Using Shading to Highlight Information

Word provides a way you can shade the information in your document. This shading can be added in conjunction with any border you may specify for the paragraph. Word allows you to precisely control the degree of shading, as well. To add shading to a paragraph, follow these steps:

1. Position the insertion point in the paragraph that you want to shade.
2. Select the Borders and Shading command from the Format menu. You will see the Borders and Shading dialog box.
3. Click on the Shading tab. (Click here to see a related figure.)
4. In Word 97 and Word 2000, use the Shading box to select a degree of shading you want to use for the paragraph. In Word 2002 or Word 2003, using the Style drop-down list to select a percentage of shading to apply.
5. Click on OK.

You can also apply shading to whatever text you select (instead of to an entire paragraph) by simply selecting that text in step 1.

If you are using Word 2007, then you can shade text or an entire paragraph by following these steps:

1. Position the insertion point in the paragraph that you want to shade, or select the text to which the shading should be applied.
2. Make sure that the Home tab is selected for the ribbon.
3. In the Paragraph group, click the down-arrow to the right of the Shading tool. (This tool looks like a tilted paint bucket, spilling paint to the right.) Word displays a shading palette. (Click here to see a related figure.)
4. Select one of the theme colors at the top of the palette. There are ten colors, and each option under the colors represents a different percentage of shading for that color.