Insider Tip Archives

How Paper Choice Influences Your Eye
When selecting paper for a digital color printing project, be aware that the color or the shade of the paper influences your eye’s perception. For example, when selecting white digital paper, choose a sheet that has good brightness and sufficient whiteness; this will provide the best color reproduction. In general, the closer to true white the paper is, the more accurate the color will be.

What is that “winmail..dat” file attached to my recipient's
e-mail?
The “winmail.dat” that ends up attached to e-mails is typically just formatting information for the message -- what is supposed to be bolded, underscored, different fonts, bullets, colors, etc. The problem is how Outlook encodes this information in a message -- it uses a Microsoft®-proprietary method to do so. Some e-mail programs can't interpret the way the formatting is encoded, so the recipient sees the "winmail.dat" attachment.

This is typically not a problem, since the winmail.dat is just formatting information. However, if the sender was trying to include a file attachment with his or her message, that attachment could get bound up in the winmail.dat attachment on the recipient's end, making it impossible to get to.

To get around the winmail.dat issue, the sender needs to create messages in a mail format that does not use the fancy formatting codes -- you need to send the messages as “Plain Text.” You can configure Outlook to do this for every message, for a specific contact only, or for just the message you are currently composing.

For every message:

1. In Outlook, go to “Tools,” then “Options”
2. Click the “Mail Format” tab
3. Use the pull-down list beside "Compose in this message format:" to select "Plain Text"
4. Click OK.

For a specific contact:

1. In Outlook, go to your Contacts folder and open the Contact to whom you wish to send only Plain Text messages
2. Double-click on the Contact's e-mail address
3. In the "Internet format:" field, use the pull-down list to change it to "Send Plain Text only"
4. Click OK, then Save and Close the Contact.

For a message you are currently composing:

1. Click the “Format” menu on the message and select "Plain Text". Outlook will ask you to confirm that you want to switch formats -- click Yes.

How To Erase Old Marks Off Of A Dry Erase Board
Have you ever noticed that if you leave a message or drawing on a dry erase board for long enough, it isn't so erasable anymore? While getting those stains off isn't as easy as swiping a paper towel, there are simple ways to make your white board white again.

Easy Method
Get a dry erase marker (yes, we will make marks to take marks) and a dry eraser. The darker the color of marker that you use, the easier the marks will disappear. Draw over what you want to erase (make sure you draw slowly to fill it in better). Erase what you've written over as you normally would. Surprise! It erases. This is also a great method when you've accidentally used permanent marker instead of a dry erase one!

Toothpaste Method
Use ordinary toothpaste. It contains a very mild abrasive and is water soluble. Plus, it will leave your whiteboard minty fresh. This method will also remove permanent markers from most smooth, non-porous surfaces.

Advanced Methods for Tougher Marks
Put some rubbing alcohol on a paper towel and rub vigorously for a couple of seconds, then wipe dry. (Commercial dry erase cleaners are often just formulations that contain rubbing alcohol.)

If the stains remain -- lay the board flat on a table and put a few drops of rubbing alcohol on the board, rubbing it around with your finger. (Use enough alcohol to leave a thin layer.) Allow it to soak for a few seconds, and then wipe it dry.

If all else fails, use Mr. Clean Magic Eraser™, or a whiteboard cleaner, on the marks and rub vigorously to remove the stains.

Borrowed from -- WikiHow: http://www.wikihow.com/Erase-Old-Marks-off-a-Dry-Erase-Board

Select A Large Amount Of Text In Microsoft Word
If you need to select a large amount of text across a number of pages in Microsoft_® Word, here is a quick approach that doesn't involve the dragging method.

Start by moving your cursor to where you want the selection to begin. Next, scroll down to the place where you want the selection to end, hold down the Shift key, and click where you want the selection to end. The text between the two points will now be selected.

Merge The Contents Of Two Or More Cells In Microsoft Excel
If you want to link together the contents of two or more cells in Microsoft_® Excel -- such as a first name in A1 and a last name in B1 -- the formula would be =A1 & B1.

If you want to put a space in this formula to separate the names, you would enter
=A1 & " " & B1.

Rotating Pages In Adobe_® Acrobat Professional Or Standard
If you have pages that are portrait, but they cannot be read unless you rotate them to landscape, use the Rotate pages command, Document > Rotate pages (Shift + Ctrl + R). Then save the document using the "Save as..." command. Your document will always open with landscape pages.

Using the rotate view buttons on your tool bar -- Rotate Clockwise and Rotate Counterclockwise -- provides temporary viewing rotations only.

Cooler Weather Is Coming
Well, in some cases, it has already arrived.

Just a reminder, as the weather turns colder, do not leave electronic equipment in your vehicle overnight, especially if you don’t keep your vehicle in a garage. This equipment includes laptops, PDAs, cell phones, and Treos.

When these items get too cold, they need time to come to room temperature and may not power on until then. It is not a good idea to even try to power them on until they come to room temperature, and there is also a risk that they won’t power on at all.

Consider Utilizing GANCOM'S Secure FTP Site
If you have not already taken advantage of utilizing our secure FTP site, please consider doing so when transferring large files – in general, files larger than 1 MB. This site is secure and user-friendly, and more and more of our customers are finding it to be a helpful tool when sending files to GANCOM. The new FTP Site link can be found in the upper right-hand corner of our Web site www.gancom.com.

Snap To It – Moving Graphics In Word
When you attempt to move graphics in Microsoft® Word, you might have noticed that images tend to “snap to grid.” Often times this might be fine, or even helpful, but sometimes this feature can be more of a hassle.

When you need precise control of the position of a graphic you are trying to move, simply hold down the "Alt" key while dragging the image. This will eliminate the "snap to grid" function.

Only Part Of The Picture
When using Microsoft_® PowerPoint, it is sometimes appropriate to use only part of a picture. To do so, follow these steps.

1. First, insert the photo into your slide.
2. Next, select the picture you would like to edit, and click “Ungroup” from the Draw menu.
3. Finally, click somewhere on the slide (other than on the picture) and click on the object in the picture that you wish to delete; press “Delete.”

Borrowed from -- www.computertips.com

Relieve Your "Mouse" Hand — Utilize Keyboard Shortcuts

Microsoft_® Word keyboard shortcuts can be found by clicking on the “Help” toolbar, then clicking on “Microsoft Office Word Help.” You can then type “keyboard shortcuts” into the Search feature.

An Automatic Start
The following outlines an easy method to set up a slide show in Microsoft_® PowerPoint so that it automatically starts with a simple double click.

To automate your slide show file:

1. When your slide show is finished, open the File menu.
2. Click “Save As.”
3. Click the arrow near the "Save as type" list box.
4. Click “PowerPoint Show” (*.pps).
5. Name your file and click “OK.”

The next time you open this file (from outside of PowerPoint), the program will open and start your slide show automatically.

Repair a Corrupted Excel File
Please note -- this tip works only in Microsoft_® Excel XP/2002 and 2003.

On the File menu, click “Open.” In the Open dialog box, select the file you want to open, and click the arrow next to the Open button. Click “Open and Repair,” and then choose which method you want to use to recover your workbook.

Electronic Submissions Improve Quality of Quick Copy Jobs
To ensure that your next Quick Copy project, whether black and white or color, is of the highest possible quality, send it electronically to your vendor. Why? Because output quality is diminished when jobs are scanned from a hard copy rather than produced directly from an electronic file.