Get In Touch With Your Creative Side Using Microsoft Office

[tweetmeme source=LANSystems only_single=false]Not that long ago, the only way to get high-quality, professional materials was through a graphic designer.  Printing was a complicated, expensive process that was left to the print shops.  Each project required assembling pictures, graphics and content that was camera-ready. 

Today, we have access to everything needed to make agency-quality marketing materials with full-color and amazing graphics. Brochures, mailers and newsletters can be printed on-demand or in the perfect quantity to reducing waste and keep the offering fresh.  To save more and reach the online audience, electronic files are brilliant and easy to distribute.  If you have an idea, a good eye and the right tools, you can make magic. 

Microsoft Office offers the right tools with its Office 2010 Suite of Applications.  Word, PowerPoint, Excel and Publisher provide improved and enhanced features for creating and publishing. Many of the features are cross-platform so you can learn a skill in one application and use it in another.  There are a host of classes for beginner, intermediate and advanced users that can be taken in a classroom environment or online depending on your best learning method.  Microsoft, Hewlett-Packard and others offer free, online classes that are perfect for the self-learner.

Word is the standard for creating and formatting documents of all types from simple letters to documents with a table of contents, index and glossary. It makes the task of creating and editing documents easy.  Tools like spell check and thesaurus make us look smart and polished. New and improved photo-editing tools let you transform pictures right in Word 2010 – no extra software needed. Change color saturation, temperature, brightness, and contrast to turn a simple Word document into a work of art.  Turn text into visual effects with enhanced text effects and SmartArt graphics. Change basic bullet-points into compelling visuals and add text effects like shadow, glow, reflection, and 3-D in just a few clicks.  With co-authoring, you can edit at the same time as others, even if you’re working from different locations, and keep versions in sync with version control. This is a great way to eliminate typos (ever used a there for their or your for you’re?) by having others review your work for content and correctness.

PowerPoint is not just for presentations, it also makes a great coordinating tri-fold or handout.  Use the same theme for marketing materials that you can leave with the prospect to reinforce your message and offering. Creating your presentation in PowerPoint allows you to gather all your thoughts and ideas in one tool.  You have many slide choices and can move, cut, paste and organize to create a coherent flow of information without leaving the program.  Adding graphics, diagrams, video and sound is easier than ever. 

Excel graphs, charts and sparklines explain trends and comparisons with strong visuals.  Whenever numbers are involved, visuals are powerful tools to simplify the message and give at-a-glance significance. Use sparklines to graphically display data in a single cell.  You can display data in line, column or win/loss format to highlight trends.

Publisher helps you create eye-catching brochures, newsletters, postcards, greeting cards and email messages.  With the built-in and online templates, you can find a style for any publication. The prebuilt building blocks give an assortment of page parts like sidebars, stories and columns for creating professional newsletters and case studies. Add calendars, borders and advertisement blocks for community or school newsletters. Stunning graphics and images are easily added and use OpenType typography for expert typesetting effects.

Get your creative juices flowing! Experiment with different looks and practice with different styles.  Start with a concept and use Microsoft Office 2010 to create brilliant, flawless materials for your home, school or business.

For more technical notes and information go to: www.lansystems.com/technotes.html

Microsoft Office 2010: The best new features in PowerPoint

[tweetmeme source=”LANSystems” only_single=false]For anyone that has ever presented to a group, you know it is essential to be well prepared and have the right props.  For many, PowerPoint is the prop of choice. 

Creating your presentation in PowerPoint allows you to gather all your thoughts and ideas in one tool.  You have many slide choices and can move, cut, paste and organize to create a coherent flow of information without leaving the program.  Adding graphics, diagrams, video and sound is easier than ever. With just a little time investment, PowerPoint will make you look like a presentation guru!

When creating the perfect presentation, be sure not make your slides too busy or add too much glitz.  If you want to use sound and video, make sure to add at a place in your presentation where it will complement your message.  Video can be a great introduction or it can be used to clarify your points.  Don’t use sound or video in parts of your presentation where you need the attention of the audience.  Don’t let text dominate your presentation.  Use pictures and graphics liberally as people remember points made through visuals much better than they remember words.

Create interesting presentations

Use built in video power tools – Create extraordinary presentations by embedding video that was created using tools that give a professional multimedia experience.  You can fade, add formatting effects, bookmark scenes, and trim your videos with ease.  Sharing is easy because the embedded video is part of the PowerPoint presentation. You only have to share one file.

Picture editing made easy – Use new and improved picture editing tools—including versatile artistic effects and advanced correction, color, and cropping tools—to fine-tune every picture in your presentation to look its absolute best.

Built in graphic effects – You don’t have to be a design expert to create professional-looking graphics. Use dozens of additional SmartArt^® layouts to create organization charts, lists, and picture diagrams. Transform words into impressive visuals that better illustrate your ideas. Create diagrams as easily as typing a bulleted list or convert text and images to a diagram in just a few clicks. All the tools you need to create stunning graphics are built into PowerPoint.     

3-D transitions and improved animations -PowerPoint 2010 offers new, dynamic slide transitions and animation effects that look similar to graphics you’d see on TV. Easily access, preview, apply, customize, and replace animations. You can also use the new Animation Painter to easily copy animations from one object to another.

Quick and easy presentation management 

Microsoft Office Backstage view – This is the tool palette you see when you select File. This is where you manage your files and the data about them — creating, saving, inspecting for hidden metadata or personal information, and setting options. In short, it is everything that you do to a file that you don’t do in the file.

Compress video and audio – Select File and then Info to compress video and audio in your presentation.  This reduces the file size and can increase playback performance.  Select the quality option from the drop-down choices.

Customize the Ribbon – Use customizations to personalize the ribbon the way that you want it. For example, you can create custom tabs and custom groups to contain your frequently used commands.  Note:Ribbon customization is specific to the Microsoft Office program you are working in at the time. Ribbon customization does not apply across the Office programs.

Work together from anywhere

Live broadcast – Broadcast your slide show to people in other locations, whether or not they have PowerPoint installed. Create a video of your presentation—including your transitions, animations, narration, and timings—to share with virtually anyone, any time after your live broadcast.

Microsoft PowerPoint Web App is an online companion to Microsoft PowerPoint which enables you to extend your PowerPoint experience to the browser. View a high fidelity version of your presentations, make light edits, or view your presentation slide show. Use the familiar PowerPoint interface and some of the same formatting and editing tools, from almost any computer with a Web browser.

Microsoft PowerPoint Mobile 2010 enables you to do light editing for your presentations and is especially designed for easy use on your Windows phone. You can even run your slide show right on your phone.

For more technical notes and information go to: www.lansystems.com/technotes.html 

If you have any questions or need help with the instructions, email me at: mary@lansystems.com.

Microsoft Office 2010: The best new features in Access

[tweetmeme source=”LANSystems” only_single=false]If you have never used a relational database because you felt it was just too complicated, give a look at Access.  Access 2010 has simplified database functions and added ready-to-go templates to get you started. Information stored in spreadsheets and documents can be easier to understand and less time consuming to manage in a relational database model.  Not only can you save time, but you can make your data more meaningful and perform more meaningful analysis.  And if you are using a product that uses Access to store your data, you will be able to better understand the tables, reports and relationships.

Fast, easy database creation

Ready-to-go Templates – Use the available templates to create a marketing list or sales pipeline without being a database expert.  The templates are designed to give you the structure you need to get started and let you expand as you become more familiar with using Access.

Use modular components – These prebuilt components allow you to build the most common tasks into your database.  Go to Create – Application Parts after making your selection, the wizard will guide you through the setup and make your choices obvious.  There are on-demand help videos that explain how to use Access. The videos are surprisingly easy to follow with clear language and demos that take you through the screens step-by-step.

   

Forms and reports with realistic, targeted analysis  

Conditional formatting – Use data bars to manage your rules and create professional reports that are understandable and informative. Rather than trying to “crowbar” your data into available formats, you can customize the presentation and make your data mean more to organization.  Stay focused at your sales and marketing meetings by using reports that everyone will recognize and appreciate.

 

Office themes – Choose themes with fonts, colors and designs that match your other Microsoft Office products that demonstrate consistency and branding.

Backstage – The Microsoft Office Backstage view replaces the traditional file menu with an ergonomic approach that uses In and Out features for efficiency.  The improved Ribbon lets you access your favorite commands quickly and create custom tabs to personalize the way you work.

Developer quality without writing code

Expression Builder – Enhanced functionality with IntelliSense to greatly simplify formula and expression building. With these intuitive tools you will spend less time troubleshooting relationship errors and more time building a valuable database.

 

Macro Designer – Add basic logic to your database, quickly and easily even if you are not familiar with databases. If you’re an experienced Access user, you’ll find the enhancements allow you to use the complex logic move efficiently than ever. Extend your database application with increased performance and confidence.

Work from anywhere

Online – Post your database online and then access, view, and edit them from the Web. Users without an Access client can open Web forms and reports via a browser and their changes are automatically synchronized.

For organizations of all types and sizes, Access 2010 allows you to be more productive, flexible and cost-effective. You can combine tasks in Access that previously required several programs and labor intensive analysis to make better decisions for your business.

For more technical notes and information go to: www.lansystems.com/technotes.html 

If you have any questions or need help with the instructions, email me at: mary@lansystems.com.

Microsoft Office 2010: The best new features in Excel

[tweetmeme source=”LANSystems” only_single=false]Excel is arguably the most under-utilized Microsoft Office product when it comes to advanced features.  Ask people what features they most like in Excel and they usually describe the spreadsheet and graphing tools.  But that is just a very small part of the capabilities built into Excel.  From tools for statistical, engineering and financial functions, to pivot tables, to Visual Basic for Applications (VBA) programming, you can use Excel for simple to complex data analysis and display with easy to read graphs and charts. 

If you haven’t used the advanced tools in Excel, start by trying the new features to get the most from your software investment. Analyze your data to discover patterns or trends, then display with graphs and charts that illuminate the best course of action.  With a little practice, you will improve your ability to study large data sets and make the most informed decisions. 

Make fast, effective comparisons 

Sparklines – Use sparklines to graphically display data in a single cell.  You can display data in line, column or win/loss format to highlight trends. On the Insert tab, choose the type of Sparkline and your data range.  Customize your sparklines for optimum effect by selecting the sparkline and choosing the Design tab. 

 

 

 

 

  

Slicer – Slicers are filtering components that allow you to slice-and-dice your data without having to open drop down lists.  Slicers make it easier to segment and filter data in PivotTables for high powered business intelligence. 

Step up your analysis

  

Search Filter – Use the new Search Filter to quickly and easily narrow your search in tables, PivotTable, and PivotChart views. You can instantly sort through a million or more items.

  

PowerPivot (formerly called Project “Gemini”) Add-In – Groundbreaking technology that allows you streamlined integration of data from multiple sources and lightning-fast manipulation of large data sets with up to millions of rows. Effortlessly publish and share analysis through Microsoft SharePoint Server 2010 and have other users enjoy the same Slicer and fast-query capabilities when working on their Excel Services report.

 

 

 

Backstage – The Microsoft Office Backstage view replaces the traditional file menu with an ergonomic approach that uses In and Out features for efficiency.  The improved Ribbon lets you access your favorite commands quickly and create custom tabs to personalize the way you work.

 

Jazz up your data presentations

Conditional Formatting – Excel 2010 adds sophistication to conditional formatting.  Give your document a professional look by adding eye-catching formats.  You have more choices and control over styles and icons, improved data bars, and the ability to highlight specific items in a few clicks. You can also display data bars for negative values and use color for effect.

Work from anywhere

Online – Post your spreadsheets online and work on them from virtually anywhere from the Web or your Windows Mobile-based Smartphone. With Excel 2010, you can take advantage of a best-in-class spreadsheet experience across multiple locations and devices.

Excel Web App – Extend your Office experience to the Web, and view and edit your spreadsheets through the Excel Web App when you’re away.

Excel Mobile 2010 – Stay up-to-the-minute and communicate on-demand by using a mobile version of Excel specifically suited to your Smartphone.

For other interesting features and functions, try Goal Seek to give you a what-if analysis to test your scenarios, experiment with linear regression to understand relationships in your data or just play with the new formatting tools. But once you uncover the “hidden” features in Excel, you will be enthusiastically hooked.

For more technical notes and information go to: www.lansystems.com/technotes.html 

If you have any questions or need help with the instructions, email me at: mary@lansystems.com.