Displaying colour codes in Word 2007

[OldHand]

I know this one isn't new, but that isn't a reason not to protest. There
seems to be a conspiracy at M$ to drive the largest possible number of
people MAD.

When you select or inspect the colour of text or another item in Word 2007,
the colour codes (rgb) are no longer diplayed in this version. Apparantly,
this is because Word has been dumbed down for the benefit of people who've
never seen a computer.

If you want to choose a colour that matches another part of the document or
an imported item, you need a large number of mouse clics. Even then it is
far from obvious that the codes displayed initially under More (or custom)
Colours are those corresponding to one of the M$ fixed colours (I'm
translating from the .fr version). Since there is plenty of space in the
standard colour selection box, why can't we see the codes directly? People
who don't need the information would probably not notice it's there.

Regards

 

[Graham Mayor]

From the colour selector dialog select 'more colours'. The currently
coloured item is displayed along with its RGB numbers.

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Graham Mayor - Word MVP


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[LVTravel]

I know this one isn't new, but that isn't a reason not to protest. There
seems to be a conspiracy at M$ to drive the largest possible number of
people MAD.

When you select or inspect the colour of text or another item in Word
2007, the colour codes (rgb) are no longer diplayed in this version.
Apparantly, this is because Word has been dumbed down for the benefit of
people who've never seen a computer.

If you want to choose a colour that matches another part of the document
or an imported item, you need a large number of mouse clics. Even then it
is far from obvious that the codes displayed initially under More (or
custom) Colours are those corresponding to one of the M$ fixed colours
(I'm translating from the .fr version). Since there is plenty of space in
the standard colour selection box, why can't we see the codes directly?
People who don't need the information would probably not notice it's
there.

Regards

I have never used a MS product to determine the color code of an area of a
picture or field. I use Pixie from http://www.nattyware.com/?m31. It is a
small free program the instantly can tell you the RGB, HTML, CMYK or HSV
codes.

 

[OldHand]

That's basically what I said. You're expected to know that it's the current
colour that's displayed. You don't, and you're not informed. Are we expected
to memorise the manual?

Of course, my main point was that the designers of the present generation of
M$ products appear to have been instructed to find ways of maximising the
number of mouse clics required to perform the most elementary functions.

I consider that Oo and derivatives are too much lookalikes of M$ products,
and hope their designers don't feel they have to copy all the mad bits.

Regards

 

[Graham Mayor]

I don't see how it could be anything different. The dialog shows the colour
index of the selected item.

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Graham Mayor - Word MVP


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[OldHand]

The point is that you should not have to go into the dialogue; this product
in its present form has regressed. It requires you to make far too many
mouse clicks for efficient or comfortable working (and many users have to
work intensively for many hours a day).

The obvious solution is to put the colour index in the hover text (for new
users, that's the hopefully useful information that should be displayed when
you place your cursor over an item. It's very easy to program that sort of
thing).

Regards

 

[Graham Mayor]

Instead of fighting the software to make it do what you want, work with it.
If you need coloured fonts etc set them up as character or paragraph styles
and assign them to keyboard shortcuts. You don't need to use the mouse at
all.

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Graham Mayor - Word MVP


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