How to create attractive worksheets Layout vs Content Like most teachers I think that content is more important than layout However, it is a fact that your worksheets won’t be downloaded often unless they are visually attractive I made this tutorial to let you in on some easy techniques to create great worksheets without needing expert knowledge Good luck Fonts Use fonts that are universal such as Arial, Comic, Lucida, Times New Roman, Tahoma, Verdana and many more If you use customized fonts, there is a good chance other members won’t be able to see them unless you embed them (Tools -> Options -> Save-> Embed TrueType fonts) This will increase the size of your worksheet though ‘Notebook’ style The notebook style format ‘sells’ There’s no doubt about that I uploaded a few well-designed reading worksheets a few months ago and they got 20-odd downloads I recently changed the layout to ‘Notebook’ and re-uploaded them To my amazement they were downloaded 150 times each! Text boxes Don’t just start typing your worksheet when opening a new document, but try creating some text boxes in which to put either headings or text Worksheets with text boxes invariably get more downloads than those without To create a text box, make sure the Drawing toolbar is visible Look, learn, innovate Look at how others make worksheets and let yourself be inspired Start creating a simple worksheet and gradually improve it Try to create your own style and before you know it you’ll have become an expert yourself! C o l o u r s Add some colour to your worksheets Some claim colours are useless since wss rarely get printed in colour I agree However, colour sells so you have to adapt if you want your work to be downloaded by many If you don’t need colour in your worksheet, just add some background colour This won’t print but make your ws visually more attractive in the download preview I find fill effects to be the most visually pleasing Just try it (Format -> Background -> Fill Effects) Clip art Grouping Group clip art in order to avoid messy previews Select all items, right-click -> Grouping -> Group Try to find relevant clip art on the Internet to make your work more interesting Often dull and dry materials can come to life when not only text is used Free & Public Domain clip art sites www.clker.com www.cartoonclipart.com www.freeclipartnow.com The Easy Way Find a worksheet you like and ask the author’s permission to use the layout (I know, fat chance) You can use this worksheet as a template to create your own