The look and feel of your publication has a lot to do with the choices you make when
working with text. That includes things like layout, formatting, and arranging your publication
so it's easy to read.
In this video, we'll take a look at some of the features that are unique to Publisher
- starting with text boxes. Let's zoom in so you can see how they work.
Text boxes (like the ones here and here) are the part of your publication where you enter,
edit, and display text. To insert one, make sure you're on the Home tab, then click the
Draw Text Box command. Your cursor will turn into a crosshair, and the command will stay
highlighted as long as it's active. Now you can click, hold, and drag to draw your text
box, then release your mouse, and type.
Let's fast forward so you can see the finished product. I've applied some formatting using
the same commands you'd use in Microsoft Word or Powerpoint. Now we can drag and drop the
photo into place, but something's wrong. See what happened to the text? Sometimes,
when you position a text box near an image or another object, it can overlap or affect
the layout. To fix this, you'll want to change the text wrap settings for the object itself.
First, make sure it's selected, then go to the picture tools Format tab. Now click Wrap
Text, and choose the option that suits your needs. There - that looks good.
The contact information is getting cut off at the bottom now, though. Publisher lets
you know whenever something like this happens by marking the text box with red anchors.
Of course, we could re-size the text box by hand - but I'd like to take this opportunity
to demonstrate a feature called text fit. You can access it on the text box tools Format tab.
This feature allows you to format your text box (or the text inside) in order to get the
perfect fit automatically. Shrink Text on Overflow is often a good choice - but - I
think that makes the text a little too small here. Let's undo, and try something else.
How about Grow Text Box to Fit?
Now the text box will resize automatically based on the size and length of the text,
even as I continue to add more.
Let's move on to another page in my newsletter, one with an article that's actually several
paragraphs long. Once again, it's a little too big for the text box. This time, we'll
fix the problem by going to the Format tab, then choosing Create Link. Unlike a link to
a website, this command lets you create a second text box for your content, so it has
someplace to overflow and continue. Just click where you want the text box to go - then move
or resize it as necessary - and you're all set.
This newsletter is really coming together. One of the last things I'd like to show you
is how to customize hyphenation in your text. Notice how some of these words are broken
up so they continue on the next line? Publisher does this automatically to improve the way
the text fits in the box.
To modify these settings, click the Hyphenation command. If you increase the hyphenation zone
(that's this number here), your publication will have fewer hyphens. If you decrease it,
your text will appear more even, but it will also be more broken up. Let's try increasing
the zone to make the text easier to read.
Now for the finishing touch - adding some formatting to the text. Of course, we could
use familiar commands like bold, or italics, but I thought we'd take a look at typography
instead. These commands only work with certain fonts (like Calibri, Cambria, and Gabriola),
but they can be fun to experiment with.
Drop Cap, for example, enlarges the first letter of your text. See how it works? Maybe
you've seen this technique in a magazine or a book.
Other commands work best on a single line of text, like the title of this article. Let's
try Stylistic Sets. With this feature, you can add a little embellishment or a lot!
I think I'll go with something in between.
And there we go! What it difference it makes for your publication to know how to work with
text, including typography, text boxes, and customizing your layout.