ArchiCAD 10 Title Types

Jim Mahoney
Director of Technology, Integrated CADD Services

ArchiCAD 10 allows you to create Title Types, which are intelligent drawing titles that can automatically be applied to drawings as they are added to sheets, or Layouts as they are called. These Title Types change dynamically to reflect changes that you make to the drawing's location or the sheet's location within the project.

If you create your Title Types in your ArchiCAD startup template, this one-time operation allows you to use these items in all of your projects. These items should be turned into Favorites to make them easy to access and use. In this exercise, we will create several Title Types and turn them into Favorites. We will use them to automatically add titles to drawings in our Layout Book.

Formatting a Title Type

The easiest way to format a Title Type is to bring in a drawing with a default Title Type attached to it. Then you can edit the Title Type and view the effects of your changes on this drawing. When you are satisfied with the appearance, create a Favorite.

1) Since we are working in our Startup Template file, we need to make some temporary walls just so we have something to place on a layout. From the Floor Plan, select the Wall Tool and draw rectangular walls.

2) Double-click on the Drawing Tool to open it up.

4) In the Drawing Tool, go to the Identification area and set the Drawing Name popup to By View Name Only.

5) In the Title area, set the Title Type popup to the desired Title Type. We will choose Title with Layout No 10. Now we are ready to bring in a drawing with this Title Type. Once the Title Type is attached to a drawing, we will further customize the settings.

6) Set the Project Navigator to the Layout Book mode by pressing the third button.

7) Select the Create a New Layout button. Name this Layout "Temporary Layout." We will put it in a Subset for Floor Plans where it will automatically number itself A-100.

8) Select the Layout you just created.

9) Switch back to the Floor Plan View by choosing Floor Plan from the Window menu.

10) This will bring us back to the Plan View with the 4 walls we just drew. Our intention here is to just add a view to a Layout so that we can customize the Title Type to our needs.

11) Since this is a temporary view we will use and throw away, we won't get fussy about our view settings. Place your mouse in an empty space outside the area of the walls and right-click. Select Save View and Place on Layout from the contextual menu that appears.

12) You will be switched to the Layout you selected and your cursor will have a square attached to it representing the drawing. Click in the center of the Layout to place this temporary view.

13) Select the newly placed drawing and Zoom in on the Title Type. After you change the various text and line settings, you can come back here to view the results.

14) Double-click on the Drawing Tool where we will fine-tune the settings for our Title Type. Make sure it says Selected: 1 Editable: 1. Uncheck the boxes next to Uniform Symbol Pens and Uniform Text Format. If these are left activated, you will have one text size and one line weight for the entire Title Type. We want a little more control to set independent sizes for the various text entities.

15) We will start editing parameters for this Title Type. Set the Circle Diameter to 3/4". The Position to… parameter brings up a popup where you can select Drawing or Layout (that is, the Sheet). We want to anchor it to our Drawing, so select that option. The Side parameter determines where the Title is anchored. Leave it set to the Bottom. There are 3 offset settings. Set the Offset to Drawing option to 1/2". This will hold the Title 1/2" from the bottom of our drawings. The Left and Right offsets determine if the Title is indented from the sides of the drawing. Leave them set to 0".

16) Scroll the parameter list down to view the next fields. Leave the Rotate with Position and Link Width to Position options to On.

17) If you continue down and use the Disclosure Triangle to display the parameters for the various text entities, you will find that the settings are in millimeters (mm). If you are used to using points (pts) like I am, we will take a brief detour to convert mm to points. If you know your text size in mm, skip down to Step 22. To convert pts to mm, press the OK button to save your work so far.

18) Go to the Options menu > Element Attributes > Pens & Colors to bring up a dialog box for converting pts to mm.

19) Set the Pen Weight value to your desired size in points (Pt). Use the popup to change it to mm. This will be the converted value in mm. So in this example, 12 pts equals 4.23 mm. Enter the various point sizes you need in here and convert to mm. Write down the converted values and return to the Drawing Tool.

20) Make sure that the drawing with the Title Type you were using for setup is selected and double click on the Drawing Tool to open it up.

21) In the Show Drawing Name section, click on the Font Type line item and use the popup menu to select your font.

22) Enter the desired Font Size in mm plus the desired Pen for the font and any associated line type.

23) Do this for each of the various text entities for the Title Type. When you get to the Show Numeric Scale section, there is a parameter that allows you to type the text that appears next to the drawing's scale. Make sure to include a space after the colon character.

24) Click OK and return to the Layout. Deselect the drawing and zoom into the Title Type to see the results of your work so far.

25) Next, we will reposition the text to fine-tune the appearance of the Title Type. Shift-click on the Title Type to select it. If you click on the green node at the 3:00 position on the circle, it allows you to resize the circle. The Pet Palette will pop up. Select the Stretch tool on the bottom right of the Pet Palette. You can type the diameter you desire and its value will appear in the Tracker. If you are happy with the default diameter. hit the Escape key to Cancel.

26) The nodes for the two numbers are currently stacked on top of each other. To adjust them, click on the green node below the number 1. Make sure the Stretch tool is selected on the Pet Palette and move the node up.

27) Next, slide down the Sheet Number. Its node was above the number A-100.

28) The node for the Drawing Name is on the lower left of the Drawing Name text block. Move it to the left.

29) Move the Scale Text in a similar fashion. Its node is on the left side of the text block. Move it to the left to align with the Drawing Name and down to line up with the Drawing Number.

Creating Title Type Favorites

Once the Title Type looks the way you want, you should make a Favorite out of it. A Favorite allows you to set a tool up with one click and all of the stored settings in the Favorite are applied.

1) Shift-click to select the Title Type you just set up.

2) If your Favorites Palette is not visible, go to the Window menu > Palettes > Show Favorites.

3) Click on the triangular arrow to display the Favorite menu. Select Save Last Selection's…

4) Name your Favorite.

5) The Favorite should now appear on the Favorites list.

6) We will make a second Title Type Favorite to illustrate another way they can be used. The next Favorite is one that is used when you want to bring in a drawing such as a 3D view for a Cover Sheet where you want no title at all. You should make as many Favorites as you have different styles of titles for your needs.

7) Select the Drawing that had your Title Type attached to it. Up in the Info Palette, there is a field where you can change the Title Type. Right now it will be set to Title with Layout No 10.

8) Change this popup to No Title.

9) Repeat Steps 4 and 5. Your new Favorite will appear on the list.

10) You would pick this Favorite before bring in any drawing that does not require a title.

Next, we will use the Favorites to set an incoming Drawing to have the right Title Type.

Using Your Title Type

Now that these Favorites for Title Types are stored in your ArchiCAD template file, you can use them on every job. The setup we have gone through above is a one-time event if you use Favorites. When you are working on a project and are ready to add views to your Layout Book, here are the steps you should follow:

Naming Your Stories

The Stories dialog may seem like a strange place to start in an exercise about Drawing Titles. But a little work in this dialog makes your work easier when it is time to create Views and place them on Layouts (Sheets).

1) Go to the View menu > Story Settings… to access the Story Settings dialog.

2) The name that you give each Story (or Section or Detail) becomes the default name for any views created from that item. So rather than renaming views, why not name the story the way you would like the typical view to read? For stories, I name the story for the typical drawing derived from it. The first floor I call FIRST FLOOR PLAN. I added the word PLAN so I don't have to add it to all of the view names later. I like my drawing titles all caps so I capitalized the story name.

3) Keep this in mind when you make new Sections or Details as well. The name you give them will be the default View Name which becomes the Drawing Title.

Adding Drawings

1) Display the Favorites List by going to the Window menu > Palettes > Show Favorites.

2) There is a Favorite's preference I would recommend setting. Click on the triangular arrow to display the Favorites menu and select Favorites Preferences…

3) In the Favorites Preferences dialog, make sure the box next to Show Favorites of active Tool only is checked. This will filter the Favorites List to show the Favorites for just the tool you are currently using. Close this dialog.

4) Select the Drawing Tool.

5) The Favorites list will display your Drawing Tool Favorites.

6) Before bringing in any Views to place on the Layout, apply the appropriate Favorite. To do this, double-click the appropriate Favorite on the list.

7) Now when you bring in the Views, the Title Type will have all of the settings it inherited from your Favorite. You had to do no additional setup to use this Title Type.

8) If you want to change the Title Type for a Drawing or Drawings, select the Drawing(s) and double-click the appropriate Favorite on the Favorites list. All the selected drawings will be changed.

Automatic Title Types are a powerful feature of the Layout Book. There is intelligence behind them. They will automatically use the View Name, Drawing Number, and Sheet Number of the Layout they are on. They will use the scale of the Drawing they are attached to. As you move the Layout around within the set, these Title Types will automatically update. With the use of automatic Title Types, it is just about impossible to have a drawing that is mislabeled.

About the Author

Jim Mahoney has been using Archicad since 1993. He currently runs all Archicad training courses for Integrated CADD Services and has an active role with the Graphisoft Reseller team, which consults to Graphisoft's tech support division. He is a seasoned Architect with experience in restaurant design, multi-family housing, office building design and medical facility design. In addition to Archicad training and support, Jim is a Senior Architect for Integrated CADD Services' sister firm, Conyngham Associates Architects, where he uses Archicad daily to produce virtual building models of the projects which he is controlling.

Use ArchiCAD to Conduct a Sun Study

Feb 15, 2005 By:Kurt Ameringer Cadalyst

When creating sustainable design and green architecture, the ability to create a sun study for a specific project location is an important component. ArchiCAD has an impressive and easy-to-use tool that allows users to run an accurate sun study with automatic time intervals from any perspective in the model.

Exterior sun studies can show the shadow impact upon your site by surrounding buildings before you begin your design as well as how your project will influence the surrounding site once built. These studies can also define and verify your passive solar design long before you have the opportunity to build it.

In the interior of the virtual building, sun studies allow us to observe how far natural light penetrates inside during winter or summer. This can again define design for passive solar systems or lighting levels for office occupancy.

Creating a Sun Study
The Create Sun Study command allows you to generate an animation or series of 3D images rendered in ArchiCAD based on the selected render engine and the Sun position settings defined in your project. Your animation can be displayed immediately on the screen or saved in a number of file formats to be shown in the future.

All the rendered projections in a sun study are generated based on the current parallel projection or perspective view 3D Projection Settings dialog box (figure 1).

Figure 1. All the rendered projections in a sun study are generated based on the current parallel projection or perspective view set in the 3D Projection Settings dialog box.

You can also set the geographical data for the location of the model and Sun parameters in the Sun dialog box available by clicking the More Sun button in the Parallel Projection Settings (figure 2).

Figure 2. Specify a variety of location and date parameters in the Sun settings.

Clicking the More Sun button in either the Perspective Settings or Parallel Projection Settings dialog box gives access to the Sun subdialog box for a series of more sophisticated sunlight settings, which can be used for PhotoRenderings.

Characteristics of light can be set in the upper part of the Sun dialog box. Double-click the color box to go to the Edit Color subdialog box. The color of directional light can be set here.

• You can decide how much of the directional light is represented in nondirectional, ambient light.
• Both the color and intensity of directional light can affect the ambient light, according to the percentage specified in the Contribution to Ambient (%) field.

As opposed to directional light -- for example, the sun -- ambient light is nondirectional and can stand as a substitute for the rich reflected and interreflected light experienced in a real environment. It can brighten otherwise overshadowed surfaces. Ambient light may have its own color -- in a pink room for instance -- and its intensity may have to vary to obtain special effects in renderings.

• Its color is set through the Edit Color subdialog box. Double-click the sample color to open it.
• Its intensity can be set between 0 and 100%.

To further enhance the realism of your renderings, the atmospheric fog effect alters light in proportion to the distance from your viewpoint. You can set the color of the fog by double-clicking its sample box to access the Edit Color subdialog box. You can also set one of four levels of intensity for the effect using the radio buttons. (To achieve a typical misting effect, set the color to white, and this will fade the more distant objects. To use light decay, set the fog color to black, and this will darken the more distant objects.) Note: To apply this effect, make sure the Fog feature is activated in the PhotoRendering Settings dialog box.

For a real-time preview of your sun, ambient light and fog settings, select the Auto Preview checkbox. If you leave the box unchecked, you can still get a preview at any time by clicking the preview window.

Click the Set City button to specify a geographical location by latitude and longitude, or by specifying a major city close to your site from the scrollable list (figure 3).

Figure 3. Specify a geographical location for your sun study.

• To add a new location, type into the appropriate edit boxes its name, the exact global coordinates and the time zone of the site, then click the Add button. The new location now appears in its alphabetical position in the list.
• To delete a location, select the city name by clicking on it, then click the Clear button to remove the city from the list.

In the Sun subdialog box, you can specify the date and time of day (just below the Set City button). The +1h correction (summer time) check box lets you adjust for Daylight Savings Time.

As a result of all these specifications, you can get the exact direction readings of the sun, with an icon indicating if it is day or night.

The orientation of your floor plan is defined by setting the North direction relative to the floor plan's orientation on screen. You can drag the compass needle or type in the angle numerically, relative to the x-axis of your sheet.

If you define the sun position by defining a location with date and time, its azimuth settings will be calculated with respect to this orientation (where East is at 0.00 degrees). Note: When using surveyor's units (Preferences / Working Units), the North of the Coordinate Box will be the same as the one set here.

Once you have defined the view you wish to begin with, you may choose to Create Sun Study from the Image menu (figure 4).

Figure 4. Establishing settings in the Create Sun Study dialog box.

Beginning on the top left, choose to create the view from the 3D Window or the PhotoRendering Window. This choice determines the quality of the finished image and will render with the current settings of the selected window.

In the Date field you can define a particular day of the year for the geographical location previously set under the Sun options. You may select the month and type the day in the edit box or use the arrows to advance up or down.

Use the radio buttons in the middle left section of the dialog box to define the duration of the sun study from sunrise to sunset for the selected day or specify a portion of the day for the sun study.

Type a number in the Interval edit box or use the arrows to define the time between two frames in minute intervals. You may also choose to render all the frames of the sun study or a single or specific series of images.

In the Results section of this dialog box, you are able to define the type and quality of the output. Available options allow export to movie files, image files and export to external renders such as 3Dstudio or VRML files.

Once you have established the criteria for the rendering, simply click the Show button to have the sun study processed and immediately displayed on your screen. You may also click the Save button to save the sun study in the selected file format.

Once created, the sun study may be used to evaluate any aspects of the sun shadows as the day progresses (figure 5).

Figure 5. The completed sun study shows how light and shadow play on your design as the day progresses.

Although traditional sketches are helpful for design evaluation, they do not compare with the accuracy of the sun study capability built into ArchiCAD. It is simply easier to understand the shadow effects during the day when the Virtual Building Model is used.

Archicad Tutorials : Where Did I Put That Detail?

By:Kurt Ameringer Cadalyst

Have you ever received a phone call from the field asking which reference bubble in the document set is correct?

Graphisoft's ArchiCAD v9 expands the functionality of PlotMaker, its document layout, and management tool to offer additional automated options when creating documents. A few minutes spent with setting up at the beginning of a project can save hours of red-lining and changing reference call-outs throughout the lifecycle of a project.

By taking advantage of new features in PlotMaker, you can import a set of views from ArchiCAD's building information model (BIM), or Virtual Building, into a layout that will automatically number and arrange the views on a sheet. The titles of each sheet are based on settings specified in the Master Layout Settings dialog box.

CREATING A DRAWING NUMBERING GRID
The Drawing Numbering Grid is an extension of the Master Layout which was introduced in ArchiCAD v8. The Master Layout is a template that establishes the size of a sheet and references intelligent information on all the layouts assigned to it. Editing a Master Layout allows you to make one change in one location and have it update on every sheet in the drawing set.

PlotMaker includes several Master Layout templates that you can modify or reference to create new ones. When you open the Master Layout Settings dialog box, you should verify that the Grid for Drawing Numbering option is enabled; otherwise, the settings will not be available for editing. Check the "This Master Layout Should Use?" option near the top of the panel (figure 1). This enables all the controls on the panel.

Figure 1. Click the top checkbox in the Master Layout Settings dialog box to enable all the controls on the panel.

Select a radio button to specify a numbering method for the grid. The Matrix option (figure 2) will assign each cell a coordinate corresponding to its column and row numbers.

Figure 2. Select the Matrix numbering method if you want to number your grid based on the column, row location of each cell.

In the Numbering Direction and Style area, you may select numbers or letters from the pull-down menus for the horizontal and vertical series. You can also set directions for the horizontal (left-to-right or right-to-left) and the vertical (bottom-to-top or top-to-bottom) series. Once you establish the setup of columns and rows, you'll have a series of cells. The individual cells can be formatted using Drawing Number Format.

Using the Flat numbering method (figure 3), you can number each cell consecutively from a corner of the grid. All your sheets can be coordinated by selecting one of the four corners of the layout to "Start Numbering From". You can also specify numbering or lettering in the Style field.

Figure 3. Select the Flat numbering method to number each cell consecutively from a corner of the grid.

The remaining controls in the panel are general settings that apply to the Grid regardless of the numbering method. The Number of Cells can be defined using both the text fields and arrow controls.You can specify a line type and a pen color for the grid lines using the Grid Line Type settings (figure 4). In the Grid Line Display pull-down list, you can choose how the grid lines are shown on the layout. These Grid Line Display settings also affect printed output.

Figure 4. Use the options at the bottom of the Master Layout Settings dialog box to specify how you want your grid lines to appear on screen and in printed output.

Some drawings will occupy space in more than one cell. You can define which cell number should be assigned as the drawing number by choosing one of the drawing's four corners in the "Drawings Occupying Multiple Cells ?" pull-down list (figure 5).

Figure 5. Use the pull-down list at the bottom of the Master Layout Settings dialog box to specify how to number drawings that occupy multiple cells.

Drawings, views, and image files placed onto this layout will be centered into the cells of the grid, and each drawing will number itself according to the grid settings. If you choose to manually relocate the drawing to another cell, it will renumber itself automatically. If the drawing is too large to fit in one cell, it will insert itself into as many cells as needed and then automatically number itself based on the rules you have set.

Once the rules are established, you can use them for any combination of projects. Views imported directly from ArchiCAD or drawings from any other supported file format are automatically organized onto your sheet and can be edited to suit your office standards. Any changes to the attached views or master sheet populate the entire document set, updating your documents as often as you like. The drawing set of individual sheets can then be automatically published -- plotted, printed, saved, and uploaded -- to any selected format or supported device.

CREATING A PDF FILE
Publishing to a PDF allows you to create a single document that contains and automatically coordinates all the selected sheets (figure 6). Every section, elevation, and detail bubble in the PDF is hyperlinked to the correct detail so you will never go searching for that detail again.

Figure 6. Create a PDF file to combine all your selected sheets and every section, elevation, and detail bubble it contains will be hyperlinked.

Microsoft Outlook tips

Create underlines without any text

This tip works with the majority of Microsoft Office applications. Easily create an underlined space by pressing CTRL + U to start the underline, then press SHIFT + Space for each underlined space you wish to create. An example of how this could be used is for printable forms, for example: Name: .

Print only sections of a document

Save on your printer ink by selectively printing in Windows programs such as Microsoft Word, Internet Explorer, WordPad, Outlook, etc. To do this highlight portions of text you wish to print and click print. In the printer dialog window under Page Range choose the option Selection. It is important to realize that not all programs or printer drivers support this feature.

Help control your incoming e-mail with the rules wizard

Use Microsoft Outlook Rules Wizard to help screen your e-mail and delete mail that you are not interested in.

Additional information about the Rules Wizard as well as information about preventing SPAM can be found on document CH000477.

Shortcut to quickly find users in your address book

Quickly locate a user in your address book or a company address book by typing portions of the name or alias and pressing CTRL + K. For example, if you wished to send a mail to John Doe, typing "jo do" and then pressing CTRL + K will automatically complete the name John Doe, unless other names exist with "jo" and "do". This is very helpful with a large corporations address book, especially when you don't know how to spell someone's name.

Quickly undo mistakes

Quickly undo mistakes in the majority of most PC Windows program by pressing CTRL + Z.

Helpful outlook shortcuts

While in Microsoft Outlook press CTRL + SHIFT + I to quickly go to the Inbox.

Microsoft Internet Explorer tips

Quickly bookmark a web page

Quickly bookmark any web page in all major browsers by pressing CTRL + D on your keyboard. Pressing these two keys together will open the bookmarks or favorites for your browser and allow you to quickly place a bookmark for the page you're currently at. For example, pressing the two keys now would bookmark this page.

Internet browser lists

Quickly find an icon in a group of icons or a specific item in an alphabetic list of items by highlighting one of the icons or list items and pressing the beginning letter of the item you're looking for. Below are some examples of how this could be used.

Windows desktop icons - If you have a lot of icons on your desktop or in another folder highlight one of the icons and press the first letter. For example if you were looking for an icon named "test" highlight any icon and then press the "t" key. Note: you can also press the "t" key multiple times to individually highlight each icon that starts with "t".

Internet drop down list - Instead of scrolling through a list of options in an Internet drop down list press the first letter of the option you're looking for. For example, if you were looking through a list of states and you wanted "Utah" press U to automatically scroll down to it.

Internet browser favorites

Sort your Internet browser favorites or bookmarks in alphabetical name order by following the below steps.

Internet Explorer: Click Favorites and within the favorites click your right mouse button and select Sort by Name.

Get to the address bar using your keyboard

Quickly get to the address bar in Internet Explorer and Mozilla Firefox by pressing the F6 key on the top of your keyboard. Opera users can press the F8 key to get to the address bar.

In addition to the above function keys users can also use CTRL + L and/or CTRL+O to quickly get to the browser address bar in almost all browsers.

Quickly scroll using the space bar

Quickly scroll one page at a time in Internet Explorer or Mozilla Firefox by pressing the spacebar. Move backup a page at a time by pressing shift + spacebar.

Full screen Internet

Make your Internet Explorer or Mozilla Firefox the full screen without all the toolbars by pressing the F11 key. To restore the window back to how it was press F11 again.

Control Panel icons

Open Control Panel icons from Internet Explorer by typing "Control Panel\". For example, if you wanted to open the system properties from Control Panel you could type "Control Panel\System".

Internet and spyware

Spyware, malware, and other adware is becoming an ever-growing threat on the Internet. We highly recommend users who have not already installed spyware protection on their computer do so immediately. An excellent example of a free spyware program is Spybot Search & Destroy. A listing of other spyware protection programs and information about browser hijacking can also be found on document CH000578.

Automatically enter URL

Automatically enter the www. and .com into an Internet Explorer's address by typing the name of the page and pressing CTRL + ENTER on the keyboard. For example, if you type computerhope and then press CTRL + ENTER you will automatically be sent to the proper page.

View Internet shortcuts from channel bar

View your Internet Explorer shortcuts from the desktop with the Channel Bar. To enable this bar click Start / Run / Type iexplore -channelband and press enter.

Move forwards and backwards on web page with mouse wheel

Quickly move forwards and backwards between web pages by holding down the shift key and scrolling up or down on your mouse.

Quickly access a e-mail domain

Quickly and easily access a users domain by pasting their e-mail into the address bar of Internet Explorer. For example, pasting support@computerhope.com will automatically forward you to the computerhope.com web page.

Update: This no longer works in new versions of Internet Explorer.

Open a link in a new window

Open a link in a new Internet Explorer browser window by holding down the shift key on the keyboard and clicking on the link.

Determine the last update of a page your visiting

Determine the exact date and time when a website was last updated or modified by inserting the below string into the address bar.

javascript:alert(document.lastModified)

Disable animated pictures

Disable animated pictures commonly animated GIF pictures in Microsoft Internet Explorer 6.0 by clicking Tools and selecting Internet Options. From Internet Options click the Advanced tab, within this window under Multimedia uncheck the box "Play animations in web pages."

It is important to realize that this will only disable animated pictures, animated java scripts or applets or Flash animations will not be disabled.

Print only sections of a web page

Save on your printer ink by selectively printing in Windows programs such as Microsoft Word, Internet Explorer, WordPad, Outlook, etc. To do this highlight portions of text you wish to print and click print. In the printer dialog window under Page Range choose the option Selection. It is important to realize that not all programs or printer drivers support this feature.

Increase decrease size of font with wheel on mouse

Quickly increase and decrease the size of a font on a web page by holding down the CTRL key on the keyboard and scrolling up or down with the wheel on a wheel mouse.

Quickly find text on a web page

Quickly find anything on the current page or frame by pressing CTRL + F.

Save an Internet picture as your desktop picture

Quickly save a picture as your wallpaper by right-clicking on an image and choosing set as wallpaper.

Quickly move forward and backwards between pages

Pressing ALT + the forward or back button will take the user forward or back one page.

When increasing your color to 16-bit color you will notice an increase of picture quality on images viewed over the Internet.

Increase the appearance of fonts

If you are running Windows 95 with Plus Pack installed or have Windows 98 enable smooth font for a dramatic change in the jaggies on fonts when displaying a web page.

To do this click Start / Settings / Control Panel / double-click the Display icon / click the Effects tab and check smooth edges on screen fonts, click Apply and then ok.

Microsoft Windows tips

Windows Selective Startup

Improve overall system performance and boot time and get rid of programs you don't want running in the background by choosing to do a Selective Startup in msconfig.

1. Click Start, Run and type: msconfig and press enter.
2. In the System Configuration Utility click the Startup tab.
3. Uncheck programs you do not wish to load each time your computer starts. Once done click ok and restart the computer. After the computer boots back into Windows you will receive a prompt about Windows being in a selective startup. Check the box to not receive the prompt and click ok.

Saving Windows XP and later searches

Save your frequent Windows XP and later version searches for future use by following the below steps.

1. Open the search and enter the search queries you wish to save. For example, you could save a search to find any remix mp3 files by entering: *remix*.mp3 in the all or part of name box.
2. Once the values have been entered test the search and allow you to save the search.
3. In the Search Results window click File and then Save Search.
4. Finally, browse to the location you wish for this file to be saved and name the file with a .fnd extension.

After completing these steps you'll be able to quickly perform a search by simply double-clicking the file.

Display hibernate option in XPs Turn off computer box

When shutting down or turning off the computer you'll get three options: Standby, Turn Off, and Restart. For users who wish to hibernate their computer you can easily display this option by holding down the Shift key on the keyboard.

Quickly move files or other objects to the Desktop

Quickly drag one or more files to the Windows Desktop with other open windows by dragging and holding the files over an empty portion of the Windows Taskbar. If done properly all open windows should minimize and allow you to place the files or other objects on the Desktop.

Quickly get to the Windows Desktop

Quickly get to the Microsoft Windows Desktop by pressing the Windows key and D at the same time on the keyboard.

Run a web page

Get to a web page quickly in Windows when no browser window is open by typing the web address in the run line. For example, click Start, Run and in the Run Open box type: http://www.computerhope.com and press enter to quickly get to the Computer Hope web page.

Quickly find icon and/or file

Quickly find an icon in a group of icons or a specific item in an alphabetic list of items by highlighting one of the icons or list items and pressing the beginning letter of the item you're looking for. Below are some examples of how this could be used.

Windows desktop icons - If you have a lot of icons on your desktop or in another folder highlight one of the icons and press the first letter. For example if you were looking for an icon named "test" highlight any icon and then press the "t" key. Note: you can also press the "t" key multiple times to individually highlight each icon that starts with "t".

Internet drop down list - Instead of scrolling through a list of options in an Internet drop down list press the first letter of the option you're looking for. For example, if you were looking through a list of states and you wanted "Utah" press U to automatically scroll down to it.

Windows XP mouse Snap To

Enable the Microsoft Window XP mouse Snap To feature to automatically focus on dialog box buttons. Enabling this feature will automatically move your mouse cursor to the default button on any dialog box that appears on Windows. This is a great way to save a little time and not have to move you mouse cursor to the "Ok" button each time a dialog box appears. To enable this feature follow the below steps.

1. Click Start, Settings, Control Panel.

2. Double-click the Mouse icon

3. In the Mouse Properties window click the Pointer Options tab and check the "Automatically move pointer to the default button in a dialog box" option.

Windows 2000 & XP Task Manager

Quickly access the Microsoft Windows Task Manager to view running applications, process information and performance information by pressing Ctrl + Shift + Esc keys all at the same time.

Delete files without getting a prompt

Delete files faster by removing the "Are you sure you want to delete" Microsoft Windows confirmation box by right-clicking the Recycle Bin icon on the desktop, click Properties and uncheck "Display delete confirmation dialog".

Windows explorer multiple renames

Quickly and easily rename multiple files in Microsoft Windows XP Explorer by following the below steps.

1. Open Explorer.
2. In Explorer select all the files you wish to rename. Additional information about how to select multiple files can also be found on document CH000771.
3. Once the files have been selected press F2 and type the new name for the files. For example, typing "test" will rename the files to test, test(1), test(2), test(3) etc. If you have file extensions shown make sure to also type the name of the file extension you're renaming.

Keep a log with Microsoft Notepad

Keep a log easily using Microsoft Notepad by opening a new text file in Microsoft Notepad or an existing text file in Notepad and adding ".LOG" (without the quotes) at the beginning of the file. Now each time the file is opened in Notepad a time and date stamp will be automatically added.

MS-DOS autocomplete in Microsoft Windows 2000 and above

1. Open the Microsoft Windows registry editor by clicking Start / Run / type Regedit and click ok.
2. In the Microsoft Windows registry editor open the below folders.
   
   HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE
   Software
   Microsoft
   Command Processor
   
   
3. In the command processor open the below two registry keys and change their value to 9.
   
   CompletionChar
   PathCompleteChar
   
   
4. Once the above steps have been completed close out of the registry editor and open the command window by typing cmd in the Start / Run window. To use the auto complete feature press the tab key any type you wish to complete a directory. For example, if the directory you are currently in contains the "Program files" directory you could type "cd pr" and press tab, to have the auto completion option automatically type "cd "program files"".

Prevent automatic restart in Windows XP

Make your computer not automatically restart or reboot each time an error occurs by following the Windows XP step in document CH000605.

Microsoft Windows search using Google

Get a much more efficient search on text files, Microsoft Outlook & Outlook Express files, AOL Instant Messenger chat logs, Microsoft Word, Microsoft Excel, Microsoft PowerPoint, and Internet cache by using the Google Desktop Search.

Enable the Windows single-click option

Users who have a hard time double-clicking or may be used to single-clicking an item to open it may wish the eliminate the double-click option in Windows. Open My Computer, Click Tools, Click Folder Options, in the General tab select the single-click to open an item option.

Quickly open system properties window

Quickly open the system properties window by holding down the ALT key and double-clicking My Computer.

Quickly see all file associations

Quickly and easily view computer file associations by using the MS-DOS assoc command.

Improve the overall appearance of fonts

Improve the overall appearance and look of your computer fonts in all programs by enabling Windows smooth fonts. Additional information about how to do this can be found on document CH000557.

Windows XP Users (5/1/2004):

Get better font resolution and clarity by enabling Window's XP ClearType. See our ClearType dictionary definition for additional information.

Access and control other computers

Easily and freely control multiple computers running any number of operating systems from one computer using VNC.

The latest version of VNC can be downloaded directly from their website here.

Alphabetize icons in your start menu

Quickly and easily alphabetize the icons in programs on your start menu by right-clicking within programs on the start menu and clicking on "Sort by Name".

Selectively print sections of a document

Save on your printer ink by selectively printing in Windows programs such as Microsoft Word, Internet Explorer, WordPad, Outlook, etc. To do this highlight portions of text you wish to print and click print. In the printer dialog window under Page Range choose the option Selection. It is important to realize that not all programs or printer drivers support this feature.

Quickly get to the root directory of a drive

Quickly display your root directory or network home directory in Windows XP by clicking Start / Run and in the open field type two periods ( ..) and press enter or click ok.

In Microsoft Windows 2000 this will open your "Document and Settings" directory.

Easy undo

Quickly undo mistakes in the majority of most PC Windows program by pressing CTRL + Z.

Quickly open system properties

Quickly open the System Properties by pressing the Windows key and the Pause key at the same time. This is a great thing to remember if you find yourself needing to get into the Device Manager frequently.

Create an accessible bar

Create an accessible bar by following the below steps:

1. From the Windows Desktop create a folder.
2. Highlight the folder and drag it to one of the edges of your screen.
3. Once the folder is at the edge of the desktop let the mouse button go.

This should create a bar, with the contents of the folder used. Once created set the bar to auto hide and be always on top by right-clicking the bar.

Open programs in the background of explorer

Open and run programs in the background of Explorer by holding the Shift key in Windows Explorer double-click an icon. Once the program has been executed it will be open in the background of the explorer window.

Quickly change the association of a file

Quickly change the association of a file by holding down the Shift key, right-clicking a file and choosing open with.

Quickly maximize a window

Quickly maximize a window by double-clicking on the top title bar of the window.

Close multiple programs in one click

To close all open application in one click hold down the Ctrl key and individually click each of the open programs on the task bar once all buttons are selected click on one of the selected buttons with the right mouse button and click close.

Manage start menu icons from the start menu

Windows 98 and above users are now able to manage their start menu icons by right-clicking the start menu and/or the icons.

Quickly access Windows Help

Quickly access the Windows Help by pressing the F1 key from the Windows desktop.

Add shortcuts to the desktop

Easily create shortcuts on your desktop by clicking the program you wish to create a short of and right-clicking and dragging that icon to the desktop. When letting go of the mouse button you should have an option to create a shortcut here.

Quickly add shortcuts to the start menu

Users can quickly add icons to their start menu by dragging icons to the start button.

Create a send to shortcut

Send to is a feature that enables users to send programs to an alternate location or a location where you store all your files. An example of the send to feature is right-clicking a file and clicking send to and then the floppy disk drive. Users can create their own send to destinations by following the below steps.

Microsoft Windows 95 / 98 / ME users

Create a shortcut in the windows\sendto directory

Other Windows users

Create a shortcut in the documents and settings\\sendto directory.

Note: is the name of the user logging into the computer. In addition it is possible that the sendto directory is hidden.

Copy / Move / Delete multiple files

When selecting files you can highlight the first file then hold down your shift key and highlight the last file and this will highlight all files in between. To select individual files you can highlight a file hold down your Ctrl key and highlight other files you wish to select.

Make files not go to the recycle bin

When pressing or choosing delete to remove a program you can hold your shift key and it will not send it to the recycle bin.

Microsoft Excel tips

Auto sum shortcut key

Quickly create a Microsoft Excel formula to get the sum of all cells by highlighting the cells you wish to know the value of and pressing ALT and = .

Create hyper links in Excel

Quickly create hyper links in your Microsoft Word, Excel, or Front Page document by highlighting text and pressing "CTRL + K".

Close all open files at once

Close all open Microsoft Word and/or Excel files by holding down the shift key and clicking "File" and then "Close All".

Quickly open recently opened files

Quickly open the recent files by first pressing "ALT + F" to open the file Menu and press 1, 2, 3, or 4.

Create underlines without any text

This tip works with the majority of Microsoft Office applications. Easily create an underlined space by pressing CTRL + U to start the underline, then press SHIFT + Space for each underlined space you wish to create. An example of how this could be used is for printable forms, for example: Name: .

Print only sections of a document

Save on your printer ink by selectively printing in Windows programs such as Microsoft Word, Internet Explorer, WordPad, Outlook, etc. To do this highlight portions of text you wish to print and click print. In the printer dialog window under Page Range choose the option Selection. It is important to realize that not all programs or printer drivers support this feature.

Repeat recent action

Using the F4 key in Microsoft Office 2000 and above allows the user to repeat the last used action. For example, if you have changed the font of a selected text and wish to change another portion of text to the same font, pressing F4 will do this for you automatically.

Quickly undo

Quickly undo mistakes in the majority of most PC Windows program by pressing CTRL + Z.

Quickly above cell contents

In Microsoft Excel press CTRL + SHIFT + " to copy the above cells contents.

Using the Microsoft Excel Auto filter

Organize cells quickly by using Microsoft Auto filter. Columns that contains long listing of data can be easily sorted by using the Auto filter option, to use this option select the top rows of the columns you want to be used and select Data / Filter and Auto Filter. Once successfully completed you can use drop down arrows to filter the data automatically.

Microsoft Word Tips

Microsoft Word

Press CTRL + ALT + Z or Command Option + Z on the Apple to automatically go back to where your cursor has been previously. This is great for those times you move to the another page or paragraph in a document and need to go back where you came from.

Delete one full word back by pressing and holding down the CTRL key and pressing the backspace key or if you're on a Apple press and hold the Command key and the backspace key.

Microsoft Word

Type "=rand(8,10)" (without the quotes) and press enter in Microsoft word to have Microsoft Word automatically generate a bunch of text that can be used to test page formatting, fonts, etc.

Microsoft Word

Easily copy how text is formatted to other text by using the Microsoft Format Painter option. For example, if you have a heading in Microsoft Word that has font, size, or other format you like highlight that text, click the paintbrush icon in the formatting toolbar and then highlight the text you wish to have the same type of format.

Microsoft Word

Quickly zoom in and out of a Microsoft Word document by holding down the CTRL button and scrolling the wheel on your mouse.

Microsoft Word

Quickly move the cursor to the location it was at when the document was last saved by pressing SHIFT + F5.

Microsoft Word / Excel / Front Page

Quickly create hyper links in your Microsoft Word, Excel, or Front Page document by highlighting text and pressing "CTRL + K".

Microsoft Word / Excel

Close all open Microsoft Word and/or Excel files by holding down the shift key and clicking "File" and then "Close All".

Quickly open the recent files by first pressing "ALT + F" to open the file Menu and press 1, 2, 3, or 4

Quickly open the recent files by first pressing "ALT + F" to open the file Menu and press 1, 2, 3, or 4.

Microsoft Office applications

This tip works with the majority of Microsoft Office applications. Easily create an underlined space by pressing CTRL + U to start the underline, then press SHIFT + Space for each underlined space you wish to create. An example of how this could be used is for printable forms, for example: Name: .

Microsoft Word and above

Quickly insert bullets into Microsoft Word by typing an asterisk, a space, and then your sentence. When enter is pressed Microsoft Word will automatically change your asterisks to a bullet and text proceeding that text. Below is an example of what this may look like:

* this will bullet.

This can also be done with dashes ( - ), and numbers (1. or 1) ).

Most Microsoft Windows programs / Printers

Save on your printer ink by selectively printing in Windows programs such as Microsoft Word, Internet Explorer, WordPad, Outlook, etc. To do this highlight portions of text you wish to print and click print. In the printer dialog window under Page Range choose the option Selection. It is important to realize that not all programs or printer drivers support this feature.

Microsoft Office - Repeat Action

Using the F4 key in Microsoft Office 2000 and above allows the user to repeat the last used action. For example, if you have changed the font of a selected text and wish to change another portion of text to the same font, pressing F4 will do this for you automatically.

Microsoft Word, other word processors and text programs

Quickly enlarge text in Microsoft Word and most other PC text programs by first highlighting the text and pressing CTRL + Shift + > or press and hold CTRL + Shift + <>

PC Windows Shortcut key

Quickly undo mistakes in the majority of most PC Windows program by pressing CTRL + Z. Additional shortcuts can be found on our shortcut page.

Computer hardware tips

Windows XP mouse Snap To

Enable the Microsoft Window XP mouse Snap To feature to automatically focus on dialog box buttons. Enabling this feature will automatically move your mouse cursor to the default button on any dialog box that appears on Windows. This is a great way to save a little time and not have to move you mouse cursor to the "Ok" button each time a dialog box appears. To enable this feature follow the below steps.

1. Click Start, Settings, Control Panel.

2. Double-click the Mouse icon

3. In the Mouse Properties window click the Pointer Options tab and check the "Automatically move pointer to the default button in a dialog box" option.

Computer Mouse

Using the mouse in combination with the keys on your keyboard can give you several different advantages and help improve your overall productivity on the computer. Below are just a few examples.

Almost all text editors

Many text editors or programs that allow you to edit text support the ability to quickly highlight all or portions of text by using the Shift key and the mouse. For example, move the cursor to the beginning of the text you wish to highlight, hold down the shift key, and click at the end of the text you wish to highlight. If supported and done properly this will highlight all text in-between the points you clicked.

Microsoft Word

In Microsoft Word holding down the ALT key on your keyboard while clicking and dragging your mouse and you will be able to drag a box and highlight only portions of text and not the whole line.

Windows Explorer and many other file

Microsoft Windows Explorer and other file managing programs allow users to select multiple files by holding down the CTRL key and clicking each file or folder they wish to select or hold down the shift key and selecting multiple files at once.

Microsoft Internet Explorer, Mozilla Firefox, and other browsers

Users who visit a website with tables and wish to only select one row of that table can hold down the CTRL key and click and drag on the text in the row they wish to copy.

Mozilla Firefox users

Mozilla firefox users can also hold down the CTRL key and individually click on each cell they wish to copy.