Microsoft Publisher

There has to be a better program for creating our designs than Google Drawings, right? Well, the good news is, Microsoft Publisher exists. Let’s take a few minutes to explore Microsoft Publisher so we can be comfortable with the application.

The Backstage Screen

Microsoft Publisher 2016, like other Microsoft Office applications, opens on the Backstage Screen shown here.

Creating a new document is as easy as selecting your desired page size, or creating a new page size by clicking More Blank Page Sizes. You may be tempted to open a template but it's a good idea to stay away from these in this class. You are learning how to design new documents, not steal someone else's work.

The Ribbon

All Microsoft Office applications use a navigation system called The Ribbon. You should see a couple of icons at the top of your screen with some tabs below them.

These tabs open different panels within the ribbon. For example, here's what the Home tab looks like:

Whew! That's a lot of stuff! The nice thing is that most of the options you'll be looking for are in the ribbon. What if we want to add some items to our document? Well, the Insert tab has us covered.

As you can see, there are many different objects we can add to our screen; including Pictures, Shapes, Text, Calendars, and more.

Let's select Shapes and pick a nice shape from the drop-down menu. Then, click-hold-drag your mouse on the page to draw your shape. Notice that the ribbon changes once you have a shape on the page.

This is because the ribbon is Context Sensitive, which means that it can add new tabs depending on which objects are selected. This tab, Drawing Tools, has all of the options we would want when making shapes.

Adding Pictures

Let's add a few pictures onto our page. Adding images, like most things in Publisher, is actually very simple. Select the Insert tab and you will be faced with a couple of options; Pictures and Online Pictures. Select Online Pictures first to see what happens.

As you can see, this allows us to search the internet for pictures and add them directly to our project without having to save them on our computer. Sweet!

But what if you already have the picture on your computer? Well, then you will want to select Picture and you will be greeted with a window like this one:

Simply navigate through your file explorer to find your picture and click Insert at the bottom of the window. Easy! Now you have an image on your page. Let's take a closer look:

You see those circles and boxes around the outside of our image? Those help us transform our image by scaling, stretching, and rotating it. Play around with the transform options for a minute.

Here's a big tip: When you are dragging the circle on the corner of an image, you'll notice that the aspect ratio (height vs. width) changes. To lock it in place, hold the Shift key on your keyboard while you drag.

 Take a look at the ribbon. The Picture Tools tab has a ton of options for us to modify our picture. Try a few to see what they do.

You will want to become familiar with these options as we will be using them often in this class. One note: you can click the small Box/Arrow icons in the bottom-right corner of each section to open up even more options. Check it out!

Adding Text

Back in the Insert tab we should see an option called Draw Text Box. This allows you to draw an onto your page that holds text. Type whatever you want inside the text box then take a look at the ribbon:

These options allow us to modify the text in many different ways, such as: Font, Size, Direction, Fill Color, Outline, Alignment, etc.

If you notice the outline of your text box turning red, that means your text will not fit inside the text box. Either make the text box bigger or make the text smaller.

Saving Your Work

While working on your document, it's important to understand that Microsoft Publisher does not save your work for you. There is an AutoRecover feature that, by default, will save some of your work every 10 minutes but you should not rely on this feature. It's a good idea to save your work often. To do this, click the File tab in the ribbon. The Backstage Screen will open again. Select Save As and indicate where you want to save your file.

Remember where you saved your work! If you can't find your file, you can't continue working on it.

My advice: Create a Microsoft Account and save your work to your OneDrive. This way you can access your files from any computer with an internet connection.

After you've saved your work for the first time, you can click the Save icon on the top of the screen to quickly save without travelling through the menu.

Tip: Ctrl + s is the keyboard shortcut for saving your work. Use it!

Exporting Your Work

POOP! Now that I have your attention, DO NOT TURN IN YOUR PUB FILES! 

When you save your work, the file gets a .PUB file extension. These files ONLY work in Microsoft Publisher. You will NEVER turn in a file with a .PUB file extension. Every assignment in this class explicitly states which file type you need to submit. Some may be .JPG or .PNG files, others might be .PDF; but never, ever, ever, .PUB files. Got it? Good.

Well, how do I create a .JPG, .PNG, or .PDF? Good question! First, click the File tab to go to the Backstage Screen. Then, click Export.

As you can see, the first option is Create PDF/XPS Document. Click that button to create PDF files. I know, it's rocket science and brain surgery all mixed into one. Bear with me because exporting as an image is even worse.

You see that button labeled Change File Type?  Click that to, you guessed it, change the file type to JPG, PNG, TIFF, GIF, BMP, and a few others.

Oooofff, I need a breather after that one.