h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

Is there a way to apply a page background colour in a Word document, only to specific pages rather than the whole document? I feel there should be (for making booklets, etc) but I can only seem to find a way to change the background colour throughout the entire document.

Insert a section break and only apply the required background colour to that section.

(Checking: Word 2010?)

2007

Will try that.

Um... how do I only apply it to a specific section?

I'm on 2010 so I'm not sure I can help.

Also, in 2010 it seems it's not possible to apply whole page colouring to just a specific section, it has to be whole document or nothing.

I'm thinking I can cover the entire page with a rectangle and colour fill that, but it seems crazy if you can't specify a different background on different pages.

even.

You can't do it without creating a massive text box, apparently - see http://superuser.com/questions/203541/how-to-change-the-background-color-of-a-single-page-in-word-2010

Thanks Icy. I figured I couldn't be the only one who has wondered about this. Hard to believe it isn't an option in Word though. I guess I'll have to go with my coloured rectangle, although it irks me that it is necessary to do it this way.

Have you considered using Powerpoint instead?

That's an excellent point... it does sound like you're trying to use a sledgehammer to drill a hole in your wall...

(Fun factoid: my Japanese colleagues LOVE Microsoft Excel. They use it for accountancy calculations, engineering calculations, productivity graphs... all of which is of course perfectly sensible, but they also use it for producing presentations, writing letters and reports, producing Gannt charts for project management, producing flyers for noticeboards... it's not that we don't, every single one of us, have an up to date legit copy of Powerpoint, Word, Project and everything else on our computers. It just seems that their response to ANY task on the computer is "I'll just fire up Excel...")

Sometimes you have to work with the tools you are told to.

Personally, I use Publisher for... publishing tasks. It does exactly what I want it to do. I can then convert the finished document(s) into pdf. This was the original plan, until I was then asked to also submit it in Word format.

However, 'tis done now. Thanks for your input guys.

Another possible solution is to just buy different coloured paper, and print the different pages on the different colours. It would probably work out cheaper too: coloured printer toner can be pricey!

Interesting. My Japanese colleagues, of which I have many, are exactly like Hoov's when it comes to Excel. Engineering diagrams, presentations, databases - all on Excel.

It's a pretty damn powerful bit of software, compared to the rest of the Office suite, mind.

B

insert picture into the background, then overlay the text..nowt to say the picture cant be all one colour

I went with the text box, worked a treat. How it will be printed now is out of my hands, but I would've gone for coloured card if I was printing at home.

Excel is great. Where I worked last year they used it for everything.

As a user, I love Excel.
Not that I use it for *everything*, there are things better done in a range of other products.

As a specialist in software validation, Excel is my nightmare... No change control, a simple slip of the fingers and an accidental save, and your work can be completely out of control...