” into “$3.00”; if “Date” formatting is selected, Excel will change “1/1” into “1/1/2011”; and if “Percentage” formatting is selected, Excel will convert “0.3” into “30.00%.”

To change the formatting of a cell, highlight the cell(s) you want to format, then right-click and select “Format Cells.” Under the “Number” tab, choose a different format from the “Category” listing and then select a layout from the “Type” listing. To input data containing zip codes or phone numbers, choose “Special” from the “Category” menu.

Instead of converting existing data to a new format, you can also pre-apply formatting to a range of cells. To do this, simply highlight a range of cells, apply the formatting you would like, and then input the data.

Display Leading Zeroes in Excel

Let’s say you would like to enter some numbers beginning with a zero in an Excel spreadsheet. By default, Excel will remove the leading zero. To force Excel to display the zero, you can use “Custom” formatting:

1. Type the number “0123” into an empty cell and press “Enter.” Next, right-click on that cell and select “Format Cells.”

2. Under the “Number” tab, select “Custom” from the “Category” listing.

3. In the “Type” listing on the right, delete the word “General,” type four zeroes (0000), and then click “OK.” The number will now display as “0123.”

Note: If you type the number “12” into the cell and press “Enter,” it will display as “0012.” Type “1” and it will display as “0001.” This is because you have set the cell to contain at least four digits. If the cell contains less than four digits, Excel will make it four digits long by adding one or more leading zeroes. If you type a number longer than four digits, such as “12345,” no leading zeros will be added.

View a PowerPoint 2007 Slide Show in a Mini-Window

  1. Click the “Slide Show” tab on the Ribbon.
  2. Press the “Ctrl” key and click the “From Beginning” or “From Current Slide” icons in the “Start Slide Show” group. PowerPoint will display your slide show in a small window rather than in full-screen mode.
  3. If further edits are needed, click back into the main PowerPoint window and make the necessary changes.
  4. In the floating toolbar that appears, click the “Resume Slide Show” button to resume the mini-show with your most recent changes.

Aero Features in Windows 7: Aero Snap

An easy way to get the most out of your Windows 7 experience is to take advantage of Windows 7’s Aero features. Aero is a collection of visual enhancements designed to make the Windows 7 interface simpler and more efficient.

One of these enhancements is Aero Snap, which allows you to enlarge or resize windows by dragging them to the edge of the screen. To manipulate a window, just click at the very top of the window and hold down the left mouse button. For a side-by-side view of windows or documents, you can drag them to the right or left side of the screen and they will “snap” into place to fill half of the screen. Dragging a window to the top of the screen will maximize the window to fill the entire screen. Giving a window a quick shake will minimize all other open windows to the taskbar.