Section Five will teach you all the commands that are used in most Windows programs. The icons next to some commands are the toolbar buttons used in most programs.
Hotkeys are also given. For example, if you see CTRL + V, then to use the hotkey, press and hold down the CTRL key, then hit V, and let up on them both.
Of course, some programs will have buttons on the toolbar that are seen exclusively in that program. Hover your cursor over any toolbar button and a small box will appear telling you what the button does. This is called a ToolTip and is shown in Figure 1-21.
Figure 1.21: A ToolTip
File Management Commands
Figure 1.22: File Management Commands
- New - (Menu: File > New Hotkey: CTRL + N) Starts a new document.
- Open - (Menu: File > Open Hotkey: CTRL + O) Retrieves a file saved to disk.
- Close - (Menu: File > Close) Takes a file off the screen.
- Save - (Menu: File > Save Hotkey: CTRL + S) Stores the document on disk to be opened later.
- Save As - (Menu: File > Save As...) Saves a duplicate copy of the file under a different name. (Good for saving new versions of a file while keeping the old.)
Printing Commands
Figure 1.23: Printing Commands
- Page Setup - (Menu: File > Page Setup) Shows options such as paper size and margin sizes.
- Print Preview - (Menu: File > Print Preview) Shows an image of the current document so you can see how it looks on paper.
- Print - (Menu: File > Print, Hotkey: CTRL + P) Prints the file on paper. There must be a printer hooked up and turned on for it to work. (Advanced options can be accessed through the menu option.)
Clipboard Commands
Introducing the Clipboard
The Clipboard can be confusing to new users, but once you master it, it will become one of your favorite commands. Just think of a clipboard inside your computer, on which you can stick things for use later. You will probably grow tired of hearing this but - the best way to learn most things on the computer is to try them out, and this is no exception. Use a new document or one you don't care for much.
NOTE
Cut and Copy must have something selected - either a text or a picture - or they will be disabled.
Commands
Figure 1.24: Clipboard Commands
- Cut - (Menu: Edit > Cut, Hotkey: CTRL + X) Deletes the selected text from the document and moves it to the Clipboard.
- Copy - (Menu: Edit > Copy, Hotkey: CTRL + C) Same as Cut, except that the text remains where it is as well as on the Clipboard. I recommend you learn the hotkey, because you'll be using this a lot!
- Paste - (Menu: Edit > Paste, Hotkey: CTRL + V) Puts the object from the Clipboard in the document. A copy remains on the Clipboard so you can Paste multiple times, so you never have to type something more than once. It'll be disabled if there's nothing on the Clipboard. Its hotkey is conveniently located right next to Copy's key.
Formatting Commands
Figure 1.25: Formatting Commands
All the text formatting commands can be found in the menu under Format > Font..., with the exception of Align Left, Right, Center, and Justify, which can be found under Format > Paragraph....
- Font - Changes the font.
- Text Size - The size of the text in points. 10-14 pt. is appropriate for normal text, while 16-36 are good for headings, and 48-100 are best for titling. The full range of choices can be from 6 to 100 pt. (Less than 6 is too small to be read.) Decimal numbers can be used. If you want a number not on the list, type it in the box. The normal text size in this book is 12 pt., and the headings are 20 pt.
- Bold - (Hotkey: CTRL + B) Bolds the text. Click to apply bold. All the text you type will be bold until you click the bold button again. You can also apply bold to highlighted text.
- Italic - (Hotkey: CTRL + I) Italicizes the text.
- Underline - (Hotkey: CTRL + U) Underlines the text.
- Align Left - Aligns the text with the left margin.
- Center - Centers the text on the page.
- Align Right- Aligns the text with the left margin.
- Justify - Has the computer adjust the space between words so the text is aligned evenly with the left and right margins. This creates a smooth edge on both sides. This is often used in newspapers.
Help!
- Contents - (Menu: Help > Contents, Hotkey: F1) Shows the table of contents of the Help file.
- Search for Help On - (Menu: Help > Search For Help On...) Lets you search the Help file for certain keywords. In Word and Excel the Office Assistant performs this function.
- What's This? - (Menu: Help > What's This?, Hotkey: SHIFT + F1) Click this, and then click something else (a toolbar button or menu command) for a brief explanation of what it does.