Understanding Publisher

Publisher is a desktop publishing application from Microsoft.

It is often considered to be an entry-level desktop publishing application.

It provides superior control over page elements compared to Microsoft Word (but inferior to page layout programs such as Adobe PageMaker and InDesign, and QuarkXPress).

Getting Started…

Set Margins and Page Setup Options

• TOOLS – Options (General tab) – Measurement Units (set to Inches)

• ARRANGE – Layout Guides (to set margins and columns, and to set up Master Pages)

Creating a Basic Newsletter

• Set Margins to 0.5” all around

• Create 3 columns

• Create a rectangle at the top of the page for our Newsletter Title space (notice how rectangle sides snap to the margin / column guides).

• Change the fill colour of the rectangle to black (double click the box to get to the format window and chage Fill Colour to black)

• Add title of your newsletter by creating a Text Box (notice how to change size and shape of text box)

• Change size and colour of text (change colour to white to be seen in the black rectangle). More options are in the Format menu

Adding Your Text…

Add article text from Microsoft Word

• Text in Word should be free of any formatting

• Copy and paste text into Publisher from Word

• Resize text box to fit in a column (we will create newspaper style columns by using the Create Text Box Link button)

• Create empty text boxes in which to link the text

• Format the text as desired

• Add picture and balance text boxes

Adding a Picture…

Add picture to article

• INSERT menu – Picture – From File (select the picture and press the Insert button)

• Resize the picture (pulling the dot at a corner keeps the ratio; pulling from the middle stretches it; moving the green dot rotates the image)

• The PICTURE toolbar will generally appear on the screen (change image to greyscale, crop, change text wrap options, etc.)

Clean Up…

Clean up text and picture

• Balance text boxes by adjusting their size

• Use guides to line up text boxes and space titles and body text (you can pull guides down from the horizontal and vertical rulers by holding down the SHIFT key and pressing the left mouse button – the mouse pointer will change to the word “adjust”)

Add More Articles…

Add new text and pictures to fill the rest of the page

• Resize pictures to balance the space

• Use Format Painter to copy the look of title fonts and alignment, etc.

• Add other articles by copying and pasting text from MS Word. Insert pictures as desired