Creating Newsletters in Microsoft Word

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Creating Newsletters in Microsoft Word

For this lesson you will create a newsletter to be used in your classroom.
Step 1. Open Microsoft Word.

Step 2. Open a new blank document using keyboard commands

PC - Use Ctrl+N (Hold down the Ctrl key and tap the N key one time)

Macintosh - Use Command+N (Hold down the Command key and tap the N key one time)

Step 3. Go to View menu and select Header and Footer. Create your title in the header. Center, change font and/or insert an image to your liking. When finished, close the Header and Footer dialog box. Your header will appear light gray.

Step 4. Go to the Format menu and select Columns. Decide how many you wish and select the appropriate number. Most newsletters use two columns. You will see no difference in the set up of the page right away. As you type, the words will fill down in column one first.

Step 5. If you wish for your newsletter to look like an actual newspaper, you should select Justify which aligns the print both on the left and the right.

Step 6. Insert pictures as you go along. Place your cursor where you wish to insert the picture. You will need to resize most pictures to fit into the column. Further information follows if you need help in modifying your clip art.
If you need no assistance, jump to step 7.
Click on the picture and a box appears. Go to the Format menu and select Format Picture. There are several things that you can do with a picture.

Tab	Actions available
Picture	Crop the picture one margin at a time Change the color to grayscale, black and white, or make a very light watermark out of the image Change the brightness or contrast of the image
Wrapping	Five styles of wrapping allow you to place an image in the middle of a block of text Four possible alignment of text choices are offered distance from the text to the picture can also be specified
Colors and Lines	Place a block of color or a pattern behind the image Place a box around the image, change the thickness and character of the line making the box
Size	Change the size of the picture using an inches scale, or a percent scale (best done by clicking and dragging)
Position	Change the position of the image on the page (best done by clicking and dragging)

Resize the image by clicking and dragging. Click once on the image and it will be surrounded by eight boxes; one at each corner, and one in the middle of each line.
If you click on a box in the middle of a line and drag outward from the center of the image you will change only the width or height of the picture, causing distortion.

If you click on a corner box, hold the shift key down, and drag outward from the picture you will change width and height proportionally. If the aspect ratio is locked, Word automatically does this without your having to hold down the shift key.

Move the image by clicking and dragging. Click once on the image and it will be surrounded by eight boxes; one at each corner, and one in the middle of each line.

Move your cursor over the image and it becomes a pointer with a four headed arrow attached to it. Click anywhere in the picture and drag it to the desired location.

Step 7. At the bottom of your newsletter you may wish to add information about the staff in charge of this project. Add a footer to this page (View/Header and Footer) and type in the information just as you did in step 3.

Step 8. Save and print the newsletter.

Go back to Using Microsoft Word to Produce Classroom Documents

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