NATFHE Branch Resources - Making a Newsletter

Resources on this page:

Newsletter template (Word) to assist in the production of newsletters

Image and clip art library - NATFHE logo, and various useful images and ads ready to insert in branch newsletters and documents.

NATFHE newsletter template for branches and activist groups

There is now a Word template for creating a NATFHE branch newsletter similar to the one pictured above. With a simple black and white masthead including the NATFHE logo and 'click and type' boxes for the branch name, headlines and text it is easy to use and creates a professional looking newsletter. The template has been saved as a Word 6/Win 95 version so that it should be able to be opened by users of Word 6 and above.

TO DOWNLOAD THE TEMPLATE

You will need to save the Word document on to your computer before setting it up as a template in Word. To do this, PC users should right click on the link to the newsletter template below and select 'Save Target As' from the menu that appears. This will bring up the 'Save as' dialogue box. Mac users should perform the same operation by holding down the Ctrl key while clicking and select 'Save As' from the menu. Select the location you wish to save the file in. C:/Temp is a good location as you will not need to keep this file permanently. NATFHE branch newsletter template

TO INSTALL THE TEMPLATE

Open Word, and open the document you have just downloaded - it is called 'NATFHEnewstempl.doc'. Now select 'Save as' from the file menu. At the bottom of the dialogue box is the 'Save as type:' drop-down menu. Select the 'Document Template (*.dot)' option then click on 'Save'. Word will automatically save the file to the correct location. At this point you may wish to click on the 'type branch name' box and enter the name of your branch to save it on the template. Now save it again and close it.

USING THE TEMPLATE

To use the template select 'New' from the File menu. This opens the 'New' dialogue box with a selection of Word templates. Clicking on the 'new document' icon on the toolbar will not work, you must use the File menu. You will find the newsletter template in the 'General' section (see the tabs at the top of the box), labelled with its file name: 'NATFHEnewstempl.doc'. Select it and click on 'Open' and a new document will open based on the template.

Simply click and type in the different sections marked with brackets eg, issue number, main headline, text of main story etc, to create your newsletter. Make sure you are in 'Print layout' view (select this option from the View menu) or the click and type boxes for the Branch name and issue/date will not appear. When you save the document it will not overwrite the template but will save as a seperate document.

Do not delete the blank line above the ruled line seperating the main story from the smaller stories or the ruled line will disappear.

The smaller stories at the bottom of the page are laid out in two columns and will automatically flow on to the next column, and then to the first column on the next page.

The font used in the template is Lucida Sans which is a modern easy to read font (sans serif - ie no curly bits) that should be on most Windows systems. If you don't have it substitute another common sans serif font like Verdana or Arial. Don't use a serif font like Times New Roman.

If you have any difficulties or queries regarding the template please email the publishing section.

Image/Clip art library

The images below can all be downloaded to your computer for use in your NATFHE branch publication. To download right click on the link beside the picture (not on the picture) and select the "Save Target As..." option. The picture you can see is a preview only and not good enough quality for printed publications. If you right click on it you will download this preview and not the image you need.

Click here to download (33KB)

Click here to download (26KB)