Mar 14, 2026  
2025-2026 Catalog SVC 
    
2025-2026 Catalog SVC

OBT 204 - Microsoft Publisher


Credits: 4
Variable Credit Course: No

Lecture Hours: 44
Lab Hours: 0
Worksite/Clinical Hours: 0
Other Hours (LIA/Internships): 0

Course Description: Use Microsoft Publisher for PCs to create a variety of publication layouts that follow basic design and typography principles. In addition to learning to use the features and tools in MS Publisher, basic design and typography principles will be introduced.

Prerequisite: OBT 122 or OBT 124 with a D or higher.
Meets FQE Requirement: No
Integrative Experience Requirement: No

Student Learning Outcomes
  1. Enter text into a publication (create text boxes, display formatting marks, word wrap text, import text files, and link text boxes).
  2. Edit publication text (cut, copy, and paste text; find and replace text; check spelling and grammar; edit a story using MS Word).
  3. Apply character formatting to publication text (change font style, size, color, and add special effects; autofit text; apply stylistic sets and alternates; create drop caps; enable ligatures; kern character pairs, insert special symbols, and copy formats with format painter).
  4. Apply paragraph formatting to publications (align text, apply bullets and numbering, change line spacing, set tabs, and control hyphenation). 
  5. Format and modify page layouts (set margins, change page orientation, apply column formatting, set custom page sizes, create color and font schemes, add watermarks and backgrounds, and create master pages).
  6. Insert, format, and modify page parts in a publication (mastheads, sidebars, pull quotes, captions, building blocks, headers and footers, and tear-offs). 
  7. Add graphical objects to enhance publications (pictures, clipart, WordArt, and shapes).
  8. Edit graphics (apply styles and effects, recolor, crop, resize, flip, group, compress, and format shapes).  
  9. Use tools within Publisher to align and position objects within a publication (rulers, boundaries, guides, baselines, measurement toolbar, and scratch area).
  10. Create, format, and modify Publisher tables.
  11. Locate, use, and modify existing publication templates and create and save new publication templates.
  12. Use Publisher to create a variety of document layouts (flyers, brochures, newsletters, stationery sets, calendars, and business cards).
  13. Apply basic design and typographic principles to create visually attractive documents.
  14. Analyze publications for design improvement based upon design and typography principles. 

Course Contents
  1. Basic publication creation commands.
  2. Text entry and editing features.
  3. Character and paragraph formatting commands and techniques.
  4. Page layout commands.
  5. Building blocks for adding pre-designed parts to pages.
  6. Graphical features and graphical formatting and editing techniques.
  7. Publisher tools for positioning and aligning objects.
  8. Publisher tables.
  9. Publication templates.
  10. Design and typography principles.


Instructional Units: 4