PowerPoint 2007 for Starters: The Missing Manual

The Very Basics

You'll find very little jargon or techno-geek terminology in this book. You will, however, see a few terms and concepts that you'll encounter frequently in your computing life:

• Clicking. This book gives you several kinds of instructions that require you to use your computer's mouse or trackpad. To click means to point the arrow cursor at something on the screen and then—without moving the cursor at all—to press and release the clicker button on the mouse (or laptop trackpad). To double-click, of course, means to click twice in rapid succession, again without moving the cursor at all. To drag means to move the cursor while pressing the button continuously. To right-click, click as described above, but press the mouse button on the right.

  When you see an instruction like Shift-click or Ctrl-click, simply press the key as you click.

• Keyboard shortcuts. Every time you take your hand off the keyboard to move the mouse, you lose time and potentially disrupt your creative flow. That's why many experienced computer fans use keystroke combinations instead of menu commands wherever possible. Ctrl+B is a keyboard shortcut for boldface type in PowerPoint 2007 (and most other programs). When you see a shortcut like Ctrl+S, which saves changes to the current document, it's telling you to hold down the Ctrl key, and, while it's down, type the letter S, and then release both keys. When you see Alt+F, S (the new Save keyboard shortcut), press Alt, then F, and then S.

• All roads lead to Rome. PowerPoint 2007 usually gives you several ways to choose the same option—by clicking a ribbon option, by right-clicking an object on a slide and then choosing from the shortcut menu that appears, or by pressing a key combination. Some folks prefer the speed of keyboard shortcuts; others like the satisfaction of a visual command array available in menus or toolbars. This book lists the alternatives so that you experiment to see which you like best.