MS Publisher and Title Pages
Janet Klug, WE Think
What is Microsoft Publisher? Publisher is software that enables the user to create professional looking publications. It is easy to use (trust me). Publisher has many features you can customize to the way you work, and it is perfect for making stamp exhibits. Best of all, you can try it for free with a trial download from Microsoft.
Why use Publisher for making exhibits? Publisher has ready-made templates that make dandy title pages. You can add your own templates for pages, too. Horizontal and vertical rulers help with text placement. Unlike Microsoft Word, when you place text or an illustration on a page in Publisher, it stays where you put it. All essential Word features are still there, such as spell check, fonts, tables, etc. And they are easier to use.
So let’s look at what we can do with Publisher.
Title Pages
Publisher has a large variety of “canned” templates. One was used to create the title page illustrated below.
Title page for a one frame exhibit.
The author changed the fonts and colors, added a graphic of a POW camp guard tower at the top right and a scan of part of the inside of the POW letter that had been censored.
Title pages can also be made from scratch, without using any of the built-in templates, allowing the exhibitor to design the entire look and feel of the exhibit. Text can be placed anywhere on the page using text boxes. The boxes can be sized and placed precisely. Subheadings, captions above below or to the side of the philatelic material are easy to do.
Text can be placed anywhere with ease.
Scans are easily imported into “picture boxes” that can be resized by dragging handles, and then placed exactly where you want them. It sounds too good to be true, doesn’t it? So how does it work? Let’s look at a few screens when you start up Microsoft Publisher.
This shows a blank page startup of Microsoft Publisher. From here, select “Publications for Print” from the column on the left.
Blank startup page of Microsoft Publisher.
From here, you click “Publications for Print” on the column at the left. This accesses a large selection of pre-formatted designs that can actually make nice title pages. Take your time and peruse them all. Do any of them appeal to you?
Maybe the one you like isn’t perfect for your needs, but it has “good bones.” Not to worry. You can customize any of the choices just the way you want. Do not be fearful to just play with these things. Make a bunch of title pages—even for exhibits you don’t have. Learn by doing. “Trial” and “Error” are both great teachers. That will provide a selection of formats that make great title pages! Look through all of them and find one that you like.
A Selection of Formats.
Click on a page that you like. The blank page on the Publisher screen will transform to the page you have just clicked. Clicking on the pre-formatted design will pop that design where the blank page used to be on the Publisher screen. Now you can begin customizing it to fit your needs.
Customizing Formats.
Once you have selected a page design you want to use for a title page, you can change it to meet your needs. Look at the title page shown in Figure 1. This used the same pre-formatted page shown in Figure 5, but I “tweaked” it. 
(continuation of the article MS Publisher and Title Pages 2)
