Adding Special Effects

One of the advantages of using Publisher to design your publications is that Publisher makes laying out and designing document text easier. Linked text boxes give you much control over where information appears in a document. Beyond dealing with that aspect of text design, Publisher also provides you with tools to dress up text to catch your reader’s eye: BorderArt, drop caps, and WordArt.

BorderArt

You learned in Chapter 31 that you can right-click an inserted picture, clip art, or table object and select a format command that opens a formatting dialog box. Similarly, you can right-click any text box in a publication and click Format Text Box to open the Format Text box dialog box (Figure 32-1). You can use the tabs in this dialog box to add fills and outlines to the text box, and more. In addition, you can click the BorderArt button on the Colors and Lines tab to open the BorderArt dialog box.

Rather than use a plain colored line around your text box, BorderArt applies a border made up of small graphics. The graphics range from geometric forms that apply a formal, decorative feel to items that set a fun mood or tone, such as ladybugs or candy corn. The available BorderArt designs fit any number of occasions, making them ideal to use in almost any of your publications, including invitations and greeting cards, for example.

As shown in Figure 32-2, you can preview any border by selecting it in the Available Borders list at the left side of the dialog box. The border design appears in the Preview area at the right, using its default settings. By default, Publisher stretches the border graphics to fill the border area a little more completely. If you prefer to turn off this feature, click the Don’t Stretch Pictures option button near the lower-left corner of the dialog box. Each border has an automatic size, shown in the Preview. If you want to control the border width yourself, click the Always Apply at Default Size checkbox to uncheck it before continuing.

When you’ve selected the BorderArt and changed any settings as needed, click OK to close the BorderArt dialog box and return to the Format Text Box dialog box. Change the Weight entry on the Colors and Lines tab to set the border width if needed. You also can modify the border color in the Line area, but you may not want to do so if the BorderArt graphics already include great colors. Click OK to close the dialog box and finish applying the BorderArt. As shown in the party invitation in Figure 32-3, the BorderArt can make even simple text pop from the page.

You can create your own BorderArt using any graphic image stored on your hard disk or listed in the Microsoft Office Clip Organizer. Click Create Custom in the BorderArt dialog box. To open a file from the hard disk rather than Clip Organizer, click the Use Clip Organizer to Select the Picture checkbox in the Create Custom Border dialog box to clear the checkbox. Then click Select Picture. Use the Insert Picture dialog box that appears to select a picture or clip art image; then click Insert or OK. Publisher converts the picture into a border. Type a name for the new border into the Name Custom Border dialog box and click OK. The new border appears in the Available Borders list in the BorderArt dialog box until you select the border and click Delete.

Drop caps

Formatting the first letter of a story or paragraph as drop cap draws the eye to that spot in your publication. Setting up a letter as a drop cap increases its size, causing it to stand above the first line of text or have the first few lines wrap around it, or both. The drop cap style you choose might also use a contrasting color or other text formatting to give it a fancy appearance. Figure 32-4 shows a story with a drop cap applied.

Follow these steps to create a drop cap in a story:

1.	Select the text box and then click in the paragraph where you want to add the drop cap.
2.	Select Format Drop Cap. The Drop Cap dialog box appears.
3.	Scroll the Available Drop Caps choices as needed and then click a drop cap style. The Preview at the right shows how the drop cap will look when applied to the paragraph, as in the example in Figure 32-5. Figure 32-5. Make sure that the drop cap fits your text by checking the Preview.
4.	Click OK to apply the drop cap.

If none of the available drop cap styles is quite what you’re looking for, you can click the Custom Drop Cap tab in the Drop Cap dialog box to display the settings for creating your own custom drop cap, as shown in Figure 32-6. You can work with the drop cap position, size, and text appearance. As you try on various setting combinations, the Preview at the right shows you how your paragraph will look with the custom drop cap. Click OK to apply the custom drop cap and close the dialog box.

WordArt

The last several versions of some Office applications have all included WordArt, a feature that enables you to convert a word or phrase to a colorful graphic object. For example, rather than have “just” a title for your newsletter, you can create a WordArt object that really pops, like the example shown in Figure 32-7.

To create a WordArt object in a publication, follow these steps:

1.	Display the page in the publication on which you’d like to insert the WordArt. Clicking a page icon in the status bar takes you there.
2.	Click the Insert WordArt button on the Objects toolbar, or select Insert Picture WordArt. The WordArt Gallery dialog box (Figure 32-8) appears. Figure 32-8. Give some text WordArt style—simple, wavy, shadowed, vertical, or 3-D.
3.	Click a WordArt style and then click OK. The Edit WordArt Text dialog box appears.
4.	Type the WordArt text and adjust its font, size, and attributes as needed.
5.	Click OK. The WordArt object appears on the publication, where you can size and position it as desired.

When you select any WordArt object, the WordArt toolbar appears. It offers buttons for editing the WordArt’s text, changing the WordArt’s style and shape, and more. Work with the settings here as needed to finish designing and positioning the WordArt object.