Church bulletins made in Publisher: what to do now

Many church offices have built the weekly bulletin in Publisher for years. With Publisher retired, here is a calm plan to keep this Sunday's bulletin going and keep years of past ones readable. The easiest way to keep going is to turn last week's bulletin into Word or PowerPoint with EditMyPub.

This week: keep the bulletin going with EditMyPub

EditMyPub turns your .pub bulletin into Word (.docx) and PowerPoint (.pptx) files in the software your office already knows, with each announcement in its own editable text box and the page layout kept. Announcements that continue from one box to another are re-flowed in order instead of piling up. Each download also includes a PDF copy for the archive and a list of the fonts the bulletin uses.

1. Upload last week's .pub at editmypub.com. Nothing to install; any browser works.
2. Check the free watermarked preview.
3. Pay $12 and download. Then change the dates, readings and announcements, and print.

Word suits a folded bulletin with columns; PowerPoint suits a one-page insert or announcement slide. Files are deleted from our server 24 hours after upload, and there is a full refund within 30 days, no questions asked.

Archive: keep every past bulletin readable

Old bulletins are part of the parish record. Search the office computer, shared drives and old USB sticks for ".pub" files. Keep a PDF copy of each one: PDFs open on any device and keep the look.

For a big archive, use bulk upload: up to 50 .pub files or one .zip, paid with a pack (10 files $39, 50 files $99). They convert in the background and you get one email with a download link, a folder per bulletin and a report. Files that fail don't use a credit. See also converting a folder of .pub files.

Next: settle on a template

A bulletin is a recurring layout. Once a converted bulletin looks right in Word, save it as your template and reuse it each week. Word is Microsoft's own suggestion for newsletters and the most familiar choice; for a folded half-letter bulletin use landscape with two columns. Keep the fonts your congregation recognises: if they came from the old computer, install them on the new one, using the font list in your download.

Other ways

• An older, perpetual copy of Publisher may still open on the office computer. You can keep using it for a while, saving each week as PDF too, but it no longer gets security updates, and only the computer it is installed on can edit the bulletin. Converting now puts it in Word, which any volunteer can open.
• Canva or Google Slides work well if several volunteers edit from different homes, but it means learning new software and rebuilding the layout. A converted PowerPoint file is a head start: it opens in Slides.
• Free converters often pile up text when an announcement continues from one box to another: why and how to fix it. EditMyPub re-flows those stories in order.

Common problems

• Fonts look wrong on a new computer: fonts missing after converting.
• Tables, WordArt and some effects may come through as plain shapes or text, so give each converted bulletin a quick look before printing.

Get this Sunday's bulletin done

Upload last week's bulletin and see the free preview before you pay. For the whole archive, bulk upload handles up to 50 files at once.