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Ericas Ed-Ventures

Primary Education Ideas

Erica’s “Tell it Like it Is” Blogging and TpT Tips: Technology

There was such a positive reaction to my first “Tell It Like It Is” post a while back, that I decided to create another “Tip” themed post.   First,  I want to thank you for the positive comments.  I was not trying to be “The Boss of the Applesauce” but I wanted to get some simple, blunt tips out there.  I have been doing this a while and why make the same mistakes I did or waste your time if you don’t have to!

In most of my “Tip” posts, I refer to googling for tips or tutorials.  In this post, I am going to highlight some of the tutorials that I find most useful and give you a simple techie tip.  Please note, that I am no tech expert, I learn best by watching and then doing.

Making Products for TpT
Merging PDF Files on Mac

The number one question I get asked is,  “What program do you use to make your products in?”  I use PowerPoint!   In the past, I used Word and it was such a pain in the butt!  I ended up switching to PowerPoint because I read a tip thread in the TpT forums about how PowerPoint was so much easier to make documents with.  It really is!   I have a Mac but I bought Microsoft Office for it and I think the combo is great.  The only problem with PowerPoint is that you cannot change page orientation within one document.  So, I make two separate documents and two separate pdf files.  Here is how I combine PDF files using the PDF Preview program on Mac:

Here are a few of my favorite tutorials from other bloggers
I sign up to follow my favorite blogs via email as well as through the “follow me” buttons.  I love the emails because I never miss a post.  The emails are a bit delayed and don’t come out the instant a post does, but I still get them!    
If you have not used PowerPoint to create files, check out Ladybug’s tutorial!   I really have learned so much through following her blog.  All of her tutorials are super useful!  She is so sweet and we have been blogging friends since the very beginning.   I cannot believe I had to ask her to make a tutorial about making categories on my blog!   I had no idea how to get them to display.   So thank you, Kristen!
Ashley Hughes is amazing!  If you have a topic you want her to create a tutorial on, she will.   She just did this post about aligning files in PowerPoint.  I totally learned something!  New or old blogger/sellers, you need to check in on her Technology Tuesdays.  So helpful!

For more of my favorite Technology Tips, 
check out my Pinterest Board.
*I have not read the marketing pins yet, but plan to do so on a rainy day.
Thanks for stopping by!

Reader Interactions

Comments

  3. It's always nice to learn something new. I use PowerPoint, and I learned something new when I watched Ashley Hughes' tutorial! Thank you for sharing your tutorial. I wish PowerPoint would make it to where we could change the page orientation without having to go through all the other steps. On the upside, PowerPoint is WAY better than Word! 🙂

    Dawn
    Adventures in First with Mrs. Key

  8. Erica, that was an AWESOME first tutorial!!! (you sound adorable and not at all nannyish, by the way) Thank you for the sweet shout-out and thanks for teaching me something new! 🙂 🙂

  10. Thanks so much for this post! I have been trying to find a video on how to merge files on Power point on my Mac. You totally made my day. I can't wait to check out Ashley Hughes video too! Her tips are super helpful. I love your blog!

    Kristy
    The Phonics Phenomenon

  13. You are a published author and veteran blogger….I think that DOES make you Boss of the Applesauce!!! I am totally looking forward to more great tips and advice!
    Have a fabulous weekend Erica!
    Julie

  19. Thanks so much for this post! It helps so much to learn all the tricks out there. Like you, I made all my files in Microsoft Word before. It is soooo much easier doing PDFs. Thanks to someone's blog post, I learned that. 🙂

  21. every.single.time a buyer tells me they cannot open my file or it's messed up-I just copy and paste a link straight to your technical difficulties post! haha! Thanks for the tips again!
    Rachel

  22. You are so wonderful Erica! I need to check out Ashley's technology files. I'm sure I'll find out that I've been "taking the long way" with a lot of my tech needs. I figure things out so slowly and I've had to many "ah ha!" moments way too late in the game. 🙂 I need to watch me some videos! I was also a big googler early on. It's so nice to have these video tutorials now. So great that people take the time to do that! Thank you for this post Erica!
    Sarah
    Sarah's First Grade Snippets

  23. AWESOME tips!! Thank you for taking the time to share!! I've been DYING to figure out how to merge the PDF files, but I haven't taken the time out to really figure it out!! I just suffer through and make them with my head tilted sideways!! haha 🙂

    Kelli

    Surviving the Little People

  31. Thank you so much for posting this video Erica! I thought that I was not going to be able to merge my files due to the fact that I only have Adobe Preview. This definitely made my day!! 🙂

    ~Kay
    Sweetkindergartenkiddos.blogspot.com

  34. OMG Erica you just solved a problem that has been driving me CRAZY since I became a TpTer a couple months ago!! I always use PP but hated how I couldn't change page orientation within the file. You're the best! Thanks so much for posting! (& your comment about us getting to hear your NY accent was cracking me up ! I have many friends with your accent- I live in Jersey!!) Thanks again for a great tech post

    ✿Sue✿
    ✿Science for Kids Blog✿

  35. Like you, I learned the hard way and started making resources with Word, but since switched to Power Point and will never go back. Also, thank you for sharing with me a few weeks ago about using Picassa to create collages, so much easier! I love your updates and sassy wisdom!
    Kristen
    http://www.easyteachingtools.com

  38. Thank you so, so much for this tutorial! I'm a visual learner, and this video helped me tremendously with my PDFs!