Do you use Microsoft Word? Do you like showering daily? ... most do. A few don't .

I have been collecting tips on using Word for years. I have put together a collection of these tips and tricks that you might find useful. Some are of my own originality. Some are just modifications of tips sent to me by others. Most are documented in books, but some are unique or very difficult to find.

One example is finding a macro to print all the fonts on your computer. Word 95 had built in macro for this that was great. It was not installed by default and was tricky to get working, but did a great job. I migrated it to Word 97 and then forgot about it when I upgraded to Word 2000. Then I tried to use it in 2000 and it was not available. I received a tip from someone one day and revived interest in it. I then found that Microsoft had posted it on their website. However the instructions assume the reader knows how to create macros, which at my meager estimate, less than 5 % of the computer users have the vaguest idea what a macro even is, much less how to create one.

So one of my own created tips tells even the newest user how to create a macro and use it to print a list of fonts from Word.

I'll put a few simple tips on this page to give you an idea of the range of ideas. Then I'll provide links to the files you can download for your own library.

Tip #1: Accurate Font Sizes

You already know that Word allows you to easily change the size of your fonts. You can use either the formatting toolbar or the Font dialog box (select Font from the Format menu) to set the size of type you have selected in your document. You may not know, however, that Word can use virtually any point size you want, not just those listed in the drop-down size lists. Font sizes are specified in points, which are a typographer's measurement roughly equivalent to 1/72 of an inch. You can either select a size from the drop down list, or you can enter your own size. Select the size shown in the list, and then type the size you actually want. When you press ENTER, the size of your selected text is changed. This is great when you want your text to be really large for special signs. For instance, you can easily set your font size to 120 or 200 points to make huge letters for a sign. It is also easy to overlook the fact that Word can display and print fonts in increments of half a point. Depending on the typeface being used, this can make a big difference. For example, there is a very marked difference between 10 and 11 point Verdana, and 10.5 may be just what you need. You obtain the half-sizes by typing them directly into the size box. The half-sizes may not display accurately in Normal view, but they will in Print Layout view, and will print accurately. If you try to type in any other fractional size (like 10.25 or 10.4), Word displays an error message. You can only set full point sizes or half point sizes.

Tip #2: Bar coding.

Word enables you to print USA postal zip code bar codes on labels and envelopes to help your envelope get to its destination more efficiently. What's a zip code bar code? Glad you asked. Have you ever wondered what those little vertical bars above your address are on mail you received? Well, those are zip code bar codes. Just choose Tools, Envelopes and Labels, and then click Options. Check the Delivery point barcode option, and Word will insert the correct bar code for whatever zip code you type in when you print your envelope.

What, You haven't even used Word to print your envelopes? You are missing one very valuable feature. The instructions for doing this are out of the realm of Tips, but any book or the Word Help file can walk you right through it.

Tip #3: Do you use print Preview? How do you access it? How do you return to the editing screen? Try this: Toggling Print Preview

If you are the type of person that likes to keep your fingers on the keyboard as much as possible, you will be interested in this tip. Normally, if you want to print preview your document, you need to use the mouse to select the Print Preview tool, or use the ALT process to select the Print Preview option from the File menu. A quicker way to toggle print preview is to simply press ALT+CTRL+I. Press it once, and Print Preview appears. Press it again, and Print Preview disappears. It is interesting to note that many people overlook this shortcut since it is not listed on Word's menus. Normally, Word shows available keyboard shortcuts to the right of a menu choice in the menu. For instance, if you look to the right of the Print option in the File menu, you can see that CTRL+P allows you to print. Word doesn't list the Print Preview shortcut on the menus, however. As one reader pointed out, toggling out of PP is easier that a 3 button click. Just hit escape.

This is just a sampling of the tips I've collected. Below are links to a random bunch of my collection. The Combined Word Tips is just that. Many of the tips are duplicated, but it's up to the reader to sort them out. Why not build your own collection using Copy & Paste. Ones over 100 K in size have been noted. How many of these do not even recognize? Some may only work in certain versions and are noted where known.

Note: If you click the link directly, the file opens in your browser. To save the file to your hard drive, right click the link & choose "Save Target As" & downoad it to your My Documents folder (or other choice).

A better way to use accent marks	Accurate Font Sizes	Adding a document to Favorites
Adding Captions	Adding Line Numbers	Adding space between paragraphs
Autorecover & Auto Correct	Bar coding	CLIP ART
Combined Word Tips 319K A random collection Does not include later ones	Creating Traditional Forms	Drawing Lines & Borders & Drawing Lines & Borders Sample
Em Dashes Do you know what this is?	Finding Files in Windows Related to Word	Font changes
Format painting	Formatting a Cover Page	Hard and Soft Returns
Hiding Errors (XP?)	Highlighting text	Copy or Move Text Keys
Using File Extensions	Finding tips on the web	Paragraph Formatting Shortcuts
Understanding Hard and Soft Returns	Inserting special characters	Random generator hoax mail Cute sample of hoax
Inserting Different Dashes	Nudging a Graphic	Inserting a Voice Annotation in Your Document
A collection of Keyboard Shortcuts	Sequentially Numbering	Printing Portrait Page Numbers on Landscape Pages
Printing a list of fonts	Printing Word Shortcuts	Toggling Print Preview
Read-only Files	Restoring the Normal template	Using Smart Quotes
A Template for Shortcuts	Another Template for shortcuts	Setting Tab Stops Using Menus
Will Word Translate?	Creating Watermarks	Import your Outlook calendar into a Word template
The Status Bar	Working With Document Links	Find and replace
Working with Tables New Formatting Tables	A macro to change colors	Learn to do a mail merge
White Lettering	Inserting Names	Adaptive Menus
Custom Bullets	Symbol Size	Making PDF files
AutoShapes & WordArt	Changing word's defaults	More about Characters Sorta technical, but interesting
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