Watermarks are the graphics that show lightly behind [...]]]> 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.

Not a thing–unless you count the phrase “For best results…”.

Do your graphics look blurry?  Is the text hard to read?  Are there “jagged” edges that looked smooth when you saw it on screen?  Chances are, the graphic was copied and pasted from the web.

Web [...]]]> What do frozen pizza and LPi’s Art and Media Portal have in common?

Not a thing–unless you count the phrase “For best results…”.

Do your graphics look blurry?  Is the text hard to read?  Are there “jagged” edges that looked smooth when you saw it on screen?  Chances are, the graphic was copied and pasted from the web.

Web graphics are “dumbed down”–their quality is reduced–for display.  This allows a webpage to load quickly, showing the page to you faster.  However, this means that the “display” images on the web don’t have the quality needed to print clearly when transferred to paper!

“For best results” is one of those phrases seldom thought about–except when it isn’t followed.  Just like an overcooked pizza, low-resolution graphics can still be used–they’re just not as tasteful (tasty?).  The result of a less than proper graphic will be blurry, the edges jagged, any text almost illegible.

So…why go with less than optimal results if you can avoid it? With this thought in mind, here is a simple “For best Results”.

Following these directions will help avoid blurriness, difficult-to-read-text, and other pitfalls found when using graphic art.

When you have logged onto the AMp and selected the graphic you would like, please do the following.

1) Left-click the download button located below the graphic (or to the right of the graphic in the “expanded view”.

2) Choose to “save” the graphic to your Desktop, your My Pictures file, or some other location you find easy to access.

3) Open your publication (in Word, Publisher, Quark, Indesign, etc.) and go to the page where you would like the graphic.  (From here on in, the steps are different, depending on the program you use.)

4) Place the graphic according to your particular program.  for instance:

–In the various versions of MS Publisher, and MS word (pre-2007): choose the Insert command from the menu (Insert–>picture–>from file) to browse to the graphic, and double-click on the graphic to select it and place it on the page.

–In MS Word 2007: Click the Insert command, and select the Picture Icon from the Ribbon Menu. Browse to the graphic and double click to place it on the page.

(If you use Quark, Indesign, or other program to create your document, please speak to your tech support representative for additional assistance.)

This method will make certain you have a high-resolution graphic, with the proper color information.  (CMYK vs. RGB–a topic for another post.)

******************************************************************

It should be noted that there is an exception to this rule, as with most rules.  If you need a TEXT file from the AMp (scripture readings, verses, etc.) you can copy and paste the text information, because the text does not need to be “dumbed down” to display on the webpage.  (Again, please feel free to contact your tech support representative for more details, as formatting issues may occur.)

Please be advised that some files are stored on the AMp as both a Graphic (text as art) and a TXT (text as…well….text) file.  Your tech support rep can help you identify which is which as needed.

After looking through her bulletin, knowing what it used to look like, I told her how well I liked the overall design. [...]]]> I was sitting with an editor the other week and we were talking about design and format. She wanted some feedback on her latest ideas for making her bulletin articles and headings pop.

After looking through her bulletin, knowing what it used to look like, I told her how well I liked the overall design. Smiling back at her, I saw she was no longer smiling back at me. She reached under a stack of paperwork and pulled out several bulletins from other parishes.

“I copied from these!” she said, a tortured overtone to her voice. “That’s plagiarism, isn’t it?”

That poor editor! She had done what so many other editors, designers, and countless other people had done in the past. I looked through her stack of bulletins and found she had gained INSPIRATION from them. She saw what others had done so well and tailored it to her own needs.

1. Publisher, Quark and InDesign has a limited set of shading variations, or gradients, that can be used for headings with any effect.
2. The editor gained the idea to use this shading, provided by Publisher (in her case), from other bulletins that also use Publisher to produce their bulletin.
3. My editor is not the only person to have used this type of heading. She never thought to use it until she saw other bulletins, which most likely got their inspiration the same way.

We then got on the internet and did about 2 minutes of research. A Google search (you can use Yahoo or even Bing) using the term “design inspiration” yielded blogs, college sites and websites devoted to gaining a bit of help with design ideas and even some ethical discussions that helped ease her fears further.

If you would like some inspiration from other bulletins and newsletters, page through other parishes and organizations that print with us on Seek & Find. Bright Ideas magazine has creative ways to use their artwork every quarter too. Who knows, maybe someone will look through your publication and get some inspiration!