MS-Word --- Letter Wizard

Computer Info – September 6, 2000

This Week’s Program

        We are going to bring in a Visioneer OneTouch scanner and use the PaperPort software. Also we will look at using the MULTIPLY command in PhotoShop to help you restore faded family photos. PaperPort Desktop View
        Red Line – The red line around an item on the PaperPort Desktop indicates that the item is SELECTED. The item that is selected, is the one that the menu choices are going to refer to. For example, when you wish to print an item, the item (or items) that have the red line around them, are the ones that are going to print.
        Rename an Item – If you wish to give your item a new name to better describe it, from the FILE menu, choose CHANGE TITLE.
        Save an Item – If you wish to save your item, from the FILE menu, choose EXPORT. This will give you the ability to save the item to another folder. This also give you the ability to save the item as a JPG, GIF or other format rather than leaving it as a PaperPort file.
        Copy as Text – If you right click on a text document that you had scanned, you can choose COPY AS TEXT from the menu. This will OCR (Optical Character Recognition) the document – which means that the computer will try to read the scanned document and interpret it as individual characters. You can now open up your word processing program and paste the contents into it. As with anything that you OCR, the quality of the final output is determined by how the readability of the original copy was.
        Program Icons along the bottom – You can drag your documents or pictures to the icons along the bottom of your Paperport Desktop – and the program associated with that icon will open.
Page View
        The page view is used for editing your scanned picture. To change to the PAGE VIEW, from the VIEW menu, choose PAGE VIEW. To return to the DESKTOP VIEW, from the VIEW menu, choose DESKTOP VIEW.
        The Page View has a few functions to allow you to crop, change the brightness/contrast of the picture, add notes, and a few other small functions.
Twain
        The driver for the Visioneer OneTouch scanner is called Paperport Scan Manager. You can access this driver (and therefore, your scanner) from any program that has a twain interface. For example, PhotoShop. In PhotoShop, you access it from the FILE menu – then IMPORT – then TWAIN-32. Fixing Faded Family Photos         One trick that you can use to help restore a faded family photo is with the MULTIPLY command that can be found in most of the photo editing programs. It works with the layering command that we have been looking at in the past weeks.
        Let’s use PhotoShop 5.0 for our example. Open your faded picture. Under the SELECT menu, choose ALL. This will place a dotted box around your entire picture. Then from the EDIT menu, choose COPY. To remove the dotted box, click somewhere on the picture. Now from the EDIT menu, choose PASTE. You will now have two layers -–each containing the same thing. To view the layers, from the WINDOWS menu, choose SHOW LAYERS. This will open a small menu that displays the layers. Near the top of this menu, you will see a drop down choice (it’s default is NORMAL) – and on this drop down menu, choose MULTIPLY. You will see the colors take a big jump up in richness. For those of you familiar with working in the darkroom, this is like using an intensifier on the negative to build its density. If the colors still aren’t quite there, add another layer and multiply it again. You can build up quite a lot of density in the image this way.
        Sometimes the multiplying effect is too strong and the resulting image looks garish. Back it off by controlling the opacity (how transparent the layer is) of the latest layer (don’t touch the bottom or original layer). Find an intensity that looks right to you. Keep in mind that you’ll never get colors exactly like modern films because the original wasn’t shot with one of those films. How Do I Scan a Text Document in the JPG Format?         We were ask this question – "How do I scan a text document (an order form) in the JPG format and send it as an email?"
        Scanning a text document as a JPG is no different that scanning a picture (or photograph). Anything that is saved in a JPG format is a picture. In this case, it would be a picture of an order form. If it was then printed, a person could use the order form and fill it out in the usual manner. Adding a Favorite While Off-Line         How do you add a Favorite (web address or bookmark) to Internet Explorer while you are off-line?
        I don’t know when a person would want to do it this way, but I did discover how to do it. While in Internet Explorer, choose FAVORITES from the top menu – then ADD TO FAVORITES. This will open up the ADD FAVORITE window where you can give a name to your Favorite and also determine which folder or category you want to place it in. When you click on OK, your Favorite has been added.
        Next, again choose FAVORITES from the top menu – then ORGANIZE FAVORITES. This will open up the ORGANIZE FAVORITES window with a listing of all of your Favorites. Locate and highlight the one you just added – then right-click on it and choose PROPERTIES. Type in the web address (including the HTTP://) in the box labeled URL: Click on OK and this will take you back to the ORGANIZE FAVORITES window.
        Of course, It is easier to add these favorites while you are on-line – then you also know that the web address is correct. HP Pavilion         This is the web address that deals with the floppy disk controller patch for HP Pavilion Computers.
                http://www.hp.com/cposupport/nonjsnav/pc_patchhome.html Stressreducers         If you were at the meeting two weeks ago, a small program was demonstrated that can help you reduce your stress when things are not going right with your computer. The program is called Stressreducers. After you run it, you can shoot missiles at your screen, fill it with roaches, shoot paintballs at it, use a chain saw to cut it up and a few other things. The program has been placed on John’s FTP server at
                http://www.hdprint.co.uk/ftp/out-going/fun-stuff Hoaxbusters         In addition to describing hoaxes and chain letters found on the Internet, this site discusses how to recognize hoaxes, what to do about them, and some of the history of hoaxes on the Internet. This site is a division of the Department of Energy.
                http://hoaxbusters.ciac.org/
    Another site to read about Internet hoaxes
                http://urbanlegends.about.com/science/urbanlegends/cs/nethoaxes/index.htm Computer Terms e-wallet
        An e-wallet is a software application that stores a user’s personal, credit card, and shipping data. Depending on the wallet, the application may store one set of information or multiple profiles, letting users select which credit card and shipping address to apply with a certain purchase. This eliminates manually filling out fields, keeping credit cards at hand, and remembering passwords at each commerce site.