Get It Done While Your Table Is Highlighted

I guess I should explain the title of this post.
When you need to do a Financial Table within an MS Word Document from scratch, there are a lot of things you can initially do to get the table ready for use so let's go over them.

1. Determine how many columns and rows are needed for your table.
2. Create your table
3. If in Print Layout View, you can select your entire table by clicking on the target symbol that comes up
on the top left side when your cursor is within your table.
4. Once your entire table is selected, you can do the following in preparation.

A. Remove your border lines so that you are left with your grey grid.
B. Remove before and after spacing so that there is no extraneous spacing in the table.
C. Adjust the font size if necessary
D. Make sure all cells are bottom aligned
E. Make sure that those cells that will accommodate your numbers are all Left Aligned. By doing this, you can use the method for your numbers that uses the right tab for your $ sign lines and the dec align tab for your non-dollar sign lines. It won't work unless the cells are left aligned.
F. Finally, with the Table still highlighted, go into Table Properties and decide on the horizontal alignment. Will your table be left, center or right aligned.

Now you should be ready to put your table together. While there may be minor adjustments to be done with column width etc. this initial exercise that I have suggested you go through will help you to put your table together a bit easier.

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Two Shortcuts Related To Extended Highlighting:

I have talked about the useful extended highlighting feature a number of times.  Before 2007, you would use the F8 key to turn it on or the "Ext" area of the status bar that no longer exits to turn it on or off.

From 2007 onward, you can still use F8 to turn Extended Highlighting on but now you would use the "Selection Mode" in the Status Bar in order to easily turn it off or to know that the function is active.

Either way, you can target specific areas of text for quick highlighting such as pressing the return key to highlight a paragraph at a time or another example would be pressing the period key to highlight a sentence.  It highlights up to the first instance of whatever key or combo of keys you type.

But, there are two very good shortcuts closely associated with Extended Highlighting.

1.  Alt and Left Click:  Lets you highlight a vertical column of text at a time, meaning as small as a character width wide or more "vertically".  So you can highlight text vertically without "involving the entire line of text or entire paragraph".  

A. A.  The contract

B. B.  The company  

C. C.  The Residence

D. D.  The Lease

Look at the example above.  It shows a scenario whereby a Heading Level has been applied but the original hard coded text is still in place and needs to be removed (referring to the second set of repeated letters). 

Use Alt and Left Click to go down vertically from A-D and then across 2 characters before you press delete to remove the hard coded A,B,C.D.

2.  You can also use Control Shift F8 in order to do the same thing (meaning activating vertical highlighting), but in order to go down the list vertically you use the south cursor control key to move downward and the east cursor control key to sweep across the letter and the period (A., Etc.) whereby you would then press delete.  Much faster than having to delete each separate letter and period 1 by 1.

Try them both.  Two very good short-Cuts from the top-tier.

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MS Word Legal Training - 2007-13 - This Is What You Were Looking For...

Top-Tier Training For secretaries and word processing level operators.  We train beginners through advanced!

Our training transforms your skill set and prepares you to work successfully in top tier law firms.  At one time, we were beginners so we know your situation.  There are very few of us that offer this level of training so read on:

This industry does not easily and readily share technique and secrets.  We do!  Those who claim that you can take a 1 or 2 day course and stroll into a top-tier law firm are misguiding you.  Be in a position to SOLIDLY pursue jobs that will best serve you!  It does not take long to get to this level but it does take a decision to do so.  

Have you had enough of taking jobs that you are not happy doing?   

Some of the things that set us apart:

1.  Homework follows every class.  These documents are just like the documents you will be working on.  You send them to us and we critique them for you.  This vital feedback helps you to grow.

2.  Our students have full access to the LinkedIn site that is filled to the brim with Top-Tier level scenarios and how-to's.  We have been placing great articles in the group since 2010.

3.  Before you ever go to an agency or law firm you will receive pre-testing so you know where you stand.

4.  We assist with your placement as well.

Our students are working!!

We offer weekly the following:

1.  Live Phone and/or In Person class is approximately 4.5 hours. Phone class may be split into two.  We teach 2007-13.  Half Class available after first full class.

2.   Most classes 1 on 1 or 2 students tops. 

3.   The ability to make your own schedule from class to class.

4.   Learn from those from the top-tier of the legal industry who function as coordinators, lead operators help desk and IT personnel.

Invaluable Word Processing Training at a Affordable Price. 

Manhattan location Price is $225 a class.

$175.00 first class $199.00  thereafter for the Brooklyn Location.

Phone class is always $165.00.  And, you can be anywhere on the Planet.

Course packages are available at discounted rates!  Click on link for pricing:

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Our Courses Include:

-Homework, Practice & Job Testing

-After Class Coaching

-Resume Review

-Job Placement Assistance and  --

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Inadvertent Direct Formatting

I have taught people for many years and one thing recently cropped up in terms of modification of styles so I just wanted to point this out.

I usually have the student operate with the left side tracking panel open under draft view and I have them open their right side styles panel in order to see "all available styles" to have at the ready for use.

1.  When they need to modify a style  I teach them the mantra "double click left or right click right".

2. Double click left means that they can modify a style listed in the style tracking by double clicking on it which opens up the dialog box where you then click on Modify..

3.  Right click right simply means that to modify a style that is listed in your styles panel, you find the style, right click on it and you get your dialog box where you click on modify.

What people do by accident (especially newer users) is when they are going to modify, they sometimes right click on the actual paragraph and go into "Paragraph" or "font" that appears on the listing that comes up when right clicking.

The problem being that the act of changing something from this location is not changing or modifying the style but instead is direct formatting and can become a bad habit.

The short mantra double click left or right click right helps to stop this habit and helps to keep the focus on modifying the style rather than a quick fix  by direct formatting.

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Copying All Tables to a New Document

In a great tip from Allen Wyatt who is a great source of info, I thought that in a situation where time was of the essence, this would be great to know.

You might have the need to use the tables in another document or you wanted to work on the tables separately (Updating them) while someone else worked on the textual aspect of a large document.  

A macro will do the trick.  It will extract all of the tables and in between each one, it will place a blank line.

Under the Developer Tab go to "Macros" .  Create a name (Copy Tables) and insert the macro text in the Visual Basic Portion that opens up.

If your Developer Tab is not active then you do the following:

1.  For 2007- Click on the Microsoft Word Button, Go To Word Options, Choose Popular and place a check under "Show Developer Tab in the Ribbon"

2. For 2010 forward Go to File, Options, Choose Customize Ribbon, Look for the Choice of Main Tabs, Click the Developer Tab and you should now see it listed on your main screen.

Copy this Macro Text and put it in a safe place:

Sub CopyTables ( ) 

Dim Source As Document 

Dim Target As Document

Dim tbl As Table 

Dim tr As Range

Set Source = ActiveDocument

Set Target = Documents.Add

For Each tbl In Source.Tables

 Set tr = Target.Range

 tr.Collapse wdCollapseEnd

 tr.FormattedText = tbl.Range.FormattedText

 tr.Collapse wdCollapseEnd

 tr.Text = vbCrLf 

 Next 

End Sub

Give it a try when you can.

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Changing The Font For The Entire Document

Okay, the experienced secretaries and operators will say "tell me something new". I have the experience of teaching beginners through advanced operators and secretaries so I see on a regular basis simple things that cause a problem to those who may have never come across the request to change the font throughout the entire document. Where and when does this occur?

1. On many hands on WP tests either in a law firm or within an agency, I have seen in the instructions to change the font of the document from one font to another. So the test taker sits down and brings up the test which for example is in Ariel 12 and is asked to change the entire document to Times New Roman 12 as part of the test instructions. This same type of request can come from an attorney that has a client that wants a particular font used or a court that wants documents submitted in a particular font.

2. Students are a great source of how the mind works before they find out the proper way to quickly do the procedure. Some of the ways they choose to go about this request are the following:

A. They grab the entire document by using Control A and simply change the font. This is direct type formatting and is not the way to go.

B. Others very carefully take stock of all the styles they are presently using in the document and then they modify each individual style over to the requested new font. This is better, but each new style you either create or activate from the right side style pallet you will have to remember to switch the font over to the new font otherwise, you will have a mixture of fonts throughout the document.

C. Finally, knowing that every paragraph style if properly created is "Based on Normal", we simply modify normal which results in the immediate switch over of the current font over to the new requested font and for any new styles that you may create in that document will automatically now revert to the new font.

This does come up more often than you may realize so now you know how to quickly take care of this request.

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Problem Relating To Data Info In Excel File Re Merge

Scenario:  Operator is given a merge file to do whereby the names and addresses are sitting in an excel file.  They want the Excel file to be used as the name and address file for the Merge.  The excel file contains the following:

Name and Address.         Salutation

Address info.                    Mr. Smith

In the excel file, each line of each individual address is separated by a soft return (alt enter).   When the merge is run however, there is a hard return at the end of each line of the inside address and 12 PTS after in the resulting MS Word Output Merge File which is a problem and looks like the sample below:

Mr. Joe Smith (hard return)

12 points of space

123 Anywhere Street (hard return)

12 points of space

New York, NY 10019 (hard return)

12 points of space

1. Unlike using soft returns in a MS Word Name and Address portion of a Merge Data File, the soft returns used in the same portion of the Excel file had no positive effect on the resulting Merge Output File whereby we end up with a hard return at the end of each line of the inside address.

2.  In the Merge Letter itself on the line containing the Merge Field Code for the Name and Address Info, we establish a style (call it inside address) that does not have any after spacing.  Therefore, when the merge is run, the hard return sitting at the end of each line of the return address lines from the resulting Excel file no longer produces the extra space between each line.

3. Whatever follows the inside address such as a Re: Line or a Salutation line. make sure you build 12 PTS Before spacing into that style that controls the Re Line or Salutation  since we took the 12 PTS After Spacing out of the Inside Address Style.

4.  This article was written so that you will be aware of certain considerations that crop up when Excel is used to hold the Name and Address information that will be used in the merge.

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Adding Categories To The TOA

Many people still generate their Table of Authorities using the MS Word  Generic package.

We were working on a large Table of Authorities.  All the entries needed to be marked.  There were cases, statutes, rules, as well as state cases.

Within the Mark Citation dialog box it was noted that there was no State Cases category entry nevertheless the attorney wanted the cases separated out.

1.  We do not want to go down the road of running the TOA where all the cases were clumped together (Federal and State) whereupon we first had to separate them out manually.  You know that would be both time consuming and each new turnaround of the document would present a new set of separation and unnecessary work.

2.  MS Word does a decent job at generating the TOA provided that we help it to do so.  So let us see the very simple solution

3.  Go to "References" and click on "Mark Citation" so that the Mark Citation Dialog Box opens up. 

4.  Go to the "Category" section and click on the down arrow.  You will see all of the categories that are the standards and then you will see numbers following like 8, 9, 10 etc.

5.  Choose No. 8 or the next available number and then click on the Category button.

6.  In the "Replace With" area, type in the name of the needed category such as State Cases.

7.  Press Okay and now you have a new category that you can use to separate out your case types.

8.  When you run the TOA your finished TOA will have TOA Headings and Table of Authorities as the two styles of the finished product.  View in Draft View to easily see the styles associated with the finished TOA.

9.   Look at the TOA Heading style and make sure that it matches the font that you are using for the document as a whole.  If not, modify the TOA Heading Style and make sure it matches the document font.

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Working With Pictures When You Are Not A Graphic Artist

Post 2003 there really has been a lot of improvement functionality wise in terms of working with pictures. You really can do a lot of fun and interesting stuff. To get the most out of this write-up upload a stock photo and use that in order to play with the various features I mention here.

Let's get right into it:

Cropping an image:

When you crop an image, you are trimming or removing a part of the picture. Cropping is helpful when a piece of a picture's content is not necessary for your current situation.

1. Select the image you want to crop. The Format tab appears.
On the Format tab, click the Crop command.
2. Cropping handles will appear around the image. Click, hold, and drag a handle to crop the image.
3. Click the Crop command once again. The image will now be cropped. The corner handles are useful to simultaneously affect the image horizontally and vertically.

Cropping an image to a shape:

1. Select the image you want to crop, then click the Format tab.
Click the Crop drop-down arrow. Place the mouse over the shape you want the photo to crop to. Select the shape and you are done.
2. The image will now appear formatted as the shape.

To add a border to a picture:

1. Select the picture you want to add border to, and click the Format tab.
Click the Picture Border command.
2. A drop-down menu will appear.
From here, you can select a color, weight (thickness), and whether or not the line is dashed.

Image adjustments

Examples: You can add a frame, make image corrections, change the image's color or brightness, or even add some stylish artistic effects. These options are located in the "Adjust" and "Picture Styles" groups on the Format tab.

Using your test picture, choose one of these options from the Format tab:

1. Corrections: This command is located in the "Adjust" group. From here, you can sharpen or soften the image to adjust how blurry or clear it appears. You can also adjust the brightness and contrast.
2. Color: This command is located in the Adjust group. Here, you can adjust the image's saturation, tone and coloring.
3. Artistic Effects: This command is located in the Adjust group. From here, you will find effects such as pastels, watercolors, and glowing edges. Note: artistic effects will not work with some clip art images.
4. Picture Styles Group: In this group, you can apply to your picture, effects such as frames, borders, soft edges, and others..

Compressing pictures

In some cases, when you email a document that contains pictures, you'll need to monitor its file size. MS Word can reduce the file size by compressing pictures, which will lower the resolution.

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Training Modules From The Top Tier

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MS Word Legal Training - 2007-13 - Two Schools of Thought

MS Word Legal Training - 2007-13  - 

Two Schools of Thought

For secretaries and word processing level operators.

This is a great course and opportunity to receive unique training that prepares you to work and thrive in top tier law firms.  

You do not have to settle for jobs you will not be happy doing.  We offer a higher level of training that will  increase your options and opportunities.  Be in a position to pursue jobs that will best serve you!

School of thought No.1:

Even if I take a course it won't matter much.  My life won't change.

Well, this may be so with other training, but with us NEVER.  We, at a minimum, double your knowledge, increase your awareness, increase your options, super charge your confidence and we use our connections to help get you interviews at agencies dealing with top tier law firms.

@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@

School of Thought No. 2

All schools teach the same stuff blah blah blah

Not quite.  We are from the inside, so you are trained from day 1 on the methods, routines, jargon, environment and procedures you will be expected to know to be able to pass the test and function comfortably in a top tier firm.  Plus, once you are trained on this level, you can work in any office environment.

We have a library second to none for practice documents so by the time you go to work, you have seen a multitude of litigation and corporate documentation.

Our students are working!!

We offer weekly the following:

1.  Live Phone and/or In Person class is approximately 4.5 hours. Phone class may be split into two.  We teach 2007-13.  Half Class available after first full class.

2.   Most classes 1 on 1 or 2 students tops. 

3.   The ability to make your own schedule from class to class.

4.   Learn from those from the top-tier of the legal industry who function as coordinators, lead operators help desk and IT personnel.

Invaluable Word Processing Training at a Affordable Price. 

1440 Broadway location Price is $225 a class.

$175.00 first class $199.00  thereafter for the Brooklyn Location.

Phone class is always $165.00.

Course packages are available at discounted rates!  Click on link for pricing:

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LinkedIn Group:  "AdvanceTo Legal and Corporate Word Processing Training Forum" for free job postings, free how-to articles and discussions. This is an invaluable resource!!!

Our Courses Include:

-Homework, Practice & Job Testing

-After Class Coaching

-Resume Review

-Job Placement Assistance and  --

-Test Prep

-Books Authored By Us

Questions?  Just give us a call.

AdvanceTo Corporation

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(888) 422-0692, Ext. 1 or 2

It's the View That Counts

Scenario:  Secretary is working on a document and has the Ruler Visible.  The secretary wants to add an additional Tab to the ruler.  When the secretary clicks on the ruler to place a "Left" Tab, a "Right Tab" (backwards L) comes up instead.  

Not a big deal, but when the secretary looks for the Tab Type Selector, so they could switch the Tab Type back to a Left Tab, the selector, which normally resides on the extreme left of the ruler is nowhere to be found.  

Not understanding what is happening, the secretary shrinks the screen view thinking well maybe it is there but obscured because of the screen size and therefore not visible but even after shrinking the screen size still no selector.  Time is wasting and you want this to be fixed as soon as possible.

What happened was that the secretary was simply operating in Web Layout View.  In Web Layout View, Outline View and Full Screen Reading View, there will be no Tab Type Selector.  

You will only find the Tab Type Selector tool under Draft View (Formally Normal) and Print Layout View.

Anyone could make this simple error.  I have seen an operator add their Tabs through Page Layout, Paragraph, Tabs (Lower Left), because they needed to add a tab to the ruler, they could not find the Tab Type Selector at that moment and had no time to spare to figure it out so they just did what they had to do in order to keep moving.  You could also double click on the Ruler to bring up the Tabs Dialog Box.  It is important to note that many people like to use the selector because they like the visual aspect of physically placing the tabs on the ruler.

Although I work a lot in Draft View because I like to take advantage of the Left Side Style Area Tracking for style modification, I also switch back and forth between Draft and Print Layout.  

On a final note:  Remember, in Draft View, to modify a style you double click on the styles listed on the left side (under Draft View) while right clicking on a style in the Style Panel on the right side, gets you to Modify as well.  Remember the Mantra "Double Click Left Right Click Right"

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If You Happen To Work In A WP Center then It Is Good To Know These Tools

The gentlemen who wrote the article that I reference here (Geoff Ronning), is a specialist on creating video seminars,  He wrote the article from the perspective of a marketing person analyzing his competitors.  He is very good at what he does and always shares a lot of good info.  Even though he is not a Word Processing person, he covers material that we are asked to do from time to time.  Because it is from time to time, we don't always remember the solution right away.  This article should be filed under Websites-Video-Audio.  This articles provides a number of quick solutions:

In this article you will learn some of the following:

1.  How to capture intact an entire webpage

2.  Download videos from webpages

3.  Download You Tube Videos

4.  Convert Video to alternative formats

5.   What are the best screen recorders

6.   Convert video to audio

7.   Access a particular website's SEO info to see how they were able to position themselves to the top.

8.   What tools did the target website use

http://geoffronning.com/sneaky-competitor-research-tools/?utm_campaign=weekly-2015_11_3&utm_medium=email&utm_source=newsletter

Basic-Advanced MS Word Legal Word Processing Training

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