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Clipart - Then and Now
      Pat Williams wrote to ask why MSWord's Insert>Clipart option doesn't display a Clipart folder on her new PC as it did on her old one.

      Well, in pre-Internet days clipart drawings often came included with programs like MSWord and were stored in a folder named Clipart. Nowadays, with so much free art available online, it's impractical to tie up lots of hard drive space with thousands of stock generic drawings.
    Early MSOffice images were mostly WMF or CGM files. These "vector" images were simple line-drawings with color-filled shapes.
    If you like these pictures, however, go to Microsoft.com and type "clipart" into the Search box.
      Over time "bitmap" images became the standard format for clipart. These images consist of tiny colored squares (bits) that are "mapped" onto a background with x/y coordinates. Whereas early vector drawings had a flat look, the squares in a bitmap image can be arranged to render subtle gradient shadings, such as those as seen in a photo or a painting.

Waving US Flag       Nowadays photos and paintings are usually JPG files, while cartoons are usually GIF files or PNG files. GIFs and PNGs can only contain 256 colors, but they can also be programmed into animated images, such as the waving flag.
    More US Flags and patriotic clipart can be found HERE.
      Back to Pat's question, all of the clipart images from her old PC can be copied into her new PC's default Windows Pictures folder. Then, within MSWord, clicking on Insert>Picture>From File will access the Pictures folder. Beyond that, sub-folders within the default folder can be created to divide images into categories such as, say, Family Photos or Animated GIFs or Holiday Clipart. To create a folder within a folder, click on File>New>Folder and name it accordingly.
    Nowadays, however, many of us prefer to get what we need from the Internet. Go to Google.com, type in a description of the picture you want and click on Images. Thousands will often be listed. Right-click on any you like and choose Save Picture As, whereupon it will be copied to your PC — normally into your default Pictures folder.
       Most images can also be dragged directly from a Web page onto your Desktop. If all else fails, you can use your keyboard's "PrintScreen" key to COPY whatever is on your monitor, and then PASTE it into an image-editor, such as Windows Paint.
Detailed Instructions on: Using Your PrintScreen Key.

Using WordArt      

      Joe Duffy wrote to ask if there was a way to make a word Q and A or phrase curved, similar to a rainbow or an arc. Yes, use "WordArt." All versions of MSOffice and MSWorks include WordArt.

       Click View>Toolbars>WordArt to display some colorful sample templates. Choose one with an arc shape, for instance, and type in a phrase to replace the one in the template. You can then substitute colors and modify the arc's shape in many different ways.
      Here's a sample...
God Bless America
       Office-2007 users go to Insert>WordArt. WordPerfect has a similar feature called TextArt.
      Here's another WordArt example...
Q and A

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