CHAPTER 5 - CREATING FLYERS AND ANNOUNCEMENTS

PLANNING AND DESIGNING FLYERS AND ANNOUNCEMENTS

In this chapter, you will produce promotional materials such as flyers and announcements. A
flyer is generally used to advertise a product or service. An announcement informs an audience
of an upcoming event.

The basic desktop publishing concept of planning applies to flyers and announcements as well
as other publications. A successful document attracts the reader’s attention and keeps it by
using headlines, graphics, and colour.

Using Tables for Layout

A table can serve as a framework for a flyer and also provides an efficient means for aligning
text and objects by using options on the Table Tools Layout tab.

 Click the Table button on the Insert tab in the Tables group
 Click Draw Table button (pointer displays as a pen)
 Drag pen to create a table
 Draw lines by clicking and dragging
 To erase lines, click Eraser button on the Table Tools Design tab in the Draw Borders
group. Drag eraser along line to be erased.
 If you do not want borders on your table, choose No Border from the drop-down at the
Borders button on the Table Tools Design tab.
 If you want to change cell width or length, drag boundary you want to change – double-
headed arrow or access Table Properties dialogue box.
 By clicking and dragging the Table Move Handle icons in the upper-left corner, you can
move the table to a new location or click the Table Properties button on the Table Tools
Layout tab to change alignment.

Using Text to Create Focus

Text-intensive material is not appropriate for flyers or announcements unless you vary the
typefaces, type sizes, and type styles. To grab attention, consider using big graphics, uncommon
typefaces and plenty of white space. Headlines are usually 36 to 48 points in size; however,
depending on the headline, some may be up to 72 points. Besides increasing size, you may also
want to use shading and colour. Using WordArt is another way to produce eye-catching
headlines.

USING IMAGES FOR EMPHASIS

Images can add excitement and generate enthusiasm for a publication. Make sure the image
relates to the subject of the document. Keep images simple and don’t use too many. Use a
generous amount of white space. Use a thumbnail sketch to guide you to make decisions on
Desktop Publishing Chapter 5 Page 2

proportion, size, and design. Consider using clipart images and/or photographs to create
personalized and unique graphics.

In addition to clipart and photographs, images from a device can be inserted into a document.
These images may be stored on your computer, your camera or a scanner. It is always desirable
to use a high resolution when converting files into a digital format. Resolution is measured in
dots per inch.

You can download any image you see on the web by right clicking on the image to bring up
shortcut menu. Choose Save Image As and then select a filename and folder to save to.

UNDERSTANDING GRAPHIC FILE FORMATS

Basically, there are two types of pictures Word recognizes— bitmaps (or raster) and metafiles
(vector). Bitmaps are pictures that are made up of small dots, which form shapes and lines.
Many scanned pictures are bitmapped. Bitmaps cannot be edited in Microsoft Word; however,
they can but scaled, cropped, and recoloured using Word. Bitmap images can only be edited in
Microsoft Paint, Photo Editor, or the program in which they were created. Metafiles are graphic
file formats that allow images to be ungrouped and edited.

USING COLOUR TO ENHANCE PROMOTIONAL DOCUMENTS

Review desktop publishing colour terms below:

 Balance is the amount of light and dark in a picture

 Brightness or value is the amount of light in a colour
 CMYK is an acronym for cyan, magenta, yellow, and key (black). A colour printer
combines these colours to create all other colours.
 Contrast is the amount of gray in a colour.
 Gradient is an effect created by a gradual varying of colour.
 Greyscale is a range of shades from black to white.
 Hue is a variation of a primary colour such as green-blue.
 Luminescence is the brightness of a colour, that is, of the amount of black or white
added to a colour. The larger the luminescence number, the lighter the colour.
 RGB is an acronym for red, green, and blue. Each pixel on a computer monitor is made
up of some combination of these three colours.
 Saturation is the purity of a colour. A colour is completely pure or saturated when it is
not diluted with white.

Adding Colour to an Entire Page

Word offers a feature that allows you to colour entire printed pages (as well as pages that
display on a monitor).
 Click the Design tab/ Page Background group/Page Colour.
 Make colour choices.
Desktop Publishing Chapter 5 Page 3

Printing a Page Colour

To print the background page colour, you will need to verify that the background is to be
printed.
 Click File/Options/Display/Print background colours

Showing Text Boundaries and Crop Marks

When positioning design elements on the page, it can sometimes be helpful to view the margin
boundaries.

Crop marks show where a page will be trimmed and will display on the printed page when the
page has been printed to a size that is larger than the page.
To view margin boundaries or crop marks:
 Click File/Options/Advanced/Show text boundaries/OK

MODIFYING DOCUMENT ELEMENTS TO ENHANCE PROMOTIONAL MATERIALS

Add visual appeal to a document by using lines, borders and special effects.

Adding Lines, Borders, and Frames

Rules and borders can be drawn using the Line button or the Rectangle button at the Shapes
drown down list, clicking the Page Border button on the Design tab, or using options at the
Borders and Shading dialogue box.

In addition, graphic borders are also available through Online Pictures by searching Borders or
Frames.

Automatic Lines: You can create automatic lines in Word by keying three or more of any one of
the following characters followed by Enter:

- Hyphens – thin bottom border

- Underscores – thick bottom border
- Equal signs – double bottom line
- Pound symbols – thick/thick/thin bottom border
- Tildes – wavy bottom border
- Asterisks – thick dotted bottom border

Adding lines/borders to tables: All tables have a default ½ pt. Black line border that prints. To
add a line or customized border to a table, display Tables and Borders dialogue box.
Alternatively, you can select predesigned formats from the Table Styles group in the Table Tools
Design tab to add borders and shading automatically.
Desktop Publishing Chapter 5 Page 4

Adding a Page Border: A variety of page borders from simple to ornate are available at the
Borders and Shading Dialogue box. This can be accessed at the Borders button on the Home tab
or at the Page Border button on the Design tab.

Adding Fill to Design Elements

You can add shading to the background of a table, paragraph, or selected text. Shading added
to drawing objects is called fill. To add a picture as fill, insert a shape, click the Shape Fill
button/Picture/Browse to location/Insert. Make sure your desired clip art file displays in the
Look in list box and then press Enter. Alternatively, clips can be copied and pasted from the
Office Clipboard to the select picture list box to be used as fill.

USING THE DRAWING GRID

Word's drawing grid helps you align drawing objects. Gridlines can be viewed onscreen by
clicking the Align button on the Arrange group at the Layout tab. Grid settings can be changed
at Grid Settings. To override the Snap to Grid option, hold the Alt key as you drag an object.

MATCHING COLOURS

You can match colours in your document so that the same colours used in a clip art image
matches font colours, logos, or other parts of a document. Ungroup an image and select a
segment that contains the colour that you want. Write down the values for the colour model
(RGB) or (HSL).

ADDING SPECIAL EFFECTS WITH SHADOWS AND 3-D

You can add a shadow or 3-D effect to an object, but not both. To make adjustments to shadow
or 3-D, click on the settings button for either on the Shape Tools Format tab.

ADJUSTING PICTURES

You can customize pictures with various options at the Picture Tools Format tab.

Adjusting Brightness, Contrast, and Blurriness in Pictures

The Corrections button in the Adjust group allows you to adjust brightness, contrast, or
blurriness of a picture.

Adjusting Colour Saturation, Colour Tone, and Recolour

Options for adjusting the saturation, tone and colour of a picture can be accessed by clicking
Colour at the Adjust group.

Making a Picture Transparent

Desktop Publishing Chapter 5 Page 5

You can make part of a picture transparent to better show any text or pictures that are layered
on top of it. Select the picture, and click Set Transparent Colour.

Compressing

Compressing a picture can save room on your hard drive. To compress a picture, click the
Compress Picture button in the Adjust group on the Picture Tools Format tab. It is a good idea
to compress a picture if it has been cropped.

Using Picture Styles

Several picture styles are available to enhance your picture. Live preview will help you
determine which style you wish to apply.

Using the Remove Background Feature

To remove unwanted portions of a picture, click the Remove Background Option from the
Adjust group. Options are available to mark the amount of background to keep/remove.