I Heart Tech

Why Your Documents Look Like Crap and I Think I'm In Love

A lot of tough love going on at I ♥ Tech this week so sit up and take it like a lawyer! For today's digital lashing, I'm going to piggy-back on someone else's program. I stumbled across this great post titled "Why Our Agreements Looks Like Crap" from attorney Michael J. O'Sullivan who writes about "issues encountered by corporate lawyers" at his blog ; provided, however,. I think I love this guy (I fall in tech love very easily). I found his points insightful and quite lawyerly. He points out some technical, possibly strategic and historical reasons as to why your documents look like crap (finally someone else who isn't afraid to call ugly ugly) but he doesn't hit on the root of all this formatting evil: lack of training. However, there is always me to do that...

He begins by describing one of the biggest failure points when it comes to creating and maintaining  good looking documents: OP. OTHER PEOPLE. I hear this excuse all the time. And likely from the same person that the OP are pointing their fingers right back at.The ugly truth is that most legal professionals don't really truly madly deeply know how to create complex legal documents. I don't care what your secretary tells you. As a matter of fact, most don't even know how to properly format a simple one page letter. There is an embarrassing amount of spacing and tabbing that goes on in the Word docs I often encounter. Microsoft Word is a complex program to a point. It's not that it's hard to use, it really isn't - and you are all very smart people. The thing about Word is that it's a structure snob and if you don't meet its standards, it spits on you. It requires some training. Just some, not even a lot. You wouldn't believe what one measly hour of learning will gain you.  Need some dollar figures to convince you? Read this other great post: Beware the Hidden Costs of Bad Formatting.

So get yourself some training and then get some for your clients too. Here's a thought: offer your most important clients (or their staff) some training. Get your trainer or bring one in *ahem*cough*cough* for a document workshop and figure out how to collaborate on the stream of documents you are and will be working on. Your clients will love you for it. Consider it part of your Make Our Clients Love Us and Want Us Campaign.

At this point I am SO SURE that you are SO INSPIRED to get some training that you CAN'T WAIT one more second! Yes? Yes! Let me lead you to some water: Typography for Lawyers by Matthew Butterick, lawyer, graphic designer, genius. Again, who is this guy? And I think I love him too! I implore you to take some time and read every page of this wonderful resource.

My friends, here is the thing, this day and age - your documents (along with all your other digital communications and exchanges) are a reflection of your commitment to the use of technology in your practice, which of course exists to help you better serve your clients.<VBG>.

Word's Track Changes...So Pretty and Smart yet So Dangerous

Oh stop...no...oh go on...Ok, Ok, enough about me...seriously, lets talk about something useful - like Track Changes.

For some reason, that even my twelve years of legal technology training can barely explain, some lawyers who "use" Word still don't know how to use Track Changes. This is truly confounding to me considering how simple the feature is to master. Now, I'll give you a little tiny window of forgiveness if you've never had to or wanted to track document revisions and editions in your document.. but then I think, REALLY? Never, in all your years of practicing law...REALLY?

For the unaware, the Track Changes feature in Microsoft Word is a built in feature that allows you to colorfully and visually see the changes you make in a document, as you make them (it's also part of the Compare tool that lets you compare two documents or versions of a doc)...

So, as you can see, its pretty and really, quite smart. When does it become dangerous, you ask? Oh, that's when you come in - sweet sweet attorney. See, it has happened in the past that a few of you have had no idea that it exists and it has been turned "on" and "it" (never you the user!) has inadvertently been emailed to someone else wherein they have seen YOUR changes and edits.

How could this possibly happen? Well, sometimes, technology has a learning curve. And because some of you don't ever make the time for educating yourself on the important tools that help you practice law and service your clients <VGB> - THIS very sort of thing can actually happen. Track Changes, like most other tools on your computer, just aren't that hard to learn, and by virtue of those hard-earned and very expensive letters after your name - we all know you're smart enough to get it. You just wont take the time...arrrgghhh...TIME!! If only there were more of it!

So a couple of technical tips before I send you on your way to some self-study: The chances of this happening have been lessened thanks to Word 2007 (if you're there), if you are on an older version, then it's imperative that you figure out how Track Changes works (remember, it's not hard, do not be afraid) and yes you can can get rid of all signs of track changes. Oh, one more thing... your best defense against track changes and metadata? Have a "PDF First" policy - if they don't need to edit it, PDF it.

Since there are already so many resources out there about Track Changes, I'm going to link you out there and trust that you will take a few minutes to read, learn and apply...afterall, isn't that how you got here?

• Microsoft Explains Track Changes 2007 2003
• Lawyers Explain Track Changes (read horror stories by unwitting attys here)
• Shauna Kelly answers: How does Track Changes in Microsoft Word work?

So Many Words, So Much Billable Time...Word Counts for You

Word has a handy feature that displays counts for words, paragraphs, lines, and characters. In Word 2003 go to Tools > Word Count. In Word 2007, you will find the Word Count button on the Review Tab.

If you don't select any text, Microsoft Word counts the words in the whole document. If you want to count words in one paragraph or other specific content, select the text first then go to Word Count.

I know this obvious but for the benefit of the less tech savvy (my mom reads my blog) I offer this tip: To add or remove footnotes and endnotes from the count, select or clear the "Include footnotes and endnotes" check box.

Great Giveaway of the Day Today (Tues Jan13)

PDFZilla is today's free download from Giveaway of the Day. You have until midnight tonight to download AND register it. PDFZilla is a desktop application that claims to convert PDF files into editable MS Word Documents, Rich Text Documents, Plain Text Files, Images, HTML Files, and Shockwave Flash SWF Files. I haven't tried it yet and won't have time until later but it sounds good so I'll at least get it while I can and remove it later if it sucks. Considering how much lawyers work with PDF files, this sounds like another one of those (possibly) great little utilities an attorney can add to your her tech toolbox. You can read about, read user comments and if you decide to download it, you can also do that here. If you don't know about Giveaway of the Day - you should, it's a cool website that offers all kinds of softwares (one everyday) that you would normally buy, for free for one day.

Microsoft Word - AutoNumber a Column in a Table

I was helping a paralegal yesterday who had heard a rumor that tables could be pretty useful in Word. I was happy to confirm such a rumor and went on to help her with her first project - a simple pleading index which she would normally do with tabs (what a nightmare). We started by inserting a table (Insert > Table, Select initial number of rows and columns) and named the header columns. Then, she started to manually type in the "Tab Number" number. I had to grab the back of her chair for support to keep from falling over in horror. omg. Imagine all that manual labor! What if she had hundreds of rows and had to insert one in the middle - or worse - at the top?! Holy moly waste of time and money! I composed myself before she noticed and gently told her that there is a better way:

• Hover your mouse over the column that you want to number, you'll notice it change to a downward-pointing arrow.
• When it does, Click. That selects an entire column at a time. You'll see that the column has been highlighted.
• While it's highlighted, find and click the Numbering button in Word's Formatting Toolbar.
• Wah-la! Now as you delete and insert rows, your numbers will automatically adjust.
• To remove a number from an unwanted cell (like the first/heading cell). Click in that cell alone and then click the Numbering button once to toggle it off in that cell.
• If you want to use letters or romans or some other character in there, you can select the column again and go to Format > Bullets and Numbering and change to another list type.

(The video was made it Word 2007, but it's the same steps in 2003)

Digital Sigs - Question from a Reader (1)

I've had a couple of questions come in from some readers that I'll address in the next couple of posts, here's the first from a Paralegal in  Missouri:

Once I have gone through all the steps and saved the jpeg file, then have inserted the jpeg file into the Word document, any trailing codes or text are moved (advance / wrap around).   Is there some means of having the jpeg file drop into a Word file, at any point, as a transparent overlay so that any surrounding lines or text are not moved or covered up?

This should be a pretty easy fix, try this:

1. Right-click on the image.
2. Select Format > Picture, go to the Layout tab.
3. If you don't see the option for "Top and Bottom", click the Advanced button and select it from that dialog box.
4. Click OK to apply and exit.

Now, this exact fix didn't work for what Anne wanted, she ended up choosing "Behind text" for her needs, but you can just experiment.

Digital (Image) Signatures...Step 2 (with Adobe)

There are many software tools that can be used to capture an image of your signature. We are using Adobe Acrobat (Pro or Standard) in this example; if you don't have it, standby, next post is on getting on without it. Assuming you DO have it and you have scanned in your signature (step 1), follow these steps to using the SnapShot tool:

1. Open the file in Acrobat - we're talking version 8 here (varies in different versions so look around for it, if you have an old version, you might not even have it).
2. In version 8 go to Tools > Select & Zoom > Snapshot Tool (it's possible the Snapshot tool is already on your toolbar - it's a little camera). You won't see anything on the screen once the Snapshot tool has been activated, but your cursor will have changed to cross-hairs.
3. Now drag to draw a rectangle box  around your signature (dragging from top left corner to bottom-right corner and click to release your mouse). Again, not much will happen but you will see a highlighted box around the area you selected. Be sure to get in close to the sig without touching it. You can do it over and over until you get it just right.You'll get a message box from Acrobat letting you know that the image has been copied your clipboard.(If you cut or copy anything else after this, you will come back and repeat step 3.)
4. We need to move that image off the clipboard and into a working file. Again, there are many tools that will allow you to do this, for our general purposes, we are going to use PowerPoint. You'll want to launch PowerPoint and have a slide on the screen (doesn't matter if it's blank or not, when we're done you will close PPT without saving anything) - now place your cursor anywhere on that slide and paste (CRTL + V or right-click > Paste) to move the capture off the clipboard.
5. Hopefully you will see a nice image of your signature on the screen. Once you do, right-click directly on that image and select "Save as Picture".
6. Simply put, you will be creating a clip-art of your signature that can be inserted into a Word document (and many other apps). Name the file and save it as a jpeg (the default "Save as type"). Be sure to put it somewhere easy to find.

That's it, that's all it takes. Now go to Word, place your cursor where you want that image to sit - then to, Insert > Picture > From File (be sure the Files of Type box says "All Files") and browse to your signature image to stick it. (Don't forget to print your document to PDF before sending it out via email).

Good start for now, we'll soon talk about creating shortcuts to getting that sig into a document as well as some other cool things we can do with the SnapShot tool in Adobe. If you have any trouble or questions, email me.

Word 2007 - Heaven or Hell?

I got an email from a good friend and legal IT Director asking me for some insight into what other firms are doing or thinking about Word 2007. She asked: What do we need to know? I'm seeing/hearing about converting files and of course.... that makes me VERY uneasy. Is there any whitepaper out there that would address this? Am I just not seeing the information or am I the only one worrying about it?

So I decided to tap the aforementioned Ben Schorr for information - he is a great source with direct connections to Microsoft - who better?! Here's what he had to say:

The new formats rock – in addition to being more open they’re also quite a lot smaller in size than the old ones.  Below is a brief document that talks about them a little more.

2007 File Format Fact Sheet from Microsoft

If she wants to interoperate with people using earlier versions of Word (Excel, etc.) she should send this link to her other people.  It’s to the file converters that all people using Office 2000 or 2003 to open/edit/save in the 2007 file formats. Also here’s a useful article on the new file formats that also includes with some links to useful tools/resources like the Migration Planning Manager. For the very techy - here is a link to the Office 2007 TechNet Resoure Page.

Finally here’s a link to Brian Jones’ blog he’s the guy who owns the new file formats at Microsoft and he has a lot of good (albeit fairly technical) discussion of the new formats.

Hope that helps!

Ben M. Schorr
Chief Executive Officer
______________________
Roland Schorr & Tower
www.rolandschorr.com

Of course that helps! Thank you, Ben.

Confidential: Watermarks in Word

I'm in Houston today doing some Word 2003 - I was reviewing the training agenda and realized that it's been a long time since I posted some Word tips. I picked this easy and useful one for today: adding a watermark to Word 2003 or Word 2002. Here's how:

1. Go to Format > Background > Printed Watermark. Then choose one of the following:

• Insert a picture as a watermark: Click Picture Watermark > Click Select Picture. Navigate your way to the picture you want, and then click Insert.
• Insert a text watermark such as DRAFT or PERSONAL, click Text Watermark, and then select the text that you want.
• Insert custom text by simply typing in the Text field

2. Select any additional options that you want, and then click Apply.

To view a watermark as it will appear on the printed page, use Print Layout view or Print Preview.

Still in the stone age with Word 97 or Word 2000? Click here to learn how to insert a watermark.

Playing Footsies (with Word)

Mmmm, footsies. I love playing footsies - which is odd because I hate OPF (other people's feet). I freak out if an unfamiliar foot touches my bare skin. It's happened more than once that I've had to shower or at a minimum clean the stricken area with a disinfecting wipe. Now, certainly if the footsie advances are coming from feet who have been approved - well, that's a different story. Playing footsies with Word by way of Footnotes and Endnote may not be nearly as stimulating, but alas, it's something we should all know how to do. Here's a quick run down on how to insert a reference note in your document.

Insert a footnote or an endnote

1. Be sure you are in "print layout view" (View | Print Layout) then place your cursor where you want to insert the note.
2. On the Insert menu, point to Reference, and then click Footnote.
3. Select either Footnotes or Endnotes. (In the future, to get here quickly tap CTRL+ALT+F for a footnote and CTRL+ALT+D to insert an endnote.)
4. In the Number format box, click the format you want then Insert. Word adds the note number and leaves your cursor next to the note number on the ready for you to enter your text.

As you continue editing,  Word auto-numbers and renumbers the notes with the correct number and number format (it's like magic).

There's a lot to these reference notes, if you use them often you should really learn how they work. Visit these sites to do just that:

• Word Tips from Allen Wyatt (this one's the  best! Very comprehensive)
• Change the number format of footnotes or endnotes from Microsoft
• Good overview from the U of Reading