Change It Up

Do you use MS PowerPoint's design templates? You know - the cool backgrounds that PowerPoint offers ready-made that can really help brighten up a presentation.

If you're like me, you tend to have a hard time deciding which one to use and often change your mind several times while working on the presentation. During all the mind changing, do you ever wish for a quick and easy way to make the change?

Well, I can't give you a shortcut through the actual decision process, but I can give you double-click quick access into the design template list.

With your presentation open on the screen, take a look at the status bar (at the bottom).

If you take a careful look, you'll see the current design template name listed.

Double click the design template name.

Poof!

Instantly you'll find that the design template list will open. (A window will open in older versions of PowerPoint and in the Slide Design Task Pane in newer versions).

Of course, this doesn't put a stop to our endless mind changing behavior but, it at least speeds the process up!

~ April

3D Extreme

On Monday we had a little fun with our files and went over the 3D button located on the Drawing Toolbar.

Well, that was the basics—ready for the rest?

Was that a "Yes" I heard?

Good.

Then lets get back to the fun of 3D objects.

When you selected your object and clicked on the 3D button did you notice the option of 3D Settings at the bottom?

No? Well take a look—it's there and it's your ticket to manipulating the different 3D settings.

So, go ahead, click 3D Settings.

The 3D Settings toolbar should open and look something like this.

Any features that are grayed out are things you can't adjust for the item you have selected—but the rest is there for you to make the 3D affect all your own.

So, let's do a rundown of the buttons. (If you want to try this I suggest you use an AutoShape with a fill color so you can have access to all settings and get to know your options.)

The first button simply turns the 3D effect on and off (for the selected object, of course).

The next section of buttons rotates the object in the direction indicated by the arrow. (The first two rotate up and down and the last two rotate left and right.)

The last section is where most of the 3D action can be found.

The first button of the section is for setting the depth of the figure. There's an entire list of preset depths but don't overlook the bottom. Do you see it? Yep, that's right, you can also enter a custom depth to suite your needs.

The second button opens up a palette of choices pertaining to the direction of the 3D depth.

The next one—looks like a desk lamp—allows you to choose the direction of the lighting. This one's cool,and it does affect the way the colors of the figure look.

The next button allows you to select a surface type for your figure.

And finally...

The arrow on the last button of the toolbar opens a palette of 3D colors to choose from. Again, another place you can get truly creative if you're looking for a unique look.

When you finish creating the 3D masterpiece you've always dreamed of simply click the X-button in the upper right corner of the toolbar to close it.

Now that you know the facts I think you're ready for the 3D Extreme.

~ April

Q:
Is there a way to get my internet browser to open quicker?

A:
Sure, you can hit the Stop button or start typing the web address (usually to have it overwritten during said typing). Another option is to set your browser to start with a blank page, but then you kiss your regular homepage goodbye. That's no good.

A better way is to make a blank web page that sits on your desktop . When you click your blank page, your default browser will launch and load the page. Since the page has nothing on it, there is no waiting involved - it loads almost instantly. From your blank page, you can go to the site you *really* needed by selecting it from your Favorites menu or typing in the URL .

So, how do you set this up? Easy:

1. First, you need to make a blank page. The best way to do this is to open Windows Notepad (Start button, Programs, Accessories, Notepad).

OR -

You can download a blank page I made. Right-click the link below and select Save Target As from the resulting menu. When prompted, save the page to your Desktop. If you just click it with your left mouse button, you'll end up going to a blank page, but it won't get downloaded. If you decide to download this page, skip to step 3.

Download the blank page - Right-click here

2. Next, click the File menu, Save as . Navigate to your C:\Windows\Desktop and save the file as " blank.htm " (no quotes). To get to your Desktop folder quickly, click the little desktop icon on the Save As dialog box.

3. That's it. The file should now be on your desktop. Anytime you want to bypass your regular homepage and just get the browser running, click it. In fact, I've even dragged it to my quick-launch toolbar for easier access.

Oh, here's a bonus idea for our more advanced users who know how to program in HTML or have access to some kind of web page creation software. If that's you, try making a page similar to the one above, but with links to your most frequently accessed sites.

A page with 20 or so of your favorite links won't make this page load that much slower (we're talking 10ths of a second), but it will make getting to your favorite sites much easier.

~ Steve