PRODUCTIVITY SOFTWARE
Productivity software includes software that people typically use to complete work, such as a word processor
(working with words), spreadsheet (working with data, numbers, and calculations), database (organizing and
retrieving data records), and presentation (creating slideshows with text and graphics) programs. Productivity
software is often compiled into suites of applications, such as Microsoft Office, because many people use two
or more of these products to get their work completed. Office suites often include a word processor, a
spreadsheet application, presentation software, and database management software. Suites also allow users
to integrate content from one program into another, such as including a spreadsheet chart in a report
created with a word processor.
W O R D P RO C E S S I N G S O F T W AR E
Word processor software certainly does “process” words, but today it does a great deal more. With a word
processor you can create documents that include sophisticated formatting; change text fonts (styles applied
to text); add special effects such as bold, italics, and underlining; add shadows, background colors, and other
effects to text and objects; and include tables, photos, drawings, and links to online content. You can also use
templates (predesigned documents with formatting and graphics already in place for you to fill in) to design
web pages, newsletters, and more. A mail merge feature makes it easy to take a list of names and addresses
and print personalized letters and envelopes or labels.
S P R E A D S H E E T S OF T W A R E
Spreadsheet software, such as Microsoft Excel, is an application where numbers rule. Using spreadsheet
software you can perform calculations that range from simple (adding, averaging, and multiplying) to
complex (estimating standard deviations based on a range of numbers, for example). In addition,
spreadsheet software offers sophisticated charting and graphing capabilities. Formatting tools help you
create polished looking documents such as budgets, invoices, schedules, attendance records, and purchase
orders. With spreadsheet software, you can also keep track of data such as your holiday card list and sort
that list or search for specific names or other data.
D A T A B A S E S OF T WA R E
Database software can manage large quantities of data. The software provides functions for organizing the
data into related lists and retrieving useful information from these lists. For example, imagine that you are a
salesperson who wants to create a list of customers. Of course you want to include the name, address, and
company name for each person. However, you might also want each customer record to include the
customer’s birthday, spouse’s name, and favorite hobby as well as a record of purchases in the past year. You
can also set up fields to look up data such as city names based on a ZIP code, saving you time reentering data.
Once that data is entered into a table you can view information in a spreadsheet-like list or as individual
customer record forms. You can create queries that let you find specific data sets. For example, say you want
to find every customer with a birthday in June who is interested in sports and has purchased at least $2,000
of products in the last year so you can invite them to a company sponsored sports event. With a database,
you can generate a list of those records easily.
P R E S E N T AT I O N S OF T W A R E
Presentation software, such as Microsoft PowerPoint, uses the concept of individual slides that form a
slideshow. Slides may contain bulleted lists of key concepts, graphics, tables, animations, hyperlinks to web
pages, diagrams, and charts. A slideshow can support a presenter’s comments during a talk, can run
continuously on its own, or can be browsed by an individual online or on a computer. A presentation program
can help users create attractive slides by allowing them to use background art from a template, placeholders
for titles and bulleted lists, and graphics.
GRAPHICS AND MULTIMEDIA SOFTWARE
With graphics software, you can create, edit, and format images such as pictures and photos. Use multimedia
software to work with media such as animations, audio, and video.
G R A P H I C S S OF T W AR E
If you like working with drawings, photos, or other kinds of images, you may have used graphics software,
which is software that allows you to create, edit, or manipulate images such as drawings and photos. Though
most productivity software such as word processors and presentation software include graphics features,
design professionals work with products that are much more feature-rich such as desktop publishing
software, photo editing software, and screen capture software.
Desktop publishing software is used by design professionals to lay out pages for books, magazines, brochures,
product packaging, and other print materials. Photo editing software is used by design professionals to
enhance photo quality or apply special effects such as blurring elements or feathering the edges of a photo.
With screen capture software you can capture an entire computer screen or only a portion of it, which is
helpful for showing people how to use software features.
M U L T IM E D I A S OF TW A R E
Use multimedia software to work with media such as animations, audio, and video. Animation software
enables you to animate objects and create interactive content. Animations are sometimes combined with
music or narration. Use audio software to work with music files and record and edit audio used for podcasts
or as audio files to be shared with others. Create and edit video programs with video software. Videos might
include an audio track with voice or music, or a variety of specific effects.