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Microsoft Publisher 2007

Working with Rulers & Guides

Publisher provides the ruler and ruler guides to help you position or align text, objects, or graphics with a great deal of precision. Rulers appear on the top and left side of the background surrounding your document. Ruler guides are straight lines that you can position anywhere along your document, which will not print. Guides can help you to arrange objects on a straight line or at a certain point on the ruler (e.g., you can create a guide to ensure that your company logo is exactly two inches from the top of a brochure). You can choose to display or hide the rulers and guides as your needs change. You can also choose to have objects which are placed close to a guide "snap to" the guide for easy alignment.

return to topDisplaying Rulers

The horizontal and vertical rulers assist you in positioning elements on your page. The ruler must be displayed in order to place and use guides.

  1. From the View menu, select Rulers 
    The rulers appear along the sides of the work area.
    Horizontal Ruler
    NOTES:
    If the rulers are showing, the icon in front of the menu choice will have a box around it.

return to topChanging Ruler Measurements

Publisher allows you to choose the system of measurement that will be used in the vertical and horizontal rulers.

  1. From the Tools menu, select Options...
    The Options dialog box appears.

  2. Select the General tab

  3. From the Measurement units pull-down list, select a measurement unit

  4. Click OK
    The measurement system is now changed.

return to topPlacing Ruler Guides

New ruler guides can be placed as you need them for alignment. You can place a guide regardless of what tool you currently have selected.

NOTE: The ruler from which you will be placing the guide must be displayed. For more information, refer to Displaying Rulers.

  1. To place a vertical guide, place your tool over the vertical ruler area
    To place a horizontal guide, place your tool over the horizontal ruler area
    The mouse becomes a double-sided arrow.
    Vertical Adjust Horizontal Adjust

  2. With your tool over the ruler area, click and hold the mouse button

  3. Drag the guide onto your page
    A colored line appears.

  4. When the guide is in the desired place, release the mouse button
    The guide is set.

Moving Existing Guides

  1. Place your pointer over the guide you want to move
    The mouse becomes a double-sided arrow.
    Vertical Adjust Horizontal Adjust

  2. Click and hold the mouse button

  3. To reposition the guide, drag the guide to its new location
    To remove the guide, drag the guide into the ruler area

  4. Release the mouse button

return to topHiding All Guides

While working with guides in your publication, you may want to see the elements on your page without the guides. You do not have to remove the guides in order to do so. This option also hides all text box and margin boundaries that typically appear on the screen.

Hiding All Guides: Menu Option

  1. From the View menu, deselect Boundaries and Guides
    The option is selected if a check mark appears.

Hiding All Guides: Keyboard Shortcut

  1. Press [Ctrl] + [Shift] + [O]
    NOTES:
    [O] is the letter "O".
    This feature can be toggled on and off by repeating this keyboard shortcut.

return to topRemoving All Ruler Guides

As your publication progresses, you may find that you have placed a large number of guides. Rather than dragging ruler guides off of your page individually, you may clear all guides at one time.

  1. From the Arrange menu, select Ruler Guides » Clear All Ruler Guides
    All ruler guides are removed.

return to topUsing Snap To

If you would like all objects in one area to line up with a specific object, but are having trouble adjusting each object to the perfect alignment, you can force them to more easily align. Publisher offers three options for forcing alignment. You can make objects snap to ruler increments, to guides, and/or to other objects. This feature makes consistent alignment of multiple objects easy by causing objects to more easily be placed along a guide, ruler, or other object while you are moving it. The Snap To option is subtle and may be difficult to notice, but it makes lining objects up much easier.

NOTE: You can use one or any combination of the following options:

Snap to Rulers

Snap to Rulers pulls objects to the nearest ruler increment as you move them.

  1. From the Arrange menu, select Snap » To Ruler Marks
    The option is selected if a check mark appears.

Snap to Guides

Snap to Guides will align objects to a guide. The guide does not have to rest on a ruler increment.

  1. From the Arrange menu, select Snap » To Guides
    The option is selected if a check mark appears.

Snap to Objects

Snap to Objects will pull an object toward the object nearest to it.

  1. From the Arrange menu, select Snap » To Objects
    The option is active if the icon in front of the menu choice has a box around it.

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