Color fill in Word 2004

[cathiecush]

I just switched from Word X to Word 2004.

In Word X, I had the Fill button (paint can) on the Formatting
toolbar, and I used it to color-code lines of text.

I added the button to the Formatting toolbar in Word 2004, but it is
grayed out. Am I missing a step?

I seem to be able to do the color-coding by using Borders & Shading on
the Formatting Palette, but each time I highlight something, the color
reverts back to Clear instead of remaining selected. Any way to fix
this?

Also, what is the difference between Color and Fill Color? If I
highlight text and then click one or the other, they seem to behave
the same.

 

[CyberTaz]

Hi Cathie -

You've actually got several points here so I'll try & clarify them as best I
can Perhaps best to go in line below:

I just switched from Word X to Word 2004.

Good move, BTW - I trust you realize that you may qualify for the upgrade to
Office 2008 when it is released in January at a shipping & handling fee only
of $6.99 - if not see the following link:

http://www.microsoft.com/mac/go/promotions/supersuitedeal/

In Word X, I had the Fill button (paint can) on the Formatting
toolbar, and I used it to color-code lines of text.

Have you considered using the Highlight tool instead? See further on, but it
was designed for this specific task.

I added the button to the Formatting toolbar in Word 2004, but it is
grayed out. Am I missing a step?

You're not missing a step, but what isn't so obvious is that there is more
than one "paint can" command. The one you've added to your formatting
toolbar is the equivalent of what's in the Drawing tools & pertains only to
graphic objects, not to text - that's why it's grayed. Draw a shape & it
will be active Not at all your fault - most of us got sucked in by the
same confusing issue when 2004 came along.

I seem to be able to do the color-coding by using Borders & Shading on
the Formatting Palette, but each time I highlight something, the color
reverts back to Clear instead of remaining selected. Any way to fix
this?

This is the only point that concerns me. The color applied with the tools
on the Formatting Palette should hold until you change/remove them, so I'll
come back to this issue further on.

Also, what is the difference between Color and Fill Color? If I
highlight text and then click one or the other, they seem to behave
the same.

If you leave the Pattern: set to Solid (100%) there doesn't appear to be any
difference as to which of the 2 you use, but technically there is. If you
hover your pointer on the left (Color) button the tip will tell you that it
pertains to Pattern Color, whereas the one on the right (Fill color)
pertains to Shading Color. If you experiment with the other Patterns from
the list you'll better be able to see the difference.

Despite [or perhaps because of] all that, however, I'd again call your
attention to the Highlight tool available on both the Formatting toolbar as
well as the Font section of the Formatting Palette. It works like a typical
highlighter pen that would be used on a paper document except that you can
change and/or remove the highlighting as you see fit. For the purpose you
describe I believe it is a more appropriate tool in the first place ... It's
easier plus it provides more accuracy & flexibility.

Now - as far as the text not retaining the color you applied. The first
thing I'd look at there is based on the "just switched" phrase in your
opening statement. Since upgrading have you applied all the necessary
updates to Office 2004? If you're not sure go to Word's Help menu & select
"Check for Updates" in order to be fully up-to-date... Just allow the
installation of any that are offered.

If that doesn't resolve the issue please post back with more specific detail
on exactly what is happening with the Borders & Fill - using both the
features on the Formatting Palette as well as from the Format menu. Is this
one specific doc or *any* doc? Can you more accurately determine what
triggers the reversion to clear? Are there any Styles involved? Anything
else you can tell us no matter how trivial or [seemingly] unrelated?

HTH |:>)
Bob Jones
[MVP] Office:Mac

 

[cathiecush]

Hi Cathie -

You've actually got several points here so I'll try & clarify them as bestI
can Perhaps best to go in line below:

I just switched from Word X to Word 2004.

Good move, BTW - I trust you realize that you may qualify for the upgrade to
Office 2008 when it is released in January at a shipping & handling fee only
of $6.99 - if not see the following link:

http://www.microsoft.com/mac/go/promotions/supersuitedeal/

In Word X, I had the Fill button (paint can) on the Formatting
toolbar, and I used it to color-code lines of text.

Have you considered using the Highlight tool instead? See further on, but it
was designed for this specific task.

I added the button to the Formatting toolbar in Word 2004, but it is
grayed out. Am I missing a step?

You're not missing a step, but what isn't so obvious is that there is more
than one "paint can" command. The one you've added to your formatting
toolbar is the equivalent of what's in the Drawing tools & pertains only to
graphic objects, not to text - that's why it's grayed. Draw a shape & it
will be active Not at all your fault - most of us got sucked in by the
same confusing issue when 2004 came along.

I seem to be able to do the color-coding by using Borders & Shading on
the Formatting Palette, but each time I highlight something, the color
reverts back to Clear instead of remaining selected. Any way to fix
this?

This is the only point that concerns me. The color applied with  the tools
on the Formatting Palette should hold until you change/remove them, so I'll
come back to this issue further on.

Also, what is the difference between Color and Fill Color? If I
highlight text and then click one or the other, they seem to behave
the same.

If you leave the Pattern: set to Solid (100%) there doesn't appear to be any
difference as to which of the 2 you use, but technically there is. If you
hover your pointer on the left (Color) button the tip will tell you that it
pertains to Pattern Color, whereas the one on the right (Fill color)
pertains to Shading Color. If you experiment with the other Patterns from
the list you'll better be able to see the difference.

Despite [or perhaps because of] all that, however, I'd again call your
attention to the Highlight tool available on both the Formatting toolbar as
well as the Font section of the Formatting Palette. It works like a typical
highlighter pen that would be used on a paper document except that you can
change and/or remove the highlighting as you see fit. For the purpose you
describe I believe it is a more appropriate tool in the first place ... It's
easier plus it provides more accuracy & flexibility.

Now - as far as the text not retaining the color you applied. The first
thing I'd look at there is based on the "just switched" phrase in your
opening statement. Since upgrading have you applied all the necessary
updates to Office 2004? If you're not sure go to Word's Help menu & select
"Check for Updates" in order to be fully up-to-date... Just allow the
installation of any that are offered.

If that doesn't resolve the issue please post back with more specific detail
on exactly what is happening with the Borders & Fill - using both the
features on the Formatting Palette as well as from the Format menu. Is this
one specific doc or *any* doc? Can you more accurately determine what
triggers the reversion to clear? Are there any Styles involved? Anything
else you can tell us no matter how trivial or [seemingly] unrelated?

HTH |:>)
Bob Jones
[MVP] Office:Mac

Hi and thanks for your response. First, i have my Super Suite deal
ready to drop in the mail tomorrow morning. In the meantime, I'll
check for updates and see what that gets me.

In the past, i've used the paint can tool instead of the highlighter
for a couple of reasons. The highlighter is OK if I just want to call
attention to a passage or a word. But I am doing storyboards in Word
tables for multimedia production, and I color code each line of
voiceover with its corresponding screen text, video action, whatever.
The paint can offers a wider color palette and the option to choose
pastel shades, so the text is easier to read. Any way to get the
highlighter to offer as broad a color palette?

--Cathie

 

[cathiecush]

You're not missing a step, but what isn't so obvious is that there is more
than one "paint can" command. The one you've added to your formatting
toolbar is the equivalent of what's in the Drawing tools & pertains only to
graphic objects, not to text - that's why it's grayed.

Aha! I dug a little deeper into the buttons and found the Shading
paint can. Dragged it to the toolbar, and now everything's back to
"normal".

Thanks again for your help!

--Cathie

 

[CyberTaz]

Hi Cathie -

You've actually got several points here so I'll try & clarify them as best I
can Perhaps best to go in line below:

I just switched from Word X to Word 2004.

Good move, BTW - I trust you realize that you may qualify for the upgrade to
Office 2008 when it is released in January at a shipping & handling fee only
of $6.99 - if not see the following link:

http://www.microsoft.com/mac/go/promotions/supersuitedeal/

In Word X, I had the Fill button (paint can) on the Formatting
toolbar, and I used it to color-code lines of text.

Have you considered using the Highlight tool instead? See further on, but it
was designed for this specific task.

I added the button to the Formatting toolbar in Word 2004, but it is
grayed out. Am I missing a step?

You're not missing a step, but what isn't so obvious is that there is more
than one "paint can" command. The one you've added to your formatting
toolbar is the equivalent of what's in the Drawing tools & pertains only to
graphic objects, not to text - that's why it's grayed. Draw a shape & it
will be active Not at all your fault - most of us got sucked in by the
same confusing issue when 2004 came along.

I seem to be able to do the color-coding by using Borders & Shading on
the Formatting Palette, but each time I highlight something, the color
reverts back to Clear instead of remaining selected. Any way to fix
this?

This is the only point that concerns me. The color applied with  the tools
on the Formatting Palette should hold until you change/remove them, so I'll
come back to this issue further on.

Also, what is the difference between Color and Fill Color? If I
highlight text and then click one or the other, they seem to behave
the same.

If you leave the Pattern: set to Solid (100%) there doesn't appear to be any
difference as to which of the 2 you use, but technically there is. If you
hover your pointer on the left (Color) button the tip will tell you that it
pertains to Pattern Color, whereas the one on the right (Fill color)
pertains to Shading Color. If you experiment with the other Patterns from
the list you'll better be able to see the difference.

Despite [or perhaps because of] all that, however, I'd again call your
attention to the Highlight tool available on both the Formatting toolbar as
well as the Font section of the Formatting Palette. It works like a typical
highlighter pen that would be used on a paper document except that you can
change and/or remove the highlighting as you see fit. For the purpose you
describe I believe it is a more appropriate tool in the first place ... It's
easier plus it provides more accuracy & flexibility.

Now - as far as the text not retaining the color you applied. The first
thing I'd look at there is based on the "just switched" phrase in your
opening statement. Since upgrading have you applied all the necessary
updates to Office 2004? If you're not sure go to Word's Help menu & select
"Check for Updates" in order to be fully up-to-date... Just allow the
installation of any that are offered.

If that doesn't resolve the issue please post back with more specific detail
on exactly what is happening with the Borders & Fill - using both the
features on the Formatting Palette as well as from the Format menu. Is this
one specific doc or *any* doc? Can you more accurately determine what
triggers the reversion to clear? Are there any Styles involved? Anything
else you can tell us no matter how trivial or [seemingly] unrelated?

HTH |:>)
Bob Jones
[MVP] Office:Mac

Hi and thanks for your response. First, i have my Super Suite deal
ready to drop in the mail tomorrow morning. In the meantime, I'll
check for updates and see what that gets me.

In the past, i've used the paint can tool instead of the highlighter
for a couple of reasons. The highlighter is OK if I just want to call
attention to a passage or a word. But I am doing storyboards in Word
tables for multimedia production, and I color code each line of
voiceover with its corresponding screen text, video action, whatever.
The paint can offers a wider color palette and the option to choose
pastel shades, so the text is easier to read. Any way to get the
highlighter to offer as broad a color palette?

--Cathie

Nope - I'm afraid the Highlight Tool is limited to only those colors you see
in the palette, but based on your use I can see where Borders & Shading is
understandably more versatile.

BTW - I neglected to point out that the paint bucket you're looking for is
in the All category: ShadingColor - that will provide the feature you want.

Regards |:>)
Bob Jones
[MVP] Office:Mac

 

[Clive Huggan]

Hi Cathie -

You've actually got several points here so I'll try & clarify them as best I
can Perhaps best to go in line below:

On 12/21/07 11:46 PM, in article
(e-mail address removed),

I just switched from Word X to Word 2004.

Good move, BTW - I trust you realize that you may qualify for the upgrade to
Office 2008 when it is released in January at a shipping & handling fee only
of $6.99 - if not see the following link:

http://www.microsoft.com/mac/go/promotions/supersuitedeal/

In Word X, I had the Fill button (paint can) on the Formatting
toolbar, and I used it to color-code lines of text.

Have you considered using the Highlight tool instead? See further on, but it
was designed for this specific task.



I added the button to the Formatting toolbar in Word 2004, but it is
grayed out. Am I missing a step?

You're not missing a step, but what isn't so obvious is that there is more
than one "paint can" command. The one you've added to your formatting
toolbar is the equivalent of what's in the Drawing tools & pertains only to
graphic objects, not to text - that's why it's grayed. Draw a shape & it
will be active Not at all your fault - most of us got sucked in by the
same confusing issue when 2004 came along.



I seem to be able to do the color-coding by using Borders & Shading on
the Formatting Palette, but each time I highlight something, the color
reverts back to Clear instead of remaining selected. Any way to fix
this?

This is the only point that concerns me. The color applied with  the tools
on the Formatting Palette should hold until you change/remove them, so I'll
come back to this issue further on.



Also, what is the difference between Color and Fill Color? If I
highlight text and then click one or the other, they seem to behave
the same.

If you leave the Pattern: set to Solid (100%) there doesn't appear to be any
difference as to which of the 2 you use, but technically there is. If you
hover your pointer on the left (Color) button the tip will tell you that it
pertains to Pattern Color, whereas the one on the right (Fill color)
pertains to Shading Color. If you experiment with the other Patterns from
the list you'll better be able to see the difference.

Despite [or perhaps because of] all that, however, I'd again call your
attention to the Highlight tool available on both the Formatting toolbar as
well as the Font section of the Formatting Palette. It works like a typical
highlighter pen that would be used on a paper document except that you can
change and/or remove the highlighting as you see fit. For the purpose you
describe I believe it is a more appropriate tool in the first place ... It's
easier plus it provides more accuracy & flexibility.

Now - as far as the text not retaining the color you applied. The first
thing I'd look at there is based on the "just switched" phrase in your
opening statement. Since upgrading have you applied all the necessary
updates to Office 2004? If you're not sure go to Word's Help menu & select
"Check for Updates" in order to be fully up-to-date... Just allow the
installation of any that are offered.

If that doesn't resolve the issue please post back with more specific detail
on exactly what is happening with the Borders & Fill - using both the
features on the Formatting Palette as well as from the Format menu. Is this
one specific doc or *any* doc? Can you more accurately determine what
triggers the reversion to clear? Are there any Styles involved? Anything
else you can tell us no matter how trivial or [seemingly] unrelated?

HTH |:>)
Bob Jones
[MVP] Office:Mac

Hi and thanks for your response. First, i have my Super Suite deal
ready to drop in the mail tomorrow morning. In the meantime, I'll
check for updates and see what that gets me.

In the past, i've used the paint can tool instead of the highlighter
for a couple of reasons. The highlighter is OK if I just want to call
attention to a passage or a word. But I am doing storyboards in Word
tables for multimedia production, and I color code each line of
voiceover with its corresponding screen text, video action, whatever.
The paint can offers a wider color palette and the option to choose
pastel shades, so the text is easier to read. Any way to get the
highlighter to offer as broad a color palette?

--Cathie

Nope - I'm afraid the Highlight Tool is limited to only those colors you see
in the palette, but based on your use I can see where Borders & Shading is
understandably more versatile.

BTW - I neglected to point out that the paint bucket you're looking for is
in the All category: ShadingColor - that will provide the feature you want.

Regards |:>)
Bob Jones
[MVP] Office:Mac

Hello Cathie,

Now Bob has resolved your highlighting problem, may I suggest another
approach?

It would be *much* quicker (e.g., hands would not need to leave the
keyboard) if you applied styles to do this rather than the highlight tool.

See 'Styles and templates ‹ the keys to consistency and saving time'
starting on page 89 of some notes on the way I use Word for the Mac, titled
"Bend Word to Your Will", which are available as a free download from the
Word MVPs' website (http://word.mvps.org/Mac/Bend/BendWordToYourWill.html).

Comparable examples are my styles "comment para,cp" (a paragraph style) and
"comment text,ct" (a character style). When you open "Bend Word to Your
Will", do a "Find" for ",ct" -- it's the third instance that's relevant as
far as character styles are concerned. Irrespective of whether you need
distinctive paragraph or character colours for each action, the principle
would be that you allocated a different-coloured style for each.

The beauty of styles is not only that they are quick to apply, and
consistent -- you can change their appearance globally in a few seconds.
(There are some more advantages: see page 91.)

[Note: "Bend Word to your will" is designed to be used electronically and
most subjects are self-contained dictionary-style entries. If you decide to
read more widely than the item I've referred to, it's important to read the
front end of the document -- especially pages 3 and 5 -- so you can select
some Word settings that will allow you to use the document effectively.]

Cheers,

Clive Huggan
Canberra, Australia
(My time zone is 5-11 hours different from North America and Europe, so my
follow-on responses to those regions can be delayed)
====================================================

 

[cathiecush]

It would be *much* quicker (e.g., hands would not need to leave the
keyboard) if you applied styles to do this rather than the highlight tool.

I never thought of that. Do you set up a keyboard shortcut for each
style?

I need to change colors/styles for almost every line or two of text --
we work in a Word table about six columns wide, with a new row for
each screen ID. Within a given row, I may use up to 6 or 7 different
colors, and the color coding carries across three of the columns.

I downloaded your doc. The Table of Contents looks great.

thanks,

Cathie