  If Life could be like a computer...You lose your car keys?
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OpenOffice.org - Tips, Tricks & How To'sIf you have been struggling with the idea of spending several hundred dollars for Microsoft Office, it may certainly be time to consider the FREE alternative. OpenOffice.org is a large download (around 100 Mb), but as an office suite of down to earth, ready to use essentials, it is a great alternative to the big guys! You can open the latest versions of Word, Excel, even PowerPoint files with no problems. And the best part is you can create your own similar files and save them in these popular formats so your friends can open them too. After installing OpenOffice.org, you will notice a few cosmetic differences, but under the hood, it is a very powerful suite of programs. Here are a few tips and tricks to help you become more comfortable with it. Once installed ...
Calc is comparable to any good spreadsheet program and Impress is OpenOffice.org's answer to PowerPoint. Draw is a very good drawing/image editing program with capabilities equal to similar programs costing a lot of money. In any of the OpenOffice.org modules, you can use existing documents as templates (or cheat sheets) to get you going. Just change the information to what you want, click the word File, then Save As and give your new file a different name. You can save it in the latest MS Word format or OpenOffice.org format, which will give it a special extension (instead of .doc). Any time you need to send a file to a friend who isn't lucky enough to have OpenOffice.org, you can always to a Save As and save it in whatever format they do have. Writer ...
Very intuitive and easy to use. You will find all the familiar formatting options available in the Toolbar at the top of the main window. Spend a little time letting your mouse pointer linger over the buttons. A popup will appear to let you know what each is for. All your font formatting choices are in the top area. To change your font, click the little down arrow to the right of the default font name (usually Times Roman). You will be able to choose from any font installed on your system by scrolling and clicking. To change the size of the font, click the little down arrow to the right of the number box (to the right of the font name box) and choose a different size. The higher numbers will give you larger text. There is a handy button for changing the text color. If you would like to change something you have already typed, highlight it before making your choice. To see your results, click anywhere (single left click) in a white area on the page. Gallery ...
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You will find OpenOffice.org in your Program Files area (Start/All Programs or Programs) just like any other software. If you hold your mouse pointer over OpenOffice.org (the main program group) you will see several choices. Writer is the main word processing module of this software and you will see a lot of similarities to any other word processor. It can also double as a very good web page creator/editor.
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Gallery button is a great tool and you have access to it in any OpenOffice.org document. Click the Gallery button to explore. Add your own clipart folders to the Gallery by clicking the New Theme button. Click the General tab to give your new theme a name if you wish. Click the Files tab and the Find Files button to find the folder where your favorite images stash is located... You DO have one, don't you? Use the Add All button to add all your images to the list so OpenOffice.org can list the thumbnails for you. The Gallery doesn't move your files, but helps you organize them so you can find them easily. It is capable of showing thumbnails for all major graphic formats. If you use the Gallery, you can left click and drag your images right into your document, rather than opening a separate image viewer and dragging from one program to another. The Gallery makes it easier and puts a nifty tool right at your fingertips. Click the Gallery button on the toolbar to turn it on or off. When you don't need it, it is out of sight. The Gallery won't suck your precious resources either!
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