Hi Cathy,
You can't use the highlighter tool to get different colors but you can highlight text and use any of the 16million choices through
Format=>Borders and Shading=>Shading after selecting your text.
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In Word, is it possible to customize highlighter color selection? (want
softer colors, as available for screening/fill)>>
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Let us know if this helped you,
Bob Buckland ?

MS Office System Products MVP
*Courtesy is not expensive and can pay big dividends*
For Everyday MS Office tips to "use right away" -
http://microsoft.com/events/series/administrativetipsandtricks.mspx