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!
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.
Verbal Branding and Productive Interactions
June 7, 2007
By: Stephen Melanson
Do you realize it took until 1977 before attorneys could advertise their services legally?
David L. Hudson Jr., a First Amendment Center research attorney (www.firstamendmentcenter.org) tells us, “(In 1977, the Supreme) Court first determined that attorney advertising was a form of commercial speech entitled to some degree of First Amendment protection in Bates v. State Bar of Arizona.”
Prior to that, he writes, the law said, “A lawyer shall not publicize himself, or his partner, or associate, or any other lawyer affiliated with him or his firm…”. Only business cards were an acceptable form of promotion.
Things have changed.
With consolidation and the overall ability to differentiate from each other diminishing, law firms are getting more and more attentive to their marketing efforts and brand identities.
For now, let’s focus on branding, and a curiously hidden element of it: verbal interactions as a brand building tool. Imagine how you’d feel if every time someone in your firm spoke to someone outside it, you lost money and your brand was diminished.
That sounds pretty awful. Unfortunately, it’s not exactly uncommon.
Most organizations, as far as I can tell, don’t recognize that direct contact with the public, i.e., actual conversations, represents the front line of their brand, and that these interactions must be managed as branding activities.
From over twenty years of varied business experience, there’s one thing I’m quite sure of: the last people to be trained and given a full understanding of an organizations’ value and brand positioning are, quite surprisingly, those on the front lines of direct customer contact.
That’s not only a shame and a lost opportunity, but it literally stands branding on its head.
Given one regrettable interaction, some clients will remember it the rest of their natural-born lives, and to them it’ll symbolize a firms brand from then on. (If you doubt this, ask an unhappy client what your brand is. Often, they’ll be most upset about an interaction they had with someone on the staff.)
It’s bad for business and, well, just bad for everybody. Therefore, verbal branding ought to be a management priority and a critical training issue.
Before we continue, let’s establish some philosophy: No matter what you do, you can only count on your audience (the public and individuals) remembering one or two things about your firm—period!
I know this to be true, and I can’t overstate the importance of understanding this going in, so you’ll develop your messaging correctly.
With this in mind, how confident are you that an initial contact with someone is promoting your brand effectively? Or for that matter, think about your web site – another type of “interaction” – and if a visitor will leave the site remembering what you want them to?
Without this effort to manage what people remember about you, especially through verbal contact, your brand could be diminished every day and potentially with every conversation.
Yes, it’s a scary thought. But as I mentioned, at some companies it’s happening right now, everyday.
Consider: Do you really need to tell people so much during a first conversation? Are questions of any kind likely to take you “off message,” never to return? If so, maybe you haven’t really found your best brand message. And by the way, does the home page of your web site really need to be that busy? It’s probably diluting your message.
Let’s get back to the central point. What do you really need someone to know – or if you will, remember – so each direct interaction is as productive as possible? The idea of “productivity” is an important one to verbal branding. An interaction is productive to the degree that people remember what you want them to, whether it’s a day, week, or month later.
When you’re compelled to tell your audience every detail of your organization and service, it simply means your verbal branding needs work.
As Vincent Gardenia said in Moonstruck, “That’s all I’m saying; I’ll say no more!”
Let me describe a productive business environment from a verbal standpoint: each interaction has a foundation of just a couple of central concepts; your answers to questions support, and track back to, those concepts rhetorically instead of diverting from them; and when anyone in your organization is asked, “What in the world do you guys do?” they understand what needs to be communicated, and they can do it with simplicity and confidence – every time.
Is it less exciting? Maybe. Does it work? Definitely.
Plus, the entire staff now has more confidence and the relief of knowing what to say. That’s how you generate more revenue, increase market share, and build your brand on a daily basis, conversation by conversation.
I like a quote by Patrick Lencioni, author of The Five Dysfunctions of a Team:
“If you could get all the people in an organization rowing in the same direction, you could dominate any industry, in any market, against any competition, at any time.”
I couldn’t agree more.
Stephen Melanson is a brand and positioning consultant, specializing in verbal brand development and teaching its application.
Email: stephen@melansonconsult.com
Technology & Law - Vol. VII
April 4, 2007
“Technology & Law” is a semi-regular column posted by Keith M. Survell. It deals with the interaction of technology and security with the modern law office.
You are going to LOVE Office 2007.
I’m being quite serious here. You are really going to love it, once you upgrade to it. In fact, for anyone purchasing a new computer, I strongly recommend it. It is a worthwhile upgrade, and I will tell you why.
Lots of court forms in TurboLaw documents are laid out in tables, which help align the text exactly as it appeared on the original court form. Indeed, many court forms are obviously tables - with all the lines, columns, rows, and cells that come with that type of layout. It makes it easy to fill in by hand, but not so easy to reproduce on the computer.
Above: A typical Microsoft Word document with a table (click to see full-sized picture)
Now, tables are all fine and dandy, but they don’t exactly work the same way as paragraphs do in a word processor such as Microsoft Word. You can’t just press the “Enter” key and get a new line - you have to add a new “row” in order to do that. In previous versions of Microsoft Word, working with tables was a chore - you had to go to the “Table” menu and select from a number of unclear sub-menus. Even for those who knew how to work with tables, it was a lot of clicking.
Well, Microsoft has really thought about these types of users in their latest version of the Office Suite. In Microsoft Office Word 2007, “menus” as you have known them are gone - instead, you have a “ribbon” that has “tabs” that correspond to different types of tasks. Most people will never leave the “Home” tab, which has most of the things you commonly use - bold, italics, basic paragraph formatting, lists, etc. This makes is extremely easy to get going in the new version - everything you need is right there, and everything you don’t need is hidden from sight (but easily accessible with just a click).
In the spirit of not bothering you with things that you can’t use, some controls are hidden until you click on something that would allow you to use them. For instance, the tabs that contain all of the table editing and formatting tools are hidden - until you click on a table.
Above: The Table Tools tabs appear!
These tabs are colored brightly so that you will notice them - as you can see from the picture above, the table tools tabs are yellow. Should you need to do any editing, simply click on one of these tabs to see the necessary buttons and controls.
Above: The Table Tools “Layout” tab has been clicked
The Layout tab is the one you are most likely to use if you are using TurboLaw, as it includes all the functions you need to add or remove rows from a table. And best of all, the functions are very clearly labeled, and do exactly what they say.
Above: The “Rows & Columns” group of the “Layout” tab
Above: A closeup of a table (click to see full-sized picture)
It is just a single click now to insert a new row in a table. For example, in the document pictured above, there is space for only 6 children. If you needed a spot for a 7th child, you could simply click “Insert Below,” and a new row would appear. It really is that easy.
The ease of use in Microsoft Office Word 2007 goes beyond editing tables, though. This same philosophy has been applied to every function you could conceivably use - they are all grouped logically, so that when you need a function, it is already there. Word 2007 will make you even more productive - and when paired with TurboLaw, you’ll be able to produce and edit documents with astonishing speed. We really can’t say enough nice things about it - it will make your work easier.
User Templates
February 2, 2007
It is possible to modify any of the “template” forms provided with TurboLaw to suit your own needs. These modified templates are known as “user templates.” This option can be used to create your own derivative forms, or to create entirely new forms that do not currently exist in TurboLaw. You can also modify documents that you use frequently; for example, if you make a certain edit to a form every time you use it, you could make that edit part of a new template, and then you would not have to make that edit each time you created the form.
Creating Your Own Template
To create your own template, simply click on the “File” menu in TurboLaw, and choose “Manage User Templates.” This screen displays all of the templates you have created. To create your own template, click on “New Template.” From this screen, you can select the TurboLaw document on which you would like to base your custom template. You can choose the appropriate state, area of practice, and category by using the drop-down boxes at the top of the list. Then, simply click on the template you would like to modify. You must give your custom template a different name from any other document in the same category.
Warning: You must give your template a name that is different from any other template in that category. TurboLaw will not allow you to create a template that has the same name as another template.
In addition, you cannot change the name of your template once it has been created, so you are advised to name your template carefully.
Once you have named your template, you can click “Create User Template.” If you have checked “Show Instructions” (which is “on” by default), you will be shown some instructions before your template is created. It is important to remember these instructions when you are creating your template.
Once your template has been created, it will be opened in either Microsoft Word or Excel (as appropriate). You can then edit the TurboLaw template as needed, to make your own derivative template. Simply use the “Edit Document” button to “un-lock” the document, and make any changes you need. Then, lock the document again by clicking the “Edit Document” button again before you save the form.
Warning: Use caution when deleting the gray form fields in your template. These fields are often “linked” (also known as “referenced”) by later portions of the document. If you delete the “source” (the gray form field), the links later on will display the text “Error: Reference source not found!” (the error may not appear until you print your document). To prevent this from happening, use caution when deleting form fields, and always print a draft copy of your template to check for these errors.
Always remember to “lock” your template by using the “Edit Document” button before you save it. Many TurboLaw documents will not fill in properly if they are not in the “locked” mode.
Warning: Editing templates requires some advanced word processing skills. If you are not familiar with Word’s “table” feature, you may find working with templates difficult. We recommend consulting the on-line help for Microsoft Word, or you may find one of the many Word guidebooks helpful. Most are available at your local bookstore.
Modifying Your Template
You can modify any template you have created by double-clicking on its name from the list of user templates. Once your template is open, the rules for editing it are the same as when you first created it.
Deleting a Template
If you have created a template which you do not need anymore, you can delete it by selecting the template name from the list of templates and clicking the “Delete Template” button.
Do it yourself marketing - finding great images.
October 17, 2006
Do you, your staff or a family member or friend create your own marketing materials? If so, read on. This short article will give you some great resources for fantastic images and photos that are completely legal to use and either free or very inexpensive.
It used to be the case that finding engaging images and photos for marketing purposes that were weren’t copyrighted or extremely expensive was quite difficult - at least in my experience. Below are some of the resources I use on a daily basis to create the materials we use here at Promethean.
http://www.sxc.hu/
This is a site with thousands of free images you can use. Registering is free and gives you access to the larger file sizes.
http://www.stockxpert.com/
This is spin off of the site above. The images may be considered “more professional” and are very inexpensive to download.
http://www.shutterstock.com
This is our newest find for image sites. It is $159.00 for one month with up to 750 downloaded images - still a fantastic deal for what they offer.
Next month I will write a little bit about the program we use for creating our marketing pieces and free software classes online.
Hope this helps you!
Danielle
Director of Sales & Marketing
Promethean Software Corporation
The makers of TurboLaw Software
danielle@turbolaw.com
(800) 518-8726 x112
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