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Photoshop: Pen tool trick

Helen Bradley — Mon, 26 Jul 2010 23:08:16 +0000

Ok, I am first to admit it, when I stumbled across this trick I went “Wow! I didn’t know you could do that!” I was designing a small heart using the pen tool and I dragged near one side of the shape with the Direct Selection tool and woah! The entire side of the heart moved. Amazing what you find when you get some time to play – well I was going over some notes for a Photoshop presentation I was doing but all the same – it was a lightbulb moment and I just love them when they happen.

So, here’s how to do it. Make a shape with the pen tool or choose the Custom Shapes tool and the Paths option and draw a path in an image. Click the Direct Selection tool (it shares a toolbar position with the Path Selection tool). Drag over one of the nodes to select it and now drag near the path either side of that node. When you do, the path moves with you. It’s yet another way of reforming your paths and it’s not what I would call intuitive but it is very handy when you know how it works.

Photoshop: Pen tool trick is a post from: projectwoman.com

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Lightroom: Arrange files your way

Helen Bradley — Sun, 25 Jul 2010 20:35:21 +0000

Often when you’re working in Lightroom you will want the images to be sorted in the order that you want to see them, not in as order such as capture date which is one of the Lightroom sort options.

You may want to do this when assembling images for a slide show or for printing, for example as the order of the images in the filmstrip will affect how the images appear in a print template and in the slideshow.

You can control the order of images in a Lightroom folder by dragging and dropping an image from one place to the other in the filmstrip view. To do this, grab the image in the middle and drag on it until you see a black bar appear between two images. If you let go the image it will drop into the indicated position.

This drag and drop process works in most instances but there are some exceptions to be aware of.

The first is that this will not work if you are in a folder where there are images in a subfolder below it which are also visible. You can see if this is likely if you open the fly-out for the folder in the Folders panel in the library. If there is another folder the one you are working on, chances are that the images in the subfolder are included in the filmstrip and so you cannot arrange the images by dragging them into position if this is the case.

To workaround this limitation you can remove the photos in the subfolder from view – this just removes them from the grid and filmstrip and not from Lightroom or your disk. To do this, click Library in the menu and disable the Include Photos from Subfolders option.

With this disabled, you can now move images by dragging and dropping them into position.

Another exception is when you are working with a Smart Collection. While images can be located in a regular collection and rearranged in order to suit, they cannot be rearranged if they are in a Smart Collection. If you have images in a Smart Collection that you want to be in a specific order, you will need to create a regular collection for them and add them to it to do so.

Another situation where you cannot reorder images to your own preference is when you are working on the images in the Catalog such as Previous Import. You must, instead, locate the folder or collection in which the images are stored and rearrange them there.

Once you have arranged the images as you want them to appear, Lightroom stores your ordering so it is as accessible as, for example, any other sort order options for that folder or collection. So, you can return to your preferred sort order at any time by selecting User Order from the Sort dropdown list.

Lightroom: Arrange files your way is a post from: projectwoman.com

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Excel – cell reference in SumIF

Helen Bradley — Thu, 22 Jul 2010 15:34:03 +0000

I love SUMIF. It’s a handy tool for summarizing data. So, today I was checking how much I had invoiced a client – I have actual charges for stories I write in one column and the invoice numbers that these were charged under in another. I wanted a summary so I know the total of invoice 1 was $x and invoice 2 was $y.

SumIF is the tool to use. It goes like this:

=sumif(G1:G200,”=1″,H1:H200)

this sums the values in the range H1:H200 only if the corresponding values in the range G1:G200 is 1. So, it does the deed for Invoice #1. Repeat as required for invoices 2-20 – no way!

It is much easier if I place the numbers 1, 2, 3 and so on in cells of the worksheet and reference them in a single formula that can be copied rather than writing this 20 times… or 100 times… you get the picture… it’s simply not on to do this.

Problem is – how to refer to a cell in the SumIF function. This DOES NOT WORK! =sumif(G1:G200,”=N1″,H1:H200). Excel doesn’t see the N1 as a cell reference - it sees it as a value to match.

So, you have to write it differently:

=sumif($G$1:$G$200,”=”&N1,$H$1:$H$200

the “=”&N1 references the value in N1 as the one to match and the $ symbols are needed so the formula can be copied.

Excel – cell reference in SumIF is a post from: projectwoman.com

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Format Hyperlinks in PowerPoint 2010

Helen Bradley — Mon, 19 Jul 2010 21:30:27 +0000

If you’ve added an email link or a website URL to a PowerPoint slide, you’ll know that PowerPoint 2007 and PowerPoint 2010 automatically format the hyperlinks for you.

Because PowerPoint doesn’t use styles, it’s not obvious exactly how the formatting gets applied and how you control it.

The first thing to know is that you simply can’t control the underlining, it’s there and it’s there to stay. You can, however, change the colors used.

Click the Design tab > Colors > Create New Theme Colors, locate the Hyperlink color and change it to something different if desired. To control the Followed Hyperlink color, select that option and change it.

You now need to save your changes as a custom color scheme, so type a name for your color scheme and click Save.

Now the chosen hyperlink color and followed hyperlink color will be used to format the hyperlinks in your PowerPoint presentation.

Format Hyperlinks in PowerPoint 2010 is a post from: projectwoman.com

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Units of measure in PowerPoint

Helen Bradley — Mon, 05 Jul 2010 17:48:44 +0000

Ok, so its easy to change units of measure in Word by setting the Word Options to measure in inches or cm – depending on where you live. However, if you’re using PowerPoint don’t waste your time looking in PowerPoint for the setting – it ain’t there.

Instead, the measurements in PowerPoint are tied to your geography. If you live in the US you get inches, if you fess up to living else where you get your local units of measure. To change where you live, launch the Control Panel and look for a Regional settings option and set your location there.

For those of us who live in the US but who think imperial measurements suck big time and who yearn for the metrics of our childhood in the far off land of Aus, thanks to Microsoft we are s*** out of luck. You see, if I set my region as Australia or the Uk to get metrics, everything else goes pear shaped and Google starts serving up UK or Australian pages in preference to US ones, or I get £ by default in Excel. It’s all round not a good choice. So, I’ll have to suck it up and learn to embrace feet and inches – but provided you still call the land of your birth home chances are you’ll be just fine.

Units of measure in PowerPoint is a post from: projectwoman.com

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Don’t spell check this – Word 2010

Helen Bradley — Thu, 01 Jul 2010 23:47:59 +0000

I write a lot of code in Word documents, Excel spreadsheets and in PowerPoint slide shows. I’m not totally unusual in including macros in my files as well as detailing the macro code within the various documents.

However, as you can imagine, Office applications spit the dummy when they see code and everything gets squiggly lines under it. Which makes your documents look horrible when anyone who has Spell Check as you type enabled opens one of these documents.

In Word 2003, 2007 & 2010 I can stop proofing by selecting the code, double click on the proofing language in the program Status bar and reselect the language to use and click Do not check spelling or grammar. For some reason if you don’t reselect your language in Word 2007 and 2010 the Do not check spelling or grammar option isn’t applied – go figure. It took me a while to work this one out.

In PowerPoint 2010 and 2007 just choose Do not check spelling and it works fine. In PowerPoint 2003 where I spent this morning, there’s actually a language entry for No Proofing.. so select that and your text won’t be spell checked.

Don’t spell check this – Word 2010 is a post from: projectwoman.com

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Word 2010 – print the current page

Helen Bradley — Mon, 21 Jun 2010 03:08:26 +0000

If you’re used to using Word you might remember that, when you want to print just the current page you need to click in the page and then choose to print it. The current page isn’t the one you are looking at – necessarily – it is the one where the insertion point is located.

Fast forward to Word 2010 – all of a sudden – all bets are off. When you click File to move to the backstage view and click Print you see the print preview to your right. Whatever page shows there is the page that will be printed if you choose to print the current page. If that’s not the page you want to print, use the navigation tools to move to the page to print and then click Print.

It’s smarter and it really is how it should work. It won’t cause problems for new users because they don’t know how Word used to work, it’s us old users who need to rethink the logic here. Lucky for us though the page where the insertion point was located is the page that shows in Print preview by default.

Word 2010 – print the current page is a post from: projectwoman.com

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Lightroom to Flickr

Helen Bradley — Mon, 21 Jun 2010 02:03:55 +0000

If you’re a keen photographer, chances are that you publish some of your photos to Flickr for sharing with friends and family. One of the disadvantages of Lightroom 2 is that it does not come with a built in tool for publishing direct to Flickr although this has been addressed in Lightroom 3 which does offer this ability.

There are, however, tools like Jeffrey Friedl’s Lightroom plug-in that you can use to do the job. Here’s how it works:

Step 1

To download the tool, visit http://regex.info/blog/lightroom-goodies/flickr and locate the tool for your version of Lightroom. There are different downloads for Lightroom 1 and Lightroom 2 so get the right one.

Step 2

Download the zip file which, if you are using Lightroom 2 is via a link in the top right hand corner of the screen.

Unzip the downloaded file and, when you do, you will see a .LRPlugin folder inside the zip file.

You need the entire contents of this folder so drag and drop the entire folder from your Downloads folder into the place where you plan to keep it long term.

Lightroom isn’t fussy about where you place your plug-ins but it makes good sense to place them all in a central location where it is easy for you to find them. I suggest you place it nearby your Lightroom folder or in your Documents folder where it will be included in your regular system backup.

Step 3

Now return to Lightroom and choose File > Plug-in Manager. This opens the Plug-in Manager dialog where you install your Lightroom plug-ins. Click Add and navigate to the folder that you stored the .lrplugin folder. Click the folder to select it and click Ok.

Click Update if prompted to update your catalog to support the plug-in. A dialog will appear with more instructions in it. Read the information and click Ok when you are done.

Step 4

The Plug-in will be listed in the plug-in list so click Done to exit the dialog.

Step 5

Now select a few images to upload to Flickr. Right click one of the selected images and choose Export > Export.

At the very top of the dialog you will see the Files on disk heading, click this panel and locate the Flickr (Jeffrey’s) option in the list.

Go ahead and (ignoring the Export Location settings) complete the other areas of the Export dialog as you would for any export task.

Pay particular attention to the file names, file format and quality because, when you click to Export the files they are sent direct to Flickr.

If you plan to resize the images select the Image Sizing options and choose the desired option.

Step 6

Click the Authenticate to Flickr button at the top of the dialog. You only need do this the first time you upload images. Your browser will open and you should sign in using your Flickr log-in and password.

Step 7

When prompted, click the second Next button to authenticate the connection then click Ok, I’ll authorize it if you are happy with the conditions displayed.

Once you have done this, close your browser, return to Lightroom and click the I’ve authenticated at Flickr.com button to confirm you have done so.

Step 8

Once you are authenticated, additional options are available in the Export dialog. You can, for example, select the photosets for the images and ask to view the Flickr photoset when uploading is complete.

Step 9

You can also set Licence types for the images, add keywords and configure a range of options for uploading.

Step 10

When you are done, click the Export button to export your images to Flickr.

This Lightroom plug-in is, what is called, donation ware. It is functional for six week and then you’re asked to register and make a donation one cent is the minimum PayPal fee. If you don’t register then functionality is reduced to uploading ten images at a time.

This plug-in works well and, until you upgrade to Lightroom 3 it is a smart addition to your Lightroom toolkit. For my money it makes the upload process seamless. And, because it saves me an entire step by rolling Export from Lightroom and upload to Flickr into a single step it represents the difference between things being left on my to do list and tasks getting a big black line drawn through them – and I like that!

Lightroom to Flickr is a post from: projectwoman.com

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Problems with Excel formulas?

Helen Bradley — Wed, 16 Jun 2010 15:04:12 +0000

If you are having difficulty understanding how a formula is calculating in Excel – perhaps because it appears to give you the wrong results - you can step through it to see how it is working.

To do this, select the cell containing the formula and choose Tools > Formula Auditing > Evaluate Formula – in Excel 2007 find the Evaluate Formula option on the Formulas tab.

Click Evaluate and each time you do this, a portion of the formula will be evaluated and you can see it at work.

Use the Step In and Step Out options to see the actual values in place of any appropriate cell references.

This step by step processing should show you what is happening in your formula allowing you to troubleshoot any difficulties with it.

Problems with Excel formulas? is a post from: projectwoman.com

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Create your own Excel startup page

Helen Bradley — Sat, 12 Jun 2010 16:49:38 +0000

Here’s how to create a cool startup page for Excel – it has links to all your favorite workbooks so you can click on any of them to immediately open that file.

Step 1

To a new workbook, add one picture for every workbook you want to link to your startup page by choosing Insert > Picture > ClipArt. Size and arrange the images neatly. Choose Tools > Options > View tab and disable Gridlines, Row & Column Headers, Horizontal Scroll bar, Vertical Scroll bar, and Sheet Tabs.

Step 2

Right click one image, choose Hyperlink and link to a workbook you work with regularly. Type a description of the workbook in the Screentip dialog. Link each image to a workbook. Protect the worksheet by choosing Tools > Protection > Protect Sheet and click Ok.

Step 3

Choose File > Save As > and select your XLSTART folder which is likely to be: C:\Documents and Settings\ \Application Data\Microsoft\Excel\XLStart. Name your file menu.xls, close it, exit and restart Excel. The menu workbook will appear every time you launch Excel – giving you one-click access to your favourite workbooks.

Create your own Excel startup page is a post from: projectwoman.com