How to Add Decorative Borders to Microsoft Word Documents
Add some flair to the plain white page
A Word document doesn’t have to consist of just words on a blank, white page. If you’re trying to create a more imaginative document, or you just want to introduce a custom document style, you may want to think about adding a decorative border to your Word document.
Decorative borders can take a blank, white document page and enhance it, making certain pages (or all of your pages) stand out. We’ll show you how to add decorative borders to Microsoft Word documents below.
How to Add a Border to Microsoft Word Documents
The only way to add a decorative border to your Word document is to use the built-in page border options. Word allows you to add a border that you can customize with a particular design, color, and format. You can also adjust the distance between the border and the edge of the page, as well as the pages that the border appears on.
To use Word’s built-in page borders, follow the steps below.
Once you’ve applied the border, it’ll appear immediately—you can make further changes by repeating these steps. You can then save the document by pressingFile>Save.
Related:Pesky horizontal lines showing up and you don’t know where they came from? Learn toremove unwanted lines in your Word documents.
How to Add a Border to an Exported Word Document
The steps above are the only way to add a border to a Word document that you can still edit. However, there is a workaround to add a custom border to a Word document. You can instead export the Word document as an image and add the border to the exported image.
You’ll need to export the Word document as an image first before you proceed—make sure you do this with the final version of your document. You can then use third-party software or an online website to add the border.
For instance, you can use thefree Adobe Express online border toolto quickly add images to your exported pages. This isn’t the only option, but it will allow you to quickly add a border to Word documents that you’ve exported as images.
To add a border to an exported Word document:
Once you download the image with the border applied, you’ll be able to share it elsewhere. However, there’s one downside to this method—any further changes to your document won’t be applied to the image.
You’ll need to repeat these steps by exporting the image and adding a border manually if you ever need to make further changes to your document.
Creating Impressive Word Documents
Using the steps above, you can quickly add a decorative border to your Microsoft Word document. This’ll allow you to personalize your document pages, banishing the white-only design for something more imaginative.
Want to improve your document further? If you’re creating something that you’re looking to share, you might want to add a cover page to your Word document. You could also look at different types of documents that you can create, such ascreating a booklet in Word.
If you want to protect a document you’re looking to share, you can alwaysadd a watermark to your document pages.
Ben Stockton is a freelance technology writer based in the United Kingdom. In a past life, Ben was a college lecturer in the UK, training teens and adults. Since leaving the classroom, Ben has taken his teaching experience and applied it to writing tech how-to guides and tutorials, specialising in Linux, Windows, and Android. He has a degree in History and a postgraduate qualification in Computing.Read Ben’s Full Bio
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