Introduction to Microsoft Publisher

Lesson 1

Learning Your Way Around Publisher

New to Microsoft Publisher? This lesson provides a gentle, no-experience-required introduction. You will learn how Publisher compares to other apps, such as word processors like Word and higher-end desktop publication programs like Adobe InDesign. You will find out how to create, save, close, and open publication files, and how to get around in the Publisher interface. You will also create your first publication here, and in the process, you will learn about color schemes and font schemes.

Creating a Simple Publication

This lesson introduces some fundamental skills that will apply to almost every publication you will create going forward, including business information sets, text boxes, pictures, and shapes. You will start out by using a template to create a flyer that contains text and graphics, and then change its template and its content. Then you will create an award certificate that contains text and drawn shapes, and you will learn how to stack and group objects.

Creating a Publication from Scratch

Templates are great, but sometimes it is easier to start with a blank slate. In this lesson, you will learn how to create blank publications of various sizes, and how to insert and delete pages in them. You will also get a closer look at how text boxes work, and practice creating, resizing, and moving text boxes, as well as formatting the text within them. You will also learn how to add borders and shading to a text box and adjust its margins and padding.

Creating a Publication using Imported Content

You might sometimes have content created in a different application that you want to use in Publisher. No problem! In this lesson you will learn how to import text from a variety of sources. You will find out how to clear any old formatting from the imported text, and how to make text flow seamlessly from one text box to another. Pictures are another type of content you might want to import, and in this lesson, you will learn how to import a picture and then format it in various ways, including moving and resizing it, applying a border, and applying filters, effects, and color corrections that can improve the picture's original appearance. You will also find out how to control the relationship between text and graphics when they overlap.

Sharing a Publication

What do we create publications for, if not for sharing them with people? In this lesson you will learn all about printing your publications, as well as how to save publications in other digital formats such as PDF and HTML. Then you will learn how to send a publication via an email message in several different ways, including attaching the publication as a PDF or XPS file and sending a publication in the body of a message.

Creating Publications of Different Sizes

Not all publications fit neatly on a standard letter-size sheet of paper. This lesson focuses on three different kinds of publications that all break the size mold in different ways. First you will create a business card and learn about layout options that enable you to print multiple copies per sheet of paper (or cardstock). Then you will learn how to create large banners in Publisher and then either have them professionally printed or piece together a makeshift banner using multiple sheets of paper and a roll of tape. Finally, you will learn how to create advertisements for print publications using whatever size you need to fit the publication's requirements.

Creating Folded Publications

In this lesson, you will learn about three kinds of publications that have one thing in common: they are designed to be folded. You will first create a trifold brochure and discover how to make a brochure layout without interfering with the folds. Then you will plan and create a greeting card (and save yourself a fortune in buying store-bought cards!) Finally, you will create a booklet and learn about setting up mirrored pages and adding headers and footers.

Creating a Newsletter

This lesson is devoted to a single project: a newsletter. You will discover some common newsletter elements and learn how to plan for double-sided printing. Then you will flow text between pages and create notations that help readers find the second part of a story that starts on page 1. Finally, you will learn how to add pictures, design access, and page parts, and how to print a double-sided newsletter using an ordinary home printer that prints on only one side of the paper at once.

Ensuring Consistency

Publisher includes several features that help you make sure your work stays consistently formatted from page to page (and even between publications). You will start out by learning about master pages, which are page templates that help you repeat certain elements and positioning guides on every page of a multi-page publication. Next, you will learn about styles, which apply consistent character and paragraph formatting to text. You will also practice creating and using personal templates, which can be reusable models that can contain both master pages and styles. Finally, you will learn about building blocks, which are saved content snippets you can reuse over and over again.

Creating Magazines and Calendars

This lesson takes your design skills to the next level! You will plan and create a magazine cover that includes a full-page bleed, graphics, text boxes, and other elements. You will learn how to align objects precisely on a page, and how to control character spacing and kerning. Next, you will design a table of contents for a magazine, and in the process, you will learn about Publisher's Tables feature. Finally, you will learn how to create two kinds of calendars: a small one that's part of a larger publication, and a whole publication devoted to a multi-month calendar that you could have professionally printed.

Creating Mail-Merged Letters and Email

Mail merge. The name can sound intimidating, but it's really not that hard! In this lesson, you will create two kinds of mail mergers: a letter to be mailed and an email message to be sent electronically. You will learn about the elements of any mail merge, including a data file, a main document, and merge fields, and you will find out how to combine those elements to make a merge happen.

Creating Labels and Envelopes

In this final lesson, you will learn how to print envelopes and address labels, continuing your exploration of mail mergers. You will first create a single envelope and then expand it into a set of merged envelopes. Then you will first create a single self-stick label and print a whole sheet of the same one (for return-address labels), and then you will expand that into a mail-merged set of address labels for sending out cards or packages. Finally, you will put all your skills together and try out some projects that enable you to showcase what you have learned in the course.