Kara the Computer Tutor

 Want to color your text in Word? Want to color cells in Excel? Want your PowerPoint slides to display vivid colors? Well, you’re not restricted to using only the pre-chosen squares Microsoft picked out for you. Rather, you can actually choose any color under the sun.

This blog post will explain the many ways to color text in Microsoft Word. However, these instructions also apply to the other Microsoft Office programs, including Excel, PowerPoint, and Outlook.

 

The Easiest way to Color Text:

To begin with, find the Font Color button in Microsoft Word. It l looks like the letter “A” and is located in the Font group on the Home tab of the Ribbon. Click on the dropdown arrow to the right of it. This reveals the color picker.

The quickest way to change your text color is to click on either a Theme Color or Standard Color in the box that pops up. The Theme Colors are light and dark shades based on the default Office theme. (You can see other theme choices by clicking on the Themes button on the left-hand side of the Page Layout tab.)

By the way, clicking on “Automatic” will change the text back to its default black color.

On the other hand, the Standard Colors are highly saturated colors. These colors stay the same even when you choose a different theme.

Are the Standard Colors in the box too boring? There are other Standard Colors to choose from:

1. Click on where it says “More Colors” at the bottom of the box.
2. Click on one of the hexagons.
3. Click OK. Now your text should be that color!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Custom Colors

Now here comes the fun part. Try this:

1. Click on the dropdown arrow and then “More Colors” again.
2. Choose a hexagon again.
3. Click on the Custom tab at the top of the box. You should see a black arrow pointing to your color in a vertical bar.

In this box there are several ways to choose and adjust your color. To begin with, you can drag the black arrow up and down in the vertical box choose a lighter or darker shade.

You can also click anywhere in the box to choose a completely different color.

But there are also more specific ways to choose colors. Below the colorful box you’ll see the words “Color model”. Beside it are the letters “RGB”. These letters stand for red, green, and blue, and represent the color combinations used in televisions and computers.

Every color you can use in Microsoft Office is represented by red, green, and blue color values. Each value is a number ranging from 1 to 255. For instance, I chose a shade of red, and the number that showed up in the red box was 235, the green box 7, and the blue box 5. If you already know the specific values for the color you want, you can type them in the boxes yourself.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

HSL

Next, click on the dropdown arrow next to where it says “Color model”. Click on HSL. The acronym in this instance stands for hue, saturation, and luminance. (The terms can vary depending on who’s using it.) Here’s what the terms mean that Microsoft uses.

• Hue -a color of the rainbow. Click on the arrows to see the marker moves horizontally across the spectrum in the box.
• Saturation – the intensity of the color. A color with low saturation looks washed out. Click on the arrows to watch the marker move up and down. Notice how vivid or pale the color gets.
• Luminance  – how much light is being reflected from the color. At least that’s the textbook definition. To be honest, I don’t see much of a difference between Saturation and Luminance.

 There you have it! Again, these color choices apply to the other Microsoft programs as well.

 

Filed under: Blogroll, Computers, Excel, Microsoft Office, Outlook, PowerPoint, Software, Uncategorized, Word Tagged: | color in Outlook, color in PowerPoint, color in Word, coloring text, colors in Microsoft Office, using color in Office, using color in Outlook, using color in PowerPoint, using color in word