Make Your Own Save The Date Cards Using Microsoft Word
In today’s tutorial, we’re using Microsoft Word to create a Save The Date card. While you can’t do as much with the illustrations in Word as you can in Illustrator, I do realize that not everyone has access to graphics programs, or have time to learn them for just one project.
For those of you who are interested in continuing to design your own cards and other items though, I think Adobe Illustrator is a very worthwhile investment. And if you’re a student (or faculty), you can get it for a really good price ($199 as opposed to $599 for Illustrator CS4). Sometimes you can get a lower price even if you’re just taking an evening course, so definitely check that out.
I’m calling today’s Save The Date card “China Dream” because that’s what the illustration we’re basing it on is called, and here how it all comes together:
1. Download China Dream by Mariannasm here. Read the License & Usage.
2. Unzip the file
3. Open a word document. Go to Insert - Picture - From File and click on the jpg of the unzipped file.
4. Right click on the illustration and go to Format Picture. In the Size tab, uncheck “Lock Aspect Ratio” and put in the dimensions you want (I made mine 4×6). In the Layout tab, select “Behind Text” in the Wrapping Styles. Click OK.
5. Go to Insert - Text Box and drag a text box anywhere on the page (it’s a little bit easier to work with if it’s not right on top of the illustration for right now). Right click on the text box and go to Format Text Box. In the Colors and Lines Tab, select No Fill and No Line.
6. Type in your text. I used Papyrus 14 pt for the text part and Adine Kirnberg Script 32pt for the bridge and groom, all aligned right. If you don’t have either of those fonts, pick others that you like, or download them for free here (they don’t have Papyrus, but they have a very similar one called Parchment).
A word on fonts: If you don’t like the fonts I used or the ones you have on your computer, look on the internet - there are tons available for free online. You just need to download the ones you want and add them to your font library. See my “How To Add Fonts To Your Computer” post if you need help with that.
7. Move your textbox over the illustration and position it where you want it. You may have to tweak the size of the type and paragraph spacing a little bit, since we can’t change the illustration in Word. Once you like what you see, you’re done!
Filed under Design, Microsoft Word | Comment (0)How To Add Fonts To Your Computer
There is no need to limit your designs by using only the fonts that came with your computer. Do a quick search online for free fonts, and you will find lots of them. And many sites have a little window where you can type in your text (the bride’s name for example) and it will show you the name in all the different fonts. Fabulous!
Also, fonts are not always just letters - you can find font sets that are great illustrations, decorative borders and all kinds of stuff.
To add the fonts to your computer:
- download the font you want (make sure you choose the appropriate format, Mac or Windows) and unzip it (they’re usually zipped)
if you’re working on a Mac, find your Font Book (usually in your Applications folder), open it (by double clicking on it), click on the cogwheel in the upper left hand corner and select “Add Fonts”. A new window pops up, find your new font, click Open and it’s added. You’ll have to close out and reopen the programs you’re in to see the font in the list.
- If you’re on a PC using Windows Vista, once you’ve unzipped your font, move it to a folder on your C-drive (I created one called New Fonts where I put all my downloaded, unzipped fonts so that I easily can find them)
- Now, go to Control Panel, switch to classic view (if you’re not already in that), double click on “Fonts”, wait a little bit until all fonts are displayed, then right click on the Fonts folder on the left hand side of your screen and select Install New Font. A new window pops up. Make sure “Copy Fonts to Fonts Folder” is checked.
- Find your unzipped font in the windows on the lower half
of the screen (once you click on your New Fonts folder, the fonts in that folder will appear in the window up top). Select the ones you want to add (by clicking on them) and click Install, and when they’re done, click Close. Click on another folder on your computer and then back on the Fonts folder - you’re new fonts should show up in the list. You will have to close out of and re-open any open programs for the fonts to show up in your font lists.
- If you’re on a PC using Windows XP, the procedure is pretty much the same as in Vista. The only difference is that once you’re in your Fonts folder, instead of right clicking on the Fonts folder, you need to go to File – Install New Font. Then proceed as you would in Vista.
Hummingbird Wedding Invitations
This tutorial is based on a Save the Date card we created earlier, so if you missed it and want to give these invitations a try, just hop on over to that post and put that card together first.
As always, if you get stuck, see if you can find help in my Illustrator tips or by doing a quick review of the Illustrator toolbar.
Turning your Hummingbird Save the Date card into a wedding invitation is so easy! This is how I did it:
1. Open the Save the Date card you created earlier.
2. Go to File - Save As and save it as Hummingbird Invite (or whatever you want to call it).
3. In your Hummingbird Invite document, go to File - Document Setup and in the dimension windows, put 5 for width and 7 for height (if you want to go the traditional route).
4. Unlock the bottom layer, click on your 5×5 background color square and in your Transform palette, put in 5 for the width and 7 for the height. If you don’t see the Transform palette, just go to Window - Transform and it will pop right up. Align your box with your document. Lock this layer.
5. I happened to like both where the illustration ended up by chance and the size of it on the invite, but you can obviously resize it and move it any way you want. If you want to do it my way, just leave it where it is and make sure that layer is locked too.
6. Go to your text layer and change your text.
That’s it!
If you want to keep the invite square, that’s obviously even easier. All I would do then is just make the illustration a little bit smaller and change the text. You may have to space it a little bit differently than I did on the 5×7 invite to make it fit, or change the wording slightly. Be creative and play around with the layout until it looks good to you.
Filed under Design, Illustrator, Unique Invitations | Comment (1)