A smart object is basically a shortcut or a reference to some original data so you have an external file which appears in a layer in your photoshop document but remains in its original place. If you subsequently change the original image any references to it in you new photoshop document will reflect the changes. Smart objects will be covered in our Beginners Photoshop Training training course in Brighton, Sussex.

You can convert one or any number of layers into a smart object in your active photoshop document.

Smart objects are created automatically when you place an Illustrator, raw or another Photoshop image into your document.

If you double-click the thumbnail for a Smart Object, the embedded (original) file opens.

Any edits you make on the open file will update automatically in your new document when you save the external or referenced file. You can reference the original file many times in your psd and all instances of it will update.

To create a Smart Object, do one of the following:

• Select one or more layers from the Layers panel
• Right-click (Mac: Ctrl-click) the while the layer or layers are selected and choose Convert to Smart Object

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Posted by Heather Buckley in Photoshop Training on April 27th, 2009 | No Comments »

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Posted by Heather Buckley in Train the Trainer Training on May 11th, 2009 | No Comments »

And don’t just take our word for it – here’s what the great and the good have to say about Time Management:

Samuel Smiles
“Lost wealth may be replaced by industry, lost knowledge by study, lost health by temperance or medicine, but lost time is gone forever.”

William Penn
“Time is what we want most, but what we use worst.”

Alan Lakein
“Time equals life; therefore, waste your time and waste of your life, or master your time and master your life.”

William Shakespeare
“Better three hours too soon, than one minute too late.”

Charles Richards
“Don’t be fooled by the calendar. There are only as many days in the year as you make use of. One man gets only a week’s value out of a year while another man gets a full year’s value out of a week.”

Louis E. Boone
“I am definitely going to take a course on time management… just as soon as I can work it into my schedule.”

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Posted by Faye Binfield in Time Management Training on May 11th, 2009 | No Comments »

Here are some useful shortcuts and keyboard strokes that you might find helpful when training or dealing with Dream weaver.

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Posted by Aaron Charlie in Dreamweaver Tutorial on April 27th, 2009 | No Comments »

Root Cause Analysis is a Six Sigma tool for rooting out and eliminating any pre-existing causes that are hindering performance. Through this method an organisation will be able to  make bettor use of its resources and weed out any problem areas.

Here is a brief overview of the five steps to process improvement using Root Cause Analysis:

Identify the Problem.

Any problems must first be defined before any action can be taken, after which a team should be assembled to solve the problem, making sure that they are given adequate resources and time to do so. Once this has been achieved you can then try and identify the root cause of the problem.

Data Analysis.

This is the gathering and sorting of data into a clear and concise form that will allow others to analyse this data so as to achieve a further idea of what is causing the problem.

Testing.

The theories developed through analysing the data in the previous step should now be tested to further identify the possible causes of a problem.

Implementation.

This is the correction or removal of a root cause through the implementation of a theory or plan that has come about through step three.

Monitoring.

After the root cause has been identified and solved there should still be a careful overview of the situation or more control of the situation so as to make sure that the problem has been properly resolved.

Root Cause Analysis is covered in our 5-day Lean Six Sigma Green Belt training course in Brighton, Sussex.

We can also arrange private or bespoke Root Cause Analysis training courses tailored around your organisation’s processes.

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Posted by Aaron Charlie in Six Sigma Training on May 8th, 2009 | No Comments »

Microsoft Excel is a spreadsheet application for Windows and Mac. Its features include powerful calculation tools and graphing capabilities. It has been the most widely used spreadsheet application since 1993.

Over the years Excel has become an integral part of the accounting functions of many businesses, but can used be anyone who needs to organise data or figures effectively. It provides an easy and effective way to format and manage data, giving the user the ability to create a chart or graph with ease. Understanding and being able to use Excel is now a basic necessity for many companies.

Excel can seem complicated and intimidating at first. The aim of the tutorial that follows is to guide you through the basics. You can follow each stage step by step, or dip in to particular sections to learn a specific tool.

For a really comprehensive coverage of Excel we’d recommend attending one of our instructor-led training courses which are delivered by experienced industry professionals.

The courses available include:

• Beginners Microsoft Excel Training
• Advanced Microsoft Excel Training
• VBA For Excel Training

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Posted by Alistair Wylie in Excel Training on May 1st, 2009 | 1 Comment »

Start off by opening up Excel 2007 by double clicking on the icon, either on your desktop or via the Programs list from the Start menu in the bottom left of your screen. All of this is covered in our Beginners Excel Course in Brighton, Sussex.

At the top of the Excel window is the title bar which will display the name of the workbook  you are working on (Excel files are called Workbooks!).  The default name for for a new Workbook is ” Book1″.

To the left of the Title Bar is the Quick Access Toolbar. This tool bar provides shortcuts to the most frequently selected tools. It looks like this:

If this is your first time using Excel then the bar will be set to its defaults: Save, Undo and Redo.

Undo will delete the action you have just taken and go back to what the situation was previously (useful if you make a mistake!)
Redo reverses the effects of pressing “undo” (if you decide it wasn’t a mistake after all!)
Save will initially prompt you to give your Workbook a name (something more exciting than Book 1!) and a location to save it in. After you’ve saved your Workbook for the first time, pressing “Save” again will save any updates you have made to the same file.

Located in the top left hand corner of the Excel Window is the Microsoft Office button. Click here to select from a variety of tasks from a drop-down menu including “Open”, “Save”, “Save As” etc… If you’ve worked with other Office product’s you’ll be familiar with these options.

In order to work well with Excel you have to give it the right instruction, and most of these are available on the ribbon. The ribbon is located below the Quick access toolbar across the top of the window. The ribbon is made up of lots of different tabs which display their corresponding command instructions when clicked. These tabs allow you to issue commands, access menus or access dialog boxes. There is also a “dialog box launcher” that, when clicked will offer additional commands that you may wish to use.    Here is a picture of the Ribbon:

Excel Ribbon

Click image to view full size

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Posted by Alistair Wylie in Excel Training on May 1st, 2009 | No Comments »

Microsoft Excel Workbooks are made up of Spreadsheets. A Spreadsheet is organised into  rows and columns of cells. The columns lettered and the rows are numbered. These numbers and letters combine to give each cell an address (e.g A1). All of this is covered in our Beginners Excel Training Course in Brighton, Sussex.

The contents of each cell can be entered via the formula bar. This is divided into two parts: the left side of the formula bar shows the cell address, and the right side shows the information that the cell is holding. If you can’t see the formula bar, select the “view” tab in the top menu and click the formula button in the show/hide section.

You can also see the total, mean, maximum or minimum of any numbers or cells by highlighting them and looking at your status bar. This is located at the very bottom of your excel window. If you wish you can also change the information the status bar gives by right clicking on the status bar and choosing its options in the Customise Status Bar Menu.

Excel Status Bar

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Posted by Alistair Wylie in Excel Training on May 1st, 2009 | No Comments »