Change shading, color, or graphic fills - Help and How-to

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Change shading, color, or graphic fills

Applies to: Microsoft Office Word 2003

Do one of the following:

Show Change text or table shading

Select the text or table (table: One or more rows of cells commonly used to display numbers and other items for quick reference and analysis. Items in a table are organized into rows and columns.) shading you want to change.
If you want to shade specific table cells (cell: A box formed by the intersection of a row and column in a worksheet or a table, in which you enter information.), select the cells, including the end-of-cell mark.
On the Format menu, click Borders and Shading, and then click the Shading tab.
Select the options you want to change.

Show Tip

If you are changing shading in a complicated table or in several parts of your document, you may want to use the Tables and Borders toolbar (toolbar: A bar with buttons and options that you use to carry out commands. To display a toolbar, press ALT and then SHIFT+F10.).

Show Change the color or decorative effect of a graphic object

Select the AutoShape (AutoShapes: A group of ready-made shapes that includes basic shapes, such as rectangles and circles, plus a variety of lines and connectors, block arrows, flowchart symbols, stars and banners, and callouts.), text box (text box: A movable, resizable container for text or graphics. Use text boxes to position several blocks of text on a page or to give text a different orientation from other text in the document.), drawing canvas (drawing canvas: An area on which you can draw multiple shapes. Because the shapes are contained within the drawing canvas, they can be moved and resized as a unit.), or WordArt (WordArt: Text objects you create with ready-made effects to which you can apply additional formatting options.) you want to fill.
On the Drawing toolbar (toolbar: A bar with buttons and options that you use to carry out commands. To display a toolbar, press ALT and then SHIFT+F10.), click the arrow next to Fill Color .
Do one of the following:
- To apply a solid color, click the color you want, or click More Fill Colors for more choices.
- To apply a decorative fill, click Fill Effects, and then click the Gradient, Texture, Pattern, or Picture tab. Select the options that you want.

Show Change the outlines of a drawing object

Select the AutoShape (AutoShapes: A group of ready-made shapes that includes basic shapes, such as rectangles and circles, plus a variety of lines and connectors, block arrows, flowchart symbols, stars and banners, and callouts.), text box (text box: A movable, resizable container for text or graphics. Use text boxes to position several blocks of text on a page or to give text a different orientation from other text in the document.), or WordArt (WordArt: Text objects you create with ready-made effects to which you can apply additional formatting options.) you want to modify.
To change the color of the lines, click the arrow next to Line Color on the Drawing toolbar (toolbar: A bar with buttons and options that you use to carry out commands. To display a toolbar, press ALT and then SHIFT+F10.), and do one of the following:
- To apply a solid color, click the color you want, or click More Line Colors for more choices.
- To apply a decorative line, click Patterned Lines. Select the options that you want.
  Note Patterned lines work best with thick lines.
To change the line to a dashed or solid pattern, click Dash Style on the Drawing toolbar and select a style.
To change the thickness or style of the line, click Line Style on the Drawing toolbar and select a style, or click More Lines, and then select the options that you want.