MS Publisher Tips

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TIP #1: SAVE ANY PART OF YOUR PUBLICATION OR THE ENTIRE PUBLICATION AS A PICTURE TO SHARE YOUR PUBLICATIONS WITH OTHERS THAT MAY NOT HAVE PUBLISHER INSTALLED ON THEIR PC (Versions 2002 & higher)

Save your publication as a graphic file. 

Note: You must save each page individually. Whichever page is displayed on your screen is the page that will be saved as a graphic. 

• On the File menu, click Save As. 
• In the Save As dialog box, in the Save as type box, choose one of the following graphic format options: .gif, .jpg, .bmp, .tif, .png, .drw, .pcx, .wmf, .emf, .tga, and .dxf. 
  Note: .gif or .jpg would be the most commonly selected format.

TIP #2: ADD CONTENT (Versions 2000 & higher)

You can allow your readers to reply to you by adding a Reply Form to your publication. To add a reply form, go to the Insert menu, and then choose Design Gallery Object. Under Categories, choose Reply Forms. Select the Reply form you want and drag it onto your publication (for version 2002 & 2003, click the Insert Object button instead of dragging). Resize the reply form if necessary.

TIP #3: USE THE DESIGN CHECKER TO CHECK FOR ERRORS (Versions 2000 and higher)

Quickly and Easily Check for Errors in your Publication (Versions 2000 and higher)

When you resize a text frame or insert a graphic into an existing text frame, you may end up missing text indicated by the 'Text in Overflow' symbol. Use the Design Checker to check your publication for any missing text. The Design Checker will identify any text frame that contains text in the Overflow areas and will even suggest possible solutions. To run the Design Checker, choose the 'Tools' menu, and select 'Design Checker'. For versions 2000 and 2002, select 'All' or click 'Pages' and then type the page numbers in the 'From' and 'To' boxes. Then select Ok. For version 2003, the Design Checker will automatically run and any errors found will be displayed in the Task Pane.

TIP #4: USING PACK AND GO (Versions 2000 and higher)

When you create a Publication in Publisher, you may find you want to take the publication to another computer for more processing and/or for printing. You can use the Pack and Go wizard to pack your files and include both the fonts and the graphics you used with your files. This will allow you to be sure your publication will look the same as it did on your computer where it was created. To use the Pack and Go wizard, select the File menu, then choose Pack and Go, and then select Take to Another Computer. Follow the Pack and Go Wizard each step to go through the packing process.

TIP #5: SINGLE-PAGE AND FACING-PAGE VIEWS FOR MULTIPLE PAGE PUBLICATIONS (Versions 2000 and higher)

When you want to work at a higher magnification and concentrate on one page at a time, you can use single-page view. When you want to see the pages as your reader will see them so you can balance the content and design of the left and right hand pages, you can use the facing-page view. To toggle between the two views, select the View menu and then choose Two-Page spread.

TIP #6: ADDING BORDERS TO A TEXT FRAME (Versions 2002 and higher)

To add emphasis to a text frame, you can add a border:

Select the text frame and click on the Line/Border Style button from the formatting toolbar. From the list that appears, choose a point size for your border... 

Or, you can click 'More Lines' to add a fancier border. 

• If you choose 'More Lines', a Format Text dialog box will appear where you can click the 'Border Art...' button and choose from the list of available borders. Once you've chosen a border, click 'Ok' to close the dialog box and return to the Format Text dialog box. 

If you want to change the color of the border art, you can choose a different color by selecting a new color from the line color drop-down list. Click 'Ok' to close the dialog box and return to your publication.

TIP #7: USING DECORATIVE LETTERS TO BEGIN A HEADING OR PARAGRAPH (Versions 2002 and higher)

You can add a large, decorative letter to begin a heading or paragraph. MS Publisher uses the term "dropped caps" for an initial capital letter that hangs or drops below the first line's baseline.

You can choose from among Publisher's preformatted drop caps by:

1. Highlight the letter for which you want to apply a drop cap format.
2. From the Format menu, choose Drop Cap.
3. In the Drop Cap dialog box, choose from the available drop cap formats. Click Apply to preview the effect  and click Ok when you are happy with your choice.

Note: You can customize your drop cap format by selecting the Custom Drop Cap tab.

TIP #8: Allow Others Without MS Publisher to View Your MS Publisher Files (Version 2003)

You can share your MS Publisher publication with someone who does not have MS Publisher installed on their PC. Here's how:

1. In MS Publisher, save your publication in the .tif file format (File menu, Save As, in Save As drop-down box, select .tif). TIF stands for Tagged Image File Format.

2. Send the .tif file to the person for whom you would like to share this publication.

3. Have the person open the file using MS Office Document Imaging (this program comes with MS Office 2003 Professional). To open this program, select the Start button, select All Programs, MS Office, MS Office Tools, and then choose Microsoft Office Document Imaging.

TIP #9: Microsoft Templates Available for Download (All Versions)

To view Microsoft templates available for download (including those for other MS Office programs), please visit: http://office.microsoft.com/en-au/templates/default.aspx.

TIP #10: All Zip+4 Zip Codes Converted to Zero when using an Excel Spreadsheet as the Data Source (Versions 2002 & higher)

If you perform a mail merge with a MS Excel Spreadsheet as your data source and all the Zip + 4 postal codes are converted to zeros, this is because when Excel parses data, it looks at the first 8 rows of a column's data and if the type of data encountered after the eighth row differs from the type of data in the first 8 rows, Excel returns a value of zero. To correctly merge your zip + 4 postal codes, you can move at least one of the records that have a zip + 4 postal code to be included in one of the first 8 rows. Then perform the mail merge.

Tip #9 - Templates Available from Microsoft

Tip #8 - Allow Others Without MS Publisher to View Your MS Publisher Files

TIP #7 - Using Decorative Letters to Begin a Heading or Paragraph

TIP #6 - Adding Borders to a Text Frame

TIP #5 - Single-Page and Facing-Page Views

TIP #4 - Using Pack and Go

TIP #3 - Use the Design Checker to Check for Errors

TIP #2 - Add Content

TIP #1 - Share Your MS Publisher Files with Others Who Do Not Have MS Publisher Installed