Creating an Invoice
Computer Science 101—PageMaker Tutorial #3

In this assignment you will create a invoice which could be used by someone who is selling small items on the internet. There is very little text on the publication; instead, the assignment focuses on the use of graphic elements such as lines and boxes. Parts of the assignment are purposely written in a sketchy form. You will be introduced to basic methods and then you will need to experiment to determine how best to get the task completed. As before, it's important that you begin playing with PageMaker to ask, "What will this do?" questions as you continue to develop mastery of the software. Don't be frustrated if something you do messes up your work or if you get confused. Those experiences will be real opportunities to learn something new about the tool!

Getting Started

Start PageMaker 6.5 as normal. Begin a new file, with bottom, left and right margins set at 1 inch and the top margin at 1/2 inch. The document will be single-sided and will only be one page in length.

We will begin by creating a "master page" which will have guidelines which will appear on any page. Master pages are particularly useful for large documents which will have the same format elements from page to page (such as chapters of a workbook or pages in a newsletter). Click on the "R" icon at the lower left corner of the PageMaker window. This indicates that you are now working on the right master page instead of page 1. If your document had been double sided then there would also have been an "L" icon for the left master page.

Click on the upper ruler and drag a guideline down to the 2 inch mark on the left ruler. Repeat this by pulling horizontal guidelines to the following locations: 2-1/4", 2-1/2", 2-3/4", 3", 3-1/4", 3 1/2", 3-3/4", 4", 4-1/4", 6-1/4", 8-1/2", 8-3/4", 9", 9-1/4", 9-1/2", 9-3/4".

Increase the magnification of the page:

View / Zoom In / View / Zoom In
Click on the left ruler and drag a guideline across to the 4-3/4" mark on the top ruler. Repeat this by pulling vertical guidelines to the following locations: 4-7/8", 6-1/8", 6-1/4".

Now we'll place three column guides on the page:

Layout / Column guides / 3 columns, 0.125 inch spacing
Now we'll move these columns to the positions you've set up with the vertical guidelines. Change the View to "Fit in Window" then click in the middle of the left-hand column guide. Note the change in the cursor which will now be a double-sided arrow. Drag the column guides until they line up with the 4-3/4" spacing lines. Repeat for the right column guide by lining it up with the 6 1/8" lines.

Now, lock the guides in place so that you can't accidentally move them:

View / Lock Guides
You can always unlock the guides later if you need to make changes. Click on the Page 1 icon at the lower left of the screen and you will see your Master Page guidelines reproduced on this page.

We'll now create the logo for the patchPlace (the name of our company). Use the Type commands to set the font to Palatino with a size of 18 with style bold and italic. Zoom in twice and click near the upper left corner of the page. Type the name of the company by first typing two spaces and then patchPlace.

Now resize the text box by selecting the pointer tool and making sure that the text box is exactly 3/32" below the upper margin and flush with the left margin. Drag the right handle of the text box to the 2-1/2" mark. The text block should now be 1-1/2" wide.

This would be a good time to save your work, if you haven't already done so!

Select the rectangle tool from the Toolbox. Click at the upper left-hand margin and drag the rectangle until the right side is at the 2-1/2" mark and the bottom side is at the 1" mark. Use the text tool from the Toolbox to highlight the text. Reverse the text so that it will be white on black by using:

Type / Type Style / Reverse
It appears that the text is gone but it isn't. It's just the same color as the background. Click on a corner of the rectangle using the pointer tool. Color the interior of the rectangle:
Element / Fill / Solid
The rectangle was placed onto the document after the text block so it is in front of the text. As a result the text is covered with the block. We need to move the block behind the text:
Element / Arrange / Send to back
We'll now add the text to the invoice form. Change the font from Palatino to Helvetica, size 14, bold (but no longer italic). Change the view so that the document fits in the window. Select the text tool. In the second column, just below the top margin, type: Invoice. Don't worry about exact positioning. This will be handled later. Select the pointer tool and then set the size to 8. Select the text tool again. Add the following text in the following locations:
ColumnJust above Guideline at ...Text
12-1/4"Client
22-1/4" Date
22-3/4"Invoice Number
23-1/4"Form of Payment
14-1/4" Description
24-1/4"Unit Price
34-1/4"Amount
Just below the 8-1/2" guideline, in column 1, type the address of your company, such as:
255 Grapevine Road Wenham, MA 01984 patchPlace@aol.com
Select the entire block of text above, and "unbold" it by using the Type menu. Click the pointer tool and once again select Bold text, then return to the text tool and add the following text:
ColumnJust above Guideline at ...Text
28-3/4"Subtotal
29-1/4" Shipping
29-3/4"Total
We'll now carefully align the text blocks. Make sure that the checkmark is visible in the View / Snap to Guides option. Align the boxes by selecting one at a time with the pointer tool and moving to the following locations:
TextLeft of block at ...Top of block at ...
Invoice4-7/8"1/2"
Form of Payment 4-7/8" 3-1/8"
Description1"4"
Unit Price4-7/8"4"
Amount 6-1/4" 4"
255 Grapevine...1"8-1/2"
Align the next text blocks with the bottom of their boxes, instead of the tops:
TextLeft at ...Bottom at ...
Subtotal4-7/8"8-3/4"
Shipping 4-7/8" 9-1/4"
Total4-7/8"9-3/4"
This is a good time to save and print your work.

Now we will add lines to the page. We'll use cut and paste to develop these lines in groups, rather than adding all of them one at a time. Some of the lines will be heavier than others. Select:

Element / Stroke / 2 pt
View the page in Actual Size. Choose the Perpendicular Line tool (just below the cropping tool) on the Toolbox. Use the line tool to drag a line across the width of column 1, hanging from the 2" guideline. Choose the pointer tool. If needed, make any adjustments to the location of the line so that it is correctly positioned. After the line is in the correct place, click on the line to select it, then use Copy and Paste to make a second line. Move the new line so that it is hanging from the 2-1/2" guideline in the first column. Repeat for two more lines hanging from the 3" and 3-1/2" guidelines in the first column.

Click on the second line, then hold the shift key down while clicking on the third line. The two middle lines should now be selected. Change their weight to hairlines by:

Element / Stroke / Hairline
Since the last item which we copied was the original line, it is still in the computer's paste buffer. Paste an additional copy of the line and move it so that it hangs from the 2" guideline, between the 4-7/8" guide and the 7-1/2" guide. Click on this line, then use Copy. We'll now place three more lines easily:
Edit / Paste Multiple / 3 copies; 0 horizontal, 0.5" vertical offset
Click the pointer tool and change to lines with a weight of 2 pt again. Hang three lines (across the width of column 1, column 2 and column 3) from the 4-1/4" guideline. Use the pointer tool, hold down the shift key and select all three of these new lines. Copy them and Paste Multiple copies (7 copies; 0" horizontal, 1/2" vertical offset.) Use the pointer tool to surround all 21 of these new lines, then modify them so that they are hairlines.

Hang a 2 pt line from the 8-1/2" guideline, across the width of columns 2 AND 3. Copy this line and paste 3 copies with the same offset as the other lines. Select:

View / Hide Guides
for a moment to see what it looks like. Fine-tune as needed and then save and print the final document.