Creating Your Own Templates


If Word doesn't provide a ready-made template for the type of documents you create, or if you want more control over the appearance of your documents, you will probably want to create a template from scratch. You do this by basing the new template on the "plain- vanilla " Normal template.

To create a template based on the Normal template, follow these steps:

  1. Choose File, New to display the New Document task pane.

  2. In the General tab, make sure the Blank Document icon is selected (this is the Normal template). Under Create New in the lower-right corner of the dialog box, mark the Template option button, and click the OK button.

  3. Word starts a new template based on the Normal template. Type and format the text that you want to appear in all documents based on this template. For example, if you're creating a template for business letters , you might include the letterhead, the beginning of the greeting line, and the signature block. To make the template easy to use, you might also add placeholders for text that needs to be filled in. Figure 10.4 shows a simple letter template.

    Figure 10.4. Type and format the template as desired, and insert placeholders in the appropriate spots.

    graphics/10fig04.jpg

  4. If you want to include styles in the template, create them now (refer to the preceding hour if you need a refresher on creating styles). Because you're working with the template directly, not with a document based on the template, Word saves the styles in the template whether or not you mark the Add to Template check box in the New Style dialog box.

  5. When you have completed the template, choose File, Save As , and save the file in the Templates folder or a subfolder of this folder.

Instead of creating your template from scratch, as described in the preceding steps, you can also use one of your existing documents as a jump-off point. If you have a document that contains all the text and formatting you want in your template, you can simply save it as a template. First, remove the text that's specific to that document. (For example, if you're creating a memo template, delete the recipient's name , the body of the memo, and so on.) Then replace the text you deleted with placeholders, and choose File, Save As. Specify Document Template in the Save As Type list in the Save As dialog box, and save the template in the Templates folder or a subfolder.



Sams Teach Yourself Microsoft Office Word 2003 in 24 Hours
Sams Teach Yourself Microsoft Office Word 2003 in 24 Hours
ISBN: 067232556X
EAN: 2147483647
Year: 2003
Pages: 315
Authors: Heidi Steele

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