Gobe Productive User's Guide - Being Productive

- Designing graphics
- Building a Word Processing document
- Developing a spreadsheet
- Creating a chart
- Laying-out a presentation
- Touching up a picture
- Being Productive: Tips for Integrating and Getting the Most from Gobe Productive

# Being Productive

This topic focuses on tips and tricks for using the Gobe Productive suite. Moreover, this topic presents some useful ideas for integrating different items in Gobe Productive documents.

This section contains the following tips:

### Word Processing Tips:

- Develop and Use Styles
- Use Spreadsheets for Layout
- Use Word Processing Documents for Text-Based Documents

### Spreadsheet Tips:

- Use Spreadshsheets to Store Information
- Use Named Selections
- Select the Cell Headings When Creating a Chart

### Graphics Tips:

- Image Stacking
- Use Linked Frames

### Presentation Tips:

- Take Advantage of Presentation Layers

### Image Processing Tips:

- Use Image Processing Documents Only for Images

### Conclusion

## Word Processing Tips

Perhaps the most common use for a productivity suite is writing letters, reports, and memos. Gobe Productive was designed to make producing such documents very easy. Consider the following letter.

### Tip One - Develop and Use Styles

Styles are one of the most powerful and versatile features of Gobe Productive. Define styles for each kind of text in your document. For example, design a Logo style for the logo on the page. Then develop a body style, with an indention and standard font format.

Once you have designed a series of styles, write your letter using those styles. Then save the document in Gobe Productive format for use later as a template. Next time you need to write another letter, open the template file, write the letter, and then save the new letter into a new file name.

If your letter uses a graphic or image for a logo, define special graphics styles that ensure a consistent look and feel.

### Tip Two - Use Spreadsheets for Layout

Spreadsheets are an excellent way to create neat, well organized lists of information. Rather than trying to keep track of tabs and other indenting features, drop in a table frame and layout information into neat, resizable columns and rows. Remember, you can turn off the column and row headings as well as the grid lines. This will make the table frame blend in with the rest of the document.

In this example, the list in the middle of the page is actually a spreadsheet frame.

### Tip Three - Use Word Processing for Text-based Documents

Most letters, memos, reports, etc. contain mostly text and maybe a few images or spreadsheets. When presenting an even logical flow of text, a word processing document is the best.

However, if you are producing a layout-based document such as a newsletter, poster, or flyer, it is probably best to use a graphics document with word processing frames. Word processing documents are intended for working with a lot of text. Graphics documents are much better suited for complex and compelling layout. Moreover, using the frame-linking features, you can break up blocks of text into separate frames but still have a continuous flow of text.

## Spreadsheet Tips

Spreadsheets are great for storing and working with lots of numbers and data. Moreover, you can write complex formulas to automatically and dynamically calculate everything from the interest on your home to the cosine of an angle.

### Tip Four - Use Spreadsheets to Store Information

Spreadsheets are ideal for working out financial and mathematical scenarios. However, when presenting that material either on screen or in a report, it is usually best to include the final results or data. Naturally, a Gobe Productive spreadsheet can be printed, but for ideal presentation you might want to consider copying the crucial data and then pasting it into a word processing or graphics document.

### Tip Five - Use Named Selections

As demonstrated in the Creating a Presentation topic, you can name a region of cells and then reference those cells anywhere else in the same document file. Using this feature, you can build a complex spreadsheet and then merely reference the important data in a word processing or presentation document.

For instructions on making a named selection, see the topic Named Selections in the Spreadsheet section.

### Tip Six - Select the Cell Headings When Creating a Chart

The Gobe Productive charting tools work best when the range selected has category and series headings. This ensures that the scale and legend on the chart are correct. When you are building a range of data to chart, don't forget to supply one row and one column of headings for the data.

NOTE: Category and series headings are not the same as the column and row headings which are the letters or numerals at the along the top and left edge of the spreadsheet. Selecting the row and column headings selects the entire row or column, which is probably not what you would want when creating a chart. See the example screen image below.

Also, XY charts are really not intended to have category headings. Such headings would be interpreted as data, not coordinates to map. Therefore, only include series headings for such charts.

Incidentally, series headings typically run across the top of a range while category headings run down the left side. However, Gobe Productive considers whatever range is longer as the category range.

## Graphics Tips

The graphics features of Gobe Productive are perhaps the most versatile aspect of the entire suite. The graphics environment exists in one form in all documents. Moreover, all items, including frames, are treated like graphics items when selected.

The graphics environment is exceptionally well suited for designing graphics and layout intensive documents. Moreover, you can use the graphics environment to augment images and text with colorful shapes, curves, and gradients.

### Tip Seven - Image Stacking

Two dimensional computer monitors can make us forget that the computer can manipulate items in a three dimensional space. The stacking capabilities of the graphics environment allows you to place items on top or below other items. For example, you can place a spreadsheet frame on top of a gradient filled box to create a fantastic bordering effect.

In this example, a spreadsheet frame is on top of a gradient filled box. Both of these items sit on top of a larger, yellow gradient filled box.

### Tip Eight - Use Linked Frames

The graphics environment is ideal for creating newsletters, pamphlets, or any other "layout intensive" documents. Typically, such documents require text frames that are in different places or on different pages, but should contain a continuous flow of text. The linked frames feature of Gobe Productive allows you to create two or more frames with a continuous flow of text or spreadsheet cells.

Creating a linked frame set is easy.

1. While in a graphics document, create a spreadsheet or word processing frame. Enter whatever text you want into the frame.
2. Select the frame. Remember, while you are working inside the frame it is active. To select the entire frame you may need to click anywhere in the workspace outside the frame to deactivate the frame and then click once on the frame to select it..
3. From the Window menu, select Create Linked Frame.
4. The application inserts a new, linked frame. Now, whenever text or cells "spill" over the end of the original frame, they will "wrap" into the new frame. This allows you to position the two frames anywhere on the page or any other page and still have a continuous flow of text or data.

## Presentation Tips

The presentation environment is essentially a special graphics document which allows you to create a slide show.

### Tip Nine - Take Advantage of Presentation Layers

Unquestionably the most powerful aspect of the presentations environment is the layering capabilities. Using layers you can create a complex and reusable set of pieces for building slide shows and hand-outs.

For example, your are designing a ten slide presentation. The first five slides are about a new project you and your co-workers are beginning. The last five slides were a wrap-up of another project. To create a visual distinction between these two sets of slides you can create multiple backgrounds and common layers. Consider the diagram below.

In this slide layout, there are three "master" layers, Background 1, Background 2, and a Common Footer. The entire slide show has ten slides. Slides 1 through 5 use Background 1 and the Common Footer layers. Slides 6 through 10 use Background 2 and the Common Footer layers. The Slide Palette might look something like this:

Some layers closed for clarity.

Using this layout, the side show changes backgrounds midway through the presentation. This visually distinguishes the first part of the presentation from the second. When the background changes, the audience has a quick visual cue that the topic has changed. Moreover, the creator of the presentation did not need to recreate the background on each slide. Rather, two layers associated to different slides accomplished this effect.

## Image Processing Tips

The image processing features of the Gobe Productive suite are simple yet powerful. They are intended for simple retouching, cropping, and editing.

### Tip Ten - Use Image Processing Documents Only for Images

The image processing environment is not well suited for layout of graphics or frames. It is best to use an image processing document or sheet to merely store an image. For example, if you were creating a newsletter, it is a good idea to create a graphics sheet for the actual layout and a separate image processing sheet to retouch the images in the newsletter. This keeps the original image separate from the newsletter in its own sheet.

## Conclusion

This topic presented ten tips for using the Gobe Productive effectively. The Gobe Productive suite is a flexible and powerful system. Keep experimenting with the features and functions of the application. You may find your own short cuts and tips to being productive.

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