Here are the instructions for creating it in PowerPoint. If you want the full instructions including pictures, FM me.
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I didn't write the instructions, I received them from a helpful person on the Knot.
Using Microsoft PowerPoint (PPT) to enhance pictures for My Publisher (MP)
Things you will need:
1. The PPT software application
2. The MP application (download at www.mypublisher.com )
3. Your pictures saved as .jpeg .bmp or .gif images on your PC
In the PPT application, chose to start a Blank presentation when the screen appears.
Then click OK.
The New Slide screen appears. Select the blank presentation slide in the lower right corner and then click OK.
You will need to change the dimensions of the slide to allow for better resolution in MP. To do this, chose the Page Setup option from the File menu.
In the screen that appears, change the Width to 48 inches and the Height to 36 inches. Then click OK. (The slide should remain in landscape orientation.)
The slide that you are looking at will be your “page” in MP, so it may help you to think about that when you start designing your slide/ page. Do you want a white background? Do you want it black, or another color? Do you want a picture in the background, but washed out like a watermark? You have quite a few possibilities. I find that it helps to set the background first, and then insert pictures. You can always change it later.
How to change the background color on a slide
The easiest way to change the color of the background is to right-click on the slide and chose the Background option.
You can choose the color from the drop-down arrow. Pre-set colors displayed, but you can also choose other colors by clicking on the More colors option. Once you have selected the color for your background, click the Apply button to apply the color to the slide.
You can also chose a special effect like marble, raindrops, patterns, colors, etc by investigating the Fill Effects choice of the menu and looking through the Gradient, Pattern, and Texture tabs.
To set a watermark as your background (Ideas for this are the lace of your dress, your bouquet, a picture of the church, etc.)
Insert the picture you want to use as the background. To do this, use the menu commands of Inset, then Picture, then From File.
Find the location of your picture using the Look In drop-down box. Once you find your picture, click on it to select it, and then click the Insert button.
Your picture will be inserted into the screen. It may be large; it may be small. It just depends. No matter what, you will have to re-size the picture by placing your mouse in the corner and dragging to the edges to the entire slide.
Now you will have to make the picture appear lighter, like a watermark. To do this, right-click on the picture and choose the Format Picture option from the menu.
On the Picture tab, in the Image Control area (center of the screen) chose the Watermark option from the drop –down menu next to Color.
To see how the picture looks as a watermark, the Preview button in the lower right is very helpful. If the picture is too bright, or there is not enough contrast, you can slide the slide bars for the Contrast and Brightness to get the level of the image that you want to.
Note that changing the levels of Brightness and / or Contrast will remove the “Watermark” choice from the Color menu, but your picture will still be a watermark.
Once you are done adjusting your background picture, click the OK button to apply the changes to your slide.
Now you are ready to insert your photos into the slide / page.
Inserting pictures into PPT slides
Use the menu commands of Insert, Picture, From File to direct your computer to the photo that you want to insert.
You will need to resize your photo to the size you want. Continue to insert as many photos (resizing as you go) as you want on the page.
Sometimes you may want to add a line around your picture. To do this, right-click on the photo and choose the Format Picture option, and then click on the first tab – Colors and Lines. Use the drop down arrow next to the Color option in the Line area. Pick the color of line you want as a border and then the thickness of the line from the Weight option. Again, the Preview button can assist you in seeing how this looks prior to clicking OK to apply the changes.
Another “tip” – sometimes a picture is covering part of another picture that you want visible. You can bring the desired picture forward by clicking on that picture and then using the Draw menu in the lower left portion of your screen. Click on Draw and then choose the Order menu and select the Bring to Front option.
You can also add text boxes to your slide / pages. Inside the textbox, you can include your vows, lyrics to a song, or just a small caption like “getting ready”. To insert a text box, click on the text box button in the Drawing toolbar at the lower part of your screen.
Click on your slide / page where you want the text box. The text box will appear very small, too small perhaps to see your text. To make it easier, begin typing a few words of your text. Then click and highlight your text and format it to a larger size. You will most likely have to increase the size of your text box (by clicking and dragging from the sides of it) to see your entire text. Continue typing your text until completed.
To remove the line that appears around your text box, click once to select the text box and then right-click on your text box and choose the Format Text Box option. (Hint – type in sizes like 150, 200 for readable print. It may seem large, but it needs to be!) On the first tab, the Colors and Lines tab, choose No Fill from the drop down arrow next to Color in the Fill area. Also, click on the drop down arrow in the Line area for the line color and choose No Line. Then click OK when done.
Once you have your slide set up the way you want, you need to group the items together as one big item instead of a bunch of individual items. To do this, use the menu commands of Edit and then Select All. All the items on your slide / page will get selection handles around them. From the Drawing toolbar in the lower part of your screen, click on the Draw option / menu and then select the Group option to group the items together as one large item.
To save your finished slide / page, you will need to save it as a photo image in a special way. From the File menu, select the Save As option. In the screen that appears, name your slide, choose its destination on your computer, and then choose the File Type as a .jpeg image from the drop down menu. Finally, click the Save button to save your work.
You will be prompted with a message asking if you want to export every slide in your file. Just click No.
You are now ready to insert this page into MP your entire page picture.
To insert your PPT picture into MP, follow the regular MP instructions to select your pictures for your MP book. Be sure to select the Just Photos option from the Theme selections. This will allow you to select the entire picture on a page option from the Page Layouts in MP. This is Page Layout 1H.
