Microsoft

4 Cool Uses Of Microsoft Office You Probably Didn’t Know About

When you think of Microsoft Office, you probably think of office documents, presentations and spreadsheets. However, you can have a bit of fun with the suite just by knowing how to use the applications and features to their fullest extent.

A few power users out there manipulated their way through the MS Office programs to come up with some extremely creative  content.  Take a look at the following creative, jaw-dropping examples.

Create Art In Microsoft Excel 

Excel Spreadsheet Artwork

You may have heard of this guy on the internet before. Japanese artist, Tatsuo Horiuchi, has been producing art using only Microsoft Excel. It may sound crazy to use MS Excel for generating images let alone creating artwork. But this artist has proven, hands down, that it can be done.

Use Microsoft Word As An Advanced Image Editor

MS Word Graphics Editing

If you think Microsoft Word can only be used for generating documents, you’ll be shocked to see it in action as an advanced graphics editor. This amazing time-lapse video was created and posted by Vaclav Krejci who, according to his YouTube channel bio, aims to “explain graphic design to everyday users using software they are already familiar with.” And he does just that. This video shows how he recreates the iOS 7 home screen using nothing but Microsoft Word, start to finish.

Play A Role Playing Game In Microsoft Excel

Bet you never thought you could turn your data-analyzing, formula-calculating Microsoft Excel spreadsheet into an RPG game. We sure didn’t.  This macro-based RPG was put together in 5 months by Toronto-based chartered accountant, Cary Walkin, whose passion for spreadsheets and video games resulted in Arena.Xlsm.

Excel Spreadsheet RPG Game

Arena.Xlsm comes with character statistics, abilities for ranged attacks, achievements, boss encounters, and magic spells (available at level 10).  This cool game may look slightly different than your average MMPORG, but all the same interactive and essential elements are there.  See how far you can get.

Create Your Own Anime Movie In Microsoft PowerPoint

You’ve probably watched anime before, but we’re guessing that it didn’t require MS PowerPoint.  We caught this awesome example on PowerPoint Heaven, a site created by Shawn Tow that started out as a place to post his own tutorials and work. It is now a popular site for PowerPoint diehards to showcase their innovative uses of the application.

PowerPoint Anime Movie

One user took PowerPoint slides and animation to the next level with Rewrite, an anime drawn and animated in PowerPoint by Han Byul Jang (Zzangdol). We won’t provide you with any spoilers, but download the PowerPoint file to see it in action yourself. You won’t be disappointed.

We never really appreciate the full capabilities of the tools we use on a daily basis. But with a bit of practice and skill you can perhaps work your own magic and come up with a creative way of using MS Office yourself.

Customizing Your PDF To Word Conversions With Able2Extract 8

With Able2Extract 8 there were a few changes in layout that may have had you wondering if Able2Extract backtracked and scaled back on its PDF to Word options.

It hasn’t. Able2Extract’s PDF to Word conversion options are still there and still fully functional.

Obviously, how you work with MS Word will constantly change—as will your editing needs.  After last week’s release of MS Office 2013, for instance, you may already be exploring new features, taking advantage of MS Word 2013 and all it has to offer.  Well, Able2Extract is no stranger to MS Word, and it’s for updates like those that we continue to include Able2Extract’s variety of  PDF to Word options.

So this week we bring them to the forefront to show you what our PDF to Word variety is all about and how each option can accommodate how you work within MS Word.

In Able2Extract 8, the PDF to Word conversion options can be found within the File menu under the Convert to Word… conversion command. Hover over it to expand the menu. The options will be activated once your content is selected for conversion:

Able2Extract PDF to Word Options

Convert to Word- Standard

We always have this as the default and recommended PDF to Word conversion option. This is because it offers the most accuracy and editability for MS Word documents. 

Able2Extract PDF to Word Standard

A PDF to Word Standard conversion will retain background graphics, as a background image in the converted output, and the textual layout using the layout of the original PDF document for guidance.  For most documents, this will provide the best looking output for general purposes and quick conversions.

Convert to Word- Frames

Though it will preserve content just as well as the Standard conversion, the Frames option will give you slightly different results.  The converted PDF to Word output will retain the background graphics and layout of the selected pages and items, but with the text appearing in individual text boxes in a new Word document, like so:

Able2Extract PDF to Word Frames

This conversion is ideal if you prefer or need to work with text boxes which can be moved within a document. For instance, if the placement of text and graphics are a priority, as it is in publications, converting PDF content into frames will  let you position and re-position your content around easily.

Under certain circumstances, because the text boxes are designed to correlate with the structural positioning of the original PDF document, it may be possible to generate a more accurate layout than with the Standard conversion selection option.

Convert to Word- Text

As the name suggests, the Convert to Word -Text conversion option will only convert the text portions of selected items. The text will appear as a standard paragraph without special formatting or text boxes in a new Word document.

Able2Extract PDF to Word Text

This conversion is most useful when working with textual information takes priority over preserving the look and feel of your content in Word. You can easily avoid transferring over  images or graphics that aren’t needed. As you can imagine, this can save you a lot of time spent on cutting or deleting them post-conversion.

Specifying Your MS Word Output

In addition to customizing your conversion results, you can also change the PDF to Word output format with a few clicks.  You can do this by accessing Able2Extract’s conversion settings by going into the View menu and selecting Options… :

Able2Extract PDF to Word Output Format Options

The Word conversion output offers 3 different output formats when converting a PDF to Word. You can select any of the 3 options:

Default: Using this setting on the Windows platform will result in the software automatically detecting which version of Word is installed on the machine and then saving the Word output into the applicable format – .docx or .doc.

RTF: Choosing this setting means that all conversion that are made from PDF to Word will be saved in the rich text format (.rtf) extension.

Word 2007: Using this setting means that all documents converted into Word will be saved as .docx regardless of which version of Word is installed.

Implementing just a few of these options and settings can help save you some major editing time. Though a Standard conversion is probably sufficient for general purposes, it’s always good to try and get the most out of your PDF to Word conversions wherever possible. With the growing complexity of Word documents, you can’t afford not to!

How To Convert XPS Documents

XPS LogoWhile Adobe AIR was being released to the public a week ago, Microsoft was also busy with the BRM (Ballot Resolution Meeting) for OOXML. Nothing official was published or decided as the BRM concluded in controversy.

However, with OOXML in the spotlight, XPS is still in the wings.

The XPS format, submitted to ecma International in 2007, is still in review for its own standardization. The format is based on the same Open Packaging Conventions as the Office 2007 OOXML formats–OOXML formats users are currently trying to deal with.

Now, while you might have the .docx and .doc compatibility issue covered by now, are you prepared to handle .xps compatibility issues as well?

XPS documents are like the PDF–in order to work with XPS content, you need to convert it.

If you already have Able2Extract, you have both an XPS viewer and converter in one. To convert your XPS document, follow these steps:

1) Open your XPS file in Able2Extract, or Able2Extract Pro for scanned XPS files

2) Select and highlight the content you need to convert

3) In the toolbar, click on the format icon you need to convert to (Word, Excel, Powerpoint, HTML, TXT, etc.)

4) Save your file in the Save As dialogue box

Luckily, converting from XPS to other formats isn’t so different from converting regular PDF files. You can check out more on XPS conversion at our XPS Central homepage.

PDF, A De-Facto Standard No More

While you’re all excited about the upcoming holidays and can’t think of anything else but that gift list to get through, you can add one more thing to get excited about.

The de facto standard of information interchange, aka the PDF, just got one step closer to being adopted as a standardized format. Last week, the PDF 1.7 specification gained the approval votes it needed from ISO committee voting members as it reached the Enquiry “Close of voting” stage in the standardization process.

Before this certification happens though, the comments included with the votes need to be addressed before the format gets its official ISO standard tag—ISO 32000 (lovely name, no?). Even with those last few hurdles, the PDF’s standardization process is looking good.

Jim King, PDF architect and Senior Principle Scientist at Adobe Systems Inc. will serve as technical editor for the international working group meeting in January where the submitted 205 comments will be resolved.

On his blog he states, “If the group can address all the comments to the satisfaction of all countries, especially the ones voting negatively, it is possible to finish at that meeting and publish the revised document.”

So Is It Still An Adobe-Microsoft Showdown?

In the face of impending success, you can’t help but wonder about OOXML and where its standardization is headed.

OOXML was also submitted and fast tracked for an official ISO standard, but rejected in September. Alongside that rejection was the controversy over Microsoft’s active influence over committee members and their votes. The OOXML proposal then went back to the drawing board for revisions to take the negative votes and comments into account.

Boxing AnimalsNow, three months later, as its Ballot Resolution Meeting (BRM) draws near in February, OOXML’s standardization is still up in the air as its interoperability, the OOXML hot topic of the day, will be a major factor in the decision to approve it as such.

Making it even harder is that OOXML is constantly held up against ODF, the poster child of open source solutions. It’ll be interesting to see how “open” and how much “interoperability” a Microsoft format can possess in general.

While that issue unfolds, the PDF will more than likely get the ISO standardization without much drama. Has Adobe won this round already without even trying?

These are exciting times for the PDF format indeed.