Microsoft Publisher 2003, Introduction to

A new section of each course starts monthly. If enrolling in a series of two or more courses, please be sure to space the start date for each course at least two months apart.

All courses run for six weeks, with a two-week grace period at the end. Two lessons are released each week for the six-week duration of the course. You do not have to be present when lessons are released. You will have access to all lessons until the course ends. However, the interactive discussion area that accompanies each lesson will automatically close two weeks after the lesson is released. As such, we strongly recommend that you complete each lesson within two weeks of its release.

The final exam will be released on the same day as the last lesson. Once the final exam has been released, you will have two weeks to complete all of your course work, including the final exam.

Lesson 1
Welcome to Publisher 2003! In our first lesson, we'll go over some basic Publisher concepts, including accessing the program and customizing some of Publisher's powerful features. Then we'll talk about how you can access and utilize Publisher's extensive online Help system.

Lesson 2
You'll get started with Publisher's basics in this lesson. We'll go over all the concepts that you should fully understand before delving into a large project, including how to open, save, and close a file. Then we'll explore the various elements of the main Publisher window, including menu bars, toolbars, and page navigation tools.

Lesson 3
Today you'll learn how to enter and edit text, both directly and by importing it from other documents. You'll learn how to format text (including selecting the font, size, and color) and how to change paragraph alignment and line spacing. We'll also discuss how to set off special text by adding borders and fills to the text frame.

Lesson 4
In today's lesson, you'll learn how to punch up the creativity in your projects by adding graphics. Well go over how to create and format drawing objects, as well as how to insert clip art and import picture files. Once you have the basics down, we'll dive into recoloring, resizing, cropping, rotating, and flipping graphics, tweaking them for just the right impact.

Lesson 5
In this lesson, you'll discover how to create and work with tables in Publisher. You'll also learn how to apply and customize table borders, adding shading, colors, and patterns, and merging and splitting cells.

Lesson 6
Today we'll begin our two-lesson series on creating a professional newsletter in Publisher. We'll begin by going over some basic planning issues (the crucial first steps!), and then we'll continue with some layout tips. We'll talk about selecting or creating a color scheme, developing a masthead, and flowing text on a page and continuing it on other pages.

Lesson 7
In this lesson, we'll wrap up our series on creating a newsletter in Publisher. Here, you'll learn how to use the Design Gallery to create a professional sidebar, format a drop cap, create a footer on the background, insert a picture, and group objects.

Lesson 8
Today, we'll begin our two-part series on creating a Web site in Publisher. In addition to actually creating a simple site, you'll learn some of the technical issues surrounding Internet publishing, including ISPs, URLs, and domain names.

Lesson 9
In part-two of our series on creating a Web site in Publisher, you'll learn some of the ways you can dress up your site, including how to add graphics, sound, and other objects. After all of that hard work, you'll be ready to actually publish your site to the Internet, so we'll conclude by going over the instructions you'll need to follow to do just that!

Lesson 10
Publisher makes it easier (and cheaper!) than ever for even small organizations and groups to create very professional looking brochures in literally a matter of hours. In this lesson, you'll learn how to create a good brochure, from planning what it should contain, to creating the cover, logo, and content, to placing and arranging your text.

Lesson 11
In today's lesson, you'll learn the basic procedures for taking your publication from your computer to a commercial printer. We'll talk about the different kinds of printing processes, and when you should choose each type. We'll also discuss how easy and automatic Publisher makes transferring your publication's files to a format your commercial printer can use?whether or not the printer uses Publisher.

Lesson 12
Publisher offers several ways you can create many publications for your organization that look consistent and professional. In our final lesson, you'll learn how to use two main methods: Templates and Design Sets. We'll go over how to create a template, change an existing template, and then open a new publication using a template. You'll also discover how Publisher's Design Sets can help you create an entire suite of coordinating business materials in a matter of hours.