FAQS! FACTS! FAX! 117 (09/07/98)

THE LOTUS POSITION

I read your reply to S. F. Newey (F!F!F! 11/06/98) regarding changing the default text in Microsoft Word and it worked. However, I also use Lotus Word Pro, and have wanted to alter the default typeface and font size for a long time with no success. Can you help please?

Mark Lineham, Bollington, Cheshire

It's not quite as straightforward as Word but here goes. From the File menu choose New Document. Select the SmartMaster to be changed and click on OK. Next, choose Text then Text Properties. Select the 'Font' tab and change to the required font, font size and/or colour. Now select the 'style' tab and choose 'Redefine Style'. When that's done select OK to close the Text Properties Infobox. To finish off click on Choose File/Save As and change the file type to 'Lotus Word Pro SmartMaster (*.MWP)'. Enter your text for the 'Description' field and change the directory to the location where your SmartMasters are stored. (For Word Pro for Windows 3.1 this is normally C\WORDPRO\SMASTERS in Windows 95 it is C:LOTUS\SMASTERS\WORDPRO). If you are saving the SmartMaster under the same file name you will be asked if you want to overwrite it, if so answer Yes.

KEY WORD

I am using Word 6 on my 486 PC and have managed to set the default settings to my requirements, however, from time to time changes occur, that I do not want. For example, for no apparent reason I find normal letters turning bold, or the line spacing altering from two to three lines. What can I do to stop these irritating and unwanted alterations?

Basil Cutler, Stokesay, Shropshire

Improve your typing skills... The effects you describe are almost certainly the result of selecting a keyboard shortcut whilst typing too quickly. It is usually caused by accidentally hitting 'Ctrl' instead of the left-shift key. For example, the shortcut for increasing line spacing is Ctrl + 2. Striking Ctrl + B, if the cursor is in middle of a word, will change the font style to bold. You can find a list of keyboard shortcuts in Word 6 Help, the quickest way to get to it is from the Help Contents page, click on the Reference Information icon. In Word 97 the shortcuts are also listed in Help, type 'keys' in the index field and look under the reference to 'shortcuts'.

DATE GRATE

In Word 7 I have the date button on my toolbar. It works properly but prints the date in numerical format, i.e. 09/07/98. I want it to print the date as 9 th June 1998 but despite every attempt I cannot get it to change. I have checked Date and Time selection on the Insert menu and tried it with and without the Update Automatically tick box, but that didn't make any difference. I have also tried the Windows 95 route, by selecting Start-Setting-Control Panel-Regional Settings-Date tab, trying both long and short date forms, all to no avail. Please tell me what I am doing wrong?

Richard Stanley, Pitsford, Northampton

You're almost there, but first a quick recap on what you have done already. By placing the date button on the toolbar you're able to insert the current date in an open document simply by clicking on it. For those who would like to enable this useful facility for themselves open the Tools menu, click on Customize and select the Commands tab. Scroll down the list until you come to Insert, click on it and look for the Date icon in the right hand window. Put the mouse pointer over the date icon, click and hold then drag it to the toolbar. To change the date format go to the Insert menu, select Date and Time and the Available Formats window will open. There you will find the pattern you want to use, click and highlight the entry -- and this is where you slipped up -- click on the 'Default' button, not OK, and the change becomes permanent.

NEGATIVE ATTITUDE

I have many old negatives going back to World War 2, some are from World War 1, but they are all up to three times larger than a normal 35mm negative. I also have prints and colour negatives that I would like to scan and store on my Zip drive. All of the scanners I have looked at cannot cope with large negatives; do you know if there's anything available, new or second hand, up to, say £600?

Q. Sharp, Ascot

There may well be but why make life difficult? Just take the negatives to your local specialist camera shop or photographic studio and ask them to print the negatives for you. You'll be able to scan them on virtually any type of scanner, even budget models selling for less than £100! You could even have a go at doing it yourself -- the black and white negs anyway -- it's not at all complicated or expensive. You'll find plenty of books in your local library on how to set up a simple home darkroom.

WIDE OF THE MARK

Thanks to Connected for the interesting piece on digital Cameras (Boot Camp June 25). I have two questions - why do most of these cameras not have tele/wide angle lenses? Is it because the images are so good they can be enlarged many times without problems or have the manufacturers simply not got there yet? Secondly, if I go on holiday a camera that can retain only 60 shots or so is useless.  I would normally manage at least double that in a couple of weeks - are there any with exchangeable memory that does not need a battery to keep it going?

David Pugh

The reason most digital still cameras (DSCs) have such basic lenses is down to cost and performance. The image quality achievable on most budget and mid-range models is not that wonderful -- compared with a film camera -- so it would be pointless fitting a high quality lens. It would increase the price, and at the moment that's a touchy subject. Most models sell for between £250 to £500; when you consider that for the same sort of money you can buy a camcorder -- which is a vastly more complicated piece of equipment -- you can see why manufacturers are reluctant to make them any more expensive. Nevertheless, economies of scale are beginning to kick in and prices are coming down. Several companies produce models with more sophisticated lenses, and you can get serious and semi-pro models with interchangeable lenses. Incidentally, Irvine Sensors in the US, are working on a DSC adaptor module, shaped like a 35mm film cassette, that will fit into any conventional film camera, more details from: http://www.irvine-sensors.com

Around half of the DSCs on the market at the moment have removable, non-volatile memory modules. Most of them are the mini PCMCIA card type -- around the size of a postage stamp, and are available in a range of capacities, from 4Mb to 50Mb. The modules can be inserted into a PC card or floppy disc adaptor, to transfer images from the camera to the computer.