Design and Layout Center

Using the Right School Template

Using the right template is important, but not at the expense of limiting you. Look at templates as guides. They are meant to help you organize things in a good manner, show you the proper alignment, and give you an idea of good spacing. When it comes to templates, people often make two main mistakes. First, they butcher the template, ruining good design techniques, such as proper spacing and alignment. Second, they hold so rigidly to the template that they have no freedom to make their design their own. Templates are a guide, not a rule, so the tips below will help you to choose the best template for your needs.

Tip #1 - Choose Templates You Like

This is important. Templates give you ideas on what you can do, but you aren't restricted to just the templates in the categories designated for you. You can find all sorts of templates in other categories besides schools. All of them can be adapted to fit your needs and creative spirit.

Tip #2 - Free Your Creativity

Our templates are 100% customizable. Every element on our templates can be changed, deleted, or moved. You are free to import your own, create your own, or just rearrange things to your satisfaction. We recommend that you borrow design elements where you can, but making a template your own is when it becomes yours.

Tip #3 - Mix and Match Templates

Our templates are designed to be placed on 1 page at a time. This means you can choose a different template for each and every page of your newspaper. If you like a template from one category that would look good on page 3, then add it there. We do recommend that you try to keep a theme throughout your newspaper. It will look more uniform if your colors are consistent, your fonts are consistent, and your font sizes are consistent.

Tip #4 - Get Ideas From Other Templates

Our templates can give you ideas. If you see an idea you like, insert the template on an empty page and copy the elements you like to the page you want. Our Designer is 100% flexible in this respect. You can mix and match ideas. WARNING: Be careful not to load a template on top of another one or you will erase everything on that page.

Tip #5 - You Can Start from Scratch

You can start with a blank canvas and build from scratch. This is the power of our Designer. It works as a fully functional desktop publishing program in the cloud. So if you don't find a template you like, make your own! You can then use the template you create in future projects without having to rebuild them.

Tip #6 - You Own the Template

Don't limit yourself to the template design. Though our templates are designed to fit a vast majority of situations, it may not be completely right for you. Feel free to adjust it to your needs. Don't feel as if you must put a picture where we did or text where we did. We do suggest that you read up on good design methods as you design, however.

Free Cloud Designer Templates

Our templates are 100% customizable, super user-friendly, and designed specifically to help you create outstanding school newspapers with our free Cloud Designer. Below are a few of the 100s of templates available to you.