Some more tricks for improving or fixing rounded corner boxes in Office. Change the corner angle or roundness even to a stadium shape. Alter the border line a little or a lot. Make a Word text box with rounded corners explains the basics of making the rectangular box into something
‘Tell me’ help box is now in Microsoft/Office 365 for Mac as a way to find features on the ribbon. However it continues to have the same limitations that are in the Windows version. Look for the lightbulb and ‘Tell me’ box beside the ribbon tabs. Type in a phrase
PowerPoint has an option to ‘zoom out’ on a still image from a close-up view to a wider look at the same picture. It’s not a great option and Microsoft could make it a lot easier. Here’s how to do a ‘Zoom out’ on an image This is an endnote
We continue our look at the options for the ‘Ken Burns Effect’ in PowerPoint by combining the pan and zoom animation features into a complete effect. It adds interest and movement to a still image with two separate animation effects available, in part, in PowerPoint. Ken Burns Effect in PowerPointThe
Word, Excel and PowerPoint 365 for Windows are getting better control over what appears on the new-style Save dialog. Folders can be ‘pinned’ to always be show up in the list and a quick way to share a document. But a major annoyance remains unchanged. On the ‘Save this file’
The Drawing Tools in Word 365 is now larger with separate tools like Lasso and Eraser now in a single combined gallery. There are other changes and new limitations on the Drawing Tools gallery, some of them undocumented. Compare that to the old Draw tab where the Lasso, Eraser and
Give a still image some interest and movement by adding a simple ‘pan’ animation across the photo. This continuing our look at making the Ken Burns or ‘pan and zoom’ effect in PowerPoint. We’ve already shown how to add a Zoom to a still photo – PowerPoint calls it ‘Grow/Shrink’.
The ‘moving picture’ or Ken Burns effect can be done in PowerPoint for Windows or Mac. It converts a still image into a slowly moving ‘pan and zoom’ over the photo.. There are several ways to apply a ‘Ken Burns effect’ which we’ll explain starting with a very simple option
PowerPoint 365 for Mac has a background animation or ‘Ken Burns effect’ feature that’s not available in other PowerPoint’s. We have hidden tricks to improve Animate as Background beyond the simple defaults. Animate as Background adds a slow ‘zoom and pan’ effect to a still image, making it a moving
You can have a blurred or virtual background for any online video call, not just ones that have those in-built features. Zoom has blur and virtual background options. Teams is getting them with some limitations. Other online calling software either don’t have them or they are configured in different ways.
It’s now possible to open two Word docs or PowerPoint decks side-by-side on an iPad. iOS has multiple window or side-by-side support already, but Word and PowerPoint didn’t allow more than one document open at a time. That meant you could have a Word document open alongside another app but
Elon Musk and partner have named their child X Æ A-12 (no kidding) how do you type Æ in Microsoft Word and Office generally. The child’s name doesn’t trigger any spelling or grammar errors in Word. No squiggly lines. What is Æ ? Æ or æ is a a-e ligature
Make online group calls better for you and others on the call. Muting, watching your look and the background. We’ll use Zoom as our example but the same etiquette applies to Teams, Meet, Facetime or any other group calls. Mute if you’re not speaking Group online calls are great but
It’s possible to add a virtual background of your choice to a Microsoft Teams video call or just blur the background for a little privacy. Microsoft hastily added some virtual background options to Teams but the whole calling part of Teams is still woefully inadequate. For example, many of the
Transport for London knows some of us are missing our bus and tube journeys so they’ve made some virtual backgrounds you can use on Zoom, Teams or anywhere else that supports it. Or use as a background on a PowerPoint slide. Go to https://londonblog.tfl.gov.uk/2020/05/01/video-conference-backgrounds/ There’s ‘Sit in collection’, pretend you’re
Nirsoft’s SearchMyFiles has received a major boost. It can now search inside Office documents and PDF’s. SearchMyFiles is the Windows search tool that should be included with Windows. It’s interface might be old-fashioned but all the options are visible, including some not available in Windows. Some of the highlights in
Format Painter in Office will work to copy formatting between shapes which is very useful for complex Gradients. But they don’t always format copy in the way you’d expect. We’re obliged to Office-Watch.com reader, Lorelei, for pointing out that Format Painter can copy gradient fills in most but not all
Microsoft is pushing video backgrounds to PowerPoint slides, but they really are a bad idea and should be banned from slide decks. Designer’s Design Ideas will start with a background video. Microsoft loves showing off these moving backgrounds because they impress people at demonstrations. Moving backgrounds are not a good idea because they distract the
Inserting live video into a PowerPoint presentation is possible in different ways. With online meetings and presentations all the rage, it’s natural that people would like to show themselves and their presentation at the same time. Either half and half screen (left) or some variation of video in box (right).
Google Slides can be handy for sharing and working on presentations with other people, but sometimes you just really need that file in PowerPoint. No problem – it’s actually really easy to convert them. All you have to do is download the file and save it as a PowerPoint file. If the Google Slides File is Open If you have your
The April 2020 security fixes for Microsoft Office come with a warning that some VBA code will stop working. There are workarounds to let some references through. The KB4557055 security fix blocks VBA references that link to Internet or intranet sources or have been downloaded from the Internet. That will
PowerPoint includes quick access to character spacing features that make slide titles stand out. In PowerPoint there are two useful features to make a slide title jump out at the viewer. Character Spacing is quickly changed on the Home tab. More subtle is Kerning. When it comes to Design, and clarity in Design, Space is almost as important
It is possible to send and receive faxes without a fax machine. At least you can send a fax from your computer without a fax machine because there are online services to do that for you. We’ve noticed some press reports were overwhelmed offices have reverted to faxes because their
Find and add the Indian flag into Office documents, Word, Excel or PowerPoint, then use some Office picture tools to enhance the image. The same help applies for any other national flag, just look for a different source. Get the Indian Flag Image There are many, many copies of the Indian flag available. We’ve opted for
