Highlighting is a property of a range of text, separate from styles. The
highlighting property can have one of 17 values - 16 colors or No Color
(the formatting palette, for some reason, leaves out White as a
highlight color). Those 17 values can't be changed.
You can get a highlight *effect* using style shading (see below). It
won't be true highlighting - i.e., you can override the style shading by
applying a highlight. Style shading will still be visible when the
Preferences/View/Highlighting checkbox is cleared.
Style shading can be just as easy to apply and remove as highlighting
(see below).
To use style shading, here's one way that I did it:
Choose Format/Style. Click New. In the Name field, enter your Highlight
name (say, "Orange Highlight").
In the Style Type dropdown, choose Character. Leave the Style based on
dropdown set to Default Paragraph Font. Click the Format dropdown
button and choose Border...
In the Borders and Shading dialog that opens, click the Shading Tab.
Choose from the expanded palette of colors, or click More Colors... to
roll your own. Click OK to close the Borders and Shading dialog.
Note that an advantage of character formatting is that you can tweak the
font as well. For instance, if you choose a dark blue as the shading
color, you can choose bold white for the font color (Format/Font... from
the New Style dialog). Or perhaps make the font italic, or a different
size. This formatting will only be applied as long as the character
style is applied.
Click OK to close the New Style Dialog, and click Close to close the
Style dialog.
To apply your new "highlight", select your text, and choose "Orange
Highlight" from the Style pane on the Formatting Palette.
To clear the character style, type CTRL-Spacebar, which restores the
underlying character style of the paragraph.
Hello Rafael,
JE has explained *exactly* what I had in mind. You can apply any variation
in the colour spectrum via "More colours" if you use a style. And getting
rid of the colour is much easier than with highlighting -- as JE mentioned,
you simply hold down the Control key and hit the Spacebar.
For a discussion of styles, download "Bend Word to Your Will", free, from
http://www.word.mvps.org/FAQs/WordMac/Bend/BendWord.htm, and start reading
from page 69 (once you have read the introductory text at the beginning of
the document -- it's important). Other sources of information on styles are
cited in the notes too, on page 81.
Then note down today's date on your calendar -- it's the date you first
discovered styles! Word is centred on styles, and learning how to use them,
even at a basic level, will be a huge advance in making your work more
efficient and enjoyable!
Cheers,
Clive Huggan
Canberra, Australia
(My time zone is at least 5 hours different from the US and Europe,
so my follow-on responses to those regions can be delayed)
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--- SOME TIPS THAT MIGHT BE USEFUL ---
* WAIT FOR CONSIDERED ADVICE: If you post a question, keep re-visiting the
newsgroup for several days after the first response comes in. Sometimes it
takes a few responses before the best or complete solution is proposed;
sometimes you'll be asked for further information so that a better answer
can be provided. Good tips about getting the best out of posting are at
http://www.word.mvps.org/FindHelp/Posting.htm
* QUERY GOOGLE FIRST: Before posting your next question, search Google
Groups
(
http://groups.google.com/advanced_group_search?q=group:*mac.office.word) --
the topic may have been comprehensively answered already.
* THE MS NEWS SERVER IS QUICKEST: If you connect directly to the Microsoft
news server (msnews.microsoft.com), you will see your replies within
minutes; going through your ISP's news server could take much longer, and
web-based access can also be slow -- often 8 hours, and up to several days.
For settings for the MS news server, see
www.entourage.mvps.org
* POST BACK TO THE NEWSGROUP TO GIVE YOUR FEEDBACK: Please post all comments
or follow-on questions to the newsgroup for the benefit of others who may be
interested. If you need to send an e-mail to me directly (although that
would be exceptional), remove the uppercase letters from my address above.
E-mails with attachments are automatically rejected.
* EVERYONE'S SOLUTIONS AND VIEWS ARE WELCOME IN THIS NEWSGROUP: If you know
the answer, even a partial one, to a question you see on this newsgroup,
feel free to jump in and answer it -- there's no monopoly on answering here.
Except for an occasional visit by someone with "Microsoft" or "Mac Business
Unit" in their signature block, we're all volunteers. Feel free to comment
or ask a question that supplements someone else's question, too.
* COMING BACK PAYS DIVIDENDS: I've found no better way of improving my
knowledge of Word than visiting this newsgroup. I've compiled some notes
that include ideas from this newsgroup and elsewhere, and also list other
sources of information about Word. Titled "Bend Word to your Will", they are
downloadable free at
www.word.mvps.org/FAQs/WordMac/Bend/BendWord.htm
* BACK UP NOW: Just in case anyone is still reading down this far, here's a
question: if your settings files were corrupted right now, would you have an
up-to-date backup from which to retrieve your document settings and
customizations? It's best to back up your Normal template and all your Word
settings files on a medium other than the internal hard drive. If you also
want to protect against theft and fire, it's best store them in a different
building. More information is at
www.word.mvps.org/MacWordNew/BackUpYourWork.htm (if you use Safari, you may
need to click the "Reload this page" button several times) and in "Bend Word
to your Will".
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