Don't get me wrong. I understand that not everyone has access to the design software we use. If I were stranded on a desert island and only had Microsoft Word or Publisher to choose from, I would definitely choose Publisher. With the ability to make different text boxes and placing images freely it's a much better design tool than Word in my opinion. However, if you want to design a document that's not 8.5"x11" or try to include bleed information to keep your print shop happy, you're going to run into a few obstacles.
My first suggestion when designing in Publisher is to NOT use one of the pre-created templates. Always start with a blank, one-to-a-page document to the dimensions. It may not sound like a big deal, but it will make a difference when sending US your file to print it for you.
Secondly, if you want to have any images/color go to the edge of your document, you're going to have to add a bleed (see the post "So You Want to Get Something Printed" from October 10, 2014). Since you can't add bleed settings in Publisher, you'll have to be sneaky and change the physical size of your document to 1/4" larger than the size you want it to be when it's finished. Make sense? If you want to have an 8.5"x11" flyer with a solid red background you'll have to go into your page setup and make your document a CUSTOM size of 8.75"x11.25" and increase your safe area/margin to .365" instead .25" to make sure none of your text gets cut off.
Lastly, if you use some creative fonts that you found online for your project, there's a pretty good chance we won't have the same one. Images are usually embedded in the document but fonts never are. Exporting your file as a PDF will keep this from happening.
So...if you design your next project in Publisher, export it as a PDF before sending it to us. If there are any questions on our end, we'll be sure to let you know!
P.S. Pages on a Mac requires the same trickery if you want to have a bleed on your document so Publisher users...you're not alone!