Make simple changes to SVG graphics
Some simple changes to SVG graphics can bypass some of the more annoying limits of SVG support in Word, Excel and PowerPoint for Office 2019/365. Here’s a simple SVG with three parts: the circle <circle>the rectangle <path id=”bar” …>letters are defined in other <path … > and <use …> statements. In this article we’re using […]
Align Page vs Align Margin in Word
What’s the difference between aligning to a page and align margin in Word documents? Quite often, there’s no practical difference between ‘Align Page’ and ‘Align Margin’ in Word. These options appear when positioning an object on a page and other places. Centering an object has to be done compared to some defined ‘edge’ of a […]
Side-by-Side Translation in Word
How to show original text and a translation side by side in Word. The recent versions of Word have had an in-built translation feature that, like so many things in Microsoft Office, doesn’t quite go far enough. The basics are simple enough. On the Review tab there’s a Translate button. Click on that to translate […]
Changing RTF away from Word
How can you change the default program for .RTF documents away from Word and make it stick? We’ve talked about the virus security risk of Rich Text Format .RTF files which even Microsoft has, at times, suggested blocking. Despite that, .RTF files are associated to Word during the Office installation. The modern installer doesn’t give […]
Changing Text Box backgrounds in Office
There are two ways to make a text box transparent in Office; Word, Excel or PowerPoint. There’s a quick option and other that gives you some more control. The Word, Excel or PowerPoint ‘Text Box’ feature is presented as a way to have ‘pull quotes’ or sidebar text in your documents however it can do […]
What the RTF? Using RTF docs in Word
What is an RTF document, is it safe, how to use in Microsoft Word and why is it still being used? “I’m looking for a job and many employers are asking for my resume in RTF format. How do I do that and why can’t I just use a Word document?” Ian G. RTF (Rich Text […]
Why Canon says to ignore its own printer warnings
A shortage of computer chips has forced Canon to come clean and admit their warnings about counterfeit ink cartridges aren’t that serious. Now they have to tell customers to ignore those warnings and keep on printing. For a long time printer makers have tried all manner of tricks to convince customers to only buy their […]
Add the Year of the Tiger into Word, PowerPoint and Office
2022 is the Chinese year of the Tiger. Here are some tiger images, emoji and graphics in Word, PowerPoint and Office apps. Drop any of these into your documents or slides for a little New Years fun. See our related article Make your Chinese New Year graphics pop with these Office tricks to change these […]
Make your Chinese New Year graphics pop with these Office tricks
There are simple and traditional color choices for Chinese New Year graphics and text plus some Microsoft Office graphics tricks to make them look a lot better in Word and PowerPoint. Simple design done in a few moments with just the icons and tools in Word 365 or PowerPoint 365. Looking for 2022 New Year […]
Identical To ≡ symbol in Word, Excel, PowerPoint and Outlook
Insert the Identical To ≡ into Microsoft Word, Excel, PowerPoint or Outlook. Both in Office for Windows and Office for Mac. Identical To ≡ symbol, also known as the triple bar, is a mathematical symbol. The three lined symbol means that something is identical or like another value, but this does not mean that is […]
Add the missing Draw with Touch option to Office
Here’s how to force the ‘Draw with Touch’ button to appear in Word, Excel and PowerPoint when it doesn’t show up automatically. ‘Draw with Touch’ is an Office option to let you draw with a finger or stylus on a touchscreen. It should automatically appear on the right of the Draw tab with a touch-enabled […]
Making QR codes step by step for Office
Making QR codes is quite simple, all you need is a simple online code maker and by following our step by step guide you’ll have it set-up in no time. We’ll show how to make QR codes for web links and even easily sharing Wifi settings. Nowadays, QR Codes are widely used thanks to COVID, […]
Converting SVG code into a graphic for Office
How to convert the code which makes an SVG illustration into something that will work with Word, Excel and PowerPoint and also change the SVG code to alter the colors and background settings. Usually, SVG format graphics are supplied as a separate file but sometimes they come as a long text string like this: <svg viewBox=’0 […]
How does Microsoft Word handle non-binary grammar like they?
Microsoft Word has a powerful grammar checking system but how does it handle changes in English usage like the rise of non-binary or non-specific pronouns like ‘they’ and ‘them’? We took put sample words and sentences in Word to see how ‘woke’ it is. As a bonus, we’ll explain Pibling and Nibling that are already […]
Three more Word date and time options
Aside from inserting the current date or time, Microsoft Word has some other useful choices for inserting dates automatically. The date/time the document was created, last saved or last printed. Header / Footer In a Word document header or footer, the same Insert Date options and shortcuts apply as in the main document. There’s an […]
Many ways to insert the current date and time in Word
Here’s all the different ways you can quickly insert the current date or time into a Microsoft Word document. There’s the ‘official’ shortcut and the ‘secret’ shortcut with better options than the usual tip. As usual with Word and Office, there’s the simple but incomplete answer that’s commonly given but more useful info when Office-Watch.com […]
