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Recent articles

Published 
4 min read

Is Microsoft OneNote hijacking your print jobs? 

<p>While we don't usually focus on tech support issues here on the Office Blog, let me shine a quick light on a recurring issue that has caused some of you to scratch your heads and write in about. In a nutshell, the problem appears to be that OneNote 2010 (or OneNote 2007) intercepts all of your print jobs whenever you try to send any information from your other programs or your Web browser to your trusty printer. While this is a great way to save paper and finally "go green," it's no laughing matter when your boss expects you to hand him or her a printed report and you can't seem to do that. Read the full blog post to see what's behind this little problem and how you can fix it!</p>
Published 
2 min read

Wrap text in Access 

<p>How do you wrap text in Access? It's a question we hear quite frequently on Office.com. It may surprise you to learn that in most places where text is displayed in Access, text wrapping is on by default. The key is making sure there is enough room for the text to wrap.</p>
Published 
9 min read

Power Tip: Improve the security of database connections 

<p>When linking to external tables using Open Database Connectivity (ODBC), Access offers to set up a Data Source Name (DSN). The DSN is quite convenient, giving us a graphic method to quickly build and specify an ODBC connection string without having to remember all of the syntax and parameters. Unfortunately, when the time comes for deployment, using a DSN can introduce some security issues. In this post, Access MVP Ben Clothier explores some methods for improving the security of your ODBC connections.</p>
Published 
1 min read

Shading: Color your Word 

<p>Maybe you love color-coding. I know I do. But the Word shading colors that are available in the Highlight command can be limiting. You can run out of colors quickly, because there aren't very many. But there's a way to color-code your document with all the colors shown here...</p>
Published 
1 min read

Staying on budget might be easier than you think 

<p>Ask most of your friends how they're doing, and they'll probably tell you how hectic their lives are. You may feel that way too. Sometimes just thinking about balancing work and family can be exhausting. A lot of you use and love Excel at work. It makes tasks faster, it keeps you organized, and it adds insight into all that data that surrounds you. You may already be taking advantage of those same Excel benefits at home too. After all, as many of us know, sometimes keeping a handle on data at work is easier than managing our family budgets. Today we want to highlight a really great family budget template. </p>
Published 
1 min read

Wrap text around pictures and shapes in PowerPoint? Avoid it! 

<p>We see a lot of questions about how to wrap text around a picture or a shape in PowerPoint. And it isn't easy (though we do have articles for PowerPoint 2010 and PowerPoint 2007 that discuss admittedly complicated workarounds to achieve the wrapping effect). Since it's hard and awkward to do, we see more comments from people who are unhappy about it than from people who say they find it helpful. But PowerPoint works best when it has less text. A few keywords. Not enough to wrap. This is an issue that we here at the PowerPoint Blog feel passionately about.</p>
Published 
1 min read

The secret to converting your presentation into a video 

<p>Did you know that you can save your PowerPoint 2010 presentations as Windows Media Player (.wmv) video files? Well, you can. And it only takes a few mouse clicks. You can then burn the video to a DVD, upload it to your blog or video-sharing web site, or email it to your professor to share the video file with people who don’t have PowerPoint installed on their computer. If you're using PowerPoint 2007 there are a few more steps required, but it's still possible. Read the full blog post to learn how to do this in PowerPoint 2010 and PowerPoint 2007.</p>
Published 
1 min read

What are crop marks and why would you want to print them? 

<p>Crop marks, also known as trim marks, are lines printed in the corners of your publication's sheet or sheets of paper to show the printer where to trim the paper. They are used by commercial printers for creating bleeds where an image or color on the page needs to extend all the way to the edge of the paper. Printers generally can't actually print to the very edge of the paper, so instead they print on a larger sheet of paper and then trim it down to the correct size. Crop marks are used to define where to trim. So, to print crop marks, you must print on a paper size that is larger than the page size you have set for your publication.</p>
Published 
<1 min read

Undo columns in a Word document 

<p>You won't find an undo command to return your document to a single-column format in Word 2010. But you can undo multiple columns in a document by clicking the Page Layout tab, clicking Columns, and then clicking One to reformat your entire document as one column. Do you have Word tips or tricks to share? Send them our way. --Leslie H. Cole</p>
Published 
3 min read

Use code to “undo” things in Access 

<p>One of the more common tasks on a computer is to undo something you just did by mistake. At least, it's one of my more common tasks. CTRL+Z is my friend. But not everyone uses keyboard shortcuts - that's why there's an Undo button in the Microsoft Office user interface. Trouble is, sometimes folks just don't see it. Moreover, in Access it's possible that they can't use the toolbar because they are working on a modal form. Fortunately, you can create an "undo" button for any form in Access. And in most cases, you can control what happens when the Undo command is invoked - for example, ask for confirmation before undoing the current record on a huge data entry form.</p>