Make Patterned Papers with Shapes and Clipart in Publisher

Today's tutorial will be how to manipulate autoshapes and cliparts into digital papers in Publisher. If this is your first time seeing this tutorial, please refer to my first one before starting. It will explain a lot of things that I will not cover in this one.

Once you are in Publisher, Click Insert, Picture, AutoShapes, Basic Shapes, and Oval (I chose oval for this example and made it into a circle).

Use your mouse to stretch out the oval and make it into a circle shape.

With the circle selected, double click on it. This window should pop up. Change the Color and Line to what you would like. I chose grey and no line.

This is what your circle should look like now.

While your circle is still selected, move it to where you would like to start your pattern on your page. I always like to start mine a little off of the page so it looks like a continuous pattern.

Right click on the circle and click Copy, then right click again and select Paste. Copy and Paste your circle until you complete your pattern.

Once that is completed, select all of the circles at once. This can be done in a few ways. You could click Select All, Use the mouse to lasso them all in, or hold down the CTRL button while clicking on each of the circles. Once that is done, it should look like this.

Then right click and select Copy and then Paste.

Continue to paste until you get your full page completed. You will need to move each row and then place it in position. 

This is what your completed page should look like. Save it as a JPEG and you are done.

Next, I want to show you how to manipulate other cliparts. In my first tutorial, I mentioned that all components of a free-printable must be made by you to legally be given away by you. Using public domain, royalty-free cliparts are an exception to this rule. Sites like Clker.com offer "generic" cliparts that you can use personally or commercially without any additional stipulations other than those listed in their terms of use. I have yet to find any Etsy shop that allows others to use their cliparts to be used in free-printables. Mygrafico.com offers some cliparts that can be used in freebies, but each designer has different stipulations as well. Just make sure to check their terms of usage before each purchase. Some have very precise stipulations, that you don't use their cliparts in freebies, even if they are for personal use. So let's get started!

Go to Insert, Picture, From File, and select your clipart.

I selected this pair of scissors from Clker.com. 

To change the color of your clipart, just right click on the image and select Format Picture. You can also select the paint can in the tool bar to get to the format window.

A window will pop up and you will want to select Recolor. 

Another window will pop up like this.

Select the Color you would like. I chose blue. Black colored cliparts stay true to color when changed. If you change a clipart that is not black, you might get a shade of the color that you select. 

It should look like this now.

I also would like to show you a quick way to fill autoshapes with a pattern instead of just a color. Insert your Autoshape, I chose a heart. Right click on the shape and click Format Autoshape.

Under the Fill Category, Select Fill Effects.

This window should pop up. You can select any of the options, but for now I will select picture. When you get a chance, explore your different options in Gradient, Texture, Pattern, Picture, and Tint. Click Select Picture. 

Then click on the image you would like to fill it with.

I chose this paper that I had previously designed.

Tada! The heart is filled with the pattern.

My next tutorial will be on making subway art, so don't miss it!

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