Publisher 2013 – How to Create a New Publication

The most basic functionality associated with Publisher 2013 involves opening the program and creating a new Publication. Windows 7 provides multiple ways to open Publisher 2013, such as Desktop Shortcuts and the Start Button’s Search Box. When Publisher 2013 opens, the user is presented with a Publisher Start Screen that allows for the creation of new Publications, either blank or derived from Templates.  Publisher enables both Landscape and Portrait Orientation for new blank Publications; additionally, Publisher 2013 also allows users to employ page sizes other than 8.5 by 11 inches, including the ability to create custom page dimensions.

Watch the free video here, transcripts for the entire video follow:

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Video transcripts:

To get started, we first must open Microsoft Publisher 2013. If you have a desktop shortcut for the software, double-click with your left mouse button to open. If you do not have a desktop shortcut, click the Windows start button or Windows Orb and in the search box, then start typing Publisher 2013. Click Microsoft Publisher 2013 under the Programs heading when it pops up within the list.

When the application opens, you will be greeted with the Publisher start screen that allows you to choose what type of publication you would like to create. You have the option of choosing a new blank publication, or looking through the gallery on the front page to open an existing template to base your publication off of. If you don’t see a template that you like, you can always conduct an online template search in the search box at the top of the screen. For example, if you’re interested in using a template to create an invitation to a New Year’s Eve party, you could type “new years invitation” into the search box and hit enter on your keyboard. If you liked any of the available options, simply click on the invitation that you’d like to use. That template would then be opened within Publisher. Let’s move back to the start screen.

Notice that suggested searches (which are the most popular types of publications) are displayed below the search box as well. So if you’re looking for something like a Brochure, Label, Card, Certificate, or Flyer, you would simply want to click on the search term underneath the search box. In this case, a gallery of available certificate templates have been displayed. To return to the previous screen, click the Home button next to the search box. One important thing to keep in mind is that in order to search for any of these online templates, you must be connected to the internet before searching.

In this example, we’re going to create a new blank publication. Two options are available by default and both options are blank publications with a normal page size of 8.5 x 11 inches – which is a great size for creating a flyer; however, one is in a portrait orientation and the other is in a landscape orientation. If you’re creating a new blank publication with paper of a different size such as business cards or post cards, click on the More Blank Page Size button. Notice that a gallery of different page sizes is available to you. If none of these page sizes meets your needs, you can click on the Create new page size thumbnail underneath the Custom heading and specify the dimensions of your custom page. In this example, we’re going to select the Letter (Portrait) size. Click the Create button after selecting your desire page size.

The new publication should be displayed with a single blank page. Now we’re ready to start creating a new publication!

Simon Calder

Chris “Simon” Calder was working as a Project Manager in IT for one of Los Angeles’ most prestigious cultural institutions, LACMA. He taught himself to use Microsoft Project from a giant textbook and hated every moment of it. Online learning was in its infancy then, but he spotted an opportunity and made an online MS Project course - the rest, as they say, is history!