Do you find yourself constantly typing the same data in the same field? For example, say you work with an Employee Data form, and you find that you’re typing the same three Zip codes repeatedly. Since most of your employees live near your company’s three offices, you seldom need to type any other codes. By converting the Zip code text box into a combo box, you’ll eliminate the retyping. Follow these steps:

1. Open the form in Design view.

2. Right-click the Zip/Postal Code text box.

3. Move to Change To and click Combo Box (Figure A).

Figure A

4. Right-click the Zip/Postal Code combo box.

5. Click Properties (Figure B).

Figure B

6. On the Data tab, click the Build button in the Row Source field (Figure C).

Figure C

7. Add the Employees table.

8. In the field list, double-click Zip/Postal Code.

9. Click in the Criteria box under Zip/Postal Code and enter Is Not Null (Figure D).

10. Close and save the query.

Figure D

Now you can simply select one of the three zip codes from the drop-down list in the combo box, as shown in Figure E.

Figure E

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Word users often create printed fill-in forms that include underlined blanks spaces for writing in form data. While you can press Shift + - (hyphen) repeatedly to create these underlined spaces, it’s difficult to line up the lines. Leader tabs make it easier to create even lines, as well as saving keystrokes, but you’re limited to four underline styles.

Using the Underline button to underline tab characters gives you all the advantages of leader tabs with a wider choice of underline styles. For example, say you have used tabs to lay out your form, as shown in Figure A.

Figure A

To create the lines, just follow these steps.

1. Click the Show/Hide button on the Standard toolbar so that you can see tab marks in your document. In Word 2007, click Show/Hide on the Home tab in the Paragraph group.

2. Select the first tab mark you want to underline, then hold down the Ctrl key while you select each of other tab marks (Figure B).

Figure B

3. Go to Format | Font, choose the thick underline style from the Underline drop-down list, and click OK. In Word 2007, go to the Home tab, click the Underline button arrow in the Font group, and select a style from the Underline style list (Figure C).

Figure C

All lines will be printed, as shown in Figure D.

Figure D

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Do your bullets and numbers overpower the text on your PowerPoint slides? Or are they so small you can hardly see them from the back of the room? You don’t have to settle for characters that distract from your message. For example, suppose too large numbers distract from the text as shown in Figure A.

Figure A

To improve their appearance, just follow these steps:

1. Select the numbered text.

2. In PowerPoint 2002/2003, go to Format | Bullets And Numbering. In PowerPoint 2007, choose Bullets And Numbering from the Bullets And Numbering drop-down list on the Home tab.

3. Click the Numbered tab.

4. In the Size box, click the down arrow until 80 is displayed, as shown in Figure B, and then click OK.

Figure B

The numbers will now be 80% the size of the surrounding text, as shown in Figure C.

Figure C

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1. In E-mail view, choose Mail Message from the New button or press [Ctrl]+N to open a blank mail window.
2. Enter your signature’s text. Try to limit your signature to essential information. A signature should be only a line or two.
3. Position the cursor where you want to insert a graphic.
4. Choose Picture from the Insert menu, locate and select the file, and then click Insert. In Outlook 2007, click the Insert tab and choose the appropriate command from the Illustrations group. The file must be one of the following formats: GIF, JPEG, or PNG. TIFF and BMP files are too large to include in the signature line.
5. Press [Ctrl]+A to select the entire signature and the graphic.
6. Press [Ctrl]+C to copy the signature to the Clipboard.
7. Choose Options from the Tools menu on the main menu.
8. Click the Mail Format tab.
9. Click Signatures in the Signatures section.
10. Click New.
11. Name the signature and click Next. (Outlook 2007 groups the options together, so there’s no need to click Next.)
12. Click inside the Edit Signature control and press [Ctrl]+V to paste the signature from the Clipboard. (If you’re using Outlook 2007, be sure to select the signature by name from the New Messages control.)
13. Click OK twice. On the Mail Format tab, choose the signature from the Signature For New Messages drop-down list in the Signatures section.
14. Click OK.

When creating a new message, Outlook will automatically include the signature, including the graphic you added.

When working with time and date values, it can be beneficial to know a value’s serial value. Fortunately, Excel makes it easy to take a quick peek. Simply press [Ctrl]+~ (that’s the Shift value for the ` key, just left of the 1 key).

You can test this quickly enough by entering a few date and time values:

1. Press [Ctrl]+; to enter the current date.
2. Press [Ctrl]+[Shift]+; to enter the current time.
3. Press [Ctrl]+; then [Spacebar] then [Ctrl]+[Shift]+; to enter the current date and time.

To see the serial values for each date and time value, simply press [Ctrl]+~. When you’re done, press [Ctrl]+~ again to return to normal view. Excel automatically adjusts the column width for both views.

Excel 2007 has no explicit command that you can use to create a watermark. However, there is a way to simulate a watermark using some of the commands on the Header & Footer Design Ribbon. For example, say you would like to mark all pages of a printed worksheet Confidential. Follow these steps:

1. Click anywhere in the worksheet.
2. Click the Insert tab and then click Header & Footer in the Text group.
3. Under Header, click in the Center section on the Design tab of the Header & Footer Tools in the Header & Footer group.
4. Click Picture, then navigate to the file containing the picture and click Insert as we’ve done in Figure A. (This example inserts a PNG file created from a WordArt object in a Word 2007 document.)

Figure A

6. Click Format Picture in the Header & Footer group.
7. Click the Picture tab and select Washout from the Color drop-down list (Figure B).

Figure B

8. Click OK.

Excel will include the watermark on all printed pages of the worksheet (Figure C).

Figure C

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You begin typing a quotation in a Word 2007 document. When you press the ” key, Word inserts straight quotes. You would like Word to change them to Smart Quotes instead. In Word 2003, you just go to Tools | AutoCorrect and select the Straight Quotes With Smart Quotes check box in the AutoFormat As you Type tab.

Word 2007 doesn’t offer the AutoCorrect options on the Ribbon. Instead, it gives you two substitutes: Use the Word Options dialog to enable/disable Smart Quotes for all documents or add a button to the Quick Launch Toolbar that lets you turn the option on or off at will.

To change the Autocorrect option for all documents, follow these steps:

1. Click the Office button.
2. Click the Word Options button.
3. Click Proofing and then click the AutoCorrect Options button (Figure A).

Figure A

4. Click the AutoFormat As You Type tab.
5. Under Replace As You Type, select the Straight Quotes With Smart Quotes check box and click OK.

Now all quotes will display as Smart Quotes. To change back to Straight Quotes, repeat steps 1 through 6, but clear the check box in step 5.

If you need to change the option often, you may want to add a button to the Quick Launch Toolbar that will let you toggle the option on and off. Follow these steps:

1. Click the down arrow at the end of the Quick Launch Toolbar.
2. Click More Commands (Figure B).

Figure B

3. Select Commands Not In The Ribbon from the Choose Commands drop-down list.
4. Select Autocorrect Smart Quotes, click Add, and click OK (Figure C).

Figure C

The Autocorrect Smart Quotes button now appears on the toolbar. To change the option, simply click the button. For example, if Straight Quotes is turned on, click the button in the Quick Launch Toolbar to begin entering Smart Quotes. To go back to typing Straight Quotes, click the button again.

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Whenever you click the Builder button in an Event property box, the Choose Builder dialog box displays, forcing you to specify how you will build your code (Figure A).

Figure A

If you work exclusively with event procedures, you probably don’t want to have to choose Code Builder each time you write or edit event code. You can make Code Builder the default by following these steps:

1. Go to Tools | Options. (In Word 2007, click the Office button and then click the Access Options button.)
2. Click the Forms/Report tab. (In Word 2007, click Object Designers and scroll to Forms/Reports.)
3. Select the Always Use Event Procedures check box and then click OK.

Now when you click the Builder button, it will go directly to the Visual Basic window.

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This 2007 behavior is as designed. When you open a legacy database that contains custom toolbars, there are two possibilities: If you replaced 2003’s default menu bar with a custom bar object, 2007 will display the custom toolbar; when you open an .mdb file that maintains 2003’s standard menu bar, 2007 displays custom toolbars on the Add-Ins tab. In this case, each group on 2007’s Add-Ins tab corresponds to a custom toolbar from your .mdb file.

Custom toolbars must be visible in the 2003 database to appear on the Access 2007 Add-Ins tab. If an .mdb file doesn’t contain a custom toolbar, Access 2007 hides the Add-Ins tab.

When choosing a font, be sure to consider how readers will view the document:

• A serif font is easier to read in print, such as reports, books, catalogs, and newspapers.
• A sans serif font is easier to read on a computer screen, such as fill-in forms and Web pages.

Experts theorize that the serif details help people read groups of words instead of single words. This seems to work well in print but not on screen.