How can I shade a cell in a table in Word 2003 with a gradient (fading
colors)? It's possible to shade the page background with a gradient, but I
can't figure out how to shade a cell with a gradient.
You can't actually do a gradient as a cell background, but you can fake it.
With the cursor in the cell, insert a text box and draw/drag it to the same size
as the cell. It'll help if you hold down the Alt key while dragging to get more
precise positioning.
Go to Format > Text Box. Open the Fill Color dropdown and choose Fill Effects,
which lets you set up your gradient. On the Layout tab, choose the Behind Text
wrapping.
Since the text box won't resize when the cell does, this is best done after you
finish all text editing that might change the cell's dimensions.
