"Pick a Color" in borders and shading disabled

[elusivone]

Version: 2008
Operating System: Mac OS X 10.5 (Leopard)
Processor: intel

The "pick a color" option on the Borders & Shading formatting palette is grayed out. I cannot select it.

I select a cell(s). I open the "Color" palette. At the bottom, under the system color swatches is a dotted line and then little icon of an eyedropper tool beside text that reads "pick a color".

It won't work. A user on the Apple forums says that his works fine. I've seen a couple other posts on the Net that mention this, but no one answers it.

Now, I'm not sure if this is the issue... I bought my Office 2008 "Student Media" (dated Feb 2008 - bought late June) at the college computer store. It is also labeled as "Licensed for use only by students and faculty" - of which I am the former. I have not seen anything written about there being any limitations on any of the applications.

I just did an MS Update this evening hoping it would work, but nope. Still a disabled feature.

Please, oh please, help me. This is making me insane. (I need to be able to use the school brand colors for a project I'm working on FOR THE SCHOOL).

 

[CyberTaz]

Hello -

Rest assured you did not get short-changed on your version of Office. It's
just as complete as any other edition, so that isn't the problem

The problem is that this "user" is talking about something *different* which
is confusing the issue. That's also compounded by something deceptive in the
program that has been confounding people since [at least] the 2004 version -
that damned eyedropper tool shouldn't even be there %-\

Color in Excel is handled in 2 different ways: 1) As it applies to cells
[Shading] as opposed to 2) As it applies to objects [Fill], with the former
being more restrictive. The eyedropper in the Borders & Shading Fill Color
palette (which is the same Color palette as on the Formatting toolbar) does
not do anything & never has [AFAIK] because the fill colors for cells is
limited to the ones in those palettes - although those in the palettes can
be changed.

The eyedropper that *works* is the one in the Fill Color palette you'll find
in the Drawing Toolbar & the Colors, Weights & Fills section of the
Formatting Palette. These controls are only available when a graphic object
(shape, clipart, etc.) is selected. Once a shape is selected you can use the
eyedropper to recolor the selected shape based on the fill color of a cell
-or- based on the fill color of another shape. However, you can't use it to
apply *shading* to a cell.

If you need to use specific colors that aren't in the Standard Colors you
can go to Excel> Preferences - Color, select the swatch you want to replace
(you can't *add* to the palette) then click the Modify button. Use either of
the methods at the top of the Colors window to set the color then click OK -
do the same for each color you want to replace. [The Color Sliders is the
most accurate if you need an exact match based on RGB or CMYK values.]
You'll also see other options once you get there.

HTH |:>)
Bob Jones
[MVP] Office:Mac

 

[Jennifer]

Thank you for such a clear and articulate response! I was nearly going nuts trying to figure it out as nowhere else could I find anyone with the same exact question and especially no answer. It baffled me that if I was not the only one with the issue that it wouldn't be posted *some*where.

<rant>
I will say, and again I am sure I'm not the only one, that MS really should fixt that. Not just remove that option from "borders and shading" but to make it function. We're in the day and age where technology can support millions of colors and when companies are looking to make their mark through their brand. If it is possible to modify colors, then it should be possible to add colors. And, if it's possible to fill an object with any color, then why not a cell? To the user, it just seems so very *random*.
</rant>

thanks!

 

[CyberTaz]

Hello again -

If you want to articulate your thoughts where it will possibly do some good
use Help> Send Feedback in Excel to make your case If there's enough
demand it may wind up being implemented at some point in the future.

Regards |:>)
Bob Jones
[MVP] Office:Mac