A Twitter search of “do more with less” returns everything from quotes by revered philosophers (“It is futile to do with more things that which can be done with fewer” – William of Ockham) to rants about how cheaply Blade Runner was made compared to present-day sci-fi films.
Doing more with less is on everyone’s mind. Here are a few ways to maximize your productivity using Microsoft Office templates.
1. Set the Standard
(Word 2000, 2002, 2003, 2007) by Doug Mosiondz
Creating a document template in Microsoft Word is easy to do – and can save you considerable time if you find yourself creating a lot of documents that all contain the same formatting or styles but different text.
A document template can contain specialized elements such as formatting for fonts, paragraph settings, styles, headers and footers, and even AutoText entries. By default, all new Word documents are based on the Normal template, which is simply a file stored on your computer called Normal.dot (or Normal.dotx for Word 2007). Once you create your own template, however, you can use that as the style guide for new documents instead.
Here’s how:
1. Open a new blank document in Word.
2. Make any desired changes to the font settings, paragraph settings, page layout, styles, header and footer, etc.
3. Click File and select Save As (in Word 2007, click the Office button in the top left corner and select Save As).
4. In the “Save As” dialog box, use the “Save as type” drop-down list to select “Document Template (*.dot).” This will change the “Save in” location to the default location for Microsoft Office templates; to make the template easy to access from within Word, it is best to save to this location.
5. Type in a file name for your template and click Save.
Note: In Word 2007, you will have additional options when saving a document as a template, but choosing the option for “Word 97-2003 Template (*.dot)” will ensure that the template is compatible with earlier versions of Word.
When you are ready to create a new document based on this template, open Microsoft Word and follow these steps:
Word 2000:
1. Click File and select New.
2. In the New window that appears, click the General tab and your document template should be listed.
3. Click the document template, then click OK.
4. A document will open that contains the styles and formatting that were saved to your template.
Word 2002:
Save yourself the time and tedium — create a template.
1. Click File and select New.
2. A “New Document” pane will open on the right side of the window. From the “New from template” section, click “General Templates.”
3. In the Templates window that appears, click the General tab and your document template should be listed.
4. Click the document template, then click OK.
5. A document will open that contains the styles and formatting that were saved to your template.
Word 2003:
1. Click File and select New.
2. A “New Document” pane will open on the right side of the window. From the “Templates” section, click “On my computer.”
3. In the Templates window that appears, click the General tab and your document template should be listed.
4. Click the document template, then click OK.
5. A document will open that contains the styles and formatting that were saved to your template.
Word 2007:
1. Click the Office button, located in the top left corner of the window, then select New.
2. In the “New Document” window that appears, click “My templates” from the list on the left.
3. In the New window that appears, your document template should be listed.
4. Click the document template, then click OK.
5. A document will open that contains the styles and formatting that were saved to your template.
2. Déjà Vu
(Outlook 2000, 2002, 2003, 2007) by Pat Sharpe
If you find yourself retyping the same text in an e-mail message over and over again, save yourself the time and tedium by creating an Outlook template.
If you are using Outlook 2003 and Word is set as your default e-mail editor, you cannot save an Outlook e-mail message as a template. Before following the steps in this tip, check to see if this option is enabled. In the main Outlook window, click Tools, then select Options. From the Options window, select the Mail Format tab, then clear the “Use Microsoft Word to edit e-mail messages” checkbox.
1. Create a new message.
2. Add anything that is going to be the same each time you send the message, such as the subject, the body of the message, and the TO:, CC:, or BCC: fields.
3. In the message window, click the File menu and choose Save As (Outlook 2007: click the Office button and choose Save As).
4. At the bottom of the window, change the “Save as type” drop-down list selection to: Outlook Template (*.oft).
5. When you make this change, the “Save in:” location changes to the Templates folder. This is where it should be saved.
6. Give your template a recognizable name and click Save.
7. Close the message. You will be prompted to save changes. This refers to the message itself, not the template you just saved, so click No.
To use your template:
1. Click on the Tools menu and select Forms, then Choose Form.
2. In the “Choose Form” dialog box, change the “Look In:” drop-down list at the top of the window to “User Templates in File System” (this is “Templates in File System” in earlier versions of Outlook).
3. Click once on the template you want to use, then click Open.
4. Make any changes to the message, if necessary.
5. Click the Send button.
3. You Set the Rules
(Excel 2000, 2002, 2003, 2007) by Ronnie Merritt
Excel does not offer many options that allow you to set formatting defaults for your workbooks. However, you can work around this by modifying formatting in a blank workbook, then saving it as the default template.
1. Open Excel to a blank workbook.
2. Format the blank file with all options desired. For example, set margins, cell color formats, or set up a header or footer.
3. Once your changes are made, click File and choose Save As (Excel 2007: click the Office button, then choose Save As).
4. From the “Files of type” drop-down list, select “Template (*.xlt)” – Excel 2007: select “Excel Template (*.xltx)” – and change the file name to “Book.”
5. Set the “Save in” location to the XLSTART folder. This folder is typically located in a path similar to C:Documents and SettingsUser nameApplication DataMicrosoftExcelXLSTART, where “User name” is your login user name.
6. Close and re-open Excel. The blank workbook should contain the formatting you previously set.
4. Making it Your Own
(Word 2000, 2002, 2003, 2007) by Jeff Bowman and Eric Clevinger
If you have a certain way or style of creating your Microsoft Word documents, coming up with a routine to make sure all of your settings are the way you want them every time can be time-consuming. Adjusting line spacing, fonts, margins, and other settings for each and every document is not only a time-waster; it’s downright bothersome. Fortunately, there is a solution, and it’s called a template.
Creating a new template is one solution (see earlier tip), but you may want to consider the alternative – modifying Word’s Normal template to change the default font, paragraph and page layout settings.
In the “Font” and “Page Setup” dialog boxes (and the “Paragraph” dialog box in Word 2007), you’ll find the seldom-used “Default” button. Part of the reason it’s rarely used is because people think it rolls the settings back to default. In actuality, it sets the current settings as the new defaults. Here is how to use the Default button to change the Normal document template:
Word 2000, 2002, 2003:
1. Click Format and select Font.
2. Set the font formatting as desired.
3. Click the Default button in the bottom left corner of the Font dialog box.
Word 2007:
1. Click the Home tab on the Ribbon.
2. Click the Font dialog box launcher button, located in the bottom right corner of the Font group.
3. Set the font formatting as desired.
4. Click the Default button in the bottom left corner of the Font dialog box.
When you click the Default button, you will be asked to confirm your settings to be a part of NORMAL.DOT. This is the “normal” template that is used for every new document and where all default settings are stored. When you click Yes, every setting you have changed will take effect and be the default for new documents. The Default button is also available for the “Page Setup” dialog box, and, in Word 2007, the “Paragraph” dialog box.
Now when you create a new Word document, it will default to the font and page setup settings you specified. Making the adjustments here will enable you to spend less time reformatting each document to match a standard for a project or company, and more time actually adding content.
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