How to Layout Newsletter in Word

  • Thread starter Thread starter Jim Cobban
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J

Jim Cobban

I am trying to help out a non-profit organization by setting up the layout
of their newsletter in MSWord. I am encountering a number of problems which
suggest that either I am misusing the product, or else MSWord is not a
suitable product for laying out a newsletter.

Prior to this I have always used MSWord for documents which essentially
consisted of a single sequential stream of text, broken up into sections and
possibly using features such as columns. However in a newsletter there are
multiple independent streams of text, each of the articles in the
newsletter, which must be positioned on specific pages and in specific
locations within those pages. At first glance that seems to be the purpose
of text boxes. However text boxes do not permit using any advanced
features. In particular I have already found out that I cannot use columns,
nor can I use drop capitals on paragraphs. I am certain that as I proceed I
will find many other features that I cannot use. Certainly that is
suggested by the help topic describing the difference between text boxes and
frames.

I need the ability to define a set of rectangular spaces within the
document, through which an article will flow. According to the help that
suggests that I must use a text box, since a frame merely provides the
ability to position objects. However all of the restrictions on a text box
suggests that I cannot use a text box.

Must I therefore abandon MSWord for this project? If so what product should
I use to create this newsletter?
 
Jim

Which version of Word and OS are you using please?

--
Terry Farrell - Word MVP
http://www.mvps.org/word/

I am trying to help out a non-profit organization by setting up the layout
of their newsletter in MSWord. I am encountering a number of problems which
suggest that either I am misusing the product, or else MSWord is not a
suitable product for laying out a newsletter.

Prior to this I have always used MSWord for documents which essentially
consisted of a single sequential stream of text, broken up into sections and
possibly using features such as columns. However in a newsletter there are
multiple independent streams of text, each of the articles in the
newsletter, which must be positioned on specific pages and in specific
locations within those pages. At first glance that seems to be the purpose
of text boxes. However text boxes do not permit using any advanced
features. In particular I have already found out that I cannot use columns,
nor can I use drop capitals on paragraphs. I am certain that as I proceed I
will find many other features that I cannot use. Certainly that is
suggested by the help topic describing the difference between text boxes and
frames.

I need the ability to define a set of rectangular spaces within the
document, through which an article will flow. According to the help that
suggests that I must use a text box, since a frame merely provides the
ability to position objects. However all of the restrictions on a text box
suggests that I cannot use a text box.

Must I therefore abandon MSWord for this project? If so what product should
I use to create this newsletter?
 
1. If you're going to have text "jump" from the first page to an inside
page, then you do need text boxes, and if you want to use features such as
drop caps and wrapped graphics, then no, Word is less satisfactory for the
purpose than, say, Publisher (which does permit those things).

2. Although there is a natural tendency to start every story on page 1 (for
greater visibility) and continue it inside, I can tell you that readers
*hate* this. They would much rather be able to read all articles
sequentially. A TOC or "teaser" callouts on the first page to call attention
to articles inside would serve the purpose just as well and be much easier
to handle.

--
Suzanne S. Barnhill
Microsoft MVP (Word)
Words into Type
Fairhope, Alabama USA
Word MVP FAQ site: http://www.mvps.org/word
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