When you upgrade to Word XP and/or Word 2003, things have changed for the better. Both Word XP and Word 2003 provided a Smart Tag that would let you change the format of the pasted text to either plain text or the matching format of the Word document. That was a huge improvement, according to Microsoft of course, but in order to change the format of the pasted text, you’ll need to use the Smart Tag everytime you copy or move your text.

Word 2007 had finally changed all that. It allows you to set your own default paste option so that you can use it everytime you paste! Talk about time-saving now.

To make use of this feature, you’ll need to take the following steps before you copy or move text:-

1. Click the Office button
2. Click the Word Options button
3. Click Advanced on the left side of the window
4. Under the Cut, Copy, and Paste section, click the drop-down arrow of the Pasting From Other Programs box and select Match Destination Formatting.
5. Click OK.

Now, when you paste any text into your Word 2007 document, it will be reformatted to match the destination document.

Now, when you paste any text into your Word 2007 document, it will be reformatted to match the destination document. Don’t worry, you still have the Smart Tag to use in case you need the copied/moved text to retain its original formatting.

On the other hand, Word 2007 also lets you change the default paste options differently depending on the source document. For example, while you may want to match destination formatting when copying between documents, you may want pasted text to keep its formatting when you need to move text within a document. In that case, you would not change the Keep Source Formatting (Default) option in the Pasting Within The Same Document box.

How To Set Your Own Default Paste Options With Word 2007

• Open a blank document in Print Layout view, right-click the Standard toolbar, click Drawing.
• Click the Text Box tool in the Drawing toolbar and click and drag across the top of the page where you wish to insert the picture.
• Underneath the picture text box, insert two vertical text boxes: one for the article text and a second for the events calendar.
• Insert a hard page break. On page two of your document, insert two vertical text boxes — one on each side of the page.
• Click the first vertical text box on page one. Right-click the Standard toolbar and click Text Box.
• On the Text Box toolbar, click the Create Text Box Link tool.
• Move the pointer (which is now shaped like a pitcher) to the second vertical text box on page two. When the pitcher turns into a pouring pitcher, click the second text box to link it with the first.
• Click the second text box, which you linked to the text box on page one. Click the Create Text Box Link tool.
• Move the pointer to the third vertical text box on page two. When the pitcher turns to become a pouring pitcher, click the third vertical text box.

When you copy and paste the article into the first vertical text box on page one, the text will automatically flow into the next linked text box when the first text box is filled. Likewise, when the second box is filled, the article text will automatically flow to the third linked box.

Control Text Flow in Word 2003 With Linked Text Boxes

• Click the Office button.
• Click the Word Options button.
• Click Save.
• Under Save Documents, click the Browse button next to the Default File Location text box.
• Navigate to and click the folder you want to be your default.
• Click OK twice.

How To Change Your Default Document Folder Location in Word 2007

If you save a new document in Word 2007, it will save in Word 2007 format. If you know you will be sharing your document with users of older versions, such as Word 2002 or Word 2003, you may want to set the default to the older format to ensure that those users will be able to read your newly-created documents.

Follow these steps:

• Click the Office button.
• Click the Word Options button.
• Click Save.
• Under Save Documents, click the drop-down arrow in the Save Files In This Format Box and select Word 97-2003 Document (*.doc).
• Click OK.

By default, all new files will save in a format that users of earlier Word releases can read.

How To Save Word 2007 Documents To Word 97-2003 Documents

How To Create Professional-Looking Page Borders In Word 2007

For example, to add a border to the title page of your report, follow these steps:

• Click anywhere on the title page.
• Click the Page Layout tab.
• Click the Page Borders command in the Page Background group.
• Under Setting, select Box.
• Scroll through the Style drop-down list and click a style of your choice.
• Click the Color drop-down list and click a color of your choice.
• Click the Apply To drop-down list and select This Section — First Page Only.
• Click OK.

If you wish to use one of the built-in art borders instead, in step 5, click and scroll through the Art drop-down list and select the design of your choice.

• Go to Tools | Customize.
• Click the Commands tab.
• Select Insert from the Categories list box.
• In the Commands text box, click and drag the Address Book command to the Standard or Formatting toolbar.

Now click in the Word document where you want the address to appear and then click the Insert Address toolbar button. A dialog box will open and allow you to search for the client in your Outlook address book. When you locate the name, click on it, and then click OK. Word will insert the name and address in the document at the insertion point.

Address Your Letter In Microsoft Word 2003 Directly From Microsoft Outlook 2003

Follow these steps:

1. Open a blank document.
2. Click the Style Box in the formatting toolbar and select Heading 1.
3. Go to Format | Bullets And Numbering and click the Outlined Numbered tab.
4. Select the fourth box in the second row and click OK.
5. Press [Enter].
6. Go to Insert | Break.
7. Click Next Page, and then click OK.
8. Click the Style box and select Chapter 1, Heading 1.
9. Press [Enter].
10. Go to Insert | Break.
11. Click Next Page, and then click OK.
12. Click in the blank line after the Chapter 1 heading.
13. Go to Insert | Page Numbers.
14. Click the Format button.
15. Click the Include Chapter Number check box.
16. Click the Start At radio button and then click OK.
17. Click in the blank line after the Chapter 2 heading.
18. Go to Insert | Page Numbers.
19. Click the Format button.
20. Click the Include Chapter Number check box.
21. Click the Start At radio button and click OK.

Now you are ready to type the text in your document. As you enter text in the Chapter 1 section, the pages will number automatically as 1-1, 1-2, and so on. Page numbers for the Chapter 2 section will be 2-1, 2-2, and so on.

In documents where sections are titled differently (such as Module 1, Module 2, etc.), you can customize the heading by following these steps:

1. Go to Format | Bullets And Numbering.
2. Click the Outlined Numbered tab.
3. Click the fourth box in the second row.
4. Click Customize.
5. Click and drag Chapter in the Number Format box and change it to Module.
6. Click OK twice.

First, back up the Normal.dot template in a directory other than the Template directory on your disk or server. Then, follow these steps to create a Normal template that conforms to your organization’s standards:

• Open a new blank document.
• Go to Format | Font.
• Make the requisite font changes and click the Default button.
• Click Yes and then OK.
• Go to File | Page Setup.
• Change margins as required and click the Default button.
• Click Yes and then OK.

Now when you open a document, it will take on the format changes that you created in the Normal template.

If you wish to reset the Normal template to its defaults, rename the Normal.dot file (for example, MyNormal.dot) and then restart Word. When Word restarts, it will automatically create a new Normal.dot template with your default settings.

1. Go to Format | Theme.
2. Click the Style Gallery… button.
3. Under Template, select Elegant Report and click OK.
4. Go to Tools | AutoCorrect Options.
5. Click the AutoFormat As You Type tab.
6. Under the Apply As You Type section, click the Built-In Heading Styles check box. Under the Automatically As You Type section, click the Define Styles Based On your Formatting check box.
7. Click OK.

Now you can begin typing the text of your report; Word will automatically format the document text to conform to the Elegant Report style you have chosen.

To see which formats are active, follow these steps:

1. Click [Ctrl][F1] to display the Task Pane (or go to View | Task Pane in Word 2002).
2. Click the Getting Started arrow and select Styles And Formatting.
3. In the Show box, select Formatting In Use from the drop-down menu.

If you disagree with any of the styles applied by Word, you can select the text and reformat according to your preferences.

If you have an existing document and you would like to apply a style from the Style Gallery, don’t worry — you don’t have to retype the document. Follow steps 1 through 3 in the first set of instructions to select your style, and use these steps to have Word format your document all at once:

1. Go to Format | AutoFormat.
2. Click AutoFormat Now.
3. Click OK.

As always, you can override any format Word applies.

You could skim through the entire report to pick out the main points or try summarizing them from memory, but that will take awhile. Rather, let Word’s AutoSummarize feature sum it up for you. Follow these steps:

• Open the document containing the annual report.
• Go to Tools | AutoSummarize.
• Select Create A New Document And Put The Summary There.
• Select 500 Words Or Less from the Percent Of Original drop-down menu.
• Click OK.

Word will create a summary of the document in another document that you can proofread and edit.

If you find that the summary has missed a few points, try running AutoSummarize again with a larger percentage of the original report. It is always easier to delete from the summary than try to add to it from memory.

Rather than clicking through the toolbars and menus to find your favorite font, you can create a keyboard shortcut–and never have to search for the font again. Follow these steps:

1. Go to Tools | Customize.
2. On the Commands tab, click the Keyboard button.
3. Under Categories, click Fonts.
4. Under Fonts, click Comic Sans MS.
5. Put your cursor in the Press New Shortcut Key text box.
6. Press [Alt]CS.
7. Click the Assign button.
8. Click Close twice.

Now when you want to apply the Comic Sans MS font to your text, select the text and press [Alt]CS.

Note that these shortcut keys may be adapted to whichever key you wish—not just those chosen here–but take care not to use a shortcut combination that has already been assigned, such as for Replace, Paste, and Find.