Font color won't change in header row of my Table style

[C1ER]

I created a table style based on Table Grid (Word 2003 SP3). I applied a blue
font color to the header row. I also set the font, font size, and bold for
the header row. These settings are applied, but the header row color will not
change no matter what I set the color to - it resets it to black every time.
How can I get my style to accept blue for the header row color? Please help.
TIA!

 

[Stefan Blom]

Can you successfully modify the Table Grid style in another document? If so,
you could then use the Organizer (Tools | Templates and Add-Ins, Organizer
button) to copy it to the document where you are unable to modify it.

 

[C1ER]

Yes, I was able to create the style in another document, but for some reason,
when I used Organizer to copy it over to my template, it resets the header
color to black. I also tried to copy the style from the new document into my
source document, but it resets the color to gray (not black, though).

 

[Stefan Blom]

If you *reapply* the copied table style to the relevant table(s), does that
make a difference? You can use Ctrl+Alt+U to clear the formatting and then
just apply the style again.

Also, if you are referring to the text color, as opposed to the cell
shading, note that table styles are a bit tricky with respect to those
settings, as explained at
http://www.shaunakelly.com/word/tablestyles/index.html. :-( Applying the
desired paragraph style to the text should work better.

 

[Klaus Linke]

Also, have you modified the color of the "Normal" paragraph styles?

The "Normal" paragraph style is applied to all table cells. Unfortunately,
if you've modified some property of the Normal style, that will be applied
in the table style too... You can't define that property in the table style
any more.

So, if you use table styles, it's best to leave the Normal paragraph style
untouched from its default.

Regards,
Klaus

 

[C1ER]

Reapplying the table style doesn't work, either, unfortunately. Thanks for
the article - this is helpful, and now I know I'm not crazy. I think we'll
just go with the table style and accept the black text. Thanks for all your
help!

 

[C1ER]

No, I didn't change the Normal paragraph style, but I thought this might be
where it's picking up the black/Auto text setting. Thanks for the info!

 

[Stefan Blom]

Thank you for the feedback.

Note that you can save an example table, formatted the way you want it, as
an AutoText entry and then insert the AutoText whenever you want that
particular formatting.

By using AutoText entries, you avoid the problems with table styles but, of
course, unless you want to try macros there is no way to automatically
update the formatting of existing tables inserted as AutoTexts.

 

[Klaus Linke]

No, I didn't change the Normal paragraph style, but I thought
this might be where it's picking up the black/Auto text setting.
Thanks for the info!

If the Normal paragraph is set to Black, change it to "Automatic".
That's the factory default.

Regards,
Klaus

 

[C1ER]

I tried to change Normal to Automatic, but that keeps resetting to black as
well.

 

[PamC via OfficeKB.com]

One trick to getting & keeping stable tables is to avoid setting font
characteristics in a table style. Use paragraph styles instead. Many
technical documents have lots of tables that are quite different from each
other and that require a lot of manual formatting. Table styles are great
for quickly formatting them. But table style text settings tend to override
manual formatting and paragraph styles. (Or the conflicting setting confuse
Word.)

Your best bet is to start fresh. Clear all formatting and then apply the
unmodified table grid style. Create a new table style that is based on table
grid and that does not have text formatting specified (font, size, color,
horizontal alignment, etc.). Create your table paragraph styles. Three is
often enough: table heading, table text, and table bullet. Now apply your
new table style and table text paragraph style to the whole table, then
apply the table heading and bullet styles appropriately.

HTH,
PamC

Reapplying the table style doesn't work, either, unfortunately. Thanks for
the article - this is helpful, and now I know I'm not crazy. I think we'll
just go with the table style and accept the black text. Thanks for all your
help!

If you *reapply* the copied table style to the relevant table(s), does that
make a difference? You can use Ctrl+Alt+U to clear the formatting and then

[quoted text clipped - 31 lines]

 

[Stefan Blom]

Indeed, using paragraph styles to format the text in cells is better than
changing the font properties for the table style.

And, of course, the approach can be successfully combined with the AutoText
approach that I described in a previous message.

--
Stefan Blom
Microsoft Word MVP

One trick to getting & keeping stable tables is to avoid setting font
characteristics in a table style. Use paragraph styles instead. Many
technical documents have lots of tables that are quite different from each
other and that require a lot of manual formatting. Table styles are great
for quickly formatting them. But table style text settings tend to
override
manual formatting and paragraph styles. (Or the conflicting setting
confuse
Word.)

Your best bet is to start fresh. Clear all formatting and then apply the
unmodified table grid style. Create a new table style that is based on
table
grid and that does not have text formatting specified (font, size, color,
horizontal alignment, etc.). Create your table paragraph styles. Three is
often enough: table heading, table text, and table bullet. Now apply your
new table style and table text paragraph style to the whole table, then
apply the table heading and bullet styles appropriately.

HTH,
PamC

Reapplying the table style doesn't work, either, unfortunately. Thanks for
the article - this is helpful, and now I know I'm not crazy. I think we'll
just go with the table style and accept the black text. Thanks for all
your
help!

If you *reapply* the copied table style to the relevant table(s), does
that
make a difference? You can use Ctrl+Alt+U to clear the formatting and
then

[quoted text clipped - 31 lines]

help.
TIA!

 

[Klaus Linke]

That's not the way I use table styles.
Why bother with table styles at all, if you have to apply paragraph styles
on top?

Regards,
Klaus

 

[Stefan Blom]

I guess I'm saying that since table styles are there (you cannot get rid of
them since each table has one applied) you might as well apply the settings
that make sense (such as borders and shading) and leave the ones that don't
(paragraph and font formatting) to paragraph styles. Personally I don't work
them like that, however. Instead, I make use of AutoText if I need many
tables in a document, and I use paragraph styles to format cell contents
(see also the article at
http://www.shaunakelly.com/word/tablestyles/index.html).

--
Stefan Blom
Microsoft Word MVP

That's not the way I use table styles.
Why bother with table styles at all, if you have to apply paragraph styles
on top?

Regards,
Klaus

 

[PamC via OfficeKB.com]

I use table styles a great deal. I don't use auto text because I don't
create tables, I edit or format them. Usually no two tables are a like when
it comes to the number of columns and rows, column widths. and column
alignment.
When they were first introduced, I quickly abandoned tables styles when I
found that I could not have one column aligned on the decimal point without
affecting the alignment of other columns and that the table font could not
be made smaller than Normal (that may have changed--a lot of people fussed
about it and refused to use table styles because of it). Instead I created
paragraph styles for tables and manually applied setting to each one. Most of
the formatters I've met do the same thing.
About 10 months ago I read a book by Stephanie Krieger who recommended most
of the methods I now use with table styles. The very next week I amazed
myself with how quickly I got through about 20 tables from three different
proposals, four different excel files, and from various Word files where the
writers had gone wild with the colors and fonts. I had more time to look
at content issues in the tables. My client was also pleased. I carry with
me on my thumb drive a simple table style along with my editing add-on
templates. But usually I create a custom table style with the rest of the
template for a job.

I guess I'm saying that since table styles are there (you cannot get rid of
them since each table has one applied) you might as well apply the settings
that make sense (such as borders and shading) and leave the ones that don't
(paragraph and font formatting) to paragraph styles. Personally I don't work
them like that, however. Instead, I make use of AutoText if I need many
tables in a document, and I use paragraph styles to format cell contents
(see also the article at
http://www.shaunakelly.com/word/tablestyles/index.html).

That's not the way I use table styles.
Why bother with table styles at all, if you have to apply paragraph styles

[quoted text clipped - 8 lines]