Computer Tips

 
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Tip: Easiest way to view entire page (PageMaker 6.5/7.x)

• Because PageMaker's side scrollbars work so quickly, it's easy to lose view of the part of the page you're working on. To quickly find "home" again, press [command]0 ([Ctrl]0 in Windows) and you'll switch to the full page view.

Tip: Fastest way to move to the beginning or end of a story in PageMaker (6.5/7)

• Want to quickly move to the beginning or end of a story you're working on?  Simply press [command] [up arrow] or [command] [down arrow]  ([Ctrl] [Up Arrow] or [Ctrl] [Down Arrow] in Windows), and you're there in less than a second.

Tip: Viewing objects as you move them in PageMaker (6.5/7)

• When moving one object over another, such as a photo over a text block, click and hold the object for a second or two before moving it.  Then, you'll be able to see the objects underneath as you move the one on top.

Tip: Adobe help files might not work after installing Microsoft Windows XP Service Pack 2 update

• If you've installed the new Windows XP Service Pack 2 to take advantage of the improved security features, you might get a surprise when it comes to your Adobe apps.  Apparently, when you open or search the Help feature in many Adobe applications with a system that has SP2 applied, you get a variety of different messages that warn you of serious security infractions.  There are a few options on getting around this problem, but no true fix from Adobe yet.  To read more about your options, check out www.adobe.com/support/techdocs/330621.html.

Tip: Changing default type value settings (6.5/7)

• Oftentimes, in a rush to begin a new project, you first head for File > New, and begin entering information in the Document Setup dialog box.  However, if you then always change the type settings to something other than the default values (Times new roman, Regular, 12/14, No Tracking, Flush Left, etc.), you can reset the default type values to your favorites.
• First, before heading for the Document Setup dialog box, make your selections from Type > Font, Type > Size, etc.  Now, every time you open a new document, your new story will default to your favorite settings.

Tip: File Size: Save and Save As (6.5/7)

• As you work on a PageMaker file, and the contents grow, so does the size of file.  But, did you know that each time you make a change, even if the content amount seems to stay the same, the file size continues to grow?  This is because all your changes are simply added on to the end of your file.  If you change a word ten times, all ten changes are there in the file, you just don't see them.  Large files take longer to pen, and longer to navigate when moving from page to page.
• To help with this problem, use Save As when closing a file.  Using Save As saves only your last edit changes, and not every one you ever did.  If you Save As your file using the same name, you won't end up with two files, you'll just overwrite the original.  How often you save with Save As is up to you, but doing so about every five regular saves, plus on your very last save, is a good rule of thumb.

Tip: Simplify the naming of images (6.5/7)

• When labeling an image such as a map or a product photo with callouts of the same text style, create your first callout in the using the Text tool.  Next, select the callout with the Pointer tool, press [command]C ([Ctrl]C in Windows) and copy the callout.  Now, press [command]V ([Ctrl]V in Windows) once for each callout you need, and position each callout where needed.  Now, go to each callout and change the text to the appropriate label.  This saves time by not having to open a new story for each callout, highlight it, and choose a font and size.

Tip: Quickly aligning text in paragraphs - flush left, flush right, justify (6.5/7)

• To Quickly change text in paragraph alignment to flush left, flush right, or justify, use the keyboard shortcuts.
• First, highlight the text you want changed.  Then, for Macintosh us [command] [shift]L for flush left; [command] [shift]R for flush right; and [command] [shift]J for justify.  For Windows use [Ctrl] [Shift]L for flush left; [Ctrl] [Shift]R for flush right; and [Ctrl] [Shift]J for justify.

Tip: Controlling the lightness and contrast of a grayscale image in PageMaker (6.5/7)

• Sometimes the brightness or contrast of a placed grayscale image just isn't quite what you want.  To easily tweak its lightness, aka brightness, and/or contrast, select the image, then choose Element > Image > Image Control.  Change the values in the Image Control dialog box, click Apply, and you can evaluate the changes.  If you don't like what you see, change the values, and click Apply again.  When finished, click OK.

Tip: Combine multiple text blocks in PageMaker (6.5x)

• If you find yourself with too many text blocks, you can quickly combine them into one.  To do this, with the Pointer tool selected, drag the text blocks into a sequential, vertical stack with the first block at the bottom.  Then, drag a selection area around the text blocks.  Next, cut or copy the selection.  Now activate the Text tool, click in your layout, and paste the selection.  The text should be in order in one text block.

Tip: Deleting the frame, but saving the text PageMaker (6.5x/7.0)

• If you place text into multiple frames in PageMaker and then decide to get rid of one of the frames, you can do so without affecting the text the frame holds.  Select the frame with the Pointer tool and press [delete].  Once the frame is gone, PageMaker flows the text into the remaining text frames.

Tip: Closing dialog boxes quickly in PageMaker (6.5x/7.0)

• To close a series of nested dialog boxes, hold down the [option] key ([Shift key in Windows) and click OK, or press [option] [enter] ([Shift] [Enter] in Windows).  PageMaker closes all the dialog boxes and applies your changes.  If you don't want to apply the changes, hold down the [option] key ([Shift] key in Windows) and click the Cancel button, or press [option] [esc] ([Shift] [Esc] in Windows).

Tip: Quickly accessing PageMaker scripts to make edits (6.5x/7.0)

• If you need to edit a script, you can access it quickly by holding down the [command] key ([Ctrl] key in Window) as you double-click on the script name in the Scripts palette.  When you do, PageMaker displays the script in a text editor where you can then edit the script commands.

Tip: Unload an unwanted loaded cursor in PageMaker (6.5/7)

• Do you hate it when you accidentally click on a window shade handle and get a loaded cursor?  Unfortunately, this happens to all of us and there isn't much you can do to prevent it.  But when it does happen, you can undo it.  All you need to do is click on any tool in the Toolbox to remove the loaded text cursor.  Then, go back to work!

Tip: Quickly applying type styles to specific words in PageMaker (6.5/7)

• To apply a type style to multiple instances of a word throughout your document, use PageMaker's Change feature to search your document and apply the formatting changes.  To do so, open a new document and use the Pointer tool to select one of the text stories in your document.  Then, choose Edit Story from the edit menu to open the text in the Story Editor.  Next, choose Utilities > Change to open the Change dialog box.  Enter the word you want to search for in the Find What text field.  Then, enter the same word in the Change To text field.  Click the Char Attributes button and select Bold from the Type Style dropdown list in the Change To section.  Then, click OK.  Now, select the All Stories option button in the Change dialog box and then click Change All.  PageMaker will change every instance of the target word you want to bold.

Tip: Stop PageMaker from redrawing the screen every time a text wrap is adjusted (6.5/7)

• With the Pointer tool, select the object that you want your text to wrap around, and apply Text Wrap like you normally would.  Before you begin to adjust the handles on the wrap boundary, press and hold the [spacebar].  Now, add all the extra handles you need by clicking on the wrap boundary.  Then, adjust the handles to fit your object.  Release the [spacebar] and PageMaker will redraw the screen.

Tip: Size and position special characters the way you want to in PageMaker (6.5/7)

• Superscript characters are those that appear above the baseline, such as trademark symbols; subscript characters are those that appear below the baseline, such as footnotes.  You can format a special character as superscript or subscript by selecting it and choosing the appropriate option form the Position pop-up menu in the Character Specifications dialog box (Type > Character) or by clicking the Superscript or Subscript button on the character Control palette (Window > Show Control palette).  Oftentimes, though, the default size and position for superscript text isn't very good.
• Fortunately, you can adjust the default settings for superscript and subscript characters, so they're automatically sized and positioned as desired.  To do so, select, select the special character and then choose Type > Character and click the Options button in the Character Specifications dialog box.  In the resulting Character Options dialog box, in the Super/subscript Size text box, specify the percent of point size you want the special character to be sized--the lower the percent, the smaller the point size.  Then, specify the percent of point size you want superscript and subscript characters to be positioned in the corresponding options' text boxes.  Increasing the percent for superscript raises the character, whereas it decreases the position of a subscript character.  Finally, click OK twice to close out of both dialog boxes.

Tip: Exporting small PDFs from PageMaker for online viewing (6.5/7)

• The Job Name option you choose in the Distiller Settings pane in the PDF Options dialog box (File > Export > Adobe PDF) should vary depending on the purpose of the PDF file you're creating.  For example, if a file is intended for online viewing, you'll want to keep file size down so that it displays quickly.  Therefore, you should choose one of the innate Screen options from the Job name pop-up menu.  Then, click the Job Options dialog box to verify that the Distiller settings are set for an optimized Web view and all images are compressed.  choosing not to embed fonts will further reduce file size.  Do so with care, though.  Special characters, such as trademark and copyright symbols, may default on viewers' screens if you don't embed fonts and they don't have the fonts installed on their computers.  Also, keep in mind that placed EPS files with text converted to outlines will increase a PDF file's size.

Tip: Adobe PageMaker - Switch PageMaker tools more easily with keyboard shortcuts (6.5/7)

• A fast and easy way to move from one tool to the next in PageMaker's toolbox is to use shortcut keys.  For example, you can move up and down the left side of the toolbox by pressing [shift] [F1] for the Pointer tool, [shift] [F2] for the Rotating tool, and so on.  To move up and down the right side of the toolbox, press [option] [shift] [F1] for the Text tool ([Alt] [Shift] [F1] in windows), and so on.  To toggle between a currently selected tool and a previously selected tool, press [command] [spacebar] ([Ctrl] [Spacebar] in Windows), and when you release the keys, you'll see that the previously selected tool is now active.

Tip: Switch from any tool to the Pointer tool (PageMaker 6.5/7)

• To switch from any tool back to the Pointer tool, press [control] [spacebar] or [F9].  To toggle back to the previous tool, press [control] [spacebar] or [f9] again.

Tip: Permanently change your type default style (PageMaker 6.5/7)

• Whenever you create a new publication and click an insertion point with the Text tool, the font, size, and alignment style first applied to your text is the default style.  Most often it's Times, at 12 points, aligned flush left.  If you find yourself consistently changing it to something else, you might want to permanently change your default style to what you prefer.  To do so, before you open a new publication, choose Type and then make selections from whatever options you want, such as Font, Size, and Leading.  Now, when you open a new publication, your font default style is set to your own specifications.  To permanently change it again, repeat the process.

Tip: Maintaining links between PageMaker and Photoshop (PageMaker 6.5/7)

• If you maintain the link between a PageMaker document and an image you've created in Photoshop, you can have instant editing access to the original image.  Use the Edit Original command in the edit menu or press [option] ([Alt] in Windows).  Then, double-click on the image, which then opens in Photoshop.  It's much easier than tracking down the filename of the image you want to make changes to in Photoshop.

Tip: Correcting accidental changes to guides (PageMaker 6.5/7)

• As you add to the number of objects on a page, it's easy to accidentally drag a guide out of position.  Luckily, there are several ways to move the guides back into the correct position.  Immediately after accidentally moving a page or column guide, select Undo from the Edit menu or press [command]Z ([Ctrl]Z in Windows).  Also, if your page and column guides are based on a Master page, choose Copy Master Guides from the Layout menu to remove all local guides and replace them with the master guides.

Tip: Improve the performance of your files (PageMaker 6.5/7)

• To improve the performance of your PageMaker files, try linking your graphic objects rather than storing them within the PageMaker file.  This not only keeps your file size down, but the files open faster as well.

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