Quick answer: link the text boxes. In Free Pub Editor, select the story's text box and choose Insert › Text Flow › Continue on next page, or Flow into another text box and click an empty box. Text that doesn't fit then flows on automatically. In Publisher, the same button is called Create Link.
What are linked text boxes?
A linked set of text boxes holds one story spread across several boxes. Microsoft describes it simply: text that won't fit in the first box "flows into the next text box" (Microsoft Support).
You'd use them to:
- start a story on the front page and finish it inside
- run a story around a photo in columns of different widths
- fit a long notice into whatever gaps are left on the back page
Because it's one story, editing any part makes the rest reflow. Add a sentence on page 1 and the last line on page 3 moves down too.
How did Publisher do it?
In Publisher 2010 and later, you selected a text box and clicked Create Link, in the Linking group of the Text Box Tools Format tab. Your pointer turned into a little pitcher, and you "poured" the text into the next box. When a box had too much text, Publisher showed an overflow indicator: Microsoft says "a little box with ellipses appears in the lower right of the text box" (Microsoft Support).
Publisher could also add Continued on page… and Continued from page… notices automatically, using checkboxes on the Text Box tab of its Format dialog (Microsoft Support).
How do I link text boxes in Free Pub Editor?
All the linking commands are in Insert › Text Flow. You'll also find them when you right-click a text box, and in the properties panel on the right.
To continue on the next page
- Click the text box that holds your story.
- Choose Insert › Text Flow › Continue on next page.
- A new, linked text box appears on the next page, in the same place and size. If there's no next page, one is added.
- Move and resize the new box to suit the page.
To flow into any other box
- Draw an empty text box where the story should continue, with Insert › Draw Text Box. It can be on any page.
- Click the story's text box and choose Insert › Text Flow › Flow into another text box…
- Click the empty box. Press Esc if you change your mind.
Linked boxes show a small → marker: bottom right on a box that flows out, top left on a box that receives text. You can link a third and fourth box the same way, from the last box in the chain.
How do the two compare?
| Task | Microsoft Publisher | Free Pub Editor |
|---|---|---|
| Link to another box | Create Link, then click the box | Text Flow › Flow into another text box, then click the box |
| Continue on the next page | Draw a box on the next page and link it | Text Flow › Continue on next page (one step) |
| Shows text is hidden | Box with ellipses, lower right | Red + marker, lower right |
| "Continued on page" notices | Automatic checkboxes | Not automatic; type them yourself |
| Shrink text to fit | Shrink Text On Overflow | Text fit › Shrink on overflow (properties panel) |
How do I add "Continued on page 3"?
Free Pub Editor doesn't add these notices for you, so add them by hand once the layout is settled:
- Draw a small text box just under the end of the first part of the story.
- Type Continued on page 3 in small italic text, right-aligned.
- At the top of the continuation, add Continued from page 1.
Keep these as separate small boxes, not inside the linked story, or they'll move as the text reflows. Check them again whenever you add or reorder pages, because they won't update themselves.
How do I fix text that won't fit?
A red + in the bottom right corner of a text box means some text is hidden. In a linked story, only the last box can show it. Your options:
- Make the last box bigger by dragging its handles.
- Link another box with Continue on next page.
- Shrink the text slightly. For a single box, set Text fit to Shrink on overflow in the properties panel.
- Edit it down. Usually the best fix for a newsletter.
Review › Design Checker lists every box whose text doesn't fit, on every page, so you don't miss one before printing.
How do I unlink or delete a box?
- Unlink: select the box before the break and choose Text Flow › Break forward link. The text stays with the first box as hidden overflow, and the boxes after it become empty.
- Delete a linked box: just delete it. The story's text isn't lost; it flows into the remaining boxes.
What about stories in old .pub files?
When you open a Publisher file, Free Pub Editor doesn't yet bring across its text box links. A linked story arrives in its first box, with a red + marker, and the next boxes are empty. To repair it, select the first box, choose Flow into another text box…, and click the next box. Repeat along the chain. More on this in why does my .pub file look wrong?
Tips for newsletters
- Use columns for the same page. If a story only runs down two columns on one page, a single text box with two columns is simpler than two linked boxes. Set Columns in the properties panel, or use Insert › Page Parts › Two-column story.
- Jump once, not three times. Readers will follow one "continued on" jump. More than that loses them.
- Finish on the same spread where you can, so people don't have to flip back and forth.
- Lay out first, write last. Set up the boxes, paste the story, then trim it to fit.
Building a full newsletter? See how to make a newsletter without Publisher.