Create a watermark using a Clip Art Gallery image
Thursday, May 21, 2009 11:12 AM
You can use the Printed Watermark dialog box to add a custom watermark to your document, but Word also lets you create a watermark from any graphic object by copying the image into the Header window.
Microsoft Word
Create a watermark using a Clip Art Gallery image
While you can use Word's Printed Watermark dialog box to add a custom watermark to your document, Word also lets you create a watermark from any graphic object (SmartArt, charts, shapes, clip art, etc.) by simply copying the graphic into the Header window.
Follow these steps to create a watermark from a copy of a picture taken from the Clip Art Gallery:
- Open a blank document.
- Go to Insert |Clip Art. (In Word 2007, click the Insert tab and select Clip Art in the Illustrations group.)
- Search for the desired clip art in the Clip Art task pane.
- Go to View | Header or footer. (In 2007, double-click the top of the page to access the Header area.)
- Click inside the Header window.
- In the Clip Art task pane, double-click the clip art picture you want as your watermark.
- Right click the portion of the picture in the header window and select Text Wrapping.
- Click the Behind Text option.
- Right-click the portion of the picture in the Header window and then select Send To Back.
- Click Send Behind Text.
- Click and drag the bottom-right picture handle to extend the picture into the middle of the document beyond the header.
You can also format the picture to make it more transparent. For example, in Word 2007, follow these steps:
- Double-click the Header to display the Header window.
- Right-click the picture in the Header window and then select Format Picture.
- Click the drop-down arrow of the Recolor button and click the first selection under Light variations. (Alternatively, you can choose Washout under Color Modes.)
- Click Close.
Microsoft Access
Include parameter values in your Access report titles
For reports based on parameter queries, it is helpful if the parameters used to generate the report are displayed in the report title. You just need to create a text box next to the report title and enter =Reports![reportname]!parametername] as the Text box's control source.
For example, suppose you have created a report called Hours Worked for Week Ending based on the Parameter query shown in Figure A.
Figure A
To add to your title the date that's input into the parameter query box, follow these steps:
- Add a text box to the end of the report title.
- Right-click the text box and select Properties.
- Click in the Control Source property and enter =Reports![Hours Worked for Week Ending]![Enter Week Ending Date] (Figure B).
- Format the text box to match the rest of the Report title (Figure C).
Figure B
Figure C
When the report is run, Access displays the date entered for the parameter in the text box following the report title (Figure D). You can also place the text box displaying the report's parameters in the report header.
Figure D
Microsoft Excel
Avoid costly errors by verifying cross-foot results in Excel
Accuracy is vital. If accuracy didn't matter, you'd rely on your fingers instead of on Excel to sum your transactions.
Unfortunately, Excel is just as vulnerable to mistakes as your calculating fingers. To verify subtotals and totals, auditors use a technique called cross-footing, which works great until someone erroneously deletes or overwrites a dependent formula. If something like that happens, you have to visually catch the discrepancy.
To ensure that you don't miss such a mistake, use a cross-footing formula that verifies itself.
Some definitions
Cross-footing is a modern term that has evolved to mean more than it originally did. Footing is the act of totaling columns. Cross-footing originally meant to total values in a row. However, today, the term refers to the overall process of double-checking totals by comparing columnar and row subtotals.
Figure A shows cross-footing at work. The formula in cell F6 totals the row subtotals. The formula in cell E7
=SUM(B6:E6)
sums the column subtotals. When all is right, the totals are the same.
Figure A
Compare subtotals to verify accuracy.
Figure B shows what happens when someone deletes (or overwrites) one of the subtotals. The cross-foot totals don't agree. With a quick glance, you can see that something's wrong.
Figure B
When subtotals don't match, you know something's wrong.
The obvious but impractical solution
Since verifying cross-foot results involves dependent formulas, protecting those cells that contain dependent formulas seems like the most obvious way to ensure the accuracy of your spreadsheet. It works well, but it's impractical if more than one person can update the spreadsheet. When that's the case, those people have the password to unprotect the file and while modifying the spreadsheet, anything can happen. By all means, apply protection, but don't rely on it solely.
Verifying cross-foot formulas
Although the two formulas alert you to a problem, the responsibility is on you to notice that the values differ. That's a lot of responsibility, but a simple IF function can help by alerting you in a more obvious way.
Let's return to the sample worksheet in Figure A to employ a cross-foot formula that verifies itself. In this case, you'd use a formula that compares both sets of subtotals using the following syntax:
=IF(SUM(rowsubtotal)=SUM(columnsubtotal), SUM(eithersubtotal), "warningtext")
If a user accidentally overwrites or even deletes a subtotal, the verifying formula will warn you, as shown in Figure C.
Figure C
Use text to warn you when subtotals don't match.
Now, the warning text goes a long way toward getting your attention, but you can improve the effect by applying a conditional format as follows:
- Select the cell that contains the verifying formula. In the case of the example spreadsheet, you'd select cell F6.
- Choose Conditional Formatting from the Format menu.
- Choose Cell Value Is from the first drop-down list. (This is the default, so you shouldn't have to do anything.)
- Choose Equal To from the second drop-down list.
- In the third control, type warningtext exactly as it appears in the formula. In this case, you'd enter "SUMS DO NOT BALANCE," as shown in Figure D.
- Click the Format button and set the formatting you want when the verifying formula returns warningtext. In this case, click the Font tab and choose Bold from the Font Style list boox nd Red from the Color drop-down list.
- Click OK twice.
Figure D
Enter the exact warningtext, as used in the verifying formula.
As you can see in Figure E, the warning text stands out and gets the message across. You can apply more conditional formats. Just let your spreadsheet's existing formats dictate the right effect and don't hesitate to mix things up a bit.
Figure E
The red warning text is hard to miss.
Don't be at cross purposes: Verify!
Cross-footing is a good way to keep your spreadsheets healthy, but comparing subtotals can only go so far. Use the simple IF function reviewed in this article to display an obvious and meaningful warning when something's wrong.
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