Microsoft Office

Part I
Getting Started with Excel
The trick is to create a workbook with the Normal style modified to the way that you want it. Then, save
the workbook as a template in your XLStart folder. After doing so, you choose Office ➪ New to display a
dialog box from which you can choose the template for the new workbook. Template files also can store
other named styles, providing you with an excellent way to give your workbooks a consistent look.
CROSS-REF
Chapter 9 discusses templates in detail.
Understanding Document Themes
In an effort to help users create more professional-looking documents, the Office 2007 designers incorporated
a concept known as document themes. Using themes is an easy (and almost foolproof) way to specify
the colors, fonts, and a variety of graphic effects in a document. And best of all, changing the entire look of
your document is a breeze. A few mouse clicks is all it takes to apply a different theme and change the look
of your workbook.
Importantly, the concept of themes is incorporated into other Office 2007 apps. Therefore, a company can
easily create a standard look and feel for all its documents.
Themes don’t override specific formatting that you apply. For example, assume that you apply
the Accent 1 named style to a range. Then you use the Fill Color control to change the background
color of that range. If you change to a different theme, the manually applied fill color will not be
modified. Bottom line? If you plan to take advantage of themes, stick with default formatting choices.
NOTE
Figure 7.13 shows a worksheet that contains a SmartArt diagram, a table, a chart, and range formatted
using the Heading 1 named style. These items all use the default formatting, which is known as Office
Theme.
FIGURE 7.13
The elements in this worksheet use default formatting.
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