Font Colours are lost betwee Project 2007 and Project 2003

[MikeProject]

I use Project 2007 and have use different colors to highlight some tasks. My
client has Project 2003 and when he displays my 2007 Project Plan in his
Project 2003 the font colours are lost - they are all black.

However, if he saves the file in 2003 and returns it to me I still see the
colors, even though he doesn't.

Is there a way to make the font changes stick from 2007 to 2003?

 

[Roland Cook]

Mike, are you saving the file to a 2003 version prior to sending it to your
client? If he's opening a 2007 version file in 2003 then he's probably
encountering issues where 2003 is not knowing how to read the data.

 

[John]

I use Project 2007 and have use different colors to highlight some tasks. My
client has Project 2003 and when he displays my 2007 Project Plan in his
Project 2003 the font colours are lost - they are all black.

However, if he saves the file in 2003 and returns it to me I still see the
colors, even though he doesn't.

Is there a way to make the font changes stick from 2007 to 2003?

MikeProject,
My first guess is that you may be viewing the file with a customized
view that resides in your Global. For example, if you modified the Gantt
Chart view in your Global with the customized font colors, you will see
it but your client will not because his Global doesn't have that
customization.

Open the file and go to the Organizer (Tools/ORganizer). Look at the
Views tab. Does a view appear in the right side list? If not, then
transfer whatever view you are using from the Global (left side list) to
the file itself (right side list), close and save the file. Now send the
file to your client.

However, if the file does indeed contain the custom view, then the
problem may be with the translation between your Project 2007 format and
his Project 2003 format. I'm sorry but I don't have any suggestions for
that. Hopefully someone else does.

Hope this helps.

John
Project MVP

 

[Marylou]

Hi John, I have the same problem. "marked" tasks in 2003 have the correct
font and colour. MSP2007 is not reading them and puts everything back to
black. I did not customize anything. Specifically it is "fuschia" that 2007
does not seem to see. Thank you. Any suggestions?

 

[John]

Hi John, I have the same problem. "marked" tasks in 2003 have the correct
font and colour. MSP2007 is not reading them and puts everything back to
black. I did not customize anything. Specifically it is "fuschia" that 2007
does not seem to see. Thank you. Any suggestions?

Marylou,
I just ran a quick test between Project 2003 and Project 2007. I set up
a simple file with three tasks in Project 2003. I used the Marked field
to set Text Styles with different font (i.e. not arial) and fuchsia
color. I then saved the file, quit Project 2003 and started Project
2007. In Project 2007 I opened the file and the file looked exactly the
same as in Project 2003 (i.e. all font characteristics were carried over
from Project 2003).

Why it doesn't work for you I don't know. When you say you did not
customize anything I have to take exception to that statement. Simply
changing a font while in a view, (e.g. Gantt Chart), does in fact
customize that view. With the file open in Project 2007 go to
Tools/Organizer/view tab. Is there an entry in the right hand list box
and is it the same view where the customization is applied in Project
2003? If not, then the customized view is not resident in the file
itself and that's why you are not seeing it in Project 2007. If the
customized view IS resident in the file then the problem might be
related to your specific installation. For reference, I run Project 2003
with SP2 and Project 2007 with no updates, both under Windows XP Pro. I
doubt that has an bearing on your problem but it might.

John
Project MVP

 

[Marylou]

Hello John, sorry for the confusion. When you open the file there is no
problem, fonts and formats are indeed carried over. However if you use
Format-Text Styles-Marked (& select Fuschia) it will choose colour) but not
display; mine always goes to black. The same thing happens with a new file
created in 2007. I tested with colleague with same result. We use 2003 SP3 /
2007 SP2. Thanks Mary Lou

 

[JulieS]

Hello Marylou,

Pardon me for bumping in, but just to confirm. You are setting
the Marked field to "yes" to see the change?

In testing with Project 2007, changing the font through the
Format> Text Styles command and then setting the flag for the
Marked field to yes works without issue.

I hope this helps. Let us know how you get along.

Julie
Project MVP

Visit http://project.mvps.org/ for the FAQs and additional
information about Microsoft Project

 

[John]

Hello John, sorry for the confusion. When you open the file there is no
problem, fonts and formats are indeed carried over. However if you use
Format-Text Styles-Marked (& select Fuschia) it will choose colour) but not
display; mine always goes to black. The same thing happens with a new file
created in 2007. I tested with colleague with same result. We use 2003 SP3 /
2007 SP2. Thanks Mary Lou

Mary Lou,
OK, now I see the problem and it doesn't appear to have anything to do
with the origin of the file, (i.e. Project 2003), since it also occurs
with a new file in Project 2007.

I dug a little deeper into the numerical value, (referred to as a
"constant"), associated with font colors. I thought perhaps fuchsia had
a "fringe" octal or hexadecimal value but that's not the case. The
constant for fuchsia is a rather mundane "6". I tried several other font
colors and they all worked fine, including white.

At this point I have no idea why the problem occurs. It doesn't appear
to be related to updates to Project 2007 since you have the latest
update, (SP2), and you are still seeing the problem. But, it does appear
to work with Julie's configuration so obviously something is different.
Hopefully she can shed more light. In the meantime, I suggest you use a
different font color (maroon perhaps).

Sorry I can't be of more help.

John
Project MVP

 

[JulieS]

Mary Lou,
OK, now I see the problem and it doesn't appear to have anything to do
with the origin of the file, (i.e. Project 2003), since it also occurs
with a new file in Project 2007.

I dug a little deeper into the numerical value, (referred to as a
"constant"), associated with font colors. I thought perhaps fuchsia had
a "fringe" octal or hexadecimal value but that's not the case. The
constant for fuchsia is a rather mundane "6". I tried several other font
colors and they all worked fine, including white.

At this point I have no idea why the problem occurs. It doesn't appear
to be related to updates to Project 2007 since you have the latest
update, (SP2), and you are still seeing the problem. But, it does appear
to work with Julie's configuration so obviously something is different.
Hopefully she can shed more light. In the meantime, I suggest you use a
different font color (maroon perhaps).

Sorry I can't be of more help.

John
Project MVP

<snip>

Thank you John, based upon you explanation (and a closer reading
of Mary Lou's post), I must take back what I said. Fuchsia
doesn't seem to "take" anywhere. I did not originally test with
fuchsia, but maroon and that works fine.

So, I need to amend my statement changing font color on marked
tasks does work fine -- except for fuchsia. And fuchsia does not
appear to work for any font choice through Format > Text Styles.
In quick testing neither does lime or aqua as a Font color.
All three seem to work for background colors through Format >
Text Styles.

I hope this helps. Let us know how you get along.

Julie
Project MVP

Visit http://project.mvps.org/ for the FAQs and additional
information about Microsoft Project

 

[John]

<snip>

Thank you John, based upon you explanation (and a closer reading
of Mary Lou's post), I must take back what I said. Fuchsia
doesn't seem to "take" anywhere. I did not originally test with
fuchsia, but maroon and that works fine.

So, I need to amend my statement changing font color on marked
tasks does work fine -- except for fuchsia. And fuchsia does not
appear to work for any font choice through Format > Text Styles.
In quick testing neither does lime or aqua as a Font color.
All three seem to work for background colors through Format >
Text Styles.

I hope this helps. Let us know how you get along.

Julie
Project MVP

Julie,
You know, that fuchsia is bad news anyway. Oh it's pretty alright but
it's very hard to spell correctly so I say just stay away from it

John
Project MVP