Do you often wish to create text files from your word processor documents, but find it cumbersome to use the export menu, select text file format, etc.? Create a "printer" that does the trick.

Click on the "Start" button, choosing "Settings," then "Printers." On the window that appears, double-click "Add Printer." On the window that appears, click "Next." Select the "Generic" Manufacturer, and make sure "Generic/Text Only" is selected as the printer. Click "Next." You will then see a list of available ports. Choose "FILE:" and click "Next." Type in whatever you would like as the printer name, such as "Text File." Click "Next" a couple of times to complete the installation. Do not print a test page just yet.

Now (we€re almost done!) right-click on your "printer" and choose "Properties." On the multi-tabbed dialog box that appears, click the "Paper" tab. Under "Paper source," choose "Continuous - No Page Break." Press "OK" to close this dialog box.

Now, when you 'print' to this printer, you will be prompted for a filename to which you can save your document in text format. Choose a filename and give it the ".txt" extension.

One problem with this trick - if you open resulting files with Notepad, you will see strange block-characters in your document. This should not cause a problem, as these are just representations of some control codes that other programs (i.e. WordPad) will ignore.

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