Is there a way to use theme colors as shading for table cells?

Question

I have a series of forms that I have developed for my professional association. The forms all make extensive use of tables. I have a color scheme that I use to shade the heading rows. I've created a theme with those colors, and applied it to the files. I can apply theme colors to lines and text, but I can't find anyway to get at the colors when shading cells in the tables.

Answer 1

Are you using Format> Borders & Shading? If so, that's the problem :-) The colors available there are not affected by Themes/Color Schemes -- the same 64 colors display in that matrix regardless of Theme or Color Scheme. Nor does that dialog update to reflect any custom choices you make by using the More Colors... button.

If you use the Shading button on the Tables tab of the Ribbon you'll see the the colors & shades available in the current Theme. That palette of colors will update when a different Theme or Color Scheme is chosen.

FWIW: I fully agree with John's position on the use of Table Styles, but they may not provide everything you want because they are tied to specific colors, not to Themes. IOW, if you select a different Theme/Color Scheme the user still has to edit the Table Style to match.

Further, If you're looking for the colors used in table to remain matched with colors used elsewhere in the document, that won't happen with Table Styles. For example, when shading changes in a Shape due to switching to a different Theme, shading in cells effected by a Style will not... it will remain whatever the style calls for. Likewise, applying a different Table style will not cause shading applied elsewhere to update.

Answer 2

Table styles can be edited: if the colour scheme changes, edit the table style and the new colours will appear in any table to which it is applied.

You could make a macro to very the colours in all of the document's table styles in a single click, but this would not normally be useful.

You can have as many table styles in a document as you wish.

Table styles will also supply shading: you do not need to do anything: simply apply the table style to the table, and if it contains shading, that will also appear.

Hope this helps

Answer 3

No.  But you can build Table Styles to achieve the same result (better: Table Styles are more flexible, and they're one-click to apply).

You can set a table style as the default for new tables, or just use the table styles direct, to ensure all your tables have the same look.

Have a look here for a tutorial: http://office.microsoft.com/en-au/training/tables-i-create-and-format-basic-tables-RZ001200716.aspx?section=21

Hope this helps

Answer 4

John -- good suggestion. Thanks. Unfortunately, it doesn't address my need. I have 4 different "default" tables, and what I would like to be able to do is apply the theme colors to all of the form files if the color scheme changes. I'd also like to be able to apply a theme color to the shading without doing so manually.

Oh well, my current approach (a document with all 4 default tables that I use as a starting point) will have to do.

Answer 5

It sounds like you've done all of your work on Themes & Colors in Word, which would explain the situation you're in. Using Word only enables 'substituting' non-Theme Colors in place of those called for by the Theme currently in use. It does nothing to associate those colors with the respective elements to which Themes apply. Nor does saving the result as a Document Theme establish that connection. In fact, just the opposite occurs -- doing so actually breaks the connection between the element & the Theme.

To get the effect you're looking for, Theme Colors must be created in PowerPoint. It is the only program in Office 2011 which provides the tools to create custom Theme Colors. Once the Custom Theme along with the Theme Colors has been saved it is available to all programs in the suite & the color palettes will offer those colors when the Theme is applied. See the PowerPoint 2011 Help article Create or delete a **custom** **theme** **color**.