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graph paper as background in a word document / tiled pattern

Anonymous
2015-12-11T16:08:14+00:00

Hi

I'm using word 2016 for mac. I would like  my word documents to have  "graph paper" or "ruled paper" background.

I am able to show a grid from the view panel, which looks like graph paper. It won't show in the print preview, though.

I thought that a perhaps not optimal solution was to use a large table having just one cell.

In word for mac 2011 I was able to use a tiled image as the background of a table (e.g. a small square with crossed lines generated graph paper. I guess that a white square  with a single horizontal line would generate ruled paper).

In mac 2016 I am not able to do this. I can only change the color of the cell (or the page, for that matter) but I cannot figure out how to use a tiled image as the background of the cell or page.

Ideally, I'd like to have graph or ruled paper troughout the page (possibly only within the page borders). Also, I'd like for the lines of the graph or ruled paper to be not too dark. Perhaps light gray.

How would I go about doing that?

Thanks a lot

Francesco

UPDATE

About  the above trick with the tiled image in the table cell: I think that I  did not use it in word 2011. but in libre office.

In word I did that in a blank rectangle.

I just found out that it can be done in word 2016 as well. If the rectangle is "behind the text" it works as a background.

Again, not optimal, but it's something.

I wonder whether one can customize the standard patterns in the "fill shape" tab. There is a bunch of builtin patterns but I do not see a way to customize them, other than coloring them.

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  1. Bob Jones AKA CyberTaz MVP 434.8K Reputation points
    2015-12-12T13:08:25+00:00

    Draw the rectangle in the Header, Size & Position it using the Advanced Layout Options.

    Change the Fill using the Format Shape features. In the Pattern Fill choices you'll find both a Small & a Large Grid. Choose the color you want for both the Fill & for the Line of the shape... Just keep in mind that Header/Footer content displays lighter than it prints. I threw this together in about a minute:

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  1. Anonymous
    2015-12-12T08:00:19+00:00

    Thanks, I'll give it a try. I see that a watermark picture cannot be tiled either.

    All things considered, it seems to me that the best option is "filling" a large rectangle with a tiled image (or a custom pattern fill, if that is possible) and putting it behind text.

    I wonder why one can change the background color of the page, but there's no option for tiling or pattern fill.

    Thanks again

    Francesco

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  2. Anonymous
    2015-12-11T23:12:50+00:00

    Daniel,

     thanks for your answer. I actually did find these before. However the grid is just a very large table with a lot of cells.

    It's not a background.

    What I mean, is that I cannot type over it in word. I guess that those templates are just for printing.

    What I need is a "graph paper background" I can type on top of.

    The reason is that I'm going to write down some mathematics or physics problems for my students to solve, and graph paper helps them with that, like in a notebook.

    I seem to recall that in a (much) older version of word one could tile an image in the page background, or even use a customizable pattern fill. But I'm not really sure, maybe it was something else. Anyway it was ages ago.

    I have been trying to avoid word for long, but everybody at my workplace seems to use it, and I'm kind of compelled to do that too.

    Thanks again

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  3. Anonymous
    2015-12-12T01:40:28+00:00

    Tiling does not seem possible now (or I can no longer locate the option to repeat).

    When using the background feature (image as a fill), the picture will be expanded to fill the page. This means that any image you care to use would need to have the proper dimensions (US Letter) and grid positioning (blank areas to simulate margins) before being placed. Instead, placing it as a watermark has the advantage of letting you control scaling and intensity of the effect.

    You can always take a careful screenshot of the table—use the ¶ button to hide non-printing characters and then do Command Shift 4. The picture should appear on the Desktop. This method would perhaps require defining a larger page filled with extra columns and rows, just for the shot, and/or using the zoom feature.

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  4. Anonymous
    2015-12-11T22:27:29+00:00

    How about these? For more, just google for graph paper template.

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