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A lot of practical features of Microsoft Office
applications are not on the disc that you buy but are, instead,
only available as web downloads called add-ins.
This issue, I'll introduce you to some of the key tools that you
may want to download to your Microsoft Office suite.
Create PDFs from Off ice applications If you're using Microsoft
Office 2007 then you should download the Microsoft Save as PDF
add-in. This is a single download, which installs into Microsoft
Office 2007 and adds a save to PDF option to Word, Excel, Access,
Publisher, PowerPoint and One Note. Like most add-ins, this is a
self installing executable file, so all you need do is download
it and double click to run the file. You will be prompted to
accept a licence agreement, which will then install
automatically.
In future, to save a file as a PDF, click the Office button and
choose File > Save As > PDF and then select from the
options available in the dialogue, which allow you to control the
ultimate file size.
Type a file name but leave the extension set to .PDF and click
Save. The PDF format lets you share documents with others who may
not have Office installed, and it is also a format that is used
to distribute documents on the web.
Help getting started If you're new to Microsoft Office 2007 you
will appreciate the Get Started tab add-in. This adds a Get
Started tab to the ribbon in Word 2007, Excel 2007 and PowerPoint
2007. On this tab you have access to free Office Online features,
including training courses and video demos as well as other
content that helps you learn the application. Another handy
option on this tab is a link to the interactive command mapping
tool, which shows a mock-up of the appropriate Office 2003
application.
Using this, you can click on a feature that you used in an
earlier version of Office and it will show you how to access this
feature on the new Office 2007 ribbon.
If it is no longer available in Office 2007, you will be alerted
so you won't waste time trying to find something that's no longer
there. You must download and install the Get Started tab
individually for Word, Excel and PowerPoint as there isn't a
single download for all three.
Backwards compatibility If you are using an earlier version of
Office - either XP or 2003 - then a must-have add-in is the
Microsoft Office Compatibility Pack for Word, Excel and
PowerPoint 2007. This tool lets you open, edit and save
documents, spreadsheets and presentations that have been created
in the new Office 2007 Word, Excel and PowerPoint formats.
Office 2007 uses a new file format and these formats are not
backwardly compatible with earlier versions. So unless you have
this compatibility pack installed, you won't be able to open
files created with the new Office suite.
This compatibility pack does not give you the ability to use
features that are Office 2007 specific such as Smart Art, but it
does allow you to work with Office 2007 format files even if you
don't have Office 2007 yourself.
Excel Report manager If you are working in Microsoft Excel then
the Excel Report Manager add-in is a useful tool. The Report
Manager enables you to create reports from inside Excel, which
you can then print as needed. One benefit of this tool is that it
allows you to print multiple pages from a workbook as a
consecutively numbered series of pages - something which is not
possible in Excel itself. The Report Manager tool is helpful for
anyone who needs to print spreadsheet data on a regular basis and
especially so if you need to print it in different ways.
If you combine using the Report Manager with views, you can set
up complex reports and print them with a single click. The Excel
Report Manager was created to be compatible with Excel 2002 but
you can also use it with Excel 2003 and 2007 - you may need to
install it manually though. To do this, download the RPTMGR.EXE
file and open it in an unzip program (you can't do this in
Windows because it tries to install the file. However, you can do
so with Win Zip or the free 7-zip application from
www.7-zip.org).
When you open the RPTMGR.EXE file, you will see the reports.xla
file. Copy this to your Library folder. In Excel 2003, this is
c:\program files\microsoft office\office11\library. For Excel
2007, it is c:\program files\microsoft office\ office12\library.
If you are using Windows Vista 64 bit you must select the Program
Files (x86) folder instead.
Once the xla file is in place, close and reopen Excel 2003 and
choose Tools > Add-ins and enable the Report Manager check
box. In Excel 2007, click the Office button, choose Excel Options
> Add-ins and from the Manage list choose Excel Add-ins and
enable the Report Manager add-in. It will be available from the
View menu in Excel 2003 and the Add-ins tab in Excel 2007.
In the Excel Add-ins collection you can find other add-ins such
as the Conditional Sum Wizard, Euro Currency Tools, Look up
Wizard and the Analysis ToolPak - all of which can be enabled so
you can use them in Excel. Add-ins such as the Conditional Sum
Wizard and Look up Wizard reduce writing complex formula to a
point and click style interface. The Analysis ToolPak contains
Excel functions that are not available inside Excel itself such
as NETWORKDAYS, rand between and a convert function to switch
from miles to kilometres, for example.