How To Set Template Colors In Excel

Working with colour themes in Microsoft Office tin can open upwardly a whole earth of possibilities for customizing your documents. Near people don't realize how much they are already interacting with themes in Office, or how much control they can have with just a couple clicks. Allow's check it out. But first, a special thank you to Sheree for having some excellent color palette questions in an Excel Essentials session a couple weeks ago and inspiring this Byte.

Exercise File

You can follow along on one of your existing documents, or if you would similar a starting identify, here is a Word document you tin start with:

This is a Word document with a few visual elements that contain theme colors. These are all things that will be effected by altering the color theme.

Themes and Color Palettes

What does it mean to apply a color theme? In most of your Part programs, you are already using a color theme, whether you realize information technology or not. The default is the Office colour theme. You lot see your theme colors in everything from the color options for your fonts, to your default headers, to tables and charts… and more.

In the test file you downloaded, you are seeing it in the headers, the chart, the icons and the tabular array…

One of the easiest ways to check your current palette is to visit the Home tab, Font group, and click on the dropdwon pointer side by side to the Font Color.

Notice how there are Theme colors, and Standard Colors. The Theme colors display your electric current color palette. There are gradations underneath each principal theme color…. lighter and darker versions of each of the theme colors to create contrast.

Change the Color Theme

Changing your color theme is uncomplicated!

1. Go to the Pattern tab, Certificate Formatting group. (By the style, this is too where you can go to change your default font settings for the document).

2. Select the Colors dropdown to encounter a total listing of themes. Hover your mouse over each color palette to see a preview.

iii. Select a color theme past clicking on it.

Because theme colors are utilized in and so many ways in this document, we really see a modify in advent!

Custom Colour Palettes

If you are artistically inclined, you might exist interested in creating your own custom color themes.

1. In the Design tab, Certificate Formatting group, click on the Colors dropdown again, only instead of selecting a predefined color set, select Customize Colors…

2. Click on the dropdown abreast any of the accent colors to make an amending. Typically Emphasis 1 is the color you will see the most in a document.

iii. You have the ability to select colors from a colour wheel, or select More Colors to enter an verbal RGB color.

iv. When you lot are finished, name the color palette and click Relieve.

5. The new colour set will announced in a new section at the top of the Colors dropdown chosen Custom.

You lot will be able to access this color palette anytime y'all create a new document on this figurer.

Accessing Custom Color Themes in other Microsoft Programs

Once you have created a color theme that yous like, you may want to admission it in other programs. Microsoft knows this, then has made them attainable to y'all in many of your Office programs. They are in slightly different locations though, and then let's take a look.

PowerPoint

In PowerPoint, you often see color themes fifty-fifty more prominently than in Word. Hither is 1 popular theme called Berlin, that features a red and yellow color set.

1. In PowerPoint, visit the Blueprint tab, Variants group.

2. Select the dropdown arrow in the lower right:

3. Here is where you will see your colour theme options, plus the new custom colour you just created in Word. Bully!

This definitely changes the await of this document…

Excel

In Excel, Color themes affect features like tables, charts, shapes, and fonts. The default in Excel is the Office colour set likewise. These colors should look familiar:

1. In Excel, visit the Page Layout tab, Themes group.

2. Select the Colors dropdown.

3. Here is your custom color theme again… no need to reinvent the bicycle.

Outlook

Outlook? Did you read that right? Yeah! Outlook also has the same themes and color sets you know and love from your other Office programs.

one. Open up a new email.

2. Visit the Options tab, Themes group.

three. Click on the Colors dropdown, and in that location you lot are…

Thoughts?

What exercise you retrieve? Do you remember y'all volition utilize custom colour themes in your Office documents? By the fashion, if you create a absurd WSU themed color theme, I would love it if you lot would share it with me!

Congratulations, Power Users!

Congratulations to our newest Ability Users! For the full gallery, and more information almost the WSU Microsoft Office Power User Program, please visit: wichita.edu/poweruser

Madelyne Toney