Using Backgrounds and Watermarks

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To add information or visual interest to your documents, you can add backgrounds to online documents and watermarks to printed documents. Backgrounds are visible in Web Layout view or in a Web browser, and they are generally used to create interesting backdrops for online documents. Backgrounds are displayed in Web Layout view only and aren't designed for printing. If you want to create a printable background, you need to create a watermark. A watermark is faded text or a pale picture that appears behind document text. Watermarks are often used to add visual appeal to a document or to identify a document's status, such as marking the document as a "Draft" or "Confidential." You can see watermarks in Print Layout view or in a printed document. In this section, you'll learn how to create, control, and delete backgrounds and watermarks in your Web pages and printed documents.

Creating Backgrounds and Watermarks

You can create custom backgrounds for online pages and custom watermarks for printed documents. When you create a background for an online document, you can use color gradients, patterns, pictures, solid colors, or textures that repeat, or "tile," to fill the page. When you create a watermark for a printed document, you can use a light-colored picture (usually gray) or light-colored text to appear behind your document's contents. If you use text, you can choose from built-in phrases or enter your own.

Adding Backgrounds to Online Pages

To add a background to an online page (such as a Web page, an online document, or an e-mail message), choose Format, Background, and then perform any of the following actions:

• Click a color on the color palette to add a background color.
• Choose More Colors to access additional colors that you can apply to your background.
• Choose Fill Effects to access the Gradient, Texture, Pattern, and Picture tabs in the Fill Effects dialog box, which enable you to create custom backgrounds.

For more information about using fill effects, see Chapter 16, "Enlivening Documents with Drawings and AutoShapes."

After you choose a color or create a fill effect, Word automatically applies the background to the current document. You can see the background only in Web Layout view (by choosing View, Web Layout); if you display the page in any other view, you won't see the background, and if you print the document, the background won't be printed.

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When you save a Web page with a background, Word saves background textures and gradients as JPEG files and patterns as GIF files.

Adding Watermarks to Printed Documents

To add a watermark to a printed document, display your document in Print Layout or Normal view, and then choose Format, Background, Printed Watermark. The Printed Watermark dialog box opens, as shown in Figure 23-8.

Figure 23-8. In Word 2002, you can use the Printed Watermark dialog box to add picture and text watermarks to your documents.

You can insert a picture or text watermark by configuring the settings in the Printed Watermark dialog box, as described here:

• Picture watermark. If you want to insert a picture watermark, click the Picture Watermark option, and then click the Select Picture button to choose a picture for the watermark. You can use color or grayscale pictures for watermarks. The Scale option lets you specify a size for the watermark picture. In most cases, you should select the Washout check box so that the watermark doesn't interfere with your document's readability.
• Text watermark. To insert a text watermark, click the Text Watermark option, and type custom text in the Text box or choose from text in the Text drop-down list. Then configure the Text, Font, Size, Color, and Layout settings. You can display the watermark text diagonally or horizontally. In most cases, you should select the Semitransparent check box so that the watermark doesn't interfere with your document's readability.

After you configure your picture or text watermark settings, click OK to apply the watermark to the current document. Figure 23-9 shows a document in Print Preview mode that has a Confidential watermark.

Figure 23-9. You can easily add watermarks to documents in Word 2002.

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Including Watermarks in Document Headers

Before Word 2002, many people created watermarks by adding objects (such as AutoShapes) and images to document headers. You can continue to create watermarks in this manner. To do so, you manually paste or insert the watermark object or image into the document header. If you create watermarks this way, you can't use the Printed Watermark dialog box to configure the watermark's settings. For simplicity's sake, you should use the Printed Watermark dialog box to create watermarks whenever possible.

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Changing and Removing Backgrounds and Watermarks

After you add backgrounds to online pages and watermarks to printed documents, you're free to change your mind at any time. You can easily change or remove backgrounds and watermarks that have been added to documents. To change backgrounds or watermarks, use one of the following methods:

• Change a background. Choose Format, Background, and choose new background settings.
• Change a watermark. Choose Format, Background, Printed Watermark, and specify new settings in the Printed Watermark dialog box.

To remove backgrounds and watermarks, use one of these methods:

• Remove a background. Choose Format, Background, No Fill.
• Remove a watermark. Choose Format, Background, Printed Watermark. In the Printed Watermark dialog box, click the No Watermark option, and then click OK.

When you remove a background from a Web page, the page will be displayed using the default background colors specified by the user's Web browser. Generally, default background colors are white or gray.

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If you created a watermark by inserting a watermark in a document's header, you must open the header and manually delete or change the watermark. You can't use the Printed Watermark dialog box to modify and remove watermarks inserted into headers.