Tips for Attorneys: Getting Your Documents Read
May 12, 2008
We all know about the power of the written word - after all, “the pen is mightier than the sword.” But the words we write don’t do much good if people don’t take the time to read them.
There has been a large amount of research done on how different fonts affect how people read a document, both in print and on the computer screen.
- Text Font Readability Study
- Typeface Readability
- Readability - making pages easy to read by design
- Literature Review - Serif vs. Sans Serif Legibility
Although many of the articles linked here are primarily concerned with legibility on the web, the same rules apply to people reading documents on a computer screen - and it is important to note that different rules apply to the computer screen as opposed to the printed page.
Font, Typeface, What’s the Difference?
Generally speaking, there are two types of fonts - Serif and Sans Serif. Serif fonts are the “classic” fonts, like Times New Roman. They are the fonts you typically see in newspapers. “Serif” refers to the little flowing marks at the edges of the letters. Sans-serif, on the other hand, simply means “without serifs.”
Serif fonts tend to work best in print; sans-serif fonts work better on-screen (and especially when the size of the text is small).
Although we highly recommend reading the articles linked above, here is a summary of the tips they offer for making sure your documents are actually read:
- Use an appropriate font - serif for print, and sans-serif for on-screen reading.
- Choose and appropriate font size - a small font may let you cram more information onto a page, but a larger font makes it easier to read.
- Don’t use lots of different fonts - it is visually distracting. Use just two or three fonts, at most.
- Use fonts consistently - use one font for body text and another for headings. Don’t swap the two half way through your document.
Don’t go overboard with bold, italic, and underline emphasis. If you need to emphasize an entire sentence, try using bold instead of underline, as it is easier to read and is less visually jarring.- If your document will be read on the computer or on-line (such as a web page), avoid using underlining - people will mistake it for a link that they can click on.
- Left-aligned text is easiest to read. Justified text (where the computer automatically adjusts spacing to make each side of the paragraph line up) is only effective with really long sentences, and the uneven spacing can make it hard to read.
- Don’t write entire sentences or paragraphs in ALL CAPITALS. It decreases the contrast between letters, making it harder to read. If you must draw attention to a section of a document, consider using a box to draw an outline around the text, or (if your document will only be viewed on the screen) use a background color.
- If you have long sections of your document, consider breaking it up a bit - use headings and sub-headings to break up long sections of text. Newspapers and magazines - whose livelihood depends on people actually reading their text - know this better than anyone. They will go so far as to take a quote from the text and put it in the margin in big letters, just to break up a long expanse of text.
If you follow these simple tips, you can ensure your documents are both legible and easy to read - which helps ensure that they actually are read. After all, you’ve gone through the trouble to produce your document with the expectation that it will be read - you might as well take a few extra steps to help make it a little easier on your readers.
What’s the difference between a bill (or invoice) and a statement?
April 25, 2008
Let’s face it - the English language can sometimes be imprecise. You get a cell phone bill, but you get a credit card statement. Both itemize the charges made to you - so which one is it, a bill or a statement?
While we can’t make the English language any better, we can at least shed some light on the distinction between bills (or invoices) and statements as they relate to TurboLaw Time and Billing.
In TurboLaw Time and Billing, a bill (also called an invoice) is just what you’d think it is - an itemized list of work done for the client, and how much they owe you for it. For example, a bill might have the following items on it:
- Spent 3 hours in court: $450.00
- Travel expenses to meet with client: $75.00
- On-site meeting: $250.00
- TOTAL DUE: $775.00
This is like a bill or invoice that you might get when you purchase something. We tend to call it a “bill” because you “bill” for your services, while you get an “invoice” for goods - but in practice the two terms are generally interchangeable.
A bill doesn’t say anything about money that might have already been paid - it simply lists the work or expenses you’ve done and how much they total up to.
On the other hand, a statement in TurboLaw Time and Billing is a “statement” of the status of the client’s account at a particular point in time. Each line item on a statement represents either a bill or a payment. As such, it doesn’t offer as much detail as a bill - but it does show payments made towards the account. Statements are often sent out on a regular basis (e.g., monthly - like your credit card statement) to show your clients where they stand (and if they still owe you any money). For example, a statement might have the following items on it:
- Balance forward: $85.67
- Bill #123: $290.00
- Payment #82: $50.00
- TOTAL BALANCE: $325.67
This shows that the client had a balance due of $85.67 from before the period of this statement (if you send out statements monthly, your statement period is usually “the last 30 days”) and that in that time, a bill for $290 was produced, but the client sent in a payment of $50, resulting in a final balance due of $325.67.
To see a sample bill and statement, click on the images below.
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- A Sample Statement
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- A Sample Bill
Hopefully this helps clear up any confusion about what the difference is between bills, invoices, and statements. As always, if you have questions about any TurboLaw product, you can call us at (800) 518-8726 or email support@turbolaw.com.
Ask The Geek: How do I type in documents where it doesn’t carry over to the next line?
April 3, 2008
Many thanks to longtime TurboLaw Document Software customer Candice McKenna-Imlach for today’s question.
In Microsoft Word, in order to keep “typing lines” under each line of text it is necessary to use Word Tables without text wrapping. This means that, when reaching the end of the table cell where text is typed, it is necessary to Tab (advance) to the next form field in order to continue typing text.
Microsoft has some very good (and very free) on-line training courses for learning how to deal with tables in Microsoft Word - here are some courses you can take to learn more about how to use Microsoft Word and tables to make complex page layouts:
More courses are available from Microsoft by clicking here.
Have a question for the geek? Send it to us at askthegeek@turbolaw.com!
Ask The Geek: How can I send documents in PDF format?
March 10, 2008
To send documents as PDFs (which stands for “portable document format“), you need a program to create PDF files - there are several available on the Internet for free, as well as some from commercial software vendors. The company which popularized the PDF format is called Adobe, and they sell a program called “Adobe Acrobat Professional” which allows you to create a PDF from just about anything. They also give away for free a program called “Adobe Acrobat Reader” which allows you to view a PDF and print it out (although not create a new one).
The best part of a PDF file is that just about anyone can view it - whether using a PC, a Mac, or some other type of device, chances are he or she can open a PDF file and view it. There are PDF viewer programs written for virtually every type of computer ever made, so when you send a PDF, you can generally be assured that the recipient can view it. Over the years, it has become the de facto standard for printable documents on the Internet.
Another great benefit of PDF files is that they strip out all the hidden “meta data” in your documents. You may have heard about “meta data” - this is the data inside your documents that you normally don’t see, but that may contain sensitive or personal information you don’t want disclosed. Creating a PDF naturally strips this information out - which makes PDFs a simple, easy solution to the problem of “meta data.”
Have a question for the geek? Send it to us at askthegeek@turbolaw.com!
Macros and Word 2007
February 7, 2008
If you have recently upgraded to Word 2007 (part of Microsoft Office 2007), you might have noticed that just about everything looks different - and the controls for macros are no exception.
The first time you open a TurboLaw document, you’ll see a “Security Warning” appear near the top of the screen, as shown below.
Because TurboLaw documents use macros, if you don’t enable the macros, the documents won’t work the way you expect.
If you click on the Options button, you’ll see a screen like the one shown below.
You’ll be able to see that the document has been signed by Promethean Software Corporation (the makers of TurboLaw), and some other details.
In order to enable the macros, you must select “Trust all documents from this publisher.”
Once this is done, click OK. The macros will now be enabled, and you can continue using TurboLaw. You won’t have to perform these steps again (unless you get a new computer).
If you’re using an earlier version of Word, the steps to enable macros haven’t changed - you can view the steps in our Help Center article on “How to Enable Macros.” If you can’t choose “Trust all documents from this publisher,” or if that option does not even appear, then you may not have the necessary certificates installed. This Help Center article describes how to install the needed certificates.
Ask The Geek: How can I get rid of junk mail (or “spam”)?
January 23, 2008
Unfortunately, the only guaranteed way to stop all spam is to not use e-mail. Spam is a part of life now, but you can take steps to reduce the amount of spam you get:
- Don’t publish your e-mail address on the Internet anywhere. Or, if you must put it on the Internet, write it out as “john at NOSPAM myaddress.com” instead of “john@myaddress.com”. This will help prevent automatic programs from collecting your address.
- Be careful whenever a website asks for your email address. Consider using a 2nd address just for on-line ordering and so forth - this way, all the spam goes to the 2nd address and you can just delete it from time to time.
- Use a good spam filter. Most email programs have some sort of ability to sort emails as they arrive - look into the features for your program. Microsoft Outlook has its “Junk Mail” folders, and if you use Microsoft Exchange in your office, there are many programs your IT person can load onto the sever to reduce spam before it even gets to your inbox. If you use Mozilla Thunderbird or Eudora, just start marking junk email as “junk” by using the buttons for it in these programs. They will “learn” to recognize spam over time and filter it for you.
Hopefully these tips help you deal with the avalanche of spam we all have to deal with these days. Good luck!
Have a question for the geek? Send it to us at askthegeek@turbolaw.com!
How To Add Footnotes/Explanatory Notes to Financial Forms
January 8, 2008
In our continuing effort to provide the absolute best customer service possible, we’ve just added a new video to our Self-Help Video collection called How to Add Footnotes/Explanatory Notes to TurboLaw Excel-Based Financial Forms.
The most common TurboLaw forms that are Excel-based are (for Massachusetts) the Rule 401 Long and Short form, as well as the Child Support Guidelines Worksheet.
We hope this video will help clear up any confusion on how to add footnotes to TurboLaw’s financial forms.
Don’t Let Word Get You Down, With “Error! Reference Source Not Found.”
October 5, 2007
It is the bane of everyone who uses Microsoft Word to fill out forms - the dreaded “Error! Reference Source Not Found.” Today we’re going to shed a little light on this annoyingly vague error message.
Why It Happens
This error occurs when you work with a form in Microsoft Word, and you delete one of the gray highlighted form fields that is “referenced” somewhere else in the document.
Sometimes this happens by accident, when you are editing a form. Sometimes there’s just no way around it - you have to delete something that doesn’t apply, for example. However, many times people encounter this error message frequently - and that can be very frustrating. If you encounter this message frequently, then chances are you might be editing your documents while “unlocked” when you don’t need to.
The whole concept of “referenced fields” and “unlocked documents” can be a bit confusing, so here’s some pictures to help clarify things.
This is a typical form field that might appear in a document. You can tell it is a form field because of the gray shading. TurboLaw documents are full of fields; and when the document is opened, you can only type in these fields, like so:
Anything that is not shaded in gray cannot be edited, because TurboLaw documents open in protected mode - what we sometimes call tab and type mode. You can type in the gray shaded areas, and press the TAB key on your keyboard to move to the next area. This is a simple and commonplace way to fill out on-line forms.
When Things Get Tricky
Things can get a little complicated once you unprotect, or unlock the document by clicking the Edit Document button. When you unprotect a document, it looks the same, but now you can edit the text that is not shaded in gray. In other words, it’s just like a normal Microsoft Word document - you can do literally anything you want to it.
Now, this is a necessary editing mode - often you need to change text that is not shaded in gray to complete a document. And that’s fine - as long as you don’t accidentally delete any of the gray shaded form fields. You see, when the document is unprotected, you are no longer in tab and type mode - if you try to type in one of the gray shaded areas, you will actually overwrite it - erasing it from the document, as shown below.
You can see that we clicked on the field to select it (as many people do), and then we typed “Person A.” However, notice that it is no longer shaded in gray - the form field has been deleted. This is because the document is unprotected.
The Consequences
When a field is deleted, the effects may not appear right away. Depending on what version of Microsoft Word you have, you might not see the error message until you try to print the document, or if you save it and re-open it. You might also see it once you click the Edit Document button again to protect the document and switch back to tab and type mode. In any case, the error message you will see might look like this:
You can see that the error appears under a signature line - which would normally have said “Person A” (if we hadn’t deleted the gray shaded form field). However, because the original gray shaded form field was deleted, this reference field has nothing to refer to - because the original field is gone! So Word just throws up its hands in defeat, and prints this message instead.
How To Avoid The Error
Fortunately, avoiding this error is pretty simple. Just watch what you’re typing, and if you ever type in a gray shaded area, and the gray shading goes away after you type, you have probably deleted the form field. Use the Undo function in Microsoft Word (CTRL-Z for those of you who like the keyboard) to bring it back, and then click the Edit Document button to protect the document and switch back to tab and type mode. Now you can type in the gray shaded form field without fear!
Now the reference field under the signature line correctly picks up the name “Person A” that we typed at the beginning of the document.
How To Fix The Error
If you’ve already erased a gray shaded form field, and can’t “undo” the change, here’s how to fix it. (These steps are also outlined in our Help Center article “Error! Reference source not found” appears in printed document.) Note that you need to have the document unprotected (unlocked) before you can remove the error message - use the Edit Document button to unprotect (unlock) the document before you begin.
First, you need to find the error message. If you can see it on your screen, just click after the error message and press the backspace key twice to erase it.
The first time you press the backspace key, the error message will be selected in gray, as shown above. The second type you press the backspace key, the error message will be deleted. Now you can type whatever is supposed to go there.
Note: if you just try to type over the error message, it may come back. This is because of the way Microsoft Word handles fields. To be on the safe side, always use the method described above to delete the error message.
If you can’t see the error message on the screen, you’ll have to do a little detective work to find the word or phrase that is being referenced. For example, if you still see “Person A” under the signature line, but when you print it out, all you see is the error message, then you know that “Person A” under the signature line is the problem field. Right-click on “Person A” and select “Update Field.” This will “refresh” the field, displaying the error message on your screen. Now you can use the steps described above to remove it.
If you have encountered this error message a lot in your use of TurboLaw’s documents, now you know how to avoid it, and you’ll be able to spend less time fighting with Microsoft Word, and more time doing other things - and that’s what TurboLaw is all about!
How to Tell if your TurboLaw is Up-To-Date
August 15, 2007
Not sure if your TurboLaw is up-to-date? Here’s how to tell whether you need to update or not.
Check the version number of your TurboLaw. In TurboLaw, click the “Help” menu and choose “About TurboLaw.”
The version of TurboLaw that you are using will be displayed.
(The current version of TurboLaw is 2.62, and you can always see what the latest version is by checking our Announcements.) If you have this version, then you are all set!
If you don’t have the latest version, you can easily check for updates right from TurboLaw. Just click on the “Updates” menu and choose “Check for Updates.”
This will open up the TurboLaw Update Utility - just click “Start” to begin! Once the update is done, you will be up-to-date with all the latest forms and program updates.
Having trouble with your updates? Here’s a few common problems and how to solve them:
Error: Connection to the server could not be established
Update Error &H80072EE7 (-2147012889) When Starting TurboLaw
Error Updating: Unable to register or renew
Of course you can always call us if you aren’t sure or if your problem isn’t listed here.
How To Tell if you can Run TurboLaw
July 25, 2007
Ever wondered if your computer has what it takes to run TurboLaw - or any other program, for that matter? Read on for quick and easy tips on how to determine some basic information about your computer and what’s inside it.
What Version of Windows Do I Have? (Also: How much memory [RAM] is in my computer?)
If there is a “My Computer” icon on your desktop:
- Right-click the “My Computer” icon
- Choose “Properties”
- The version of Windows will be displayed, along with how much memory (RAM) is in your computer.
If there is NOT a “My Computer” icon on your desktop:
- Click on the “Start” menu
- Look for the “My Computer” icon and right-click it
- Choose “Properties”
- The version of Windows will be displayed, along with how much memory (RAM) is in your computer.
If you don’t have an icon labeled “My Computer,” but instead have an icon labeled just “Computer,” you probably have Windows Vista.
- Click on your “Start” menu
- Right-click the “Computer” icon
- Choose “Properties”
- The Version of Windows will be displayed, along with how much memory (RAM) is in your computer.
(Click to see full-sized picture)
If you cannot find a “My Computer” or “Computer” icon anywhere:
- Click on the “Start” menu
- Click on “Run”
- Type “notepad” (but without the quotation marks)
- Click “OK” and Notepad will open on your screen
- Click the “Help” menu in Notepad
- Choose “About Notepad”
- The version of both Notepad and Windows will be displayed, along with how much memory (RAM) is in your computer.
What version of Microsoft Word/Excel/Office Do I Have?
- Open Microsoft Word (or Excel)
- Click on the “Help” menu
- Choose “About Microsoft Word” (or Excel) or “About Microsoft Office Word” (or Excel)
- The version will be displayed.
What if there is no “Help” menu?
- This is probably Microsoft Word or Excel 2007. It has no menus - just “tabs” (sometimes called “ribbons”).
How Much Disk Space is Available on My Computer?
- Double-click the “My Computer” or “Computer” icon on your desktop. (Or on your Start Menu - see above for how to find the “My Computer” or “Computer” icon.)
- Right-click the icon for your hard drive. The hard drive is usually labeled “Local Disk (C:)”
- Choose “Properties”
- The total amount of disk space, used disk space, and available disk space will be displayed.
If you would like a printable version of this guide, click here to download the PDF version of this article.
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