Tip #73 - Copying Pictures from Your Camera Using Picasa

100 Computer Tips in 100 Days

Tip #73 - Copying Pictures from Your Camera Using Picasa 

Not only does Picasa make it easy for you to organize the pictures on your computer but it’s also a great tool to help you download pictures from your camera.  You may already be using a program that came with your camera or iPhoto, if you have an Apple, but I think you should consider using Picasa to accomplish this task. If you haven’t downloaded it yet, go to www.picasa.com and get a free copy.

When you open Picasa you can see the “Import” button in the upper left corner. If your camera is attached to your computer you will see the pictures that are on it when you click the Import button. The pictures will be displayed in date groups with the most current pictures at the top of the list.  Here’s how to download in three easy steps. 

1. Select pictures to import into a folder.  If you are selecting a consecutive group of pictures you can click on the first picture, hold down the Shift key and click on the last picture. If your pictures are not consecutive you’ll have to use the Ctrl/Command key to select specific shots.
2. Name the folder
3. Click the Import Selected button

A new folder will be created on your hard drive in your My Pictures folder with the name you gave it. Repeat until all of the pictures you want to copy have been downloaded.

There it is, downloading in three easy steps.

My book, 100 Amazing Computer Tips - Shortcuts, Tricks, and Advice to Help Everyone from Novice to Professional, is available NOW at Amazon.com and Barnes & Noble in both print and ebook formats. There's also a handy link on top right side of this window.

Happy computing!

Diane

Don't forget to click the Subscribe to 100 Computer Tips in 100 Days via email link on the right side of the screen so you get email alerts when Diane adds a new post.

Tip #72 - Great FREE Fonts for Downloading

100 Computer Tips in 100 Days

A colleague pointed out I was using
an old Microsoft logo.
Here is the current one

Tip #72 - Great FREE Fonts for Downloading

If you love experimenting with fonts as much as I do, you’ll love Google’s free font downloading service.  Over 600 fonts are now available and the number is growing daily. You can download as many of them as you want.  Just go to www.Google.com/fonts and start having fun.

Use the filter tools on the left of the screen to limit your selection. Click the “Add to Collection” button to save your choices. When you’re finished making your selections click the “Download Your Collection” link in the upper right side of the screen. You’ll see a window telling you that you don’t have to download to use the fonts on the internet but you’ll need to download them for use on your computer. This will download a zip file with all of your fonts. Once the zip file is downloaded you need to open it and extract all of the font files. Unfortunately this does not install them. To do that you need to double click on each font and then click the Install button. It sounds like a lot of work but it’s well worth the effort.

When you’re looking for fonts to download consider choosing fonts with multiple styles. Click the “Show all styles” link to preview the font family. Four styles will generally give you normal, bold, italic and bold italic. Fonts with greater style choices will print better than those with just one style. You can change the sample text that’s displayed for the fonts. This is helpful if you want to use the font for specific group of words. Some fonts are clearer for individual letters than others.

So now that you have lots more fonts to choose from, promise me you won’t only be using Times New Roman, Ariel and Comic Sans anymore.

My book, 100 Amazing Computer Tips - Shortcuts, Tricks, and Advice to Help Everyone from Novice to Professional, is available NOW at Amazon.com and Barnes & Noble in both print and ebook formats. There's also a handy link on top right side of this window.

Happy computing!

Diane

Don't forget to click the Subscribe to 100 Computer Tips in 100 Days via email link on the right side of the screen so you get email alerts when Diane adds a new post.

Tip #71 - SketchUp to Create 3-D Pictures

100 Computer Tips in 100 Days

Tip #71 - SketchUp to Create 3-D Pictures

Your friends at Google have created another great product, SketchUp. It’s a free 3-D graphic program that will help you design buildings, redesign rooms and create games or just about anything. Designs are created in two dimensions and are then pushed and pulled into three dimensions.  The program was first introduced in 2000 by @Last Software and was acquired by Google in 2006. It is available for PC, Apple and even for the iPad.

Google SketchUp puts all of the help options in plain sight, which include video tutorials, tips and tricks, a blog, and a help center. When you start the program it asks you to select a template from a long list that includes templates for architectural design, woodworking, Google Earth modeling, and basic plans. A good place to start is with the Beginning Training Template - Inches. The user interface is fairly basic in design, which is a good thing as some of these types of programs can be quite overwhelming. A toolbar at the top of the window includes the familiar menu options: Files, Edit, and View. There are also menu options to manage the Camera and Tools commands. A toolbox resides below with tools for creating and editing shapes and lines. A helpful Instructor guides you through the setup process by creating simple lines going through each of the tools. In no time, you will be creating shapes and designs. The Tape Measure Tool lets you measure your shapes, and the Eraser tool removes your mistakes.

Check out tutorials on YouTube to see how easy this tool is to use. I created a floor plan for our new house that made it easier to visualize where the furniture would go when we moved.

You’ll find it at www.sketchup.com.

My book, 100 Amazing Computer Tips - Shortcuts, Tricks, and Advice to Help Everyone from Novice to Professional, is available NOW at Amazon.com and Barnes & Noble in both print and ebook formats. There's also a handy link on top right side of this window.

Happy computing!

Diane

Don't forget to click the Subscribe to 100 Computer Tips in 100 Days via email link on the right side of the screen so you get email alerts when Diane adds a new post.

Tip #70 - Outlook Address Auto Complete

100 Computer Tips in 100 Days

Tip #70 - Outlook Address Auto Complete

Outlook, along with many other email programs, remembers every address you have typed in a To:, Cc: or Bcc: field. This is good. When you start keying in a name or address, the program automatically suggests the contact in its entirety.

Unfortunately, you may have typed the address incorrectly at one point or a contact has changed their email address and the program remembers the mistyped and old as well as the correct information and suggests them indiscriminately. Fortunately, getting rid of entries you no longer want to appear in the auto-complete list is easy.

To Delete an Address from the Outlook Auto-Complete List 

• Create a new email message in Outlook. 
• Start typing the name or address you want to remove. 
• Use the down arrow key to highlight the entry you want to remove  from the list.. 
• Press Del.

I really like the auto-complete feature and find it helpful most of the time but, if for some reason you are not happy with it,  this feature can be turned off permanently.

To Prevent Outlook Address Auto-Completion Altogether 

• Select Tools/Options... from the menu. 
• Go to the Preferences tab. 
• Click E-mail Options.... 
• Now click Advanced E-mail Options... 
• Make sure that “Suggest names while completing To, Cc, and Bcc” fields is not checked.
•  Click OK.
•  Click OK again.
•  Click OK once more. 

This feature is available in most email programs and you can give this solution a try. I also have noticed that in some programs you can right click on an incorrect entry and choose delete.

My book, 100 Amazing Computer Tips - Shortcuts, Tricks, and Advice to Help Everyone from Novice to Professional, is available NOW at Amazon.com and Barnes & Noble in both print and ebook formats. There's also a handy link on top right side of this window.

Happy computing!

Diane

Don't forget to click the Subscribe to 100 Computer Tips in 100 Days via email link on the right side of the screen so you get email alerts when Diane adds a new post.

Tip #69 - Comparing Documents in Word

100 Computer Tips in 100 Days

Tip #69 - Comparing Documents in Word

There I was merrily working on a document for a client, making changes and saving frequently, as I should, when I noticed I was not working on the most current version of the document. Ugh. I now had two versions and needed to combine them into one file. Fortunately Word has our back on this and we can use the Compare Documents feature. Whew.

Click the Review tab and, from the Compare group, choose Compare and then Compare again. The Compare Documents dialog box shows up.

Select the original document from the Original Document drop-down list. If you can't find the original document, click the wee folder icon to browse for it.

Select the edited document from the Revised Document drop-down list. As with the original document, you can locate the revised one by clicking the folder icon to browse.

Click OK. Word compares the two documents and notes all changes. Then it displays a list of changes, the compared document with changes marked, plus the original and revised documents.

Now use the Accept/Reject options on the Review tab to go through the document identifying the changes you would like to keep or reject.

Whew, saved again by a feature in Microsoft Office.

My book, 100 Amazing Computer Tips - Shortcuts, Tricks, and Advice to Help Everyone from Novice to Professional, is available NOW at Amazon.com and Barnes & Noble in both print and ebook formats. There's also a handy link on top right side of this window.

Happy computing!

Diane

Don't forget to click the Subscribe to 100 Computer Tips in 100 Days via email link on the right side of the screen so you get email alerts when Diane adds a new post.

Tip #68 - Improving Computer Speed

100 Computer Tips in 100 Days

Tip #68 - Improving Computer Speed

The number one complaint I hear about people’s computers is that they are running slowly. Of course, your computer will never run as fast as the first day you take it home from the store. Remember how you thought your new computer was faster than the speed of light? Every time you visit a webpage traces of your actions are stored on your computer. These little files add up until your browsing has slowed to a crawl. Periodically you should run a computer cleaner. For the PC there is a dandy FREE program called CCleaner (originally called Crap Cleaner) that is available for download from many sources. Just do a search for CCleaner.  I’m particularly comfortable using the cnet website at http://download.cnet.com/CCleaner/3000-18512_4-10315544.html

CCleaner is a freeware system optimization, privacy and cleaning tool. It removes unused files from your system - allowing Windows to run faster and freeing up valuable hard disk space. It also cleans traces of your online activities such as your Internet history. Additionally it contains a fully featured registry cleaner. But the best part is that it's fast (normally taking less than a second to run) and contains NO Spyware or Adware! :)

I looked for a free program like CCleaner for the Mac but didn't find a really good one. If you have an Apple you might consider a $39.99 investment in MacKeeper.

The MacKeeper clean-up utilities free up a significant amount of space on your hard drive, doing this quickly and efficiently. As for standalone tools, they take care of your Mac by hiding and encrypting your private files, completely removing the uninstalled apps, recovering accidentally deleted files even if they were removed from the Trash, and more. And finally, MacKeeper's exclusive online services will help you get answers to any Mac-related questions and even track down your Mac in case it gets stolen. If your Mac is stolen you log in to your MacKeeper account and click the “Mac Was Stolen” button. When the thief opens the computer the built in camera will take a picture of the thief as well as his location and the location of his internet connection. That sounds like a sweet “gotcha” moment.

My book, 100 Amazing Computer Tips - Shortcuts, Tricks, and Advice to Help Everyone from Novice to Professional, is available NOW at Amazon.com and Barnes & Noble in both print and ebook formats. There's also a handy link on top right side of this window.

Happy computing!

Diane

Don't forget to click the Subscribe to 100 Computer Tips in 100 Days via email link on the right side of the screen so you get email alerts when Diane adds a new post.

Tip #67 - Excel - Defining Names

100 Computer Tips in 100 Days

Tip #67 - Excel Defining Names

Every cell in an Excel worksheet already has a name. The name of the cell is the column letter and row number, in that order, such as B27, G9. In addition to the default name, you can give a cell or a group of cells, a “nickname” that can be used in formulas, navigation and selection.

The name box is located in the upper left corner of the worksheet, above the row numbers. It displays the name of the active cell. When you hover above this box it shows the Name Box label. Clicking in this box will select the current name making it possible for you to type in a new name. After the new name is typed in the name box you MUST press the Enter key. Forgetting to press the Enter key will result in the name you've created being lost. There are just a few rules when naming cells:

• A name must be more than one character and less than 255 characters. If you can’t come up with a name that’s shorter than 255 characters then you’re not thinking hard enough.
•  A name cannot begin with a number. It can, however, begin with a letter, an underscore (_)or a backslash (\).
•  A name cannot contain spaces. If you want to name your cell First Quarter you can do so by taking out the space (FirstQuarter) or by inserting an underscore (First_Quarter).
•  A name must be unique and must not resemble a number, cell address or reserve word. A reserve word is text used for functions and formulas. For example you cannot call a cell by the name SUM as it is already used in the function SUM.
•  A name cannot use mathematical symbols such as + - * / <>.

If you examine the rules, you’ll see that you really have a lot of flexibility in naming cells.

Notice the name "second_qtr_sales" in the name
box in the upper left side of the picture.

Now let’s see names in action. In the screen shot I have selected the cells that I want to name. I clicked in the name box and typed “second_qtr_sales” and pressed the Enter key. Notice the new name in the name box. You might think the name box should display C7 but defined names dominate. I then used this name in the average formula (=average(second_qtr_sales).

My book, 100 Amazing Computer Tips - Shortcuts, Tricks, and Advice to Help Everyone from Novice to Professional, is available NOW at Amazon.com and Barnes & Noble in both print and ebook formats. There's also a handy link on top right side of this window.

Happy computing!

Diane

Don't forget to click the Subscribe to 100 Computer Tips in 100 Days via email link on the right side of the screen so you get email alerts when Diane adds a new post.