In Microsoft Publisher if you want to change the brightness and the shade on any of your images look for the Icon on the toolbar.

1. Click the Sun and Upward-pointed arrow icon from the toolbar to make it brighter
2. Click the Sun and Downward-pointed arrow icon from the toolbar to make it darker.
3. If you want to increase the image contrast, click on the icon with two half circles – one white and one black.
4. You can decrease the contrast by clicking the image of two gray half circles.

Visit our Microsoft Publisher Tips page to learn more useful information

When you need to find a certain document you needed to click on the open icon from Office button then search through your documents looking for the right one. However with PowerPoint 2007 you can find everything much easier.

If you click on the Office button on the top left and it comes up with the main menu and on it will be your most recent documents that you have worked on and saved.
 
So if you need to open up one of those documents again you can just click on it from that list and it’s done. So it saves you looking through your documents trying to find the right one.
 
Read about our Microsoft PowerPoint Courses if you are interested in learning more

When you use Excel the table can look really boring and plain; however in the newer versions (2007  and 2010) you are able to customize your tables by using different font styles and colours as well. There are also different shades of colour and sizes of text you can use. To change you table here’s how to do it:

1. Click on the Cell Styles link on the toolbar
   (highlighted in image)

 

2. This will give you a list of all the different styles that are available to you when making your table

 

3. Click on the cell you want to personalize and then choose the style you want.

Want more tips; just visit our Microsoft Excel Tips page

With Cloud computing becoming an increasingly popular option with businesses in the UK, one of the main reasons responsible for its adoption was widely thought was that it had something to do with the low costs involved in moving tasks to the Cloud. However, a new survey carried out by the Cloud Industry Forum suggests otherwise.

The majority of users surveyed indicated that the flexibility that the Cloud brings to their business is the most alluring factor that would make them consider adopting the Cloud. This view was particularly correct amongst the businesses with less than 20 employees.

The cost only became the major driving force for organisations that were planning to increase their Cloud service adoption or looking at how they currently access technology throughout their infrastructure.

Organisations that have already adopted Cloud services are on the whole very satisfied with them with the major services being deployed being email, back-ups and disaster recovery in addition to storage and web-hosting services. This level of satisfaction serves as great encouragement for existing users to expand their Cloud use to other areas of their IT Operations.

Have you or your company made the move to the Cloud yet? If so are you satisfied with it and would you consider expanding to cover a wider range of services? Leave us a comment and let us know your experience with the Cloud.

Does your work involve using some of the software from the Adobe package but you can’t afford the price of the new package? Well now Adobe is offering you a reprieve: you can now rent the software on monthly subscription plans.

This idea should prove popular with those who struggle to find the four figure sum to buy the software outright but like to keep up-to-date with the latest versions of software or want to try out the new software.

Adobe realised a statement along with the news: “Today also sees Adobe debut an affordable and flexible subscription-based pricing plan, attractive to customers that want to get current and stay current on Creative Suite products, have project–based needs, or try the software for the first time,”

The pricing list at the moment is as follows:

Adobe Photoshop: £28 per month

Adobe Design Premium 5.5: £72 per month

Adobe Creative Suite 5.5 Master Collection: £116 per month

This news comes at a time when Adobe are announcing their new Creative Suite package 5.5 which, when on sale later this month brings a number of enhancements to InDesign and Dreamweaver in addition to others.

Welcome to another Microsoft Excel tip. In this tip, I will explain how you can use the AutoSum function in Excel to quickly and easily add up a column of numbers.

This tip can save you bundles of time, especially if you are working with a lot of numerical data with the use of one button or a keyboard shortcut, depending on your preference.

The keyboard shortcut for the AutoSum function is: Alt + =

The button that works the AutoSum function is this button:

To use AutoSum, you must click in the cell that you wish your result, or addition to appear in.  As a default, AutoSum looks up a column for figures immediately above it to add together.  This works great, unless it encounters a blank row or text.  If it does, then it stops at the last cell with a number in it. 

If there are no numbers above it, AutoSum will automatically go to the left looking for numbers to add up, but will again stop at a blank column or text.   This is Excel’s default, but you can easily change it.

If you would like more tips about Excel, visit our Microsoft Excel Tips page.

If you would like to learn more about Microsoft Excel, you ought to book yourself on one of our Microsoft Excel Training Courses.

Thanks to its simple layout and the fact that it works properly in addition to being a lot cheaper to run than other Microsoft Operating Systems, Microsoft’s Windows XP Operating still has hundreds of thousands of users around the world despite many security considerations of using it.

It will come as no surprise to those who are in tune with some flaws that Windows XP has in it’s security compared to other Microsoft OS’ that Microsoft have decided to disable the Auto-run feature on Windows XP. Now, media such as CDs & DVDs containing Auto-run features will still work, however, other forms of removable media will not.

This step has been taken to limit the amount of Auto-run infections in circulation with the feature itself forming an inseparable part of every modern malware bot. According to data from Microsoft, the Win32/Autorun remains within the most popular malware families with Windows XP users more susceptible to such an infection compared to those who use Windows 7.

If you are a regular user of Excel, there is a good chance that you already have a number of Macros to help you with making every day tasks much quicker and simpler.

There is a way in which you can make it even more streamlined to use by adding the Macros to the toolbars for easier access. To add the Macros to the toolbar, follow these simple steps:

1. Choose Customize from the Tools menu. Excel displays the Customize dialog box.
2. Make sure the Toolbars tab is selected. In the list of toolbars, make sure there is a check mark beside the toolbar to which you want your macro added. The check mark ensures that the toolbar is displayed on the screen.
3. Click on the Commands tab.
4. In the list of Categories, choose the Macros entry. Your macros should then appear in the Commands list.
5. In the Commands list, select the macro you want assigned to a toolbar.
6. Using the mouse, drag the macro from the Commands list to the location on the toolbar where you want it to appear.
7. When you drop the macro, it appears on the toolbar.

If you wish to add more macros, repeat steps 6 through 8.

If you would like to read more Excel tips, visit our Microsoft Excel Tips page.

If you would like to learn more about Microsoft Excel, then you should book yourself on one of our Microsoft Excel Training Courses.

The Rustock spam email network, responsible for more spam emails than any other network worldwide was toppled a couple of weeks ago after Microsoft’s Digital Crimes Unit, working with the US Marshall’s office raided 7 hosting facilities and seized the command-and-control machines that were running the network.

Richard Boscovich, senior attorney in the Microsoft Digital Crime Unit wrote in a blog post:

“This botnet is estimated to have approximately a million infected computers operating under its control and has been known to be capable of sending billions of spam mails every day,”

Security Software giant Symantec last year estimated that the Rustock network accounted for 39% of the spam that is in circulation around the world. Dutch authorities were responsible for a 12% decrease in global spam last November when they crushed a Trojan horse botnet called Bredolab.

Since Government authorities rarely have the resources to commit to investigating cases such as this, Microsoft willingly provide the funding since it has vested interest in keeping people emailing.

So if you notice a major drop in the amount of spam you receive, you now know why.

When you are charged with sending e-mails for someone else in your office, you may not want the replies to be directed to you. For instance, your boss asks you to send an e-mail to a client after they have requested information about a particular service.

If the client sends chooses to reply to that email asking something which you have no knowledge of, you will then have to forward the e-mail to your boss and start acting as a middle-man in the conversation which could distract you from your other duties. So, to save time and resources, why not have the reply to this e-mail directed to your boss rather than you?

It is possible and extraordinarily easy to set up. Just follow the steps below to learn how:

• Click the Options tab and select the Direct Replies To option in the More Options group.
• From the Dialog box, set the reply to address for this e-mail.
• Click OK.

Now you can send the e-mail on behalf of your boss, but the reply will go to your boss, and not you, leaving you free to get on with more important tasks.

If you would like to read more Outlook tips, please visit our Microsoft Outlook Tips page.

If you would like to learn more, you should book yourself on one of our Microsoft Outlook Training Courses