Keep parishioners informed with easy-to-read church bulletins.
Church staff members and volunteers generally do not have access to expensive publishing software and must rely on basic programs to type and print church bulletins each week. These publications can still look professional if a few simple guidelines are followed. Typists with access to Microsoft Word and a basic printer can successfully print a single-fold bulletin ready for mass replication. Printer settings often vary between brands, so it may take a few trials to position everything correctly in the page setup; however, once a successful template is created, it can be saved and used permanently.
Instructions
1. Open a new document. The Home tab at the top of the page should be automatically selected.
2. Move your cursor to the right of the Home tab and select Page Layout.
3. Click on Margins and select Custom Margins.
4. Type 0.5 in the top, bottom, inside and outside margin fields. Type 0.25 in the gutter field. Change the page orientation to landscape.
5. Click the arrow in the box next to Multiple Pages and select Book fold. Choose 4 when the Sheets per booklet selection appears. Press OK to close the pop-up window.
6. Type and align the text of the bulletin as desired. To add images, place your cursor where the image should be located and click on Insert from the menu at the top of the page. Choose Picture to insert a saved image file, or Clip Art to choose from a stock file.
7. Click on the round orange button in the upper-lefthand corner of the screen with the Microsoft symbol. From the scroll-down menu, choose Print and click on Print again from the side menu.
8. Ensure all pages print correctly, with no missing words or images, and that all text is facing the same direction on each page before reproducing.
9. Save the file you created as Church Bulletin Template so you do not have to change the settings each time you need to print a bulletin.
Tips Warnings
Some churches order stock paper with an image and scripture passage printed on the front flap. If this is the case, simply leave the first side of the bulletin template blank so printing does not overlap.
You can print all four sides of the bulletin on one sheet of paper by selecting Manual duplex when the print pop-up window appears, then turn the page over after the first side is printed.
