There were two other tabs in the Borders and Shading dialog box. We looked at Page Borders earlier, when we talked about page setup, but we haven’t talked about the Shading tab. This tab lets you set a background for a certain part of your text.

Using this option is like using borders. First, select the text you want to apply the shading to: a line, a paragraph with line breaks, or multiple paragraphs. (If the paragraph is just a regular paragraph, you can just place your cursor in it.) Next, click the Format menu and click Borders and Shading. Then, click the Shading tab.

Let’s look at that tab now.

Once again, we’ve numbered all the settings so we can walk through the steps you would take.

The first three options apply if you’re going to set a solid background to your text.

1.      First, choose the fill colour from this palette.

2.      If you don’t like the standard colours that are offered, click this button to create a custom colour.

3.      The fill colour you have chosen will be identified here. If you have chosen a standard colour, the name will appear. If you have created a custom colour, its RGB co-ordinates will be displayed.

The next two options apply if you’re going to apply a pattern to your text.

4.      First, choose a style. You can choose a shaded style or a pattern.

5.      Next, choose a colour for your pattern. Just like using a fill, you can select a standard colour or create your own.

The last set of options applies whether you’re using a fill or a pattern.

6.      This box will show you a preview of the options you have chosen.

7.      Use this drop-down menu to apply shading and patterns to selected text or a paragraph.

8.      Click this button to show the Tables and Borders toolbar.

9.      Click this button to select a design for a horizontal line.

Remember that these options are like the borders options; you can combine fills and patterns to create unique effects.

Once you’re done configuring your options, click OK. Remember that you can return to your text and then return to this box at any time to modify or remove the shading you have applied.

Here are some examples of shading:

You can see that we can combine many types of shading, patterns, and fills to create effects. You can also use paragraph and page borders in conjunction with shading and patterns to create some cool designs!