One of the main functions of digital tools is based on making the daily life of its users much easier . So, from them, there is the possibility of performing various tasks thanks to its wide variety of resources and applications for it.
In this sense, at present, you have many possibilities and countless programs at hand to manage the accounting of your home or business, write work letters to your friends, polish your photographs to present them in some project and many others more things. Taking into account that, these applications already have a very widespread use both on a personal level, as well as on an academic, professional and commercial level .
Thus, when we refer to these tools, we are basically talking about the famous office applications that, in some steps, can be available individually and in others, in package form. Next, learn more about this.
Index:
What is an office application and what is it for?
To begin with, it should be noted that the term “office automation” refers to the acronym of “office” and “computing” . From there, the office can be defined as the set of techniques, applications and computer tools used in office functions with the aim of improving, optimizing and automating all related procedures or tasks. This is also known as “office automation” or “desktop automation” .
In this sense, office applications are a group of programs that provide various functionalities and are considered to be fully used in the professional field and also at a personal and academic level. Which, are capable of devising, creating, directing, transmitting and saving the necessary information in these environments.
Therefore, office-type applications serve to help speed up and motorize any activity that can be done manually in an office, for example. Whether with regard to typing, file and document management, dictation, fax, archiving, microfilming, etc.
In addition, these useful applications provide great ease when sharing files and also allow to modify documents in real time and even with several users .
What are the most used and important office applications today?
Now, you will ask what are the types of office apps that exist and well, the most used and important today; Therefore, in this section of the post we present you the main applications of that class that also can be identified as the elements of members of an office package:
Processors
Also known as “word processing” , these office applications are the most used. Since, it is a software class with multiple functionalities for writing with different sizes and fonts of letters and characters, as well as various types of paragraphs, colors, artistic effects and more options.
In this way, they are programs clearly intended to create any type of text in a simple and fast way with the aim of producing written documents without any restrictions, unlike text editors that only They handle simple text. In that sense, word processors support the creation, modification, editing and processing of any writing with various formats .
Spreadsheets
These apps are intended to store, section data and perform calculation s, as well as analysis on them . That is to say, they are based on a type of document that facilitates the manipulation of numbers and alphanumeric data that are arranged in the form of tables, generally composed of cells. These are usually organized in a two-dimensional array of columns and rows.
It should be noted that, the data entered in these programs can be texts, numbers, dates or any other . Since, from them, you can order, organize and calculate new data. Additionally, it offers users to obtain graphs based on the data added in the tables. Thanks to this, they are tools used by a multitude of professionals , today.
Databases
They are generally referred to as “database managers” and also as “database management system (DBMS)” , these applications being those that are intended for the creation, modification, update, realization and storage of written reports on information that is contained in a database.
In this sense, users can access the information using specific tools for generating reports and consulting. In addition to this, these types of systems provide methods to maintain the security and privacy of the data , also to manage user access to them and even to be able to recover the information in case the system gets corrupted.
It should be noted that there are three types of databases and they are:
- Hierarchical databases.
- Network databases.
- Relational databases.
Image editors
They are office applications that are in charge and facilitate the treatment and manipulation of images, photos, videos and all this kind of elements . In a way that allows users to edit images and videos in the simplest way by reducing, trimming, enlarging and retouching them. But also, they admit the most complex way to do it, because it has the ability to make assemblies, animate videos and figures in order to optimize your presentations.
In addition to this and among other details, image editors offer you the possibility to create correction settings, work through layers , modify the resolution to your liking, etc.
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It is appropriate to note that, there are several types and among the most important are the following:
- Design : Usually, these are tools that simplify the creation of graphics and retouching images with great quality.
- Photography : In a timely manner, these are responsible for retouching and manipulating images and photos from various tools they contain.
- Drawing and painting : These are the ones that allow Graphical, photo editing, bitmaps, can create and view GIF animations, apply filters and transformations, adjust colors in photographic elements, use video frames and capture frames from video cameras.
- Animations : Provide the necessary options to convert video sequences into animations in GIF, PNG, JPEG, TIF and BPM format.
- CAD : Basically, they work for the creation of 2D and 3D designs.
- DE 3D : They allow you to design and create graphics, clearly, in three dimensions.
Presentation editors
On several occasions, you must make presentations to expose some work in your university or work, so you have the requirement to resort to this type of programs or applications. Which, facilitate the creation of attractive presentations are very fast and simple .
Among its most relevant features, it should be noted that these presentation editors allow you to include text, as well as images, animations and colors so that you can make them to your liking and be really interesting. In addition, you can also make presentations with templates and even insert sounds and animations in your slides , also having the possibility to publish them on the Internet directly from the office application.
Project editors
Basically, these computer and office applications are those that allow you to manage your projects . This means that they simplify the organization of all the data contained, as well as the scheduling of tasks and the management of the necessary resources in order to achieve a specific objective. Of course, keeping in mind the budget and specific timeframes.
On the other hand, with regard to their most significant functions, we note that they refer to the programming of duties, an optimal communication between the members of the project team, the allocation of time to the tasks. In addition to the administration of resources with respect to materials and costs , the monitoring of all actions and the presentation of the final project.
Web page editors
These types of office applications are also known as “HTML editors” and can be defined as those applications that allow you to easily create web pages, since it is not necessary to know that programming language to achieve it, that is, HTML.
Generally, most office suites and, above all, the word processors that include; They have options to make web pages and also to convert the content documents into versions that can be exported to websites.
On the other hand, several types of web page editors are distinguished and the most recognized are the following:
- Visual editors : These offer you the possibility to work as if you were editing the website directly. Which means that the codes are not seen but the elements (as they are displayed in a browser).
- Those who operate with codes : They are text mode editors They have a series of menus and toolbars that allow you to choose HTML tags. But, to make use of these applications, users must know the programming language.
- Mixed editors : These are the editors that have characteristics of the two previous types. That is to say, you can choose between one and another way of working and also add or change certain parameters in any of the two systems.
Layouts
They refer to all kinds of applications that simplify text editing on a professional level . Since, they contain a set of tools that have been specially designed for complex models with the aim of editing books, magazines, brochures and all this type of publications. With this, they enable the creation of texts with professional quality for printing or commercial distribution.
Among other functions, we detail that the designers have all the necessary tools to complete, successfully , the edition of a publication. In this way, they allow you to select the dimensions of the paper, the type of numbering of the pages, the paragraphs, the style of the types of letters, the spelling correction, etc. Like, several design tools .
Authoring tools
They are also known as “visual languages” or “author environments” and are based on computer applications that facilitate the development of multimedia systems. That way and usually, they are used to present specialized and multimedia content, such as videos, audios, images or text ; from which they provide an appearance similar to that of a website.
For their part, author tools provide a work environment full of objects, icons and options menus from which it is possible to display images (photos, videos, animations or graphics), reproduce sounds, create interactive buttons , activate other programs and control time or devices. Currently, office applications of this type have great utility in the development of educational programs .
List of the most commonly used office software and tools
Knowing the importance of each and every office-type application, it is logical to assume that they have many users around the world, thanks to the fact that they simplify so many activities on a personal level, as well as on a professional level. But, although there are many tools and software of this kind, only some of them are the most used (today).
Next, we detail the most relevant:
Word
This Microsoft Office tool is undoubtedly the most widely used word processor worldwide when it comes to digital documents. Which, emerged since 1981 and today, is multi-device . Basically, Word allows you to write texts, articles, descriptions and schemas in an organized way.
For its part, offers you several options to change the font format, its size and its design , depending on the needs of the user. You can also configure the sheet size to your liking, choose if you prefer to see it horizontally or vertically. Apart from that, it has the ability to check your spelling thanks to its added dictionary, it has functions such as inserting watermarks, finding and replacing, inserting your header, etc.
Excel
This software also belongs to the Microsoft Office package and is the office application spreadsheet commonly used worldwide. In view of the fact that its functions as a spreadsheet provide a large number of facilities to keep track of any financial activity, organize the alphanumeric information you want to present it in balance sheets, reports, tables and graphs ; basically.
Among its particularities of greatest interest, we find that it has easily identifiable cells with letter and the corresponding column and row number , offers worksheets that are identified in the lower left part of from some labels that can be renamed by the same user. Apart from that, contains a ribbon where you can modify various parameters , it offers you the possibility to enter formulas, it contains many functions, it provides graphics, etc.
PowerPoint
Another Microsoft Office tool that relies on a presentation editor that offers various features and benefits to its users to create professional-looking slides from the combination of various multimedia formats. Such as: text, photographs, audios, etc. In other words, it provides you with all the necessary tools to communicate the information you want in a visual way and at the same time, completely attractive .
Now, specifying its functions and particularities of greater interest, it is worth noting that PowerPoint supports the use of certain templates and custom, at the same time . In addition to this, it offers the insertion of interesting images, the possibility of adding text in them, you can also create texts with different formats and colors, make use of audio and music intuitively. Like use animations in your presentations with images, objects and text.
Adobe Photoshop
Developed by Adobe Systems Incorporated , this image editor or graphic editor is another of the most widely used office applications. In the first place, because it has powerful functionalities to manipulate images with great quality and results at a professional level , even. In addition, it is estimated as the world market leader in image editing applications and dominates this sector remarkably.
Although, at the beginning, it was only used for retouching photos and graphics, it later became a great reference for editing images in general. For its part, detailing its most relevant features, we highlight that Adobe Photoshop has generator technology that allows to create dynamic images quickly in real time , offers saved in the cloud, provides optimized 3D tools, etc. .
Microsoft Project
Today, it is estimated as one of the most used project management software worldwide, since it allows its users to choose from dozens of options and alternatives. Taking into account that, although it is one of the first project editing solutions, it has evolved significantly and from its updates, has added many more tools of interest .
Of course, it’s a program sold by the Microsoft company to simplify project management of any kind. Thus, among its main functions, we note that it gives you the possibility to communicate and present any information about the project, you can control their schedules and finances , as well as organize the work and people to complete such a project on time.