Microsoft Publisher 2003 Tutorial

Formatting Pictures

Creating graphics

You place graphics in a publication the same way you place text boxes: first, you draw a container for the picture, and then you insert the picture itself:

1. On the Objects toolbar, click the Picture Frame button and select Picture from File.

1. Click and drag a picture box the size you want.

When you release the mouse button, the Insert Picture dialog opens.

1. Browse to and select the picture you want to insert.
2. Click Insert.

The picture appears in the box:

Depending on the dimensions of the picture and the box you drew, the box may adjust to fit the picture.

Tip:

When working with pre-designed publications, you can quickly replace placeholder pictures by right-clicking the picture and selecting Change Picture and then From File from the shortcut menu. This opens the Insert Picture dialog, where you can select a new picture.

Insert WordArt

Use WordArt to apply pre-defined effects to text objects:

1. On the Objects toolbar, click the Insert WordArt button.

This opens the WordArt Gallery:

1. Select the effects you want to use.
2. Click OK.

The Edit WordArt Text dialog opens.

1. Enter text you want to apply the effects to.
2. Click OK.

The WordArt is inserted into the publication:

Insert ClipArt

Microsoft® Office provides a large variety of pictures, called ClipArt, which you can insert into your publications. You can also use the Insert ClipArt feature in Publisher to search the Web for art:

1. From the Insert menu, select Picture, and then Clip Art.
2. In the task pane, enter a search word into the Search for box:

1. Under Search in, select the collections you want to search. For example, you can limit the search to your hard drive (My Collections and Office Collections) or you can also search in Web Collections.
2. Click Go.
3. Select the clip from the list to insert it into the publication.

Rotating and flipping graphics

The green handle located above a picture or text box is used for free rotation.

To rotate a graphic, select it and then move the mouse over the rotation handle until the mouse icon changes to a circular arrow:

Then click and drag the handle in the direction you want to rotate the graphic:

Release the mouse button:

Tip:

You can rotate the graphic in 15-degree increments by holding down the Shift button on your keyboard while you drag the rotation handle.

If you want to rotate a graphic in ninety-degree increments, use the Rotate or Flip button on the Standard toolbar:

With the graphic selected, click the arrow button next to the Rotate or Flip button and select either Rotate Left 90° or Rotate Right 90°:

The graphic is immediately rotated:

You can use the same button to easily flip a graphic horizontally :

Or vertically :

Format picture borders

You add borders to pictures the same way you do to text boxes:

1. Right-click the picture and select Format Picture from the shortcut menu.

The Format Picture dialog opens.

1. Select the Colors and Lines tab.

1. Under Line, select a line styles and weight for the border:

1. Click OK.

The border appears around the picture:

Crop a picture

When you resize a picture, the elements of the picture remain the same, while the picture’s size is changed. When you crop a picture, you make it smaller by removing part of it:

1. Select the picture.

This displays the Picture toolbar:

1. On the Picture toolbar, click the Crop button.

Cropping handles appear around the picture:

1. Click and drag the cropping handles. To crop two sides at once, hold down the Ctrl (Control) key and drag the center handle on one of the sides:

To crop all four sides, hold down the Ctrl (Control) and Shift keys while you drag. The picture is cropped proportionately on all sides:

1. Click the Crop button again to turn off cropping.

Wrap text around a picture

In a print publication, you can wrap text around a picture:

1. Select the picture.
2. From the Format menu, select Picture.

The Format Picture dialog opens.

1. Select the Layout tab.

1. Select a wrapping style.
2. Select which sides of the picture you want to wrap the text around.
3. Adjust the distance of the picture from the text as necessary.
4. Click OK.