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Part II
We told you that if the first page worked we would add more, well, we're back!You all seem to be having a ball making your own stationery and judging by our email lately, you seem to be ready to move on to the next step. So here we go again!

HOW DO YOU KEEP GRAPHICS FROM JUMPING ALL OVER THE PAGE WHEN YOU CREATE IT?

This seems to be the basic question that we are getting from most of you, so here we are going to attempt to give you the solution to this problem. The answer in a nutshell is the use of tables. Who knew? It took a lot of playing around on our part, but Karen and I finally figured it out one day and we would be lost with out them now. There are few stationeries that we create that don't contain at least one table, so it's not surprising that so many of you want to know how we do it.

It is the majic of tables that allows us to do things like keep a graphic on the left hand side of the page and put text on the page beside it and not make the text fly below it every time we hit the enter key! It's also tables that let us put an image down the side of the page and not have it mess up the text or anything else we decide to put on the page. Sorry to disappoint everyone, but it isn't majic. That should make everyone out there pretty happy though, because that means that we can show you how it is done!

Once again, remember, if we forget a step or you are totally lost when this tutorial is done, just drop us a line. We have been doing this for so long, most of it is automatic and sometimes we don't even realize we are skipping a step when we tell someone how we do something. We would never intentially leave anything essential out....but we are capable of forgetting every now and then. Just have fun and you can even mail us your results....we just can't get enough e-mail, especially when it is full of cool stationery!

Okay, let's get down to it. By now, everyone out there knows we use WebExpress. We have heard from a few of you that other programs follow the same basic rules, so play around with one that you already have and see what happens. We use WebExpress because we are very comfortable with it. We have tried other programs and we always go back to it. You need to do the same thing. It's no fun to use something just because someone else told you it was the best if you can't figure it out or you have to spend a fortune to get it. The first rule is....Have Fun!

First things first....open up WebExpress or whatever program you happen to be using at the moment. Pick a background and place it on the page. To be on the safe side, you should probably pick a dark background because WebExpress outlines its tables in white. After you have played with tables for a while you can use any color background you want because you will know basically where everything should go.

Now you need to go to the top of the page and find the tool bar of icons again. I realize that the newer version of WebExpress is a little different than the one we are using, but they are basically the same. Run your curser over the tool bar until you see "insert table". Click on the icon and you will get a menu prompt asking you for the deminsions of your table. Start with 1 row and 2 columns. Click Okay and you should see an outline of the table on your background. If you don't, click on the top of the page where your curser was when you started and the outline should appear. Now it's time to pick an image, but first you need to make sure your curser is blinking inside your table and not outside of it. If you try to place an image outside the table you will get a nasty illegal table message and have to start again. Now go ahead and place your image inside the table the same way you put one anywhere else on a blank page. When you see your image, it's time for the next step!

When you have your image placed, it's time to play with the table a little bit. Run your curser across the page and you will see the arrow change when it gets to the edge of the table. Pull the center of the table over to the left as close as you can get it to your image without running into it. You are almost there!

Now, if you want the image to run down the side, you need to copy and paste the image all the way down the page. Just highlight your image and go to the top of the page and click on the copy icon. Un-highlight the image (is that a word?) and click beside it so the curser is on the right hand side of your image. Now hit enter until you get to the place down the page that you want the next image to be. When you are down far enough hit the paste icon. You don't have to hit copy again, just keep going down the page and hit paste until you have as many images as you want on your page.

VIOLA!

You are done! Now, close your new creation and open it in Outlook Express and Enjoy!

Once you have played with the basics, you can have fun doing all sorts of things with tables. This web page is full of 'em! Most of the ones on this page are 1 row and 3 columns. I also used 1 row and 2 columns, but some of our stationery can have up to 5 columns...that's when it gets fun!

If you have any trouble, or if you need anymore help, just drop one of us a line. That's what we're here for! And if this page helped, let us know that, too. If we get a good response from this page, you can bet that more will follow!

Karen's Main Page

Shirley's Main Page

Background Boutique

Secrets Revealed
Part 1

Karen's E-mail

Shirley's E-mail

Click on the treble clef above for your next lesson in creativity. You are sure to find something you have been dying to learn on the next page!