Cheatsheets

= = toc =Definition= Cheatsheets are short documents that give you useful information about how to use software or hardware without needing to read a whole manual. Free cheatsheets are generally available for almost every piece of software (and hardware for that matter) that could find residence in a school. People write them to help others out--and this is very often the case in the education world.

A major advantage to having a cheatsheet is that you don't have to memorize how to do something--you can call up your trusty cheatsheet for that information. This is particularly important for software or hardware that you use on an infrequent basis.

=PDF Reader= Often cheatsheets come in pdf formats, which can be opened by a pdf reader.

Here is an online pdf reader (that you do not have to install on your computer): []

You can also download pdf viewers that get installed on the hard drive. Here are a couple that you can try: [] This is the standard reader that many people have.

[] The free viewer "Foxit Reader" will open pdf files. The advantage to this software is that it opens quicker than the Adobe reader.

Some people like to print out their cheatsheets. Others like to have them open along with whatever program they are working on and go back and forth between them.

=Sample Cheatsheets= Here are some sample free cheatsheets:





You can often find collections of cheatsheets: []

=Finding Cheatsheets= Using your favorite search engine, type in the name of the software/hardware, the version you are using if that information is handy, and the operating system on your computer (Windows, Macintosh, Linux) as well as the word "cheatsheet" or "cheat sheet" with the space.

For example: "power point 2007 windows cheatsheet"

Generally with this type of search, the more specific you are, the better the results will be for your particular need. However, if you don't have the details available, you can type in a more general search such as "power point cheat sheet."