If you want style consistency between your fonts, bullets and numbers, and other style elements, it may be useful to use a theme. Themes are often used for Web sites, but they can technically be used for any type of document. A theme can include any or all of the following elements:

-          Backgrounds

-          Fonts

-          Bullets and numbers

-          Hyperlink formatting

-          Styles

-          Horizontal lines

You can apply a theme at any point in the creation of your document: before you start typing it, while you’re creating it, or after it’s complete. Be aware that a theme completely changes the look of your document, so you should save your document before you apply a theme. (Themes are applied per document, so applying a theme to one document shouldn’t affect your other files.)

To apply a theme, open the document you want to apply a theme to. Then, click the Format menu and click Themes. This dialog box will open:

You can choose a theme from the left hand side and a preview will be displayed in the pane on the right. Underneath the theme list, you can choose which options to include or exclude from the theme’s application on your document: vivid colours, active graphics, and background images. You can also click the Set Default button to have this theme your default, so it will be used for every new document.

If you’d rather apply a more text-oriented theme, click the Style Gallery button. This window will display the list of styles that we saw while using AutoFormat:

You can choose a style from the list on the left and see it previewed on the right. Once you’ve found a style you like, click OK to apply it to your document. You can also click Cancel to go back to your document without making any changes.

You can only use a style or a theme; you can’t use both at the same time. So, if you apply a theme and then go in and choose a style, the document will use the style. You can go back into Format – Theme at any time and change the format or style your document uses.