| |
 |
|
|
|
| |
On this page...

| |
| 1. Word 2007 |
|
| In the latest version of Word, there is an area next to the Office orb (top left-hand corner),
called the Quick Access Toolbar, to which various pre-supplied icons can be added. |
|
| 1.1 Add a Select All icon to Word 2007 |
|
| If you cannot see the Quick Access Toolbar, right-click on the Office orb to enable the
toolbar. There are only three icons on there by default, namely Save, Undo and Redo.
But you can add loads more, for printer, print preview, scanner etc., anything to avoid having
to use shortcut keys or wade through the maze of time-wasting tabs and ribbons all the time
to get to your favourite commands. The only icon we are going to add now, by way of example,
is for the useful Select All command. |
|
| Assuming you can see the Quick Access Toolbar, choose the Home tab > mouse over to the
RHS of the Home ribbon, at Editing, right-click on Select All > click Add to Quick Access
Toolbar. |
|
| That's it, done. You should now see a new icon as in Fig 1. |
|
|
| Fig 1 Programs from the 2007 Office suite have seen the traditional toolbars
replaced by context sensitive ribbon arrays, an idea originally used by Ulead's neat image-editing
program PhotoImpact. The Office ribbons cannot be customised by the user but there is
a Quick Access Toolbar next to the Office orb to which useful Word icons, like 'Spelling &
Grammar' or 'Select All', can be added, as below... |
|
 |
|
| The Select All command is a very suitable icon to place on the Quick Access Toolbar.
Having that icon immediately above the counterpart icons for Copy and Paste (on the Home ribbon)
is an efficient arrangement. |
|
|
| |
| 2. Word 97, XP/2002 or 2003 |
|
| One of the great things users can do in Word 97, XP/2002 or 2003, which users of Word 2007
cannot do, is customise the icons on the toolbars to exactly how they want them to be.
Icons can be moved to better positions, never-used icons can be removed, icons for extra functions
can be added, icon designs can be modified using the built-in Button Editor, and icons designed
in Paint can be imported via a Paste Button Image function. |
|
| 2.1 Add a Select All button |
|
| The majority of the hidden toolbar buttons in Word 97, XP/2002 or 2003 are in the form of
icons. However, one which isn't (but is in Word 2007) is the Select All command.
This comes not as an icon but as a rectangular button with the text-string label 'Select All',
giving a result similar to that shown in Fig 2 right. Instructions for adding that
button to the toolbar are contained in a small zip file which you can download by clicking the
blue link lower down this page. |
|
|
| |
| Fig 2 (below) In Word 97 to 2003, you can add a "Select All"
text-button to the Standard toolbar as shown in the screengrab below. |
|
 |
|
|
| |
|
| 2.2 Change the Select All button to an icon |
|
| If you are using Word 97, XP/2002 or 2003, and have successfully applied step 2.1 above,
you may feel you would rather have a proper icon, like Fig 3 right, or Fig 4 for older
Words, rather than the text button seen in Fig 2. In that case, the button can be
changed to an icon using Word's built-in Button Editor. This nifty feature allows anybody
to draw a toolbar icon from scratch, if they are so inclined. However, we have done this
already for the Select All function, so the icon image merely needs downloading and importing
into Word. |
|
| In fact, there are two icon images in our zip-file download. One is a shadowy icon,
intended for the elegant toolbars of Word 2003 (see Fig 3 right). The other is a
standard flat icon suitable for Word 97 through to 2002 (see Fig 4). |
|
| To change your 'Select All' button to either of the icons, click the blue link just below.
The zip file is only 3KB in size. |
|
| After downloading the zip file to your desktop, extract the contents to the desktop.
You will receive two small icon images and a text file explaining what to do next. In
just a few minutes, your own copy of Word 97, XP/2002 or 2003 will have this useful new addition,
just as you can see in Figs 3 or 4. |
|
| Related topics |
|
| Spelling and Grammar buttons - Add toolbar icons to check spelling
or grammar in Word 97 to 2007 and dispense with the distracting wavy underlines. |
|
| Toolbar Colours - Change the toolbars in Office or
other programs used in Windows 95, 98, Me or 2000 from classic grey to brighter XP-beige. |
|
|
|
| Fig 3 (below) The screengrab below shows the standard "Select All"
text-button in Word 2003 turned into a nice icon. |
|
| |
| Fig 4 (below) The screengrab below shows the standard "Select All"
text-button in Word 97 to Word XP/2002 improved by turning into a small icon. |
|
 |
|