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The following information is reprinted with permission, Ultimate Power Tips 1.0A (c) 1992, 1993 Paul Scanlon, Scanlon Enterprises ---------------------------------------------------------------- POWER TIPS FOR WORDPROCESSING AND DESK TOP PUBLISHING ---------------------------------------------------------------- Creating High-Impact Documents and Presentations These days, virtually everyone has access to thousands of typefaces. Low cost font generators, like Fontware, scalable font cartridges and cheap PostScript printers make it easier than ever to add attention grabbing typefaces to your newsletters, presentations and brochures. Using flashy fonts in a business report or training manual, is like wearing a plaid suit to a board meeting. Such documents, demand a conservative, businesslike image. Fortunately, that doesn't mean you're stuck with your laser printers' boring Times Roman (Dutch) or overused Helvetica (Swiss) fonts. The key to elegant looking business documents, is in using the right typeface family, which includes all styles (such as bold or italic), widths (condensed or expanded) and weights (light or heavy) of a particular typeface. Finding the right Type: Since you'll be using a single typeface family, for both headlines and body text, look for one that offers strong contrasts between its styles, widths and weights. Good picks include ITC Bookman, New Century Schoolbook, Palatino, Avant Garde, Futura and Univers. Check the samples printed in the sizes and resolution you plan to use. Some typefaces printed at 300 dots per inch (DPI) are difficult to read at sizes of less than 10 points, because the ink toner fills in the enclosed portions of letters, like "e" and "o". Try to compare samples of the same typeface from different vendors, they'll often vary widely in quality and appearance. If you're printing the finished product at a service bureau, make sure your fonts can be output at that site. Typefaces from smaller vendors aren't always supported by professional typesetting equipment. When in doubt, stick with fonts from major vendors. Getting Down to Business: Here are some tips for designing a simple business report : 1) Use bold type for headlines and bold italic for major subheadings. To lend the page a symmetrical appearance, use multiples of the body text size to determine the sizes for headers. For example, with 12 point body style text, use a subheading that's twice the size (24 points) and a headline three to four times as large (36 to 48 points). 2) Use 10 to 12 point roman (normal) type for all body text. Use italic type of the same size to indicate book titles, foreign words and technical terms. 3) To differentiate minor subheadings from body text, set them in bold at 12 to 14 points. 4) Condensed (narrow) and lighter weight versions of the main typeface are useful when you have to fit lots of body text into a small space. For example, in a table or directory. Use 12 to 14 point type for figures and table headings, and 10 to 12 point type for the body text of tables. 5) Use expanded (wide) and heavier (extrabold, demi, black) versions of a font for display text and special elements, like logos and large capital letters. Heavier faces are especially handy for long headlines. Their increased weight lets you use a smaller point size without diminishing the headers importance. 6) For headers and footers (information at the top or bottom of a page that identifies its contents) and footnotes, use roman type set slightly smaller than the main. Most importantly, keep thins simple. Even though some type families offer a wide range of harmonious variations, less is usually more when it comes to mixing up different type styles, weights and sizes in a typical business report. To aid you in understanding some Desk Tip Publishing terms, here are some Desk Top Publishing Definitions MEASUREMENTS Pica : One pica is equal to 1/16th of an inch. Picas are commonly used to measure such page dimensions as column width, margins and spaces for placement of art. Point : A point is 1/12th of an inch. 12 points equals 1 pica. You'll often see picas and points used together. Points are also used to measure the size of a typeface. Em Dash : An em dash is equal to the width of a font's capital M. As a form of punctuation, these long dashes are used, instead of two dashes to show abrupt changes or digressions in a sentence. En Dash : An en dash is usually half the width of an em, and can be the same size or longer than a hyphen, depending upon the typeface. Use hyphens to separate compound, hyphenated or broken words that occur at the end of a line. Us em dashes for inclusive dates and times, such as 1900-2000 and 6am-7pm. TYPE Typeface : The style of type referred to by a given name. Helvetica, Bookman, and Ultra Bodoni are typefaces. Weight : The thickness of the lines that make up the characters in a typeface and determine the darkness on the page. Weight may range from extra light to medium weight to extra bold. Font : A combination of the typeface, type size and weight. Helvetica 12-point bold is one font, Helvetica 14-point bold is yet another. Serif : Many typefaces have horizontal or vertical "tails", or "serifs", attached to the edges of letters. Serif faces are easier to read because the serifs lead the eye from letter to letter. Sans Serif : Typefaces without tails or serifs, used primarily in headlines. Large bodies of text in sans serif are difficult to read. X-Height : The height of the lowercase x in a font represents the height of the main body of the lowercase letters. It is important in selecting a typeface. A font which has a greater x-height, appears larger than a font of the same point size with a smaller x-height. Cap Height : The height of the capital letters of a font. Cap height, like x-height, is an important feature of a typeface's overall design. SPACING Leading : A term derived in the early days of hot-metal typesetting. It refers to the thin strips of hot lead that were added as a buffer between the bottom of one line of type and the top of the line below. NOW, the term is used in type specifications to express the baseline-to-baseline measurement (in points). Type set at 10/12 refers to 10 point type with 12 point leading, which leaves abut 2 extra points of white space between lines. Tracking : The spaces between the letters in a word or line of text. Tightening or loosening the tracing of a line can improve overall appearance by squeezing text into tight areas or inflating it to fill out a larger space. Increasing the space between letters also improves the legibility of smaller type sizes. Proportional Spacing : A system, that improves the look of documentation by eliminating excessive white space between letters. While typewriters, which use monospacing, allocate the same amount of space to each letter, proportional spacing allots thin letters, like 1 less horizontal space than a letter like M. Kerning : The adjustment of white space between letter pairs to accommodate the varying shapes of letters to give a better typographic fit and appearance. PAGE LAYOUT Greeking : The practice of using shaded blocks or lines to show how copy fits on a page. Because the actual text file isn't used, greeking increases a computer's redrawing speed when you make layout and design changes on a full page. River : A design faux pas in which white spaces between words line up and run down a column, resembling a river. Rivers can occur when type is spaced to loosely in justified text. Tag WordPerfect Files When you display the contents of a WordPerfect directory, with the List Files Key (F5), you can individually tag and untag files (for copying or deletion) by pressing the asterisk key. To tag or untag all files at once, press {Alt}F5. Sneaky Deletions in Word Delete text in Microsoft Word, and the program stores it in Scrap for later recall. When you want to make a deletion without disturbing the contents of the Scrap, select the text you want to delete, and press <Shift>-<Delete>. Better Printer Control With XyWrite III When you print a file with XyWrite III or III+, the printer won't automatically advance to the top of the next blank page. You can issue a formfeed from XyWrite command line in several ways; the easiest is to add a formfeed line to the STARTUP.INT file. Just type "BC" default FF=1 on any line in the file. Applications Load Files Automatically Many applications allow you to open a document at the time the application starts, from the DOS command line. If you want to load WordPerfect 5.1 and open TEST.DOC from the directory C:\TEMP, for example, from a DOS prompt, enter, "WP C:\TEMP\TEST.DOC". The application loads the document, placing you into EDIT mode automatically. This NOT only gets the you right to work, but your application and document load much faster. Quick Text Moves in WordPerfect Instead of using WordPerfects Block functions or Move keys, try this quick and dirty way to move text with the <F1> cancel key. Delete any amount of text with the delete keys or a block of text with block delete, move the cursor to the new location, and press <F1> and then "1" to restore the deletion. Avoid deleting unwanted characters so you don't have to edit the insert. Repeat Macros in WordPerfect To execute a WordPerfect macro more that once, just position the cursor at the starting point, press <ESC>, enter the number of times you want the macro to repeat, and start the macro. Correct Your WordStar Dictionary Oops! You just saved a misspelled word to your WordStar 4.0+ personal dictionary. The documentation neglects to mention that WordStar creates Personal dictionary files in ASCII. You can correct the errant entry by simply editing the contents of the file. Start WordStar, press "N" to open a nondocument file, enter "PERSONAL.DCT" and press <ENTER>. Next press <Ctrl>-OF to search for the misspelling or scroll through the dictionary list to find the misspelled word. Make the correction and press <Ctrl> KD to save the change. Speedy Text Moves Between WordStar Windows WordStar 5.0's built-in command for moving blocks of text between windows, {Ctrl}KG, is slow because it rewrites the entire screen. For faster block moves, use the undelete command {Ctrl}U. Define a block of text, you want moved, from the first window ({Ctrl}KB & {Ctrl}KK), delete it with the {Ctrl}KY, press {Ctrl}OK to switch to the second window, then press {Ctrl}U to unerase the block, in the second window. WordStar Macros at Your Fingertips To run a WordStar 5.0+ macro, you usually press <ESC> and an alpha key. Touch typists, and keyboard jockeys who find it awkward to lift a hand from the keyboard, should try pressing <Ctrl>-[ and the appropriate alpha key to start macros. Substituting two key strokes for one may sound slow, but keeping your fingers on the keyboard speeds up input. Draw WordPerfect Lines Last When you use WordPerfects' Line Draw feature to create a box around text, the vertical line segments will shift if you inadvertently enter text with <Insert> on. The solution ? Enter your text and the horizontal lines first and draw the vertical lines last. Handy WordPerfect 5.0 Directory Lists You can quickly create neatly formatted printouts of WordPerfect 5.0 directories by pressing {F5} to display the directory contents, then press {Shift}&{F7} . WordPerfect will print a listing of all files and directory information, even if it occupies more than 1 screen. WordPerfect Automatic Footnote Creation To create a note, position the cursor where you want the notes reference number, and press <Ctrl><F7>. Press "F" for a footnote or an "E" for an endnote, and press "C". Type the notes text, then press <F7>. To delete a note, move the cursor to its reference number, then press <DELETE>-Y. To edit a note, press <Ctrl><F7>, press either "F" or "E" (for footnote or endnote), and then "E" (for edit). Enter the notes reference number and press <ENTER>. Now, edit the text and press <F7> when done. When you insert or delete a note, renumbering is automatic, but the change will not appear on screen until the cursor is moved. By default, WordPerfect numbers notes continuously. In long documents, however, you'll probably want the notes in each section to begin with "1". Place the cursor wherever you want to begin renumbering, the press <Ctrl><F7> and "F" or "E", then finally, "N" (for number). Enter "1" as the new start number and press <ENTER>. WordPerfect normally, prints endnotes, at the END of a document. To have them printed at the end of a section (chapter) instead, move to the end of a section, press <Ctrl><F7) and "P". You can restart endnote numbering here by pressing "Y". Press "N" to maintain the sequence. Ignore the comment box warning that appears at the endnote position. WordPerfects default format, is ideal for most uses, but, can be changed if needed. Move to the top of the document, press <Ctrl><F7> and "F" or "E" (footnote or endnote). Press "O" to view the options menu. These options include : "1) line spacing, which is default of 1, 2) set minimum footnote (endnote) size (this is the text that must appear on the same page ast its reference before the rest is bumped to the next page, usually a default of ½ inch), 3) & 4) control reference mark appearance, 5) type of character for reference marks (numbers are the default), 6) restart renumbering on every page option, 7) set line spacing to separate note from main body, 8) set the note break continued to "on" or "off", 9) Force footnotes to the bottom of a partial page. Custom Footnote and Endnote Text WordPerfect forces you to format footnote text one footnote at a time. Create the macros below, to automate this time-consuming job : Press "<Ctrl><F10>" (start macro recording) then "<Alt>-F" or "<Alt>-E" for footnote or endnote, then type "Footnote" or "Endnote", press <ENTER>. Press <Ctrl><F7>-F or <Ctrl><F7>-E (footnote or endnote), then "C". Now press <Ctrl><F8>, then close the font style you want as a default, and press <Ctrl><F10><F7> to end macro recording. Now, to insert a preformatted note, press <Alt>-F or <Alt>-E and enter your text and press <F7>. Print Odd or Even Pages By default, Word, can't print just odd or even pages. This Word 5.0+ macro, adds that capability, enabling you to print two sided documents. Simply print the odd pages (or even), flip the set over (reorder correctly) and print the reverse numbers (odd or even). Enter the following, on a blank Word screen. Press <Ctrl>-[ or <Ctrl>-] to create chevrons ("«" or "»"). <key1>+<key2> means press key1 and key2 at the same time. Each line is a new line (use <ENTER>). «SET ECHO = "OFF"» <Ctrl>+<PgDown><Ctrl>+<ESC>JP «SET LAST = FIELDS»<ESC><Ctrl>+<PgUp> «ASK EorO = ?ENTER O for Odd or E for Even pages.» «IF EorO = "O" OR EorO = "o"»«SET START = 1»«ENDIF» «IF EorO = "E" or EorO = "e"»«SET START = 2»«ENDIF» «SET PPAGE = START» «WHILE LAST > PPAGE» «SET ECHO = "ON"»<ESC>PO<DOWN ARROW 4 TIMES>P<TAB> «PPAGE» <ENTER><ENTER> «SET PPAGE = PPAGE + 2» «ENDWHILE» <ESC>PO<DOWN ARROW 4 TIMES>A<ENTER><ESC> To save the macro, press <Shift>+<F10><ESC>C, enter "OddEvenMac" and press <ENTER>. To store the macro permanently, press <ESC>TGS<ENTER>. To use the macro, press <ESC>I, Type "OddEvenMac" and press <ENTER>. When prompted, enter "E" for even pages or "O" for odd pages and press <ENTER>. Finagling Fonts in MicroSoft Word Need a font set which supports extended characters quickly? The following macro for Word should do the trick. «ASK STRING = ?SEARCH FOR ?» «IF STRING = ""» «QUIT» «ENDIF» «ASK FONT = ?FONT NAME?» «IF FONT = ""» «SET FONT = Courier"» «ENDIF» «ASK POINT = ?POINT SIZE?» «IF POINT = ""» «SET POINT = "12"» «ENDIF» <Ctrl><PgUp> <ESC>S«string»<ENTER> «WHILE FOUND» <ESC>FC<Down 3>«FONT»<TAB> «POINT»<ENTER><Right Arrow> <ESC>S<ENTER> «ENDWHILE» This macro, will search for "string", and each time if finds a match, will change the font an point size for the desired text. After starting the macro, your will be prompted for the character or string to modify. To abort, press <ENTER> now. If you enter a character or string, you will next be prompted for a font name, such as Courier or Elite, then point size, such as 12 or 14. If <ENTER> only is detected, the default 12 point Courier will be set. Inserting Spaces Using WordPerfect The following WordPerfect macro, will insert spaces to the right of the cursor position. To make this macro, we must enter the macro editor. To enter the macro editor, enter the following key sequences: <Ctrl><F10> <Alt>I (two keystrokes), then enter "Insert Blanks" and press <ENTER> . Now press <Ctrl><F10> <Ctrl><F10> (twice) and finally, <Alt>IE. The command {Display Off} will be displayed, press <DELETE> to delete it. Now, that you've get an empty macro, it's time to create our own. Enter the following : {ASSIGN} typeover {STATE}&256 {IF}{VARIABLE}typeover {Typeover} {END IF} {LEFT} {IF}{VARIABLE}typeover {Typeover} {END IF} Commands inside "{" can be selected by pressing <Ctrl><PgUp> and selecting the command from a menu. To enter the expression {Typeover}, press <Ctrl>V and <INSERT>. Enter ' (LEFT>\)' by pressing <SPACE>,<Ctrl>V, and <Cursor Left>. Use <TAB> to indent the command between {IF} and {END IF}. After entering the macro, press <F7> to exit the macro editor. To use, move cursor to where you want to insert spaces, and press <Alt>I Index concordance Macro This macro streamlines the process of adding text to a WordPerfect concordance file. You can then generate an index from the concordance and save the file to index future documents. To record the macro, start WordPerfect, type a word or two, then follow these steps. 1) Press <Alt><F4> to block any word on the screen 2) Press <Ctrl><F10> to begin macro recording 3) Press <Alt>I and type "Concordance" and press <ENTER> 4) Press <Ctrl><F4>bc<Shift><F3><ENTER> 5) Press <Home><Home><Cursor Rt><ENTER><Shift><F3> 6) Press <Ctrl><F10> to halt macro recording To use the macro, in a document, block a keyword, then press <Alt>I, and repeat as needed. When you've finished adding to the concordance file, press <Shift><F3>, then <F10> to save the file with it's own name. To add to the list in a late session, press <Shift><F3> to switch screens, then load the concordance file and press <Shift><F3> to switch back to main doc, before running the macro. Index and Table of Contents Macro for Word Word 4.0 and 5.0 comes with macros for marking index and table of contents entries. To load the macros, press <ESC>TGL, enter the macro, and press <ENTER>. (Word 4.0 use <ESC>TGM instead). You may have to include path information for the file, which is normally in the main Word directory. To mark an entry, highlight the text, press <Ctrl>IE. To mark a highlight table of contents entry, press <Ctrl>TE. Another macro lets you create an index from a concordance's file. To use, press <Ctrl>IW, type the concordances file name and press <ENTER>. Word will compile the index, listing all words in the concordance file, plus previously marked entries. Inserting Captions in Ventura an PageMaker It's always a good idea to write caption text using your word processor, then import it into your document. Here's how to place caption text inside PageMaker and Ventura documents. After you've written and spell-checked your captions, import the text file into the document. In PageMaker, simply place the file on the pasteboard, cut each caption, and paste it in place. Ventura's a little trickier. First you must use the Frame menu's Anchors & Captions option to create an empty caption frame, which automatically links to the picture frame. Then, replace the graphic inside the picture frame with the text file (by clicking on the frame, then on the file name), separate the desired caption, and insert it in the caption frame. Finally return the graphic to the picture frame. Importing 1-2-3 Worksheets in WordStar If you use WordStar Professional 5.0 and up, it's easy to import 1-2-3 worksheets. With a WordStar document open, press {Ctrl}KR, and type the path and name of the WK1 file, you wish to view, edit or print. You can either specify the worksheet range or press {Enter} to accept the whole worksheet. To print the worksheet, adjust the margins and print it as you would any other document. Case Shifting in WordPerfect WordPerfect 5.x has a little known command, that switches a block of text from uppercase to lowercase, or vice versa. First, mark the text as a block, using <Alt><F4>, then press <Shift><F3> followed by "U" for uppercase or "L" for lowercase. When converting to lowercase, WordPerfect capitalizes the first letter of a sentence, if a period appears before it. The pronoun "I" also stay capitalized, as do any other single letter abbreviations followed by a period. Finding a File Using Word Word 5.0's Library Document retrieval command will search through an entire directory of documents for text you specify, then let you load the document you want. This macro automates the process. Insert the following text onto a blank Word Screen. 1) Press <Shift><F3> to start macro record 2) Press <ESC>LDQ then <Cursor Down> five times 3) Press <Shift><F3> to end recording 4) Type "FindText.Mac" and press an unused control key combination. Then press <ENTER>E. 5) Press the <ESC>TGS keys to save the macro To use the macro, press The control sequence set in step 4, such as <Ctrl>F. Type the text you want to find and press <ENTER>. Word will search all documents in the current directory, then show you a list of files. To load a file, highlight it, then press "L" and <ENTER>. More Ways to Delete With WordPerfect WordPerfect 5.x provides a variety of ways to delete text. Here are two examples left out of the WordPerfect manual. If the cursor is on the fist letter of a word, or in the space between two words, pressing {Home}& {Back space} deletes the preceding word. If the cursor is on the first letter of a word, pressing {Home}&{Delete} deletes that word. If the cursor is anywhere within a word that same key combination, deletes from the cursor to the end of the word. Synonym Searches With Word When you're trying to embellish a humdrum sentence by choosing a sprightly synonym, it helps to see your new word choice in context. Here's a simple (and undocumented) way to team Word 5.0's thesaurus with the undo command in test drive that potentially perfect word. Position the cursor on the appropriate word, press "<Ctrl><F6>" to open the thesaurus, highlight a synonym, and press <ENTER> to replace the original word. Now you can press "<ESC>-U" to flip between the original and the alternative. If the synonym doesn't add the flair you're looking for, press "<Ctrl><F6>" to continue the search. WordPerfect Thesaurus Navigation WordPerfect's thesaurus may often give you more synonyms than will fit in the three columns provided. What's more, you can actively select from only one of those columns, the one with the boldface letters to the right of the words. To navigate through the thesaurus listings, use the cursor left and right keys, to go from column to column. If the contents of a column don't fit on screen, the page up & down (gray plus & minus), will scroll the entries. Flip-Flop WordStar Menus WordStar 5.x Pulldown menus provide a convenient way to learn the program, but the classic WordStar menus are faster once you master them. Although switching from classic to pulldown menus is an easily remembered 4-key-stroke process (<Ctrl>-JJ4), switching in the opposite direction is an awkward 6 keystrokes. Here's a macro that automates the change from pulldown to classic menus. Press <ESC>-? to display the Shorthand menu. Assign the macro to the H key by pressing "H", and type a brief description of the macro at the prompt. Press <ENTER> to begin recording the macro keystrokes. Press "<Ctrl>-P-<Alt>-O" to pull down the Other menu. Next, press "<Ctrl>-P-<Ctrl>-X" three times to move the cursor down to the help level prompt, press "<Ctrl>- P-<Ctrl>-M" and hit "3". Finally, press <ENTER><Ctrl>-U to exit the Shorthand menu, and press "Y" to save the macro. Now, whenever you want to switch from classic to pulldown menus, just press <ESC>-H. Repeating Text in WordPerfect 5.0 If you want to repeat a block of text several times throughout a WordPerfect document, highlight the desired text by using {Alt}&{F4}; then press {F10} to save the block and press {Enter} instead of typing a block name. When you want to retrieve the block, press {Shift}&{F10} (retrieve), then press {Enter}. The block remains in memory until you exit WordPerfect. Dating Letters Automatically You may already have a glossary entry in MicroSoft Word, to put your return address at the top of a letter. With a small addition, to that glossary, you can have Word enter the correct date when you print a letter. On the line after the street and city lines, in your glossary entry, put the word "date" by itself, then press <F3>. Whenever you type the letter or the name of the glossary entry, and press <F3> twice, the return address will appear in your letter with the current date. Backtrack Dialog Boxes With Ventura Publisher A useful Ventura shortcut, uses the <Ctrl>X key combination to redisplay the most recently used dialog box. This saves time and eliminates the need to reselect menus and respecify menu options to repeat the last operation you performed. For example, <Ctrl>X is especially helpful when you're trying to determine the best cropping and sizing for an imported graphic. One Step to PageMaker and File You can bring up Windows, PageMaker and a PageMaker document in one step from the DOS prompt. If your WIN.EXE and PM.EXE files are in directories named in the DOS PATH and your PageMaker document file is in the current directory then enter "WIN PM filename", where filename is the document, will start everything. If the document is NOT in the current directory, then filename should include the path, to the document. Printing Overlays With PageMaker Some overhead transparencies are designed to be overlaid, one on top of the other, during presentation. For example, the first overlay might show the bar chart representing last years sales volume by quarter, and a second overlay would add the bars that represent target sales volumes for the current quarter or coming year. Instead of creating two separate images and printing them, hoping that the elements will coincide, create the composite image on a single page an use PageMakers color feature to assign a different color to the elements on each overlay. For example, make the title, axes, tick marks, axes labels and first set of bars black, and make the second set of bars and any added labels another color (say blue). When you print the set on a black and white printer, with the SPOT COLOR SEPARATION option, the two images will print as separate sheets. Note that in this example, the two sets of bars, would have to be drawn as two separate graphics before importing them into PageMaker. If you create them as a single graphic, PageMaker can't separate the colors assigned in other graphics applications. Note also that the second overlay in this case does not repeat the axes , tick marks and labels of the first overlay. If you're NOT using a color printer, add colors with film or gel paint for a striking effect. You can use this technique to create overlays on a color printer, provided that each overlay is one color. You can't have more than one color on each sheet of acetate, if you want to use PageMakers SPOT COLOR SEPARATION feature, to create the overlays Menus Without a Mouse in WordPerfect You don't need a mouse to take advantage of WordPerfect 5.1's pull down menus, but a few changes in your Setup arrangement will enhance your use of this new feature. Choose Setup (<Shift><F1>), 2-Display, 4-Menu Options and then change each of the following options to "Yes" : 4) Alt Key Selects Pull Down Menu 7) Menu Bar Separator Line 8) Menu Bar Remains Visible The new main menu will always be visible, but separated from the text. Tapping the <Alt> key activates the new menu system. Restoring Normal Font in Word For Windows When you use any of the <Ctrl> keystroke combinations, in Word for Windows, to enter boldface, italic, underline and other font modes, the suggested way to return to normal font is to press <Ctrl><Space>. Another way, which you may find easier, is to press the right arrow key at the end of the next you've just entered, in an enhanced mode. This moves the cursor out of the area you have defined for special printing and into normal formatting. Snappy Quarters and Halves for WordPerfect If you want to insert ¼ or ½ into your WordPerfect documents, try using the Compose key. Press <Ctrl>-V followed by either "/4" or "/2" to produce the "¼" or "½" character respectively. Shrinking Your PageMaker Files When PageMaker saves a file, it saves the changes you've made since the last two saves, enabling you to Revert to previous versions of the document but also creating a larger file. To Shrink a PageMaker data file up to 50%, depending on the type of elements you've changed, save your file with Save as while keeping the same name. Be warned, that after doing this, you won't be able to use Revert! Case of the Disappearing Word 5.0 Headers Do your running heads disappear from sight after you format them with Format Running-Head ? If so, use the Options command to set Show Layout to No. This will bring your header lines back into view. The Ventura Dialog Box Two-Step Tired of the click-click-click of the mouse ? Consider Ventura's {Ctrl}X shortcut. If you want to cancel and escape a dialog box, just press {Ctrl}X. If you need to jump back to the last dialog box used, press {Ctrl}X again. No-Sweat WordPerfect Line-Height Adjustment In WordPerfect 5.0+, if line height is set to Auto, you can advance up or down a quarter or half a line without manually measuring line height and calculating the fractional amount. Press "<Shift><F8>oa". Type "u" for up or "d" for down, and enter ".25u" for a quarter line or ".5u" for half a line. Regardless of the point size, these unit amounts are converted automatically to the units of measurement you have selected under Setup. Fast WordPerfect Dot Leaders Want margin-to-margin leaders(.....) to, say , make flush-right text stand out ? In WordPerfect 5.1, just press {Alt}&{F6} twice. WordPerfect will move the cursor flush right, automatically add the dots, and await your text input. Watch Those WordStar Wild-Card Deletes WordStar Professional 4.0 and later versions, allow you to make wild-card deletes in the DELETE dialog box (Y at the Opening Menu or {Ctrl}&KJ from within a document). But the delete function uses DOS level commands, and if you enter "*.*", you will delete every file in the subdirectory, not just the subset that shows on the WordStar directory screen, by default. If you have an EXE and other application files in the logged directory, be careful about your wild-card usage, with DELETE. DisplayWrite Text Searches With Norton Utilities DisplayWrite uses the EBCDIC coding scheme for storing data rather than the ASCII standard used by most DOS applications. This makes DisplayWrite document files impenetrable to most text search programs. To search DisplayWrite files for text with Norton Utilities 4.5+, Text Search program (TS.EXE), use the "/EBCDIC" extension, as in "TS *.DOC text to search for /EBCDIC". Revealing Tab Settings in WordPerfect If you frequently change tab settings in WordPerfect, you probably want to be able to see your settings. You can display tab set indicators in WordPerfect 4.2+, using either Revival Codes ("<Alt><F3>") or Window ("<Ctrl><F3> 1#", where "#" is the number of lines to view). A 25-line display actually shows 24 lines because of the status line, so entering "<Ctrl><F3>W23" places the window divider at the bottom of the screen. This allows you to view the document in a nearly full edit screen, but still see the tab sets. Quick Bullets for WordPerfect Bullets offer a crisp, professional-looking way to organize memos or business letters, but dealing with character sets can be a pain. Using WordPerfect, you can insert quick bullets without worrying about character sets. Just press <ctrl>-W (the compose key), and enter an asterisk as the first character. The second character you enter determines the type of bullet inserted: a period creates a small filled bullet; an asterisk a medium filled bullet; lowercase "o" a small hollow bullet; uppercase "O" a large hollow bullet. Scaling Bit Mapped Graphics in Ventura When you import a bit mapped graphic into ventura, the program accurately reproduces the image's height to width ration and fixed dot pattern. If you enlarge the graphic, the dot pattern is often distorted. The solution ? Use integer multiples, whole number multiples such as 2 or 3, when you resize a bit mapped image. Ventura will then redraw the image with all the dots in their proper places. Here's how to enlarge and crop a sample Ventura graphic : 1) Start Ventura, switch to Frame mode and draw a frame 3 inches square. 2) Select File Load Text / Picture and load the CHANEL.IMG file found in the Typeset directory. Ventura automatically fits the image int the frame. 3) Select Frame Sizing & Scaling, then by Scale Factors. The "Scale Width" line displays the images's width, 1.51 inches. To make the image 4 times larger, simply multiply the original width by 2 and enter the total (3.02 inches) as the new scale width. Select OK, and Ventura quadruples the size of the image. 4) To crop the graphic, hold down <Alt> select the image and move it around until it's displayed correctly inside the frame. Print a Block A little used WordPerfect command, lets you print a block of text. First, press <Alt><F4> to mark a block (or use your mouse). Next, press <Shift><F7>Y to send the block to the printer. Vertical Centering in Word Many short documents, like letters, look better if they're centered vertically on the page. This Word 5.0 macro does that job with one keystroke. On a blank Word screen, enter the following key strokes. 1) Press <Shift><F3> to begin record mode 2) Press <Shift><F10><ESC>FO<Cursor down> 3) Type "Centered" and press <ENTER><Cursor Up> 4) Press <Shift><F3> and type "VCenter.Mac" (If you want to assign this macro to a hot key such as <Ctrl>C, type the carrot "^" then press <Ctrl>C) 5) Press <ENTER> 6) Press <ESC>TGS<ENTER> to save the macro. To use the macro, create a document, then press <Ctrl>C or if you didn't assign it a hot key, press <ESC><F1>, and select "VCenter.Mac" from the menu. The normal editing screen won't show the difference, but if you press <Ctrl><F9>, you'll see the text centered between the top and bottom of the page. Better Pop Up Calculator WordPerfect 5.1, includes a pop-up calculator macro, but you can build a better one, using WordPerfect 5.1's new Table feature. Follow these steps. 1) Press <Ctrl><F10> to start macro recording 2) Press <Alt>C and type "Calculator" 3) Press <ENTER> 4) Press <Alt><F7>TC1 5) Press <ENTER><ENTER>MF 6) Press <Ctrl><Page Up>P 7) Press <ENTER><ENTER> 8) Press <F7><Home><Home><Cursor Left><Back space>Y 9) Press <Ctrl><F10> to stop recording To do a simple calculation, press <Alt>C (if working with reveal codes on, press <Alt><F3>, before running the macro to turn this mode off). A box will appear on the screen. Enter a formula, using "+","-","*" and "/" operators. You can also include parentheses for complex calculations. Press <ENTER> to paster the result into the text. Useful Block Commands WordStar 5.0 and later, have some very useful block commands, that don't always appear on the pull-down menus, but are still well worth knowing. <Ctrl>K' (a single close quote), forces all the characters, in a selected block, to lowercase. <Ctrl>K" (Double quote) forces all characters, in a selected block, to uppercase. <Ctrl>K. (a period), capitalizes the first letter of a sentence and some single letter words, such as "I". <Ctrl>KM is the block math, and will add up all values in a block. This is used most often in the column mode, to total numbers. You can use the <Ctrl>KM for other arithmetic functions, by preceding the numbers with the desired math function, such as "-" for subtraction, "*" for multiplication and "/" for division. Pressing <ESC>= inserts the result into your document, at the cursor position. <Ctrl>K? displays the number of words in a block, as opposed to the <Ctrl>O? which displays the word count in an entire document. PageMaker Does Large Fonts PageMaker 3.0 won't let you use any type, larger than 127 points. When you need type larger than this stature, say for a banner or newsletter, bypass the limitation with one of the following techniques. Though PageMaker, limits the size of its own fonts, it lets you stretch graphics files and the text they contain to any size. If you have a printer that can produce oversized type, such as a PostScript or HP LaserJet III machine, or a printer loaded with the oversized fonts, you need create your banner or text in a draw program and import it into PageMaker. Then enlarge the image by pressing the <shift> key and using the mouse to stretch it. Draw programs such as Corel Draw and Micrografx Designer, store images as vector graphics, which don't distort when enlarged or reduced as do the bitmapped graphic images created by paint programs. The problem with draw programs is that PageMaker, while letting you enlarge and reduce fonts, stored in this format as if they were graphics, treats the images as fonts when it's time to print. To enlarge fonts created with a draw program, you need a printer that supports oversized fonts. If you don't have access to such a printer and you don't want to buy additional fonts, create the font with a paint program, such as PC PaintBrush or Windows Paint. For best results, save the image in a high-resolution bit mapped graphic format, such as TIFF. Next, import the image into PageMaker. Treat it as you would any other graphic and enlarge it by pressing the shift key and dragging on the corner of it, with your mouse. For better results, print your banner from a machine that supports oversized fonts. Then, scan that image onto a disk and save it as a TIFF file. Then import and enlarge the image as described above. Scan in the image larger than you ultimately need it to be and then reduce it by pressing <Shift> and dragging your mouse. Whether your type or scan the text into a paint type program, remember, to limit distortion by cleaning up the image with a pixel editor. Documents in Living Color It's no secret, that the easiest way to grab attention, is by using color! The cost of printing in color, can quickly, leave you in the red. There is, however, an easy cure to lost cost color printing (color blues). One of the most efficient and economical ways to "colorize" a newsletter, brochure or manual, is to use SPOT COLOR. Full color printing, uses four inks; CYAN (blue), MAGENTA (red), YELLOW and BLACK, to produce the full range of colors required for continuous-tone images, such as color photos. SPOT COLOR, requires only two color inks, one to print most of a document, and another, to highlight items like page borders, rules and boxes. Because SPOT COLOR, requires less ink and work than full-color printing, it's much less costly. To print SPOT COLOR documents, most businesses employ a professional print shop. Not every quickie offset print shop can handle the job. To specify which elements get which color, you can use your page layout package to print out separate black and white copies that correspond to each color, or you can simply bring your master pages to the printer and point. If you need just a handful of copies, it can be more economical to use an in-house color printer and a color copier. Regardless of how you print your document, you must first develop a SPOT COLOR strategy, picking colors and deciding how to use them. Here are some guidelines to help get you started. ~ Don't use SPOT COLOR haphazardly. Use it to organize pages and to guide the readers eye toward important items. ~ Use color consistently, throughout a document, employing the same color or color tint for similar types of headings, rules, boxes and so forth. ~ Choose bright colors for newsletters or fliers, such as dollar bill green, used for a financial newsletter. Use more subdued colors, such as dark blue or maroon for business reports or proposals. ~ If you're on a budget, choose standard colors, rather than pay for ink mixing, for custom colors. At the print shop, examine color samples printed on the paper stock you plan to use. ~ Make sure graphic elements such as borders, rules and boxes are large enough to carry the color. For example, it's hard to tell the difference between a black rule and a blue rule, if the rule is less than 1 point thick. ~ Use SPOT COLOR for short, infrequent text items, such as logo, large initial capitals, subheads and pull quotes. Headlines and body text usually work best, in dark colors like black or navy blue, which provide contrast and are easy to read. ~ When printing text against a SPOT COLOR background, use reverse, or uncolored type. Because reverse type uses the color of the paper instead of a second ink (such as black), you avoid having colors overlap or misalign. ~ If the same color elements appear regularly in every document; page borders, a masthead or logo, for example, you can save money by having them preprinted. Since the SPOT COLOR is already on the page, you pay for only one color (such as black) each time you print a new document. ~ For a nominal charge, you can add the effect of a third color to your document, by using a tint of the SPOT COLOR. For example, use a 25% tint of a dark color (use higher percentages with light colors) to set off a boxed item, such as a table of contents. ~ Don't overdo it. For maximum impact, don't use SPOT COLOR for more than 25% of the text and graphics on a page. ~ You can also add color to your document, by using a shade of paper other than white. Just be sure to select a color that's appropriate for your message and contrasts well with the colors in your document. Tutorial finished. Have you registered PC-Learn to receive your bonus disks? Registration is encouraged. Shareware works on the honor system! Send $25 to Seattle Scientific Photography, Department PCL6, PO Box 1506, Mercer Island, WA 98040. Latest version of PC-Learn and two bonus disks shipped promptly!