Creating Themes in Microsoft PowerPoint
When preparing business presentations using PowerPoint, one needs to make really sure the show has a coherent, consistent appearance. Themes are an easy way to do this. Because the brain is wired to start understanding and working with pictures from infancy, keeping the graphic elements (backgrounds,...
Using Specified-Order Grouping in Crystal Reports
As we get into some of the more subtle ways to use grouping in Crystal Reports, we sometimes find that either groups of groups, or arranging them in a hierarchy, can improve the usefulness of the report. One key to a good report is to organize...
Conditionally Formatting Multiple Sections in Crystal Reports
Alright, I admit it—this item on conditionally formatting sections has a little nostalgia for me, but it’s useful nostalgia. If you run a web search for “greenbar paper” you’ll see where this is going. The reason is a sound one, though. The horizontal stripes, sometimes called...
Creating Report Alerts in Crystal Reports
In Crystal Reports, a feature called Report Alerts has become more important the last few years. It has to do with the fact that there are at least occasional exceptions to many kinds of report data. “Problems or conditions outside the norm” is a good way...
Creating and Using Parameter Fields in Crystal Reports
When setting up layouts in Crystal Reports, the parameter field can be a tremendously helpful feature. As with a parameter query in Microsoft Access, it gives the report a significant degree of flexibility. The report’s basic structure and purpose are the same, but the ability to...
Creating a Cross-Reference in Microsoft Word
The process of setting up a cross-reference in Word, frankly, can take a little time to get comfortable with. So don’t worry if you need a couple run-throughs. The recipe goes like this: First, create a bookmark (there are a couple other things you can use,...
Creating Cost Resources in Microsoft Project
There’s a quirky thing about Microsoft Project, having to do with resources—more specifically, Cost resources. The other two types, Work and Material, are pretty easy to understand and use, but Cost takes a little bit of extra work to make do its thing. A Work resource...
Creating Calculated Fields in Microsoft Access
When setting up reports in Access, we're trying to learn something which wasn’t in the original data. Something calculated, derived, or otherwise figured out from the existing information. It’s fairly easy to do, though there are a few steps. After determining the requirement—a sales tax or...
How to Use Color Libraries in Photoshop
For some reason, a few people I’ve talked to seem a little uneasy about the Color Libraries. Either they don’t know what these are, or they don’t know how to use them. But they’re easy to bring into play, they’re very useful, and sometimes even necessary....
Tableau Training Classes from SkillForge
Announcing Our New Tableau Training Classes Companies around the world are collecting more data than ever - about their customers, their sales and many other aspects of their business. With all of this data, though, the problem becomes how to analyze, make sense of it -...
How to Use Duotone Mode in Photoshop
One of the least-known color modes in Photoshop, or certainly lesser-known today, is Duotone. This may be partly because it requires converting a file to grayscale first, which means that for color images the very name is unavailable on the menu. But it has a couple...
How to Create Subprojects in Microsoft Project
Microsoft Project was designed with the idea that one might need to set up subprojects, or projects within projects. Think of a set of manuals, or a company-wide reworking of hardware and software, or a movie (such as Peter Jackson’s “Lord of the Rings” trilogy). Many...
Using the Appearance Panel in Illustrator CC
If I didn’t know better, I’d think someone who worked on Illustrator had a crush on layers. They appear not only in the Layers panel, but in the Appearance panel. There are no less than three places where the idea of layering, stacking, or something similar...
Creating Custom Tools Panels in Illustrator CC
I’ve gotten used to the Tools panel (or Toolbox) in Illustrator as it has been for years. Although we can go from single- to double-column for convenience on smaller screens, I hardly ever think about it otherwise. But one feature in Illustrator CC which is both...
Dealing with Dust Using History in Photoshop
There’s another trick for dealing with dust in Photoshop (to sort of continue from the last blog post), which takes a little setup but is even more subtle. It involves the History Brush tool, and the History panel. The advantage is that the corrections are very...
How to Deal with Dust in Photoshop Images
In the age of digital photography, dust would seem to be a thing of the past. Perhaps. But who knows how many pre-digital pictures still exist, un-digitized, and in need of cleaning? With this in mind, I’d like to show you how. Before we had digital...
The Layers Panel in Illustrator–Tips and Tricks
In my last post, I mentioned that the Layers panel serves a more vital function in Photoshop than it does in Illustrator. No offense to Illustrator, of course! But there is a reason I said this. In Illustrator, unless the user makes it happen, objects cannot...
Using the Layers Panel in Photoshop–Tips and Tricks
The Layers panel is one of the most important members of the team. A lot of what goes on in Photoshop is related at least partly to which layer(s) you’ve selected. Or want to select to do stuff in. So paying attention to this, and knowing...
Using Paths to Make a Selection in Photoshop
An unexpected ally in making selections in Photoshop is the Paths panel. Selecting a precise piece of an image can be tedious, even for a veteran user; understanding the selection tools does not provide instant expertise, and some images have such irregular content that it’s a...
Using the Baseline Grid with InDesign
One of the more subtle things we can do with an InDesign document to make it look more professional—i.e. polished, consistent, easier to read—is to use the Baseline Grid. This relates to how the text lays out and vertically lines up on the pages of the...