I'm Back!

Seven certificates and one program later, I'm finished with the forms (some fillable, some not) and the banquet program that the state society needed for the conference, which is next weekend. Members of the FSGS have put in long hours trying to make this conference a standout. I'm hoping they have a roaring success on their hands. With the certificates and program, I've been able to participate even though I'm unable to attend the conference.

During all of this mass production, I did realize one thing that I was doing that might be of interest to anyone who reads this blog.

Color Sampling and Filling
If you look back at the sample certificates I posted earlier, they all include color. The certificates use different layouts; however, they all have cells filled with a color that matches another color in the certificate.

• For Orange Blossoms, I sampled a green in the leaves to create the green borders.
• For Pioneer Border and Pioneer Stripe, I sampled blues in the society seal to create the blue on blue border.

Long ago, I learned that you can't guess at these colors. Something that looks great on a computer screen can look awful in print and match nothing.

I use Paint to sample the color that I want to insert into a Word document, frequently filling the cell of a table with color.

To sample a color: 

1. Confirm that you have the color version of the graphic for which you want to sample colors. The graphic needs to have any of the following extensions: .bmp, .jpg, .gif, .png, or .tif. 
2. Open Paint (select Start, All Programs, Accessories, and then Paint). 
3. Open the graphic (select File, Open, and then open the graphic). For example, in my case, I was opening a color scan of the state society seal.
4. Click the color picker tool, and then click a color in the graphic. Color 1 in the Colors group updates to that color. 
5. Click the Edit colors button. The Edit Colors dialog appears.
6. Look for the Red, Green, and Blue numbers. The numbers you see are the formula for the color.
   
   See Much Ado About Graphic Software...Part 6 for information on tools and colors for older versions of Paint. 
7. Jot down the three numbers. Be sure to note which is red, green, and blue.

To insert the color in a Word table: 

1. Open a Word document, and add a table with three columns and three rows. 
2. Right-click in the center cell of the table. A pop-up menu appears.
3. Select Borders and Shading to display the Borders and Shading dialog.
4. Click the Shading tab in the dialog. 
5. Locate the Apply to field and select Cell from the drop-down list. 
6. Locate the Fill field, and click the drop-down arrow beside it. The Theme Colors pop-up appears.
7. Click More Colors. The Colors dialog appears.
8. Click the Custom tab. 
9. Enter the Red, Green, and Blue numbers you jotted down for the color formula, and then click OK. The dialog closes.
   
10. Click OK on the Borders and Shading dialog. Word adds the color to the center cell of the table. 

This example isn't very realistic or practical. However, if you look at the sample certificates  you can see how I used color sampling and the fill option in Word to create frames and stripes for the certificates.

Assuming that nothing more is needed for the state conference, I should be back to my regular posting. So if you have questions, please send them along.

Forming Up Your Genealogy--Part 18--Certificates

State conference time in Florida is busy if you are on the FSGS board. As the Florida Lines newsletter editor, I'm on the board. Because of my layout and design experience, I'm frequently drafted for tasks outside of my normal newsletter duties. Last year it was pulling together the conference syllabus. This year it has been designing a new pioneer certificate. Just as a f.y.i., I thought you might like to know how I approached this task, the functions I selected, and the design elements I considered.

Here are a few of the current contenders for the final certificate.

• Certificates are on landscaped paper (8-1/2x11) with 0.5 margins.  
• Variables in the forms have been set up as fillable fields: Descendant, Pioneer, (certificate) Number. 
• Electronic signatures will be added so that the President and Chair don't have to sign individual documents. 

Orange Blossoms

This certificate layout uses a table. 

Column 1 = green stripe...filled the cells with a green from the orange blossoms photo (used Paint to sample color and get color formula)

Column 2 = orange blossoms

Column 3 = green stripe

Column 4 = FSGS logo and text

Column 5 = empty column to create a vertical space and a line for the right text alignment

Column 6 = green stripe

Row 1 = green stripe

Row 2 = orange blossoms and text

Row 3 = green stripe 

Table borders are set to None. 

I used Paint to create the orange blossoms. It's one photograph repeated four times in a column. 

Pioneer Border

This certificate layout is mostly flowing text. The border and the outline of the state are a watermark created in Paint and saved as a .png to maintain the colors. To match the colors, I sampled from the FSGS logo. The text for the certificate simply flows over the watermark. The signature area at the bottom of the certificate is a table (three columns and one row), which makes placements of the elements easier. Table borders are set to None. 

Pioneer Stripe

This certificate layout is a table. Table borders are set to None.

Column 1 = blue stripe with Florida (used Paint to sample color and get color formulas)

Column 2 = empty column for white stripe

Column 3 = blue stripe with Pioneer

Column 4 = empty column for white stripe

Column 5 = blue stripe with Certificate

Column 6 = empty column for white stripe and left margin for left text to alignment 

Text flow uses merged cells. Row one has all of the cells from columns 7 to 9 merged.

Column 7 = certificate number and presentation date

Column 8 = empty column for spacing

Column 9 = signatures 

Row 1 = majority of certificate text

Row 2 = Certificate number and President's signature

Row 3 = Presentation date and Chair's signature

Design Element
Take a close look at each certificate. The design element that makes them work that you might not immediately see is that for the most part I picked one margin and I stuck with it. The first certificate has text that is flush right. In the second one the text is centered. The third certificate is (mostly) flush left. In Orange Blossom and Pioneer Stripe I used an empty column to create an accent line to serve as a margin.

If you are interested in layout and design, I can't speak highly enough of a book: The Non-Designer's Design Book by Robin Williams. Williams offers practical suggestions that almost anyone can follow to create more attractive layouts. Over the years, I've referred back to this book again and again to refresh my memory on what this lady has to say about designing.

As always, if you have questions, send me an email or post a comment.

Table It!...Part 6...Creating the Table

Brace yourself. This one is going to be a long slog. However, at the end, you'll have several new skills.

To construct this table, you need to open a new document and add the table. After the table is finished, we're going to turn the two pieces into graphics, and then rotate the graphics so that they fit on a portrait page. Here's what the final pages with the table graphics inserted will look like. Notice that you can use wrap options to type text on the right-hand page.

To set up the page:

1. Open a new Word document.
2. Reset all margins to .5 inches.
   Open the Page Setup dialog.
   --Word 2003: Select File, and then Page Setup.
   --Word 2007/2010: Select the Page Layout tab and locate the Page Setup group. Click the small arrow in the lower right of the group.
   The Page Setup dialog appears.
3. Enter .5 for top, bottom, right, and left.
4. Click the Landscape button.
5. Click OK.

To add the table:

1. Add the table title.
   --Type this text: 1850 Census Entries for McKee in Randolph County, Illinois--Apply a Heading 3 style, and then press the Enter key.
2. Display the Insert Table dialog.
   --Word 2003: From the menu, select Table, Insert, Table.
   --Word 2007/2010: On the Insert tab, click Tables.  
3. In Number of columns, enter 13.
4. In Number of rows, enter 10.
5. Under AutoFit behavior, click AutoFit to contents.
6. Click OK. The table appears in your document.
7. Save the document under a name you will recognize.

To add text to your table:

1. In the first row, type the 1850 census column titles.
   
   --Click in the first cell, and type the column title.
   --Press the Tab key to move forward to the next cell, and add text.
   --Press Shift + Tab to move backward to the previous cell.
   Notice that in the table I created I abbreviated Age, Sex, and Color. I've included all of the columns because while the census entries I'm looking at do not have entries in all columns that may not be the case for entries you are looking at.
2. In the second row, type the location description, and then merge the cells in row two.
   
   To merge, select the entire row. Move your cursor to the left of row two. Your cursor changes from an I beam to an arrow. Point the arrow at row two and click once to select the entire row. Word highlights the row. Right-click in the row to display the popup menu, and then select Merge. Word removes all vertical table borders except the end borders.
3. Add a gray fill to rows one and two.
   
   To fill, select rows one and two. Move your cursor to the left of row one. Your cursor changes from an I beam to an arrow. Point the arrow at row one and click once. Hold down the mouse button and drag your cursor down to the second row. Word highlights rows one and two. Right-click in the highlighted rows to display the popup menu, and then select Borders and Shading. The  Borders and Shading dialog appears. Select the Shading tab. In the Fill drop-down, select one of the shades of gray. You add a bit of color to a heading (gray if you are printing to paper) so that your reader has a visual break that they can use to identify titles and locations.
4. In the third row, start adding census data. You can add the data I show in the sample or your own data.
5. When you have a new location (township), add the location, merge the fields, and fill with gray to provide a visual break for your reader.
6. Continue adding entries. When you table breaks to page two, just let it break. After you have two pages of entries, we have two problems to fix: 1) row splitting across page break; 2) no titles above page 2 columns.
7. To stop a row from splitting across a page break, complete these steps.
   
   --Select the entire table. Click once anywhere in the table, and then right-click to display a popup menu. Click Select, and then Table. Word highlights the entire table.
   --Display Table Properties. Right-click anywhere in the highlighted table to display the popup menu, and then select Table Properties. Click the Row tab.  In Options, remove the check mark from Allow row to break across pages. Depending on what you've done, you might see the check box filled in with color. Click it twice to remove all marks. Click OK to save the change. The table will allow only entire rows and will not split a row across a page break. Click anywhere outside of the table to remove the highlight.
8. To add a title row to page two, repeat header rows.
   
   --On page one, select row one (the title row) of the table.
   --Word 2003: From the menu, select Table, Repeat Header Row.
   --Word 2007/2010: On the Layout tab, click the Repeat Header Row button  in the Data group.
   
   Regardless of how many pages of census entries you enter, the heading row will appear at the top of each page.

So are you exhausted yet? I know I am. So I'll save turning the table into a graphic for the next post. After you have the table you want, turning the pages into graphics, rotating them, and inserting the graphics into a document is a minor task. So until the next post, happy table making.