In this section:

In this section of the book, we’ll cover some of the step-by-step procedures that are common among most of the programs in the 2007 Microsoft Office System. Even though there are some differences among the programs that use the Ribbon and those that don’t, you’ll still find that most features work in similar ways, whether you’re adding special characters, such as accented letters in other languages, or currency or mathematical symbols; or pictures, such as photographs and drawings. After you’ve placed your pictures, you can edit them, crop them, add special effects, and so on. You can put text inside an assortment of shapes to create pull quotes, advertising blurbs, and other interesting effects; and, using the alchemy of WordArt, you can transmute words into wonderfully colorful three-dimensional art.

You can have your Office program insert the date and/or time that you created your document or presentation; you can describe your topics visually using Office’s new diagramming system; and you can use Office’s built-in research feature to look up definitions of words or get information about just about anything simply by clicking a word or a name.

As varied as these tasks are, most of them work in just about the same way as each other—and if there are any significant differences, we’ll point them out as we go along.

Working with Old Documents

When you open a file that was created in an earlier version of Microsoft Office Word, Excel, PowerPoint, or Access, you’re working in Compatibility mode, which means that some of the new features of your program won’t be available. To use these features, you’ll need to convert the file to the program’s 2007 format.

Convert the Document

1. With your Office 97–2003 format file open, choose Convert from the Office menu.

2. If you see a dialog box asking you whether you want to convert the file, click OK. The original file won’t be overwritten because its file extension is different from that of the updated file.

3. Work on the file, using all the features of your program.

   

Caution

When you upgrade the file format of the document, the file won’t be usable by people who have earlier versions of the program unless they’ve installed the Office Compatibility pack, which enables them to read and save this type of file. In Access, databases saved in the 2007 format can’t be opened or accessed from previous versions of Access.

Tip

If you need to send an upgraded file to someone who has an earlier version of the Office program but doesn’t have the Office Compatibility pack, point to the arrow at the right of the Save As command on the Office menu, and choose the Office program’s 97–2003 Format from the gallery that appears. You might lose some advanced features in your file, but at least the other person will be able to read it.