WASHINGTON, 2 September 2003 — Most of us who work with computers on a daily basis use word processors more than any other tool. But that doesn’t mean we use them effectively. The whole purpose of computers is to allow us to spend less time doing repetitive tasks. Yet many of us waste time typing the same text over and over again. This week, we’ll address some questions about how to streamline text entry.

Q: Sometimes I need to save a block of text for later use in multiple documents. Copy and paste doesn’t usually work because the clipboard only holds one piece of text in a time. Is there a better way?

A: Yes. There’s a little-known feature called “document scraps” that you can employ with just about any Windows application. Just highlight a block of text you would like to use in another document or in another application, click and hold down your left mouse button over the highlighted text. Now drag the highlighted text to your Windows desktop.

Let go of your mouse button, and an icon called “document scrap” will be created. Double-click the icon to use the text somewhere else. If you have a bit of text that you use frequently in many documents, consider turning it into a document scrap. Leave it on your desktop, and it’s always there when you need it.

Q: Is there a way to expand the copy and paste buffer so that it holds more than one thing at a time?

A: Yes, but you should know that this functionality is already built into Word 2002. As you mentioned, by default, the Windows clipboard — an invisible area of memory set aside to hold data so that it can be transferred from one place to another — only has enough room for one thing at a time. So, for example, if you highlight some text and select Copy from the Edit menu, whatever you highlighted will be retained in the clipboard until you copy something else there.

But what if you want to copy several blocks of text in the clipboard? In Microsoft Word 2002, you can copy, copy, copy, and then paste one of the pieces of copied text or information to another location.

Open a Document in Word, and from the View menu, select Task Pane. Click on the downward pointing arrow at the top of the task pane, and select Clipboard from the drop-down menu.

At this point, you will see some blank space to the right of your document. That’s the expanded clipboard.

Now, highlight part of your text, and select Copy from the Edit menu. The text you copied will show itself in the expanded clipboard. Copy some more text, and you’ll see it appear in the clipboard as well, along with the text you originally copied. You can copy multiple pieces of information and then, when you’re ready to paste one, simply put your cursor in the desired location, and click once on the clipboard entry that you wish to paste.

Once you get used to the expanded clipboard, you’ll probably not want to go back to using Word the old way.

Outside of Word, you’ll have to rely on a third-party utility if you want expanded clipboard capability. There are many clipboard expanders on the market. One of the nicest free ones is Clipboard Magic, from CyberMatrix (http: www.cyber-matrix.com clipmag.htm). Now in version 3.0, Clipboard Magic can store as many items as you want, ranging from one character to several pages each.

Q: How do I save a document to use as a blueprint for other documents?

A: The “blueprint” you refer to is commonly called a template. Templates are a standard feature of most word processors today. Essentially, templates contain text or other elements that do not change — your name and address, for example, or blocks of text that appear in all of your letters.

It’s easy to create a template. In Word, for example, start by typing the document as usual. Type only those elements that you wish to reuse in documents of the specific type. When you’re finished with a document, open the File menu, and click Save As.

In the Save As dialog box, you’ll see a drop-down list box labeled Save As Type. From that list box, select Document Template. Give your template a name, and then click Save.

That’s all there is to it. Now, when you wish to use that template as a basis for a new document, simply select New from the File menu, and the template you created will appear among the other templates. Creating templates works similarly in other applications.