Divide MSWord Page into Four Sections
Lucy Berk asked how to create a quarter-page message which could be copied into the page's other three quarters for being cu into sections that would be inserted into greeting cards.
Well, all major word processing programs let you divide a page into sections with "Table" commands. Clicking Table>Insert Table, and choosing 2 Rows and 2 Columns will create a 4-cell table. Type your message into the upper left cell, which can be formatted with Toolbar icons and menu commands, just as if it were an individual page.
Copy the message by mouse-selecting it and doing Edit>Copy (or Ctrl+C). Click into the other cells, one at a time, and do Edit>Paste (or Ctrl+V). Bear in mind, though, that printers have limits regarding printable space - so set your margin widths accordingly.
Microsoft Publisher
For those intent on creating a holiday newsletter, complete with fancy fonts and images, consider using Microsoft Publisher rather than a word processing program. Although Word, WordPerfect, and others have sophisticated options for turning a blank page into a colorful greeting card, getting text and images to line up the way you want isn't easy. Professionals who prepare pages for newspapers and magazines use pricey programs like Adobe InDesign and QuarkXPress (at about $600 each) but Publisher is free with Microsoft Office 2010.
Publisher comes with a wide variety of templates and layout wizards for creating things like postcards and business cards. It also has mail-merge options for creating a newsletter that can be personalized for individual recipients, whose names, addresses, and other data can be inserted from a Word or Excel file.
Finally, if you do plan on sending multiple letters via snail-mail, consider using "window" envelopes that allow a recipient's name to show through. This precludes unwittingly putting the Jones letter into an envelope addressed to the Smiths. I've been doing this for years.
Disappearing Icons
John O'Brien wrote that certain icons in his System Tray (near the digital clock) occasionally disappear, and asked how to get them back. Right-click the area and disable the option regarding "Hiding icons you have not clicked recently."
Open Files with One Mouse-click Instead of Two
Maurice Rose asked how to activate Desktop icons with one mouse-click instead of two.
Open any folder, go to Tools>Folder Options>General, and checkmark "Single-Click to Open an Item."
Printing Mailing Labels & Envelopes
Virginia Boos asked how to create mailing labels. Well, printing labels and/or envelopes can be done easily with MSWorks, and somewhat less easily using MSWord. Illustrated instructions are on this page.
Tax Refund Scam
Debbie Smith sent me a copy of an email purportedly from the IRS reading:
"Dear Taxpayer…you are eligible to receive a tax refund of $650.90…To access your tax refund, use the form attached to this email."
Debbie was right - this is a classic "phishing" scam, designed to steal one's identity. The IRS does NOT contact people via email - and if they did, the person's actual name would be used - not "Dear Taxpayer." Furthermore, in my experience, the IRS only sends refunds in even dollar amounts - never in amounts ending in "cents."
© Donald Ray Edrington – All Rights Reserved
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Senior Computer Tutor Don Edrington
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