Adding a gold seal with ribbons is an easy way to make your Microsoft Word documents look more official and prestigious. Whether you are creating certificates, awards, invitations, or other formal documents, a gold seal can lend an air of importance.
In this step-by-step tutorial, you’ll learn how to make a custom gold seal with ribbons in Word using the built-in drawing tools. We’ll also cover some tips for customizing the seal to match your document’s style.
Why Add a Gold Seal in Word?
A gold seal or emblem has traditionally been a mark of quality, excellence, and luxury. Applying a gold seal to a document implies that it has passed some form of official verification or carries special significance.
Gold foil seals are commonly seen on:
- Certificates or awards – They can denote different levels of achievement like honor roll, perfect attendance, or employee of the month.
- Official documents – A gold seal can signify legal validity on contracts, certificates, licenses, etc.
- Invitations – For momentous occasions like weddings, graduations, anniversaries, etc. A gold seal makes them look more formal.
- Product packaging – Using a gold seal can highlight premium or luxury items.
Adding an elegant gold seal with ribbons instantly makes your Word document look more important and visually appealing. It’s a perfect finishing touch!
Step 1: Insert a Star Shape
The first step is to insert a star shape that will become the base for our gold seal:
- In your Word document, go to the Insert tab.
- Click the Shapes button and select the 16-point star shape within the Stars and Banners section.
- Draw the star by clicking and dragging your mouse on the page. Make it an appropriate size for a seal.
Step 2: Format the Star Shape
Next, we’ll format the star shape to look like a gold seal:
- With the star shape selected, go to the Format tab.
- Click the Shape Fill dropdown and choose the gold color.
- Click the Shape Outline dropdown and choose No Outline to remove the shape’s border.
- (Optional) Click Shape Effects > Bevel and choose a bevel style to make the seal appear 3D.
The star shape should now resemble a gold seal or medallion.
Step 3: Insert Chevron Shapes as Ribbons
Now let’s add some ribbon shapes behind the seal:
- Go back to the Insert tab and click the Shapes button again.
- Hover over the Block Arrows section and select the chevron shape.
- Draw a long, thin chevron on the page by clicking and dragging.
- Resize and rotate the chevron to resemble one side of a ribbon. Place it behind the gold seal.
- With the chevron shape selected, go to Shape Fill on the Format tab and choose the gold color (matching the seal).
- Press Ctrl as you click and drag the chevron shape to make a duplicate ribbon piece on the other side.
- Repeat steps 3-6 to create more ribbon pieces if desired. Overlap them behind the seal shape.
Step 4: Customize the Seal
Your gold seal with ribbons is complete! Now let’s explore some customization options:
- Add text – Insert a text box to add words, signatures, dates, etc. Right-click the text box and choose Format Shape to match the font style to your document.
- Use color – For contrast, make the ribbons a different metallic shade like silver, copper, or bronze. Match corporate colors for a letterhead.
- Try shapes – Replace the star with a circle, pentagon, hexagon, or other closed shape.
- Add effects – On the Format tab, use Shape Effects like shadows, 3D rotation, or soft edges to make the seal more realistic.
- Insert images – Right-click the seal and choose Format Shape to fill it with a logo or icon image instead of a solid color.
Take some time to experiment until your gold seal aligns with the style and branding of your document!
Positioning Your Seal
A few quick tips on positioning your custom gold seal:
- For certificates, place the seal in a bottom corner to look like an official stamp or watermark.
- On letterheads and invitations, the seal tends to look best at the top centered or aligned left like a logo.
- Make the seal large enough to be noticed, but not so large that it distracts from the document’s contents.
- Send the seal shape and ribbons behind other elements so they don’t cover up text or images.
- For consistency, save your custom seal as a Word template to reuse on future documents.
Add Some Shine With Gold Foil
For documents printed on high-quality paper or card stock, take your gold seal to the next level with real gold foil!
Here are some popular techniques to make part of your document shine:
Buy pre-cut foil shapes – Self-adhesive gold foil shapes like stars, circles, and banners can be applied to accent text or add a seal. Brush the shapes with foil adhesive before applying to activate the foil.
Use a laminator – Print your design on laser printer paper, place a gold foil sheet on top, and run them through a laminator to transfer foil to areas with toner. Great for custom shapes!
Try a foil transfer pen – Draw over printed areas with an adhesive pen, place foil sheet on top, rub to transfer foil to adhesive ink. Pens allow freehand gold accents.
Add foil edge paint – Coat the edges of paper with metallic paint to make pages shine. Perfect for handmade invitations, certificates printed on cardstock, and other formal documents.
So don your designer hat and channel your inner artist! Crafting a custom gold seal with ribbons is a satisfying way to make Word documents pop. It adds a professional finish with very little effort.
Whether you want to boost perceived value, commemorate achievements, or simply decorate printed pages, a touch of gold foil never fails to impress. So what are you waiting for? Go glam up those Word docs!
