Catholic Publisher

Starter manual

From a blank page to a finished parish bulletin.

This early guide covers the core workflow. Detailed screenshots and a privacy-safe sample publication will be added before the public release.

Beta documentation: Commands and wording may change before the first public release.

01 · Begin

Start a bulletin

Open Catholic Publisher and choose New to create a publication, or Open to work with an existing .cpub file or compatible US Letter PDF. A new publication is named and saved before editing begins.

  1. 1
    Create or open

    Choose a location for the editable publication.

  2. 2
    Build the pages

    Add, duplicate, delete, and reorder pages from the Pages panel.

  3. 3
    Place content

    Insert text, bilingual text, images, and tables where the bulletin needs them.

02 · Build

Publication objects

Text box

For headings, announcements, prayers, contact information, and formatted body copy.

Bilingual text box

Two independently editable language panes held together as one object.

Image

Embedded artwork or photography with crop, opacity, color, and border controls.

Table

Editable rows, columns, cells, and merged regions for schedules and structured information.

Objects can be named, grouped, locked, layered, copied, and positioned precisely. Their permanent IDs support future automation while their visible names help people organize a publication.

03 · Arrange

Arrange the page

Select an object to move, resize, or format it. Use grid snapping, guides, exact inch measurements, page-center alignment, and neighboring-object alignment to create consistent layouts. Multi-selection makes it possible to move or format related objects together.

Helpful habit

Group pieces that belong together, then lock finished areas so weekly changes do not disturb them accidentally.

04 · Keep

Save and reopen

Catholic Publisher stores the editable publication as a .cpub file and saves named publications automatically while you work. Images are embedded, so the bulletin does not depend on the original image file remaining in the same folder.

Only one person should edit a particular .cpub file at a time. If the file is synchronized through OneDrive or another service, allow synchronization to finish before opening it on a different computer.

05 · Share

PDF workflow

Export PDF creates a shareable US Letter publication. The normal export preserves the designed appearance and searchable text when the selected fonts allow it. Catholic Publisher can also open compatible US Letter PDFs and reconstruct editable content through its PDF import workflow.

PDF reconstruction is intended to help recover useful structure, but every imported page still needs a careful human review.

06 · Review

Before printing or publishing

  • Read every English and Spanish announcement.
  • Verify names, dates, Mass times, and contact information.
  • Check page order, margins, advertisements, links, and QR codes.
  • Export the PDF and inspect every page at normal size.
  • Proof important jobs before high-volume printing.
  • Keep an independent backup of important publications.