Academic Tech Tips

As a new feature in Microsoft Office 2010, you can easily convert your document to a PDF from any Office program (Word, Excel, and PowerPoint). In previous versions of MS Office, you needed to have additional software installed to create a PDF. Now when you save your document, PDF is among the file types to […]

Many Loyolans are now running the 2010 version of the Microsoft Office Suite from their desktops. Loyola traditionally offers technology workshops in January and August through our Training Central program, and starting January 2012 the Office classes – Excel, PowerPoint, and Word – will all feature the 2010 version of these programs. In addition, because […]

Have you ever wondered what that paintbrush icon on your toolbar in any of your Microsoft Office applications actually does? Most likely, you’ve never used it or might be that you’ve not even noticed it. This little paintbrush icon is one of the most underutilized, timesaving features in Microsoft Word. It’s called Format Painter. The […]

If you can’t remember which document you need, Word 2007 allows you to easily preview documents before opening them. After you open Word, go to the Microsoft Icon and select Open. To enable the preview, click on the icon in the top right hand corner of the window and select Preview from the drop-down menu. […]

If you have a Microsoft Word 2007 document that you would like to make read-only or if you would like to add password protection, Word offers a few options to secure your file. Here are a few security features offered in Word: Encrypt Document: Adding encryption to your document will require that a password be […]

If you want to create a professional looking document, the preset styles in Word 2007 make it easy to choose headings, subheadings, and font themes that are designed to complement one another. Using the Quick Styles feature can help save you time and make your document look more polished.  To get started, go to the […]

Track Changes in Microsoft Word is a helpful feature for viewing and editing revisions while you work in a document. This tool can be incredibly useful when multiple users are editing the same document. Also, if you are a professor, you can use Track Changes to add comments and make revisions to a paper. The […]

If you’ve ever lost your work due to a computer freeze or power loss then you know how frustrating it can be.  In Microsoft Office, there is a way to help prevent such a disaster. All you need to do is adjust the auto-save interval time so that you know how often and where your […]

Google Wave is a new online tool that provides a platform for real-time collaboration and communication. Google has combined features of instant messaging, wikis, email and word processing so that users can work together to create and edit documents called “waves.”  These waves allow any participant to edit any part of the document and there […]

With Microsoft Word and PowerPoint, large files are almost always caused by images.  You might have high resolution digital photos from your digital camera that you’ve inserted, high quality scans, or uncompressed graphics all throughout your file. Reducing file size helps alleviate complications later such as your colleague not being able to open your email […]