Thinking back to when I began working I remember spending countless hours creating title pages for booklets, documents and other types of publications. I would spent time creating the perfect heading, adjusting its alignment and location on the page. I would include a subtitle, author details, an image and a nice page border using one of the Page border options available in Word.
Are you still doing this? Let me save you a considerable amount of time and show you how to utilise the Cover Page feature in Microsoft Word. You will be creating professional looking cover pages with your own customised text in under 60 seconds.
The cover page designs are pre-defined templates, displayed in a gallery, which provide areas for text, dates and images that you can customise to suit your own needs. You can also download more designs from Office.com as well as create your own custom design and save it for use in any future documents.
Many formal report documents require a cover page that includes not only the document’s title, but information about its author and when it was written. Although you can insert a cover page from the Building Blocks Organizer, the Insert tab also has a separate gallery just for cover pages.
1. open or create the document for which you want to add a cover page.
2. click the Insert tab, and then click cover page in the pages group. The Cover Page gallery opens.
3. Scroll down to view the available cover pages (figure 12.10), and then click the one to insert. Select a cover page to insert from the gallery.
4. fill in the placeholders on the cover page. For example, click the [Document title] placeholder and type a title. To remove an unneeded control placeholder, right-click it and click Remove Content Control.
To create a cover page, follow these steps:
Open Microsoft Word
Open a document you wish to add a cover page to or begin this exercise with a blank document
Select the Insert tab from the Ribbon
Now click the Cover Page button within the Pages group
The Cover Page gallery will be displayed
Use the scroll bar to scroll down and view all available designs
Once you have identified the one you like, click it once with the left mouse button
The cover page will be added to your document
You will now see prompts for where you can add text or content
Simply click into a text prompt and enter the information you wish to display
When you click within a prompt for [Year], you will be displayed with a calendar, simply click any date within the year you wish to display
You may see that Microsoft Word will fill in some information for you, based on information you entered when you installed Microsoft Word. You can change this information if you need by clicking inside the text area
If you wish to use a different image rather than the one provided, select the image
Click the Picture Tools > Format tab which is now visible
Select the Change Picture button from the Adjust group
You can now navigate your computer files and select an image to use instead, click Insert once you have selected the new image
The image will now be replaced
You have now created a professional looking cover page all with a few clicks of the mouse
Delete a cover page
If you have created a cover page and decide later that you wish to remove it, you do not have to delete the elements individually.
Select Insert > Cover Page
From the menu select Remove Current Cover Page
The cover page will automatically be removed leaving the rest of your document untouched
Cover pages created using some older versions of Microsoft Word may require you to manually delete each element however all new cover pages will support being deleted using this method.
Date formats
A common issue I see when using cover pages is that the automatic date fields are formatted in US formats. Because I am located in Australia and for my readers who also prefer UK formatting I thought I would show you how to change this setting so that you can choose the format the date is displayed. You can even change it from 19/11/2014 to 19-Nov-2014 if preferred.
Place your cursor in the date field to select it
Select the Developer tab from the Ribbon
If you do not have the Developer tab available go to File > Options then select the Customize Ribbon option
In the right hand pane place a tick in the option to display Developer then click OK
From the Developer tab click the Properties button within the Controls group
The Content Control Properties dialog box will appear:
Go to the Date Picker Properties and from the list select the date format you wish to use
Click OK
The date should now be changed to the format you have chosen
Enjoying creating fast and professional looking cover pages for your documents and publications.
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