E7: Same Company, Same Logic

Another similarity can help you learn a program quickly: programs from the same company often have many shared features. Look at Word, PowerPoint, and Publisher. Notice how they have similar ribbons at the top? If you right-click, you often get similar options. If you click on an image or a text box, you tend to get similar options. Programs created by the same company often, but not always, have similar functionality.

This exercise will give you a chance to practice looking for similarities between programs by the same company and similar technologies. You will be creating a poster in Publisher. Publisher is a Microsoft product, so it should have features that look familiar from your work with Word and PowerPoint. Additionally, both Word and Publisher are page layout programs. You should see some similarities between the programs because of that fact as well.

Word was originally just a word-processing program, but Publisher has always been purely a page layout program. Another page layout program is InDesign. If you were to open InDesign, it would look very different, but you should be able to see some features that look familiar from your work with Word and Publisher. Word and Publisher, on the other hand, look quite similar. They both use Microsoft logic.

Notice the similarities between Word and Publisher. What is the same about the tab menus? How do they handle paragraphs? How about graphics? Text boxes?

Notice the differences. What looks completely unfamiliar? How might Publisher be more effective than Word? What might Word do better?

When learning a software program, do not just memorize where functions reside. Try to get a feel for the logic of a program. How does it function? How is it organized? What kind of terms do they use to describe things? If you can connect with the logic of a software, you will have a better idea of how to work within the software. I know this may not make sense at this point. However, as your technical skills grow, it will become clearer.

Consciously watch for the similarities and the differences as you work through this exercise.

Publisher Exercise

For this exercise, you will create a poster. Some ideas for your topic include an event, your favorite hobby, or your favorite musical group. Again, pick a topic you know well so the focus is on the task rather than the content.

1. Create a new file using a blank template. The file should be an 11×17 poster. The poster can be either portrait (vertical) or landscape (horizontal).
2. Create a new color scheme for the poster. Name the scheme using your last name.
3. Create a new font scheme for the poster. Name the scheme using your last name.
4. Create a master page with a border.
5. Apply that master page to your poster.
6. Choose one of these as the background of your poster:

• • A solid color matching your color scheme
  • A gradient matching your color scheme
  • A pattern that matches your color scheme (no black and white)
  • A texture

1. Add two pictures to the poster. Colorize each picture a different color.
2. Add an artistic border to one picture. Make sure the color matches your scheme.
3. Add in text using a text box. Adjust the border of the box to at least two points and to a color that matches your color scheme.
4. Add another text box with text. Make the background partially transparent. Lay it over a picture (it can be one of the colorized pictures). Make sure the text is easily readable.
5. Align the text to where it lies in the exact center of the text box.
6. Add a shape. Color it to fit your scheme.
7. Add a picture with a solid background (can be one of your two colorized photos). Make the background transparent.
8. Add a table with two rows and two columns. Make each cell a different color.
9. Save the file.
10. Save the file in PDF format.
11. Turn both files in, if applicable.