Office 2008 for Mac All-in-One For Dummies®

Chapter I.6. Common Tools That Make Your Life Easier

In This Chapter

• Checking your spelling and grammar

• Working on your themes and templates

• Creating your own document themes

• Saving your work in various formats

• Equating figures and formulas with Equation Editor

• Programming and automating options

This chapter covers an eclectic collection of tools shared by Office 2008 applications, ranging from everyday features, such as spell checking, themes, and styles to specialized tools, such as Equation Editor, AppleScript, and Automator.

Proofing Your Spelling and Grammar

Fat fingers get a lot of the blame for spelling errors, and good grammar is as much a good habit as it is a skill. Clear communication with the right words, correct spelling, and richer command over language is essential at home, office, or school.

Running spelling and grammar checks

As we mention in Chapter 3 of this minibook, spelling errors are indicated by a red squiggly line under the misspelled word. You can rectify such errors by Control-clicking or right-clicking the word, and then choosing the correct spelling from the resulting pop-up menu. With the same procedure, you can also get help with grammar by Control-clicking or right-clicking words with green squiggly lines in Microsoft Word. Office 2008 also has AutoCorrect, which fixes spelling errors for you while you type; it's excellent, but you still need to know your homonyms because spelling and grammar can't tell the difference between words such as to, two, and too. ...