Quick answer: open Free Pub Editor, choose File → New → Newsletter, and replace the sample stories with yours. Put page numbers on the master page, link text boxes so long stories flow onto the next page, set text wrap around photos, then click Export PDF. It's free, needs no sign-up, and runs in your browser.
What do I need?
- A computer with Chrome, Edge, Safari or Firefox. A tablet works, but a bigger screen is easier for layout.
- Your stories, ideally typed up already in an email or document.
- Photos saved on your device, with permission to use them.
Already have last year's newsletter as a .pub file? Skip the template and open the old file instead. Its layout comes across, so you can just swap the words and pictures.
Step 1: Start from the Newsletter template
Choose File → New and pick Newsletter. You get a two-page A4 newsletter with a masthead, a lead story with a photo, a "dates for your diary" sidebar, and a second page with a letter and a notices box.
Click any text to replace it. To change the photo, double-click the picture frame and choose your own.
Step 2: Make it look like yours
- Colours: Page Design → Colours applies a colour scheme across the publication. Pick one close to your school or club colours.
- Fonts: Page Design → Fonts changes the heading and body fonts together.
- Masthead: type your newsletter's name, then the issue number and date underneath.
- Logo: Insert → Pictures, then drag it into the masthead.
Step 3: Add page numbers on the master page
A master page holds anything that should appear on every page, such as page numbers, a footer line or the newsletter's name.
- Choose Page Design → Master Page (or press Ctrl+M).
- Draw a small text box at the bottom of the page.
- Choose Insert → Page Number and pick Page number, or "Page 1 of 4".
- Turn the master page off again to get back to your pages.
Quicker still: Insert → Page Number → Add to every page (footer). The template's page 2 has a typed "Page 2" line; delete it once you've added a real page number, or you'll get two.
Step 4: Add pages and let long stories flow
Add a page with Insert → Page, or Duplicate to copy page 2's layout. When a story is too long for its box:
- Select the text box that's overflowing.
- Choose Insert → Text Flow → Flow into another text box…, then click the empty box where the story should carry on. The extra text moves there.
- Or choose Continue on next page to carry it to the following page.
If you edit the first part, the rest reflows through the linked boxes. To unlink them, use Break forward link. More detail is in how to continue text on another page.
Step 5: Add photos and wrap text around them
- Choose Insert → Pictures and pick a photo.
- Drag it into place over the story.
- In the format pane on the right, under Wrap text, choose Square (text goes around the sides) or Top and bottom (text clears the whole width).
You can crop, crop to a shape, or adjust brightness and contrast if a photo is dark. Add a caption in a small text box underneath.
Step 6: Check, then export or print
- Review → Design Checker flags common problems, such as text that doesn't fit its box, empty picture frames, text running outside the margins, or low-resolution pictures that may print blurry.
- Review → Spelling uses your browser's spell checker. Read names and dates aloud anyway.
- Export PDF, then choose Save as PDF with margins set to None and Background graphics on. That's the file to email or upload.
- File → Print prints all pages or a range.
- File → Save keeps an editable .fpe copy. Next issue, open it and change what's new.
Which free tool is best for a newsletter?
| Tool | Good for | Less good for |
|---|---|---|
| Free Pub Editor | Publisher-style layout; opens old .pub newsletters; no account; files stay on your device | No collaboration; a handful of templates rather than thousands |
| Canva | Huge template library; teams can edit together | Needs an account; can't open .pub files (details) |
| Microsoft Word | Familiar; text-heavy newsletters | Pictures and boxes can move around as text changes |
| Google Docs | Simple, shared editing | Limited control over columns and exact positions |
For more choices, see Publisher alternatives for schools and churches.
Layout tips that make a newsletter easier to read
- One lead story per issue. Give it the big headline and the best photo.
- Use a grid. Page Design → Guides adds 2 or 3 column guides, and snapping lines boxes up for you.
- Dates go in a box. Parents scan for dates, so keep them in the same sidebar every issue.
- Leave white space. A page crammed to the edges looks harder to read than it is.
- Two fonts at most. One for headings, one for body text. The font schemes do this for you.
- Keep body text at a readable size. Around 10–12 pt for print. Shrinking text to fit is a sign the story needs cutting or another page.
Running a church bulletin rather than a school newsletter? The steps are similar: see church bulletins without Publisher.