MS-Word / General Formatting

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Changing a Document's Background

Whether you are creating a document that will be printed, viewed on a computer, or published on the Internet and viewed in a Web browser, you can make your document stand out by adding a background color or pattern.

There might be times when you want words or a graphic to appear behind the text of a printed or online document. For example, you might want the word DO NOT COPY to appear faintly behind the text in a contract, or you might want a graphic to appear faintly behind the text in a press release. These faint background images are called watermarks. Watermarks are visible in a document, but because they are faint, they do not interfere with the readers ability to view the document's main text.

Background colors, patterns, and watermarks are applied by clicking buttons in the Page Background group on the Page Layout tab.

In this section, you will apply a background color and pattern, and then you will add a text watermark.

1. On the Page Layout tab, in the Page Background group, click the Page Color button, and then select any color. The background of the document changes to the selected color.
2. In the Page Background group, click the Page Color button, and then click Fill Effects. The Fill Effects dialog box opens and then click the Texture tab.
3. Click the effect in the first column of the first row, and then click OK. The background changes to display the effect rather than the color.
4. On the Page Layout tab, in the Page Background group, click the Watermark button. The Watermark gallery opens.
   
   
   
   
5. Scroll to the bottom of the gallery, noticing the available options. Clicking any of these options will insert the specified watermark in pale blue on every page of the current document.
6. Below the gallery, click Custom Watermark. The Printed Watermark dialog box opens. Notice that you can insert a picture or text as a watermark.
   
   
   
   
7. Select the Text watermark option, click the Text arrow, scroll down the list, and then click DO NOT COPY.
8. Click the Color arrow, and under Theme Colors, click the black box.
9. With the Semitransparent check box and Diagonal option selected, click OK. The specified text is inserted diagonally across the page.
10. At the right end of the status bar, click the Zoom button. Then in the Zoom dialog box, click Whole Page, and click OK. The document displays the texture and watermark you specified.

Using a Picture as a Watermark

When you want to dress up the pages of your document without distracting attention from the main text, you might consider adding a graphic watermark. Here is how to add a graphic watermark to every page of a document:

1. On the Page Layout tab, in the Page Background group, click the Watermark button, and then click Custom Watermark. The Printed Water dialog box opens.
2. In the Printed Watermark dialog box, select the Picture watermark option, and then click Select Picture.
3. In the Insert Picture dialog box, navigate to the folder where the picture you want to use is stored, and double-click the name of the picture.
4. Click the Scale arrow, and choose how big or small you want the watermark picture to appear in the document.
5. For a more vibrant picture, clear the Washout check box and click OK. The picture is inserted as a watermark at the size you specified.