Adding Shading to Cells

Adding Shading to Cells

Another way to offset certain cells in a worksheet is to add shading to those cells. With shading, you can add a color or gray shading to the background of a cell . You can add shading that consists of a solid color, or you can select a pattern as part of the shading options, such as a repeating diagonal line.

Follow these steps to add shading to a cell or range. As you make your selections, keep in mind that if you plan to print your worksheet with a black-and-white printer, the colors you select might not provide enough contrast on the printout to provide any differentiation between ranges of cells. You can always use the Print Preview command (as explained in Lesson 14, "Printing Your Workbook") to view your results in black and white before you print.

1. Select the cell(s) you want to shade .

2. Open the Format menu and choose Cells .

3. Click the Patterns tab. Excel displays the shading options (see Figure 10.2).

   Figure 10.2. Choose colors and patterns from the Patterns tab of the Format Cells dialog box.

   

4. Click the Pattern drop-down arrow to see a grid that contains colors and patterns.

5. Select the shading color and pattern you want to use. The Color options let you choose a color for the overall shading. The Pattern options let you select a black or colored pattern that is placed on top of the cell-shading color you selected. A preview of the results appears in the Sample box.

6. When you have finished making your selections, click OK .

Add Cell Shading with the Toolbar Select the cells you want to shade. Click the Fill Color drop-down arrow on the Formatting toolbar and then select the fill color from the Color palette that appears.