Publisher 2013 Chapter 1
LESSON 1: CREATING A NEW PUBLICATION

When Publisher starts, it opens in Backstage view with the
New tab active showing available publication templates
such as Brochures, Catalogs, Flyers, Menus and so on.
Templates are organized under two category headings:
Featured and Built In


Exploring
Backstage View

You can also choose from several blank page sizes.
There is also a Search area where you can search online for
many more templates. Or choose from the options listed
(Personal, Print, Design Sets, etc).
In the Built-In section, click a publication type to
display designs for that publication type, organized by
category. For example, if you choose Flyers, you can select a
flyer from categories such as Event, Marketing
and Real Estate.



Creating a
Quick
Publication
A pane opens to the right to show a larger view of the
publication with options for customizing it.
Use the navigation options at the top of the center pane to return to the Home view of available templates or to go back to
a previous category.
You can find Quick Publications under the Built-In area of Publisher. Publication type offers single-sheet generic
pages that can be used as posters, advertisements and so on.


Start a quick publication by clicking one of the templates in the center pane.
After choose a template you can use the controls in the right pane to cusomize the publication further. For example, you can
choose a color scheme and font scheme different from the defaults for that template.

You can also open the Layout list and choose a different layout, which is an arrangement of elements on the page.
1|Page
Publisher 2013 Chapter 1

The Ribbon displays buttons for accessing features and commands.

The Quick Access Toolbar displays buttons for commonly used commands. This toolbar is always visible in the upper-left
corner of the window. You can customize the Quick Access Toolbar to display buttons you use frequently.
Working with the
Publisher
Interface

Contextual tabs are only available when certain types of content (pictures, tables, text boxes etc) are selected in

the publication.
You do your work in the publication area, where the publication displays. The Page Navigation pane at the left of the
window allows you to view and work with the publication’s pages. The scratch area around the publication page can be used
to store objects you have not yet placed on a page.


Vertical and horizontal rulers display by default to help you adjust object sizes and positions
objects on the publication page. As you move or resize an object, tick marks moves on the rules to show you size and position.
You can also use the Object Position and Object Size information in the status bar at the lower-left corner of the screen
to check the current position and size of an object.

Inserting Text in
a Placeholder



Most publications include sample text to show you where you should type your own text. These bits of sample text are text
placeholders.
Insert your own text in a placeholder by selecting the sample text and then typing over it.
As text is entered, the font size of the text may change so that the text fits attractively in the placeholder.
BE SURE TO DELETE ANY TEXTBOX PLACEHOLDER THAT YOU DO NOT USE!
LESSON 2: WORKING WITH OBJECTS
 Selecting objects
o
o
Working with
Objects
Selection handles
Rotation handle
 Zooming In and Out
o The Zoom feature lets you change your view of the publication, does not affect the size of how the publication is
o
printed.
Options: Zoom Group on the View tab and the Zoom In and Zoom Out button in the lower-right corner of the
Publisher window.
 Resizing Objects
o
o
If precise size is not important, you can simply drage a selection handle to change the size by your eye. Use a corner
handle to adjust both width and height at the same time.
If exact size is important, you can specify width and height precisely using one of the following:
2|Page
Publisher 2013 Chapter 1

o
o
The Object Size information in the lower-left corner (the second set of numbers to the left of the page
numbers)
 Click Object Size icon to display the Measurement toolbar, a free floating panel and lets you control a
number of different kinds of measurements.
 Select the object’s contextual tab to set a specific size for an object.
Be careful when resizing graphic objects that you do not distort the image by changing its aspect ratio, the ratio of
width to height for an object. Use the corner sizing handles to keep the picture in porportion.
To maintin the aspect ratio as you resize it, hold down the SHIFT key as you drag a corner selection handle.
 Moving Objects
o
o
o
o
As you drag an object, you can make use of one of Publisher 2013’s new object alignments options: purple guidelines
that show you when the selected objects aligns with other objects on the page or regions of the page, such as
horizontal and vertical center of the page.
If you need to move an object to a precise pisition, you can use the object Position information in the status bar at
the lower-left corner of the window. These numbers show the positon on the page of the upper-left corner of the
selected object, using an X (horizontal placement)/Y (vertical placement) coordinate system similar to the way values
are plotted on a graph.
You can click Object Position icon to display the Measurement toolbar and set exact values using the X and Y boxes.
If an object isn’t exactly where yo uwant it, but close, you can “nudge” the object into place using the arrow keys.
Assignment:
Project 1 Handout
LESSON 3: WORKING WITH TEXTBOXES
Placing a New
Text Box


this command on the Insert tab.

Controlling
Automatic
Copyfitting
Create a new text box whenever you want to place a block of text in a spot where there is not already a text box.
Use the Draw Text Box command in the objects group on the Home tab to create a new text box. You can also find


You can allow Publisher to resize text automatically to fit in a text box, as long as the text box is not linked to any other text
boxes.
Use the Text Fit command in the Text group on the Text Box Tools Format tab to control automatic copyfitting.
Select any of these options to turn on automatic copyfitting:
o Use the Best Fit option to enlarge or reduce text size as you type.
Use the Shrink Text on Overflow option to reduce text size so that all text will fit in the box without overflowing
it.
o Use the Grow Text Box to Fit option to expand the text box to hold all the text without overflowing any.
If you do not want to use automatic copyfitting, slect the Do not AutoFit option on the Text Fit menu.
o

3|Page
Publisher 2013 Chapter 1

Inserting
Symbols
Checking Spelling
and Using the
Thesaurus

You can insert common symbols from the keyboard, but as you create more complex publications, you will need to insert many
symbols that cannot be found on the keyboard, such as the em dash, en dash, and copyright symbols.
You may also want to include decorative symbols such as diamonds, check marks, and arrows; math symbols; and language
symbols.
Use the Symbol command in the Text group on the Insert tab to display a gallery of recently used symbols.

Review Spell Checking menu

Review the Thesaurus menu

LESSON 4: BASIC TEXT HANDLING
Things You Know




Selecting Text
Deleting Text
Copying and Moving Text
Using Undo and Redo
Assignment:
Assignment:
Project 2 Handout
Project 3 Handout
LESSON 5: WORKING WITH BUSINESS INFORMATION SETS

Creating a
Business
Information Set




Editing and
Inserting
Business
Information
Publisher maintains contact information in business information sets. You can create as many different sets as you like,
and use them to quickly insert contact infomration in each publication you create.
Some publication templates have predefined placeholders for business information.
You can choose to create a new business information set when you start a new publication, or you can create the
business information set later by editing the current information from Backstage View.
Only one set can be associated with the publication at a time. To change that set, select the set to change to and
then click Update Publication.
You can edit business information at any time using the Edit Business Information button on the Info tab in
Backstage View.

You can also choose to edit business information by clicking the Business Information conmmand on the
Insert tab and selecting Edit Business information.


Some templates insert busienss information automatically for you in certain spots in the publication. You can choose to insert
additional bsuiness information from the set if there is not a placeholoder for it.
Click an items of information on the Business Information gallery to add it to the publication.
4|Page
Publisher 2013 Chapter 1
Inserting the
Current Date and
Time

If you no longer need a business infomration set, you can delete it in the Business information dialog box.

Use the Date & Time command in the Text group on the Insert tab to add the date and/or time to a

publication.
If you want the date to be updated each time the publication is saved or printed, make sure you mark the Update
automatically check box in the Date and Time dialog box.

You can choose among many date/time formats.

AutoCorrect is a feature that maintains a list of commonly misspelled words; whenever you make one of

the misspellings, it automatically fixes the error.
AutoCorrect works automatically; you do not need to do anything special to enable it.

When AutoCorrect makes a correction, a small blue minus sign appears below the corrected text when you
Using
AutoCorrect



mouse pointer is over it. When you point to that minus sign, an AutoCorrect Options button appears.
You can click on that button to open a menu, from which you can choose how you want this and other similar situations to be
handled.
You can add your own entries to the AutoCorrect list of words yo ucommonly misspell. You display the AutoCorrect dialog box
by clicking AutoCorrect Options in the Publisher Options dialog box under the File menu.
You can also use the AutoCorrect list to insert shortcuts for text you type frequently. When you type the shortcut,
AutoCorrect replaces the shortcut with the full word or phrase.
Delete an AutoCorrect entry by selecting it and clicking Delete in the AutoCorrect dialog box.
Assignment: Project 4 Handout
Assignment: Project 5 Handout
End of Chapter Assignments:
Project 6 Handout
Project 7 Handout
5|Page