How to Insert Basic Shapes in Microsoft Publisher 2013

Inserting Basic Shapes is one method of editing publications in Publisher 2013, enabling users to add design elements as well as create illustrations and visual interest. In other words, Shapes are useful because they can greatly alter the look of a publication, and are themselves customizable.

Shapes are Inserted through a Shape gallery in the Insert Tab and by subsequently dragging the shape into the publication Workspace. Inserted Shapes can be edited in Publisher 2013 in various ways, such as adding text and changing the outline and fill of the Shape.

Additionally, Shapes can be Resized in the same way as Images in Publisher.

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

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Video transcripts:

In this video, we will insert a basic shape into our Publisher 2013 publication.

Including shapes in a publication can be a way to add design elements and visual interest. Often times, shapes are used within Publisher 2013 to create illustrations as well.

Let’s say that in our example, we’ve decided that the filled text box on the cover of our flyer looks a little too boring to us. Instead, we’ll discover how utilizing a shape and then formatting that shape with different outlines and fills can change the look of our publication. Before we get started, let’s move the current text box displayed on Page 1 into the scratch area outside of the page.

Then, we’ll being by drawing our first shape. To draw a shape, select the Insert tab in the Ribbon. Notice that a gallery of shapes is displayed. Within this gallery, shapes are grouped into different areas categories such as your Most Recently Used shapes, lines, basic shapes, block arrows, flowchart elements, callouts, and stars and banners. In this example, we’re going to draw an oval shape, which I can select from the most recently used group or the basic shapes group.

When you move your cursor into the workspace, you’ll notice that your cursor has changed to a cross. This means that you are ready to draw the shape within your publication. To do so, click and hold your left mouse button within the page and drag your mouse. As you do so, you’ll notice an outline of your new shape being drawn. In this case, I’m going to create a large oval shape in the area that the title used to be displayed in the green text box. You’ll notice that the shape is larger than the page, but that’s ok because we’d like the shape to bleed on our page. Bleed is a printing term that refers to printing that goes beyond the edge of a sheet before trimming.

You may also notice that the fill and outline colors that are applied to the shape are generic. That’s ok, because this is just the setting that is applied to the shape by default. In the coming tutorials, we’ll take a look at how to change the fill and outline settings. For now, we’re just going to make some other adjustments with the text on the screen. I’m going to move the Labor Day Weekend 2013 text to the top of the screen, and then move the rest of the text below the image. Then, I’m going to change the text to say 1st Annual Golf Scramble with Informational Flyer on the second line.

If at any point you need to add text to the inside of a shape, you can do so by selecting the Format tab within the Ribbon and then selecting the Edit Text button within the Insert Shapes group. Notice that the insertion point will be placed within the shape and you can begin typing. This text can be formatted in the same ways that text was formatted in previous tutorials. For more information on working with text, be sure to watch the tutorials in the working with text chapter.

Finally, before we move on, it’s important to know that if at any time you need to resize the shape, you can simply grab one of the sizing handles surrounding a selected shape and drag your mouse – just like you did with images in a previous chapter. It’s important to also note that shapes can be set to a specific width and height by using the height and width boxes within the Size group in the Format tab on the Ribbon.

In the next tutorial, we’ll take a look at how to format a shape within Publisher so that it looks more attractive and consistent with the design of the publication than what we have now.

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!