Ms Publisher: Helpful Hints

 Explore the templates and choose the publication type that you are
creating.
 Complete the wizard – it asks you several questions such as color
schemes, number of pages, dates; page size or layout; it depends on the
project you are creating.
 Choose “create”
 To begin, you must click inside a text box in order to begin typing or highlighting
text to change something

 Pre-made templates already have text boxes where “THEY” think you should put text; it
doesn’t mean you have to have it there
 Click and drag a text box to move it or use the small boxes around the shape to resize it
Text Boxes  To type inside it – double click your cursor on the text box to start typing inside
 Click outside the box when finished (in the white space)
 Add a new text box – go to Insert and choose text box
 Click your mouse and hold the button to draw a new text box where you would like it
 Change font style (the same as in word)
Font  Alignment (left, center, right)
 Font size or coloring
 Insert picture: (insert menu) choose clip art or from file (same as in word)
 Then click on the picture and go to the “Arrange” menu
o Change text wrapping options (tight, square, etc.)
Pictures  Click and drag the picture where you want it on the page
 Add a text box around it if you want a caption
 Click the picture and hold your “shift” key down while clicking on the text box
(caption); go to Arrange and choose “group”; now the 2 are hooked together
 Your story is too big for the one column text box…..
 Create a new text box next to the one you are typing in…
Linking
Text Boxes  Click on text box number 1, then click on the “chain link” at the top right corner of your
menu bar; next click on what will be text box number 2
 The extra text will now flow from box 1 to box 2 (just like in a newspaper)
 Display the object toolbar to get various shapes and lines (View menu, toolbars, object)
 Add a rectangle to provide a border around a picture or text box
Drawing
 Use the paint can to fill it a desired color or use fill effects for fancy coloring
Tools
 Next click on the object and go to the “Arrange” menu and go to Order; choose “send to
back”; now that object is behind a text box or behind a picture
 On the format toolbar (same bar that has font styles and sizes); look all the way to the
Shadows/ right and you will see a square with a shadow behind it – this is for shadowing
3D Effects
 The cube next to it is for adding 3D effects
 Ms Excel: Helpful Hints
 Creating a spreadsheet that can be used in word, PowerPoint or
alone
 Click inside a cell in order to type data
 You only need to have a cell selected in order to format the text such as word –
font style, alignment, size, color vs. actually highlighting the entire text

 Click on a cell or highlight a series of cells – choose copy, choose paste

 If there are any formulas in a cell it will copy/paste that formula unless you right click on
paste and choose “paste values”
 For copying – you can use the small black box in the bottom right corner of a cell and
drag it down a column to put the same information into the following cells; examples:
Copy/Paste
o need PA in all cells in that column; use the small box to copy/paste into all cells
in that column
o you want a formula that you typed in the first cell to be repeated in the next 5
cells down – drag the box and it will copy/paste that formula; it will also change
the numbers in the formula to correspond with the new rows
 Click your cursor at the top of a column, clicking on the letter of that column
Inserting
 Click on insert (found on the far right of your home ribbon) and choose “insert columns”
Columns
 This will insert a new column to the left of the column that you clicked on
 Click your cursor at the left of your screen, clicking on the number of that row
Inserting  Click on insert (found on the far right of your home ribbon) and choose “insert sheet
Rows rows”
 This will insert a new row above the row you have highlighted
 Highlight the column that needs to be resized
 Place your cursor between the heading letters of that column and the next column
Resizing  Double click your mouse and the column will resize to fit all the data that is located
within that column
Columns
 To do all columns at once – click your cursor on the small square located at the top left
corner of your spreadsheet; this will highlight all rows and columns; then double click
your mouse between two column headings
 Highlight the data that needs formatted
Formatting  Under the home ribbon, look under the cells section and choose format, choose cells
Data  Look under the “number” tab
 Change the data to a percent, currency, date, etc.
 Highlight the cells that need sorted
 Click on the “data” ribbon
Sorting
 Choose “sort” either a to z or z to a for a simple sort or choose “custom” to create your
Data
own sort options
 If using “custom” you will have to choose the column(s) that you are sorting it by
Rather than typing in every cell name (a1, a2, a3, etc.) use a cell range. Type the first cell name,
Range of then use a colon, and last type the last cell range. Example you want to use the sum formula to
Cells add up the cells in column D and there are 5 cells altogether. =sum(D1:D5)
  Sum =sum(_#, _#, _#,..) or =sum(_#:_#)
 Average =average(_#, _#, _#,..) or
 Concatenate (joining cells together with spaces =average(_#:_#)
or commas between words) =concatenate(_#,_#,_#,..)
 If Then; expression (for example: C1>.80; in
Common the true spot put pass and in the false spot put =if(expression,”true”,”false”)
Formulas fail; this formula would like this
(all [=if(c1>.80,”pass”,”fail”)]
formulas  Count – count the number of cells that have a =count(_#:_#)
must start number in them
with an =  Countif – count the number of items in a list
sign) =countif(expression,”value”)
such as x’s or yes vs. no (use when you don’t
want to sum the data just know how many
responses in a column) ex. How many yes
responses to a question? =countif(c1:c11,”yes”)
 Counta - count the number of cells that are not =counta(_#:_#)
blank (ex. number of students in a list)
 Highlight the cells that you wish to create into a graph
 If they are all side by side columns, just click in the first cell and drag until the area is
highlighted
 If not, highlight the first part, then hold your control key down while highlighting another
column
 Then go to “Insert” and choose the graph you wish to create
Graphs
 The graph will appear in the spreadsheet and 3 new ribbons will appear at the top of the
screen: Design, Layout, Format
 Use these ribbons to modify how the chart looks (adding titles, font changes, size, colors,
etc.)
 If you don’t want it to be located on the spreadsheet choose “move” on the “design”
ribbon and tell it as a new sheet within this workbook and give it a name