How to design in Word documents

Creating visually appealing and professional-looking documents is not limited to expensive graphic design software. Word document editors have powerful design tools at your fingertips. In this article, we’ll look at how to design in Word documents to turn them into attractive visual materials.

Why design in Word document?

While Word doesn’t offer the advanced features of specialized software, it provides a solid foundation for creating visually appealing and professional documents. Designing in a Word document offers some advantages and benefits for individuals and organizations. Here are a few reasons why designing in Word is worth considering:

• Accessibility. Word is a widely used and easily accessible format. Unlike specialized design software, Word is easily accessible to most users without the need to install additional software.
• Ease of use. The interface is familiar to many users, and the tools and functions are easily accessible, allowing users of any skill level to create professional designs.
• Time efficiency. Designing in Word saves time by eliminating the need to switch between different applications.
• Collaboration and sharing. You can collaborate with colleagues and clients by inviting them to view or edit a document. It makes a versatile tool for collaborative design work.

Now, let’s try how to use the design features in Word documents in practice, using the ONLYOFFICE document editor. This editor offers complete document design and editing capabilities, as well as collaborative features while working online.

How to design Word templates?

A template is like a form for Word documents. It contains formatting options and document properties that you can use over and over again when creating new documents. If you have to use and create the same elements or content when creating a new document, you can save time by creating a template.

To design your own Word template, follow these steps :

• Plan the Layout. Consider the placement of headers, footers, sections, and any specific elements needed for your type of document. Think about the hierarchy of information and how to arrange it logically and aesthetically.
• Choose Fonts and Typography. Choose fonts that are visually appealing and easy to read. Consider using a combination of fonts for headings, subheadings, and body text to add visual interest.

Choose the font from the drop-down list in the Home tab. Define the size and bold or underlined text if necessary.

• Determine the color scheme. Consider using a limited set of colors to maintain consistency and not overwhelm the reader. Apply the color scheme to headings, backgrounds, and other design elements as needed.
• Create styles and formatting. Define and apply consistent styles and formatting throughout the template. This includes font styles, paragraph formatting, bullet points, headings, and subheadings. Use the styles feature in the Home tab to create and apply formatting quickly and easily.

• Include content placeholders. Add text and image placeholders to represent typical content that will be inserted into the template.

In ONLYOFFICE, you can add fillable fields in the Form tab in DOCXF file format. Select the type of field you need and add it to the document. Once the template is ready, you only need to fill in the fields without making any additional changes to the document. Read this article to learn more about creating forms in Word documents using ONLYOFFICE.

If you don’t want to create forms from scratch, you can save time by choosing a ready-made template from the library of free ONLYOFFICE forms.

How to add a beautiful background?

Adding beautiful backgrounds to your Word documents can enhance their visual appeal and make them stand out. A visually appealing background can make your document more attractive and professional. It can help create a positive impression on readers and capture their attention.

To do this, you can use your photos, pictures from stock images, or find a suitable one on the Internet. Please note that if you use an image from public sources, make sure that you are not violating the copyright.

To add a picture for the background, go to the Insert tab, on the top toolbar. Choose Image → Image from file. Then, find the necessary image from your storage.

Then, select Behind Text in Wrapping Style on the right-side toolbar or in the Layouts tab on the top toolbar. In this way, the picture will be in the background and won’t overlap the text.

However, it is important to note that while adding a beautiful background can enhance your document’s visual appeal, it is equally important to ensure that it does not hamper readability. Choose backgrounds that complement your content and maintain a good balance between aesthetics and legibility. Make sure you choose colors or images that don’t distract from the content but still enhance its overall presentation.

How to use Word Arts?

Text Art lets you create attractive, decorative text in Word documents. This is a very useful feature for titles, headings, and any other text element that needs to be highlighted or styled. Experiment with different Text Art styles and formatting options to achieve the desired visual effect in your document.

Go to the Insert tab, click Text Art, and choose the option to your taste.

A text box with the Text Art style selected will be inserted into the document. Replace the preset text with the desired text by clicking in the Text Art box and typing.

Customize the appearance of your Text Art by selecting it and using the tools and options available on the Home tab. You can change the font, size, color, alignment, and other formatting options to achieve the look you want.

Resize and reposition the Text Art box as needed by clicking and dragging its handles.

How to design a table in Word document?

Designing tables in Word documents helps organize information, highlight data in a table, emphasize the main point, make comparisons easier, and improve data understanding.

First, add a table to your Word document. Go to the Insert tab → Table. A grid will appear with options for selecting the number of rows and columns.

Choose the desired number of rows and columns by clicking and dragging over the grid. Alternatively, you can select Insert custom table to specify the exact number of rows and columns.

After inserting the table, you can proceed with its design.

Go to Tables settings on the right-side toolbar. Here, you can apply a ready table-style template.

If you don’t like the ready-made models or want to modify them, apply the parameters below.

Borders style. Manually change the border style by selecting the border thickness from the drop-down list. Set the border color in the field next to it.

Grid lines. You can add or remove borders to give the table the desired format. Select the option to keep only a specific type of border from the border color field below.

Background color. Select a color to paint the cells from the drop-down list. You can apply them to a group of selected cells only, to a row, or to an entire table.

If the palette colors don’t work for you, you can define a color that is already used in the document using an eyedropper and apply it to the cells.

How to design logo in Word documents?

Designing a logo in Word documents can be somewhat limited because Word is primarily a word-processing program, not a graphic design tool. However, simple logos can be created using Word’s built-in drawing and shape tools.

Drawings

To draw your own simplest logo, use the hand drawing function. To do this, go to the Draw tab, and select the tool: pen or highlighter. In the drop-down list below the tool icon, select a color and size.

Now you can draw your own logo by hand. Read our complete guide and watch the video to learn more about how to draw in ONLYOFFICE editors.

Shapes

If hand drawings don’t work for you, you can use shapes. Go to the Insert tab and click the Shape button. A drop-down menu will appear with various shapes to choose from.

Select a shape that you want to incorporate into your logo. Common choices include squares, circles, triangles, or custom shapes like stars or arrows.

Click and drag on the document to draw the shape. You can resize and reposition it as needed.

On the right-side toolbar, select Fill and choose a color or gradient to fill the shape.

Then, select Line and choose a color, weight, and style for the shape’s borders. You can also adjust the opacity.

Experiment with other effects like shadows by selecting the corresponding options. Add text by double-clicking the shape and format it.

If you have already set the size to a shape and then decided to choose another shape, there’s no need to delete the shape and start over. Use the Change Shape option on the right-side toolbar to change the shape but keep the parameters.

Text Art

Text Art can also serve as a tool for creating a logo.

Click the Text Art button in the Insert tab. Type your text inside the text box. Then, customize the text by selecting it and using the formatting options in the Home tab. You can change the font, size, color, and alignment, and apply other formatting effects.

Arrange and position the shape and text elements to create your desired logo design.

Summary

As you can see, document design is not always possible only in professional applications. Often, they take time to master, as well as monetary costs. You can realize a simple document design and make it visually appealing with the help of the built-in document editor. Try all design tools in the ONLYOFFICE document editor:

START ONLINE                     GET DESKTOP APP