COVER PAGES – How to format an Audit Report – Part I

Let’s assume that we are going to format a Steel Industries Annual Report.

Picture A: Inbuilt Cover Pages

There are a set of convenient predesigned cover pages available in Word 2007 and Word 2010. In Word 2003, we have to manually create the cover pages.

We can download some templates from office.microsoft.com. Check the links below to download templates from office.microsoft.com

For Word 2003 – Check this link

For Word 2007 – Check this link

For Word 2010 – check this link

Add a Cover Page (For Word 2007 & 2010 Users)

Step 1: On the Insert tab, in the Pages group, click Cover Pages. (Shortcut: Alt + N + V)

Picture B: Cover Page

Step 2: choose the cover pages that you like from the cover page gallery (Refer Picture A)

After you insert the cover page, you can modify the title, date, type, and abstract of the document.. For that, we have to select the quick parts and change the text. I.e. Replace [Title] as Annual Report 2011-2012

How to create our own Cover page:

If you wish to create your own cover page from the scratch, draw a rough layout of the page in a paper and then create the same in Microsoft Word which will help you to create the page easily. We are going to create a cover pages as given below. Picture C shows you the rough layout as well as the final output that we are going to derive at.

Picture C: Rough Layout and the Final Output

 Step 1: Create a new document; Insert a rectangle shape (On the Insert tab, in the Illustrations group, click Shapes. (Shortcut: Alt + N + SN) Click the Rectangle shape, click anywhere in the word document, and then drag the shape to that place.

Note: To create a perfect square or circle (or constrain the dimensions of other shapes), press and hold SHIFT while you drag

Picture D: Rectangle Shape

Ensure that it covers the entire page as given in picture E. 

Picture E: Insert a rectangle

We can change the border and fill color of the shapes. When we select the shape, MS-Word will show us the ‘Drawing Tools’ Format option. Use Shape Fill and Shape Outline options to modify the shape and border colors. There are a set of predefined styles available; we can use any of those styles too.

Picture F: Drawing Tools – Format Options

Step 2: Now we are going to insert images. (On the Insert tab, in the Illustrations group, click Picture. (Shortcut: Alt + N + P). 

Step 3: Place the images as per the layout that you have designed.  Arrange the image in front of text; Select the image press Alt + JP + TW + N (on the Insert tab, in the Arrange Group, click Wrap Text, then click In Front of Text).

Now your Cover Page will look like the one in Picture G

Picture G: Cover Page with Images

Step 4: Same way add the logo of the company and arrange it in front of text

Step 5: Add Company name as well as title of the document. To insert Company name and the title of the document, we can use WordArt Feature. (On the Insert tab, in the Text group, click WordArt. (Shortcut: Alt + N + W). Select any WordArt Style and add the title of the document. Place that as per the layout that you have designed.

Step 6: To add a divider we can use rectangle shape; change the fill color of the shape and place it as per the layout. Make sure all the shapes should be ‘in front of text’.  This will help us to select the shapes easily and modify them as and when required.

Now your Cover Page will look like the one in Picture H

Picture H: Final Cover Page

Add your Cover Page to Quick Part Gallery

The Quick Part Gallery is a gallery where you can create, store, and find reusable pieces of content, including AutoText, document properties such as title, author and fields. Now we are going to save our cover pages in this gallery to reuse it. This will avoid huge amount of time to rebuild the same cover page again.

Step 1: Select all the contents (just press Ctrl + A), on the Insert tab, in the Text group, click Quick Parts and click Save Selection to Quick parts. (Shortcut: Alt + N + Q + S)

Step 2: Name your quick part, store it in the cover pages gallery under general category (you may create your own category and store under that), click OK. (refer Picture I)

Read post: Table of Contents (TOC) - How to format an Audit Report – Part II