Word’s AutoFormat As You Type feature has a special mode that lets you create custom lists. The feature is confusing because it’s not a list feature, not like bullets or numbering. Instead, Word picks up hints from a previous paragraph and automatically applies that special formatting to subsequent paragraphs.
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Dear Microsoft,

I see that you continue to upgrade Office and improve the various features of Word, Excel, and others. Word has been rather stable since 2007, with a few minor improvements. One major leap forward you must consider, however, is what I call in-context document proofing. It’s a revolutionary feature.
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On Wednesday’s blog post, I wrote about gradient fill options in Word. They apply an interesting effect to shapes and they’re fun to play with. What really helps, however, are examples that show how the gradients can be applied and what they look like.
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While exploring the possibilities of the various object-fill color commands in Word, I stumbled across a most amazing tool: the gradient. You can use Word to create and apply gradient colors to objects, text, and a host of interesting items. That’s neat, but what the heck is a gradient?
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I get this question often and it surprises me that I’ve not written a blog post about it: How do you change the default font in Word?
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A scanner is just a flat-surface camera. It reads only images. To pull text off a page, and eventually get that text into a Word document, you must manipulate the scanned image. The software to carry out that task is called Optical Character Recognition software, OCR for short.
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Years ago, few PC users bothered with a scanner. It was a separate device you had to purchase, and unless you were scanning photos for artwork or working in a legal office, you probably didn’t need one. Today, most computer printers also pull duty as copiers, fax machines, and scanners. Scanning is something available to anyone.
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