Microsoft Office

Worksheet Formatting 7
Using Colors with Table Styles
In Chapter 6, I discussed the new table feature in Excel 2007. One advantage to using tables is that it’s very
easy to apply table styles. You can change the look of your table with a single mouse click.
It’s important to understand how table styles work with existing formatting. A simple rule is that applying
a style to a table doesn’t override existing formatting. For example, assume that you have a range of data
that uses yellow as the background color for the cells. When you convert that range to a table (by choosing
Insert ➪ Tables ➪ Table), the default table style (alternating row colors) isn’t visible. Rather, the table will display
the previously applied yellow background.
In order to make table styles visible with this table, you need to remove the manually-applied background cell
colors. Select the entire table and then choose Home ➪ Font ➪ Fill Color ➪ No Fill.
You can apply any type of formatting to a table, and that formatting will override the table style formatting. For
example, you may want to make a particular cell stand out by using a different fill color.
TIP
To hide the contents of a cell, make the background color the same as the font text color. The
cell contents are still visible in the Formula bar when you select the cell. Keep in mind, however,
that some printers may override this setting, and the text may be visible when printed.
Even though you have access to an unlimited number of colors, you might want to stick with the 60 theme
colors displayed in the various color selection controls. In other words, avoid using the More Color option,
which lets you select a color. Why? First of all, those 60 colors were chosen because they “go together” well.
Another reason involves document themes. If you switch to a different document theme for your workbook,
nontheme colors aren’t changed. In some cases, the result may be less than pleasing, aesthetically. See
“Understanding Document Themes,” later in this chapter, for more information about themes.
Adding borders and lines
Borders (and lines within the borders) are another visual enhancement that you can add around groups of
cells. Borders are often used to group a range of similar cells or to delineate rows or columns. Excel offers
13 preset styles of borders, as you can see in the Home ➪ Font ➪ Border drop-down list shown in Figure
7.8. This control works with the selected cell or range and enables you to specify which, if any, border style
to use for each border of the selection.
You may prefer to draw borders rather than select a preset border style. To do so, use the Draw Border or
Draw Border Grid command on the Home ➪ Font ➪ Border drop-down list. Selecting either of these commands
lets you create borders by dragging your mouse. Use the Line Color or Line Style commands to
change the color or style. When you’re finished drawing borders, press Esc to cancel the border drawing
mode.
Another way to apply borders is to use the Border tab of the Format Cells dialog box, which is shown in
Figure 7.9. One way to display this dialog box is to select More Borders from the Border drop-down list.
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