2.4. Spell Check and Other Editorial ToolsIt's one thing to know how to edit your slides, which is what the first half of this chapter focuses on: the mechanics of cutting, copying, pasting, and so on. It's another thing altogether to figure out if (and why) you need to edit your slides in the first place. This section acquaints you with PowerPoint's virtual editorial staff: the options that check your text for spelling and capitalization errors, suggest synonyms, help you dig up background information, and translate words and phrases into other languages. 2.4.1. Checking SpellingSpelling errors are never a good thing. At best, they can give your audience the impression that you don't pay attention to details. At worst, they can actually prevent your audience from understanding what you're talking about. And make no mistake about it: the typo that no one but the former English teacher noticed when it appeared on a hard-copy handout is obvious to everyone when it's four feet high and splashed across a projector screen. Note: Spell checkers' suggestions aren't always right, and they can miss errors, too. What's more, studies suggest that some folks actually make more mistakes when they use spell checkers than when they don't because they rely on the tool instead of their own proofreading skills. Bottom line: a spell checker can be a timesaver, but it's no substitute for carefully reading through your presentation. PowerPoint gives you two choices when it comes to spell checking your presentation. You can check as you go, automatically, or wait until you're finished with your presentation and then run the check manually. 2.4.1.1. Setting up spellingWhether you choose automatic spell checking or manual, you want to give PowerPoint a heads-up on what kinds of special words to look out forwords like company-specific acronyms, passwords, or other non-words that you want PowerPoint to skip during a spell check. To set spelling options:
2.4.1.2. Automatic (continuous) spell checkingOut of the box, PowerPoint assumes you want it to flag misspelled words automatically, as you type, by underlining them with a wavy red line. Figure 2-7 shows you an example. Note: If you see an obvious misspelling on a slide but don't see a wavy underline, someone turned off automatic spell checking. To turn it on again, select Office PowerPoint Options Proofing. Then make sure the radio box next to "Check spelling as you type is turned on , and the one next to "Hide spelling errors" is turned off .
Note: PowerPoint's spell checker examines Word Art and charts , but ignores misspellings in any pictures (such as bitmaps) or graphs that you add to your slides. To correct the misspelling:
2.4.1.3. Manual spell checkingSome folks find automatic spell checking (page 62) more distracting than helpful. They either resent those wavy red underlines distracting them while they're busy trying to concentrate, or they just get so used to seeing the underlines that they ignore them and end up leaving in misspellings.
If either of these reactions sounds familiar, you'll want to turn off automatic spell checking and run the tool yourself, when you've finished composing your text and are ready to begin proofreading in earnest. To turn off automatic spell checking:
To check the spelling of your presentation manually:
2.4.2. ThesaurusChoosing just the right word to get your point across can be tremendously, enormously, even exceedingly difficult. Everybody's experienced it: the perfect word is right there on the tip of your tongue, and yet you can't quite pin it down. PowerPoint lends a hand with its synonym-listing thesaurus . One of PowerPoint's research tools (see page 69 for more), the thesaurus lets you look up a word or phrase in any of several online tomesall without leaving PowerPoint. To invoke the thesaurus:
Note: Two alternative ways to invoke the thesaurus: select the word you want to replace and then choose Review Proofing Thesaurus or hit Shift+F7. Either way, the Research pane you see in Figure 2-11 appears. | ||||||||||||||||||
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Using PowerPoint's translating tool, you can type a word or phrase onto your slide in one language and look up the translation in one of several other languages (French, English, Spanish, Japanese, Russian, and so on) without ever having to take your eyes off your slide.
To translate a word or phrase from one language to another:
On your slide, select the words you want to translate. Then choose Review Proofing Translate .
The Research pane appears, ready to translate your selection, as shown in Figure 2-12.
Choose a From language and a To language .
PowerPoint automatically translates your word based on the languages you chose.
In the Research pane, select the translated word or phrase you want to copy .
Press Ctrl+C or right-click the word or phrase and select Copy .
On your slide, drag to highlight the phrase you want to replace .
Press Ctrl+V to paste the translation or right-click the highlighted phrase and select Paste .
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Maybe you don't want to translate a word into Swedish or come up with a synonym for cerulean (page 67). Maybe all you want to do is double-check that the stock quotes you're adding to your presentation are accurate and up-to-the-minute.
You could always exit PowerPoint and fire up your Web browser, of course, but there's no need: PowerPoint's Research pane lets you surf the Web right where you are. You can use this tool to find synonyms, translate a word, find a definition, locate articles that discuss a particular topic or sell a certain product, and much more.
To research a word or phrase:
On your slide, select the word or phrase you want to research. Choose Review Proofing Research .
The Research pane appears.
In the Research pane, check to make sure the "Search for" field contains the phrase you want to research.
If it doesn't, then you can either cut-and-paste the phrase from your slide, or type it directly into the "Search for" field. (If you've previously run a search, PowerPoint leaves the old phrase in the "Search for" field, so you need to replace it with the new phrase.)
From the drop-down menu labeled "All Reference Books" (circled in Figure 2-12), choose the reference book, site, or collection you want PowerPoint to search.
For example, you can choose "All Research Sites" or "All Business and Financial Sites."
In the Research pane, you immediately see the message "Searching..." which PowerPoint replaces (eventually) with paid advertisements, followed by the results of your search.
If you're not satisfied with your results, then try broadening your search by repeating steps 3 and 4 .
Unlike PowerPoint's spell check option, which simply flags potential goofs (page 61), the AutoCorrect option goes one step further and actually corrects mistakes as you type them. AutoCorrect can correct the following two types of errors automatically, as your fingers fly across the keyboard:
Case (capitalization). AutoCorrect can make sure you begin every sentence , or day of the week, or what-have-you with an uppercase letter. It can also recognize when you've mistakenly hit the Caps Lock key and corrects senTENCES LIKE THIS.
Spelling. AutoCorrect can catch and fix commonly misspelled words such as taht instead of that, adn instead of and . You can also tell PowerPoint to catch and fix your own personal slips of the finger: Mrs. Carbapple , for instance, if you find yourself repeatedly misspelling Mrs. Crabapple .
PowerPoint doesn't give you one overarching way to turn AutoCorrect on or off. Instead, as you see in the following sections, you turn AutoCorrect on or off separately for case and spelling. (Out of the box, PowerPoint assumes you want AutoCorrect turned on for both.)
PowerPoint can catch and fix capitalization errors as you type.
To turn on AutoCorrect for capitalization (case):
Select Office button PowerPoint Options.
The PowerPoint Options window appears.
Click Proofing. Then, in the Proofing panel, click the AutoCorrect Options button .
The AutoCorrect Window (Figure 2-13) appears.
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Make sure the AutoCorrect tab is selected; if not, click to select it.
Turn on the checkbox next to one or more of the following options:
Correct TWo INitial CApitals. Tells PowerPoint to keep the first capital letter and make the second lowercase. (PowerPoint won't touch three capital letters in a row.) If you like, you can turn this option on but specify exceptions, such as EBay . To do so, in the AutoCorrect window (Figure 2-13), click Exceptions. Then type your exception as shown in Figure 2-14.
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Capitalize first letter of sentences. Tells PowerPoint to capitalize the first letter following a period and a space, even if you forget. You can turn on this option but specify words (such as abbreviations) you want PowerPoint to leave alone. To do so, in the AutoCorrect window (Figure 2-13), click Exceptions. Then type your exception as shown in Figure 2-15.
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Capitalize first letter of table cells . Tells PowerPoint to capitalize the first letter you type into every cell of a table.
Capitalize names of days. Tells PowerPoint to capitalize the words Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, and so on, automatically.
Correct accidental use of cAPS LOCK key. Tells PowerPoint to watch for capitalization that looks backwards (the first letter lower case followed by all upper case letters) and reverse the capitalization.
NOSTALGIA CORNER PowerPoint Still Has Style (It's Just Changed) |
Earlier versions of PowerPoint let you specify style options (Tools Options Spelling and Style Style Options) that told the program which extras you wanted it to look for during a spell check: case (upper vs. lower), end punctuation (mandatory periods or not), and visual clarity (maximum number of bullet points and words per slide). Well, the Tools menu is history, but through the PowerPoint Options window, PowerPoint 2007 still gives you a way to control how the program checks your text for case (page 71) and end punctuation. Unfortunately, the visual clarity options no longer exist in PowerPoint 2007. |
For many misspellings, you don't have to hassle with either the automatic or manual spell checks: PowerPoint can catch and fix many spelling errors immediately, as you type. To turn on AutoCorrect for spelling, go to Office button PowerPoint Options Proofing. Under the "When correcting spelling in PowerPoint heading, turn on the "Check spelling as you type" checkbox to turn on AutoCorrect.
If you like, you can specify one or more words you want PowerPoint to correct automatically. For example, words you know you have a habit of misspelling or words you want to abbreviate and have PowerPoint type out completely. To do so:
Go to Office button PowerPoint Options Proofing. On the Proofing panel, click AutoCorrect Options.
The AutoCorrect window shown back in Figure 2-13 appears.
On the AutoCorrect tab, turn on the "Replace text as you type" checkbox.
In the Replace box, type the misspelling you want PowerPoint to correct (or the abbreviation you want PowerPoint to spell out).
In the With box, type the correctly spelled word. Click OK when you're done.