Filling White Space


After entering all the text of a longer publication, you can begin to juggle the other elements. In the publishing world, the blank areas of a page are known as white space . If you crowd too many different items of information together, your message can get lost, so a well-designed publication uses a certain amount of white space to visually separate the items. However, using too much white space can make a publication look empty, boring, unbalanced, or all three! Let s take a closer look at each page of the newsletter and add visual elements where they will enhance its overall appearance.

Adding Graphics to the Newsletter

You notice that there is too much white space on the first page of the newsletter. Let s fix it by adding a couple of graphics to catch the reader s eye:

1. Move to page 1 , and zoom to 33% so that you can see the entire page at a glance.

The first two columns are filled with text, but the last column contains too much white space.

2. Press F9 , scroll to the top of the page, and make sure that the rulers are turned on.

3. Click the Clip Organizer Frame button on the Objects toolbar.

4. In the Insert Clip Art task pane, make sure All collections appears in the Search in box. Then in the Search text box, type desert landscape , and click Search to search for the desert graphic you used in the brochure.

5. Click the desert graphic in the search results to add the graphic to page 1, and then resize and reposition the graphic so that it measures 1.25 inches high by 1.75 inches wide and is located directly below the Volume 1, Issue 1 frame.

6. If necessary, use the Nudge command on the Arrange menu to fine-tune the placement of the graphic so that its frame is left-aligned with the text in the frames above and below it.

Information about  

Nudging graphics, page 101

7. Click the sunflower graphic adjacent to the First Fossil Dig Tour a Big Success story twice to select it, search for fossils in the Insert Clip Art task pane, and click the animal skull picture you used in the brochure. Close the Insert Clip Art task pane, and reposition and size the graphic as necessary.

8. Replace the caption below the graphic with Who knows you might find the remains of a dinosaur! Then click the Center button on the Formatting toolbar to center the caption under the graphic.

The results are shown in this graphic:

Inserting an Attention Getter

Sometimes newsletters include little announcements or reminders that can easily get lost if they are presented as ordinary text. This type of element is a good candidate for an attention getter ”a message presented with splash of color or inside a shape so that it catches the eye. Attention getters can also be used to fill areas of white space that don t warrant the use of a graphic or other object. Let s fill the white space at the bottom of the right column with an appealing attention getter:

1. Scroll to the lower-right corner of page 1. Then click the Design Gallery Object button on the Objects toolbar, click the Attention Getters category, and double-click the Explosion Attention Getter thumbnail to insert it on page 1.

2. Move the object into the white space to the right of the Turtle Mountains story, and click outside the object to deselect it.

3. Click inside the 2 for 1 text frame to highlight all the text, and type New!

4. Double-click the object outside the text frame to display the Format Object dialog box, click the Size tab, type 345 in the Rotation box of the Size and rotate area, and click OK .

5. Click the down arrow to the right of the Fill Color button on the Formatting toolbar, and click the gold color box ( Accent 2 , or the third box in the colors row) to change the object s color.

The text frame has a black border around it that you don t want.

6. Double-click the text box to display the Format Text Box dialog box. Then in the Line area, click the down arrow to the right of the Color box, click No Line in the drop-down list, and then click OK .

7. Resize the object so that it fills up more of the white space next to the Turtle Mountains story.

The results are shown in this graphic:

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This Design Gallery object helps draw the reader s attention to a story that might otherwise get lost at the bottom of the page. The object s color is subdued, but because it s not crowded by other objects, it pops out on the page.

Fine-Tuning the Newsletter s Content

You want to make a few more adjustments to the newsletter so that it looks just right. You ll update the text of a quote frame, replace placeholder clip art with a graphic appropriate to this publication, and then move and size a few frames until everything looks balanced. Follow these steps:

1. Move to pages 2 and 3 , change the zoom setting to 33% , and scroll the window so that you can see the two-page spread.

The most glaring area of white space is next to the first story, but this space is reserved for a table, which will balance nicely with the form at the bottom of page 3. The items on page 2 that need your attention are the boxed quote and the graphic that accompanies the last story.

2. Press F9 , click the quote frame on page 2, select all its text, and type The archaeology of the Mojave Desert has always been a special interest of mine. Dinah Soar, Adventure Works guide .

3. Scroll down to the Preserving Our National Parks story on page 2, double-click the peach placeholder graphic to open the Insert Clip Art task pane, and search for and insert a suitable replacement. When you have finished, close the task pane.

We used the desert scene again.

4. Delete the new graphic s caption text, but not the caption frame.

5. Drag the lower-middle handle of the first frame of the story upward until feature discussions appears at the top of the second frame. Then move and resize the graphic until it is aligned with the quote box in the preceding story.

The results are shown in this graphic:

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Pull quotes

A quote frame, or pull quote, is a good way to fill white space and draw the eye toward a story. To create one from scratch, click the

Design Gallery Object button on the Objects toolbar, click the Pull Quotes category in the Categories list, and then double-click a pull quote thumbnail to insert it in your publication. You can then move and size it as you would any other frame. If you will save your publication as a web page, you can click the Web Pull Quotes category in the Design Gallery to choose a pull quote that is optimized for display on the Web.

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As you can see, you can experiment with the size of text frames and objects to force text to rewrap, thereby filling white space and balancing the page.

6. Scroll to page 3 , and replace the sunflower graphic to the right of the form with a graphic that is appropriate for the Adventure Works newsletter. When you have finished, close the task pane.

We chose the animal skull graphic again.

Recycling a Logo

You need to update the logo on page 4 so that it is appropriate for the newsletter. Follow the steps below.

1. Move to page 4 , and scroll to the top of the page.

2. Select the Organization frame and its grouped logo, and delete it.

3. Save the Newsletter file (clicking No if Publisher asks if you want to apply the logo deletion to the business information set), and then if necessary, open Brochure .

4. Copy the Adventure Works logo from the third panel of the brochure, redisplay Newsletter , and paste the logo on page 4.

5. Move the logo to the upper-left corner, directly below the Adventure Works frame, and adjust its size until its frame is the same width as the one below it and all its text is visible.

6. Scroll down to the oval object advertising the web address, replace the oval s text with Check out our web site at www.adworks.tld, and then drag the object s lower-right handle downward and to the right until all its text is visible.

7. Move the oval object downward so that its information does not get lost below the address and phone frames.

8. Replace the peach graphic in the lower-right corner of the page with a graphic that fits the adjacent story. Then close the Insert Clip Art task pane, position and size the graphic so that the text rewraps in a skinny column to its left, and delete the graphic s caption text.

We used the cactus with the big sun. The results are shown at 40% magnification in the graphic on the next page.

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Online Traning Solutions - Quick Course in Microsoft Publisher 2002
Online Traning Solutions - Quick Course in Microsoft Publisher 2002
ISBN: N/A
EAN: N/A
Year: 2003
Pages: 76

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