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Archive of posts filed under the Formatting category.

How to Convert Word Tables Back into Plain Text

Let’s say you have a table that you want to convert back into text. How do you do it?
I write technical documents for a living. Part of my work is extracting text from excel files and other documents where technical information is located. Sometimes this is text inside tables that I need to get out [...]

How to Convert Boring Text into Stunning Tables

Let’s say you have a large block of text that you want convert into a table. How do you do it?
I write many technical documents. This means that many times I need to reformat text so that it is more attractive and easier to read. One way to do this is to place the text [...]

How to change MS Word’s default color White to Blue

You can change the background color of Microsoft Word from White to Blue.

How to Add Special Effects to your Next Business Report

How to Animate Text in a Word Document

How to Optimize PDF Files for Web Sites

Portable Document Format (PDF) is the defacto file format for presenting device-independent documents on and off the Web. While PDFs have become quite popular on the Web, many PDFs used in web sites are designed for high quality print output and are not optimized for the Web.

How to Create Dynamic Web links in your Technical Documents

Instead of using field codes to add filenames and file paths to your document, you can setup Word so that it displays these in the toolbar. You can then add these links to any page in an open document.

How to Improve Readability on Laptops and HD Flat Panel Displays

This free download from MS “delivers improved font display quality over traditional forms of font smoothing or anti-aliasing. ClearType improves readability on color LCD displays with a digital interface, such as those in laptops and high-quality flat panel displays. Readability on CRT screens can also be somewhat improved.

5 Tips for Keyboard Fanatics & Time Poor Tech Writers

Donationcoder continue their excellent series of products with TapTap Hotkey Extender, a tiny super-efficient tray-based utility (under <100k) for keyboard fanatics.

Why you MUST learn how to create a macro in MS Word 2002/2003/2007

One of the hidden features in Microsoft Word is macros. These are small mini-programs that you can create to automate tasks, for example, formatting a document, changing the layout or updating styles.
What is a macro? A macro is a series of commands and instructions that you group together as a single command to accomplish a [...]

MS Word 2010: Is the new Find re-design better or worse?

In the new version of Word 2010, there is a new ‘integrated flavor of the Find feature’.
Scott Walker, Lead Program Manager, for Microsoft Word explains that ‘Rather than a modeless dialog box that jumps about on the screen to get out of the way, the basic Find experience now sits conveniently at the top of [...]

MS Office 2010, New Mini Translator feature

Microsoft have introduced a Mini Translator in Office 2010 that provides on-the-fly translation as you select a word or phrase and provides dictionary definitions of individual words.

How to extend the Ribbon in MS Office / Open XML SDK

The Fluent UI, or as it’s better known the Ribbon, was introduced in Office 2007. The Fluent UI technology, like the Open XML formats, is based on XML, which allows for a richer extensibility story for developers.

Microsoft Word 2010: How to open Word files online in Protected View

Vikas on the Microsoft Office Trustworthy Computing security team explains how a new feature in Microsoft Word 2010 called Protected View.

Error Messages when Starting Microsoft Word

Over the years Microsoft Word has crashed on me several times. What’s interesting is that the error message I get tend to vary but the result it always the same – I can’t get Word to start.
Here are some common error messages, the reason why they appear, and what you can do to re-start Word. [...]