You’ve probably asked yourself over and over when creating your bulletins and newsletters, “Does that font look ok?”,  “Should I use a different font?”, “Would another font look better?”  I know I certainly have.

There are no absolutes, no right or wrong ways to choose or mix fonts in a design project. However, there are a few accepted standards that can speed up the font selection process and generally result in beautifully arranged, attractive and readable documents.

First and foremost, text in any document transmits a message. Secondly, the look of a typeface establishes a mood and often plays a essential role in telling a story.

There are 2 common font styles, serif & sans serif.

• A serif font has the little extra stroke found at the end of main vertical and horizontal strokes of some letterforms; eg.

• A sans serif font (sans meaning without) does not have “serif”s — the little extra
strokes found at the end of main vertical and horizontal strokes of some letterforms; eg.

Some basic guidelines when choosing fonts…

1. Use Serif Text with Sans Serif Headline
When in doubt, pair a serif font for body text and a sans serif font for headlines. This is not a rule. This is simply a good starting point for when you’re stuck for ideas or can’t seem to find the right mix. In most cases, a serif plus a sans serif provides good contrast and doesn’t overwhelm with too many fonts.

2. Use Contrasting Styles
Avoid mixing two very similar typefaces, such as two scripts or two sans serifs. There is not enough contrast and the small differences will cause a visual clash. This is why pairing a serif with a sans serif font works so well. There’s generally good contrast. In addition, it’s not recommended to use all caps with a script font because it is difficult to read.

3. Use Fewer Fonts
Limit the number of typefaces used in a single document to no more than three or four. With too many different fonts you run into problems with not having enough contrast between font styles plus a lack of consistency and even a feeling of choppiness because there are too many distractions. Even just using one typeface is better than using too many.

4. Use Proportional Fonts
The best body copy fonts are the least distinctive. They generally have less extreme parts or unusual character shapes. This is one place where boring can be better. Use fonts with more distinctive characters in headlines and pull-quotes and other places where you want to grab attention and pull the reader into the story.

As a side note…
Be wary of downloading “free” fonts from the internet or getting fonts from anywhere other then the original software or additionally purchased fonts. “Free” fonts can be corrupt and corrupt other fonts on your system. Stick with licenced fonts that come with the original software to avoid corrupted font issues.

Hopefully, a few of these ideas can help all of us answer those pesky “font” questions.

Do you save your work? Do you save your work frequently? Saving your work is easy and painless. It guarantees that you won’t lose information.

Save your work! Save your work frequently! Here are some tips for saving:
• Save after you finish typing an article.
• If the article is several paragraphs long, save after typing each paragraph.
• If the phone rings, save your work before answering the phone.
• If someone comes to your door, save your work before acknowledging the caller.
• When formatting complex text (e.g., tab stops, indents), save your work more frequently.
• When making your final edits, save each edit individually.

Don’t forget the CTRL+S keyboard shortcut for saving. It will save you time and effort. Instead of moving your hand from the keyboard to the mouse so that you can go File > Save or click the Save button on the standard toolbar, hold down the CTRL key and tap the S key once. That’s all you need to do to save your work.

By saving your work and saving frequently, you’ll never experience the frustration of losing information and having to start all over again.

You’re special, and my co-workers and I want you to know it. And because you’re special, we want you to know about a special feature available in Microsoft applications like Word, Excel, Publisher and PowerPoint. The feature is called “Paste Special.”

The Paste Special feature comes in handy when you’re trying to move information from one document to another. Paste Special allows you to insert the contents of the Windows clipboard into your document in a variety of formats.

Here’s an example of how you can use the Paste Special feature:

1. Highlight and copy a table in a Microsoft Word document or a range of cells in a Microsoft Excel spreadsheet.
2. Open your Microsoft Publisher document.
3. Go Edit > Paste Special…
4. Highlight one of the suggested formats such as “Picture (Windows Metafile).”
5. Click OK.

If you follow the steps in this example, Publisher will insert the contents of the clipboard as an image. Experiment with the various formats. See which one works best for you.

When plain copy/paste just doesn’t do the job, try Paste Special. You may very well find that the solution you are looking for is a single click away!

We all have one.

It might be a drawer, or a hall closet, or a garage.  But somewhere in life, we have a pile of “random stuff” we might need.  And every once in awhile, we actually go back to that location, and get the “whatchamacallit” we need to fix the “whosits” over there.

Your publications are no different.

Sure, you certainly want to keep graphics in a separate file…but what about that paragraph of information you plug in to your document 15 times a year? What about that neat logo you designed using shapes?  And that piece of simple-but-really-nice clip art you spent 4 hours looking for–you don’t want to lose that, do you?  Well…of course not–and most programs allow you to keep such pieces in a scratch area outside the image of the page…

This is something you may not wish to do to your regular publication or publication template, however.  Just like a real life drawer, every digital piece you add to a file makes it heavier (more kb or mb) and thus slower.

It would be far better to keep the clutter in one place.  Just name a blank publication “Junkdrawer”, and copy things to it that you would like to save for the future.  Every time the file (junkdrawer) gets slow and cumbersome (2-10mb depending on your computers speed) just create a new “Junkdrawer” File.  Anytime you need the images/copy/borders/ideas, just open your junkdrawer, and copy in whatever you need.

Your document file stays clean, your copy runs fast, and all the “junk-you-might-need-someday” is tucked away for future use.

When you see this message, you have three choices. Click the Yes button, click the No button, or click the Cancel button. Many of us have hit Cancel only to find ourselves right back where we started.

Here is what is going on:
When you cut and copy in Publisher, you can paste into another Microsoft program, like Word or Outlook. This dialog box is asking if you want to continue on with paste into another program.

I’ll bet you never read the small print in this dialog box. It says, “The clipboard is a storage area in Windows which currently has some Publisher objects on it. If you want to save what’s on the Clipboard to use in another program or publication, click Yes. Otherwise, click No to free up memory. To return to Publisher, click Cancel.”

Wow! Who would have thought that the fine print would actually be helpful?!

So, when you see this message, choose Yes if you plan to paste your stuff into another program, choose No if you are done with whatever you have cut or copied, and choose Cancel if you didn’t mean to exit in the first place.

There are a lot of excellent methods to gaining attention to important articles. Some of them have been hinted at in prior blogs, including graphics, special characters, and adding color. There is one method that seems to vex many editors (and with good reason!) and this is adding watermarks.

Watermarks are the graphics that show lightly behind your articles. For example, if I were writing about a married couples retreat, I could put a graphic of a pair of rings behind the article. Watermarks can be used in any article you print, however I do have some cautions against their use.

• Make sure the graphic you use is not too complicated. Graphics with text or writing it them won’t turn out well.
• Color the graphic very light, so it is still easy to read the text on top of it.
• The graphic should have relevance to the article.
• Less is more – use one or two per page.

The method I use for adding a watermark is to add the graphic you are using after the article is written.

1. Insert the graphic. The graphic will move the text over or cover it entirely – that’s OK! It will be fixed in a moment.
2. Recolor the graphic so it is much lighter. 20% or less is usually a good benchmark; however you will still want to “eye it up”. Printing it out when you’re done is also a very good test.
3. Change the order so the graphic is sent to back (Send to Back). If you are using Publisher, InDesign or Quark and do not see the graphic behind your text box, make sure the text box does not have a fill (including a white fill, which is still opaque).

To read this article with a watermark, click here.

Someone somewhere on your staff is organizing an event, holding a meeting, leading a class, throwing a party, creating a schedule, or sharing important information. Read through the following list, and see which staff members pop into your mind…

Flyers

Posters

Brochures

Announcements

Newsletters

Calendars

Schedules

Programs

Prayer cards

Invitations

Thank you notes

Note cards

Greeting cards

Mailing labels

Envelope seals

Menus

Menu boards

Recipe cards

Place cards

Placemats

Directional signs

Party games

Nametags

Gift tags

Raffle/Auction Tags

Scrapbook pages

Agendas

Handouts

Presentations

Internal documents

Reports

Memos

Sign-up sheets

Rosters

Room assignments

Seat assignments

Table tents

Syllabus

Worksheets

Certificates

Guess what? You can share great news with all of them. Every staff member you thought of could use Bright Ideas clip art! It’s not only for your bulletin or newsletter, it’s for all kinds of things you print. Every issue of Bright Ideas magazine shows you how to use the art in new ways. Just turn to the opening pages of the Art Gallery section for inspiration.

And it’s really easy to share Bright Ideas clip art with the staff throughout your entire office, because all of the clip art is online through LPi’s Art & Media Portal at http://www.portal.4lpi.com.

Art & Media Portal is provided free of charge to all of LPi’s publishing partners. If Liturgical Publications Inc prints your bulletin or newsletter, please share your full LPi account number with everyone on your staff, and pass along how easy it is to register!

1) Go to http://www.portal.4lpi.com.

2) Click the “Register” link, and enter your information

3) In the ChurchID field, type your LPi account number (so the registration will be authorized ASAP).

Not an LPi publishing partner? You can receive a 90-day trial account if you register.

Questions? You can call your LPi center at:
Hartford, CT (800) 888-4574
Cleveland, OH (800) 477-4574
Milwaukee, WI (800) 876-4574

Not sure who to call? E-mail us at webmaster@portal.4lpi.com.

There is an old rule of thumb that states, “Garbage In–Garbage Out,” stressing that the quality of the output is determined by the quality of the input. In other words, if it looks bad when you send it, it will look even worse when we reproduce it on press. Below you will find some general guidelines to help you when working with clip-art and photos.

Guidelines For Selecting & Preparing Images

1. Artwork and Photos

Original Image

"Pulled from Internet"

Artwork and photos need to be of good quality. Using images in your publication from a fax, copier or “pulled” from a website on the Internet will result in poor quality reproduction. Much of the color and resolution are removed from Internet images. This allows for rapid transfer and quick screen loads on the Internet and look just fine viewed on your monitor but will not print well on press. The compression process designed to create these very small file sizes causes these images to appear fuzzy and dull when printed. Whenever possible, use original images, the better quality the original image is, the better quality the finished product will be. See examples.

2. Clipart

Original Image

"Pulled from Internet"

Electronic clip-art comes in varying degrees of quality. Much of the generic, “free” clip-art found on the internet and/or over-the-counter clip-art available from local retail chains can not be resized or color separated to still preserve its quality and integrity. LPi maintains an extensive digital library of clip-art and we highly recommend you consider use of our illustrations and clip-art from LPi’s own Art & Media Portal at www.portal.4lpi.com. Everything you need for more effective communication is here.

NOTE: If purchasing images from a stock photo site, make sure that you buy a high resolution image (at least 300 dpi).

Information on Digital Images

Digital cameras are a wonderful tool for taking and saving pictures and using them in your publication. Be aware, however, that digital photos are taken at a fixed size, resolution and color format. Keep this in mind when planning how much they will need to be enlarged or reduced. Image quality suffers with excessive scaling.

NOTE: The digital camera is designed to actually take three pictures; one in red (R), green (G) and blue (B). Then the colors are combined together and saved to the camera or picture card. Be aware that because digital photos are taken and saved in the RGB color format, they MUST be converted to either grayscale images or CMYK format for printing.

So, the lesson behind the “Garbage In–Garbage Out” rule is that it pays to ensure that something is of good quality before you use it, whether it’s clip-art, photographs or a new central heating system.

I was at a local festival the other night when I bumped into one of my neighbors Jim Wobick, who is a full time farmer from down the road. We were talking about the harvest and he mentioned how all the crops seemed to be ripening at once, of course complaining about how little time there is to get everything on the tractor for sale. He shrugged his shoulders and said, in a resigned tone of voice, “I guess I’ll have to make time to get everything done.”

Does Jim have the power to create an extra hour in his day? Does he have a secret lab? Does he have a “time stretcher”? Hardly. What he does have is time management skills.

I asked around and found some really great ideas for managing some seemingly unmanageable deadlines, and I figured since I can use them, I might want to pass them along to our faithful blog readers too.

1. Understand your limitations. You only have so much time in a day and you can’t spend the whole day working. Make sure you budget for fun and relaxation. This is just as important!
2. Take stock of the activity and evaluate (realistically) how much time it will take. Try to plan ahead since some of these tasks might need to be done daily, weekly or monthly. Also make sure to add in a buffer for unforeseen complications.
3. Always add time in for interruptions, coffee breaks, talking with people about their lives – you get the idea.
4. Address the most time consuming projects first, at the beginning of the day. You are just beginning your day fresh and new and the bulk of the activities (i.e. distractions) haven’t started yet.
5. Don’t procrastinate! There are always projects to do that we really don’t like doing. Get them out of the way first! They weigh on your mind (i.e. distraction) and when you finally get that task done, you’ll feel like you’ve hit the summit of a mountain. AND since that feeling of accomplishment is physiologically linked to happiness, the rest of your tasks won’t seem so difficult.
6. Learn to say “no”. Personally, this is my most difficult lesson. You can’t be expected to do everything for everyone and while it’s sometimes almost painful to tell someone you can’t help them, you need to keep in mind your own limitations (see #1). Evaluate the requests and their importance. Besides, you can always help them later if you accomplish everything you need to get done.
7. Try to plan ahead. Much of what we do is cyclical and happens every day, week or month.
8. Combine activities when possible. For newsletter editors, planning the month’s activities at the same time as entering them into your newsletter page is one example. Try to find ways to streamline and combine your tasks.
9. Prioritize and set goals! Figure out what can be put off for tomorrow and what must be done today. I am a huge fan of making lists (my husband thinks it’s hilarious) and I put everything from laundry to homework on it. Once I make the basic list, I then order everything according to the most pressing to the least. I start crossing things off the list one by one and feel like I’m making a lot of headway when I see all the things crossed off.
10. This is the most important time management tip and one I heard from my neighbors and friends I talked to – HAVE FUN with your days! Take some time during your busy day to just breathe, take a walk or stretch. I have a small photo book with me and when I start feeling really stressed out, I just take a minute to pull it out and smile.

It sounds almost counterintuitive but a little bit of planning and some careful forethought is time well harvested.

We all have schedules that are hectic and therefore we are always looking for a quicker and easier way to do things.

There are many common shortcuts that work in Windows and virtually all applications. You may be familiar with Ctrl+X for cutting or Ctrl+V for pasting but there are many more shortcuts that could help you complete your everyday tasks more efficiently.

The following is a list of some common keyboard shortcuts available with Microsoft Publisher most of these will also work in Microsoft Word.

Once you have mastered shortcut keys you will be amazed at what you can accomplish.