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WORDS TO KNOW

Balance A basic principle of design that describes the visual weight of objects on a page, and the way the objects are arranged in relation to each other.

Column gutter The space between column margins.

Commercial printer A business that provides printing, copying, and publishing services.

Consistency The use of repetition to create a uniform and predictable design or layout.

Contrast A basic principle of in which elements with opposite or complementary features are positioned to create visual interest. Also, the degree of separation of color values within a picture.

Desktop publishing The process of designing and printing a document using a computer and printer.

Newsletter-style columns Columns in which text flows from the bottom of one column to the top of the next column.

Page layout The way text, graphics, and space are organized on a document page.

Publish Output a document so it can be distributed to readers.

Lesson 23

Working with Newsletter Columns

➤ What You Will Learn

Understanding Desktop Publishing Creating Newsletter Columns Setting Column WidthInserting a Column BreakBalancing ColumnsAnalyzing Page Layout and Design

Software Skills Word’s desktop publishing features let you design and publish eye-catching documents such as newsletters using your computer and printer. Designing a document with columns lets you present more information on a page, as well as create a visually interesting page. Newsletter-style columns are useful for creating documents such as newsletters, pamphlets, articles, or brochures.

Application Skills As a communications assistant at Vocation Opportunities, Inc., a career counseling company, you are responsible for producing publications such as newsletters, articles, and brochures. In this lesson, you will create and format two articles for clients. The first is about proper business attire and the second is about how to interview for a job.

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Try It! Creating Newsletter Columns

1 Start Word and open WTry23 from the data files for this lesson.

2 Save the file as WTry23_studentfirstname_studentlastname in the location where your teacher instructs you to store the files for this lesson.

3 Adjust the zoom so you can see the entire page on screen at once, and display nonprinting characters and the ruler.

3 Notice that there is a continuous section break between the title and the first heading.

4 Move the insertion point anywhere in the second section of the document.

5 On the Page Layout tab, click the Columns button.

6 Click Three.

7 Save the changes to WTry23_studentfirstname_studentlastname and leave it open in Word to use in the next Try It.

Understanding Desktop Publishing

n Desktop publishing refers to designing and producing printed documents using a desktop computer.

n Some common documents you can create with desktop publishing include reports, newsletters, brochures, booklets, manuals, and business cards.

n Most word-processing programs, such as Microsoft Word 2010, include desktop publishing features that are sufficient for producing many types of published documents.

n Some programs, such as Microsoft Publisher 2010, are designed exclusively for desktop publishing applications. These programs offer more sophisticated features for designing documents for publication.

n Many documents can be published using the computer, printer, and software that you already have at home, work, or school.

n If you have complex publishing requirements such as color matching or binding, you may be able to design the document on your own equipment, but you may need to use a commercial printer to produce the final product.

n A third alternative for publishing a document is to create a file, then deliver it or e-mail it to a copy shop for reproduction.

Creating Newsletter Columns

n Use Word’s Columns feature to divide a document into more than one newsletter-style column.

n There are five preset column styles available on the Page Layout tab, in the Page Setup group, which you can apply to the entire document or the current section:

l One is the default format. It has one column the width of the page from the left margin to the right margin.

l Two creates two columns of equal width.

l Three creates three columns of equal width.

l Left creates a narrow column on the left and a wider column on the right.

l Right creates a narrow column on the right and a wider column on the left.

n By dividing a document into sections using section breaks, you can combine different numbers of columns within a single document. For example, you can have a title or headline across the width of the page, and then divide the body text into multiple columns.

What You Can Do

(continued)

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Setting Column Width

n Use the Columns dialog box to customize column formatting.

n You can create more than three columns, set a specific column width, and adjust the column gutter spacing.

n You can also select to display a line between columns.

n You can also drag the column margins on the ruler to adjust column widths and gutter spacing. Press and hold a as you drag to see the width and/or spacing measurement.

Try It! Creating Newsletter Columns (continued)

Newsletter-style columns

One column

Three columns

Try It! Setting Column Width

1 In the WTry23_studentfirstname_studentlastname file, verify that the insertion point is anywhere within the second section.

2 Click Page Layout > Columns > More Columns to open the Columns dialog box.

3 Under Presets, click Left.

4 Under Width and spacing, use the increment arrows to change the width of column 1 to 2".

5 Use the increment arrows to change the Spacing between the columns to 1".

6 Click to select the Line between check box.

7 Click OK.

8 Save the changes to WTry23_studentfirstname_studentlastname and leave it open in Word to use in the next Try It.

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Inserting a Column Break

n By default, text flows to the top of the next column when the current column is filled.

n Use a column break to force text to flow to the top of the next column before the current column is filled.

n Column breaks are useful for moving headings or headlines to the top of a column.

Balancing Columns

n If there is not enough text to fill the last column in a document, the columns will appear uneven.

n You can balance the amount of text in multiple columns on a page by inserting a continuous section break at the end of the last column on the page.

n Column breaks take precedence over balancing; if there is a column break, the columns will not balance as expected.

Try It! Inserting a Column Break

1 In the WTry23_studentfirstname_studentlastname file, click Page Layout > Columns > Two to divide section 2 of the document into two columns of equal width.

2 Position the insertion point at the beginning of the heading Zebra.

3 Click Page Layout > Breaks > Column to insert a column break.

4 Save the changes to WTry23_studentfirstname_studentlastname and leave it open in Word to use in the next Try It.

Insert a column break

Try It! Balancing Columns

1 In the WTry23_studentfirstname_studentlastname file, position the insertion point on the column break at the bottom of the left column and press c to delete it.

2 Position the insertion point at the end of text in the right column.

3 Click Page Layout > Breaks > Continuous.

4 Save the changes to WTry23_studentfirstname_studentlastname, close it, and exit Word.

Balanced columns

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