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Thread: Changing the Color of Table Lines (?)

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Changing the Color of Table Lines (?)
tbl <hateThatSpam[ at ]invalid.net> 5/30/2007 6:18:15 PM
In a rather complex table in Word 2002, I'd like to change
all of the line colors from black to blue (without getting
black and blue myself) in one easy step, but I don't see a
way of doing this.

Any good souls here know a trick or two?

--
Thanks,
tbl
Re: Changing the Color of Table Lines (?)
"Terry Farrell" <terryfarrell[ at ]msn.com> 5/30/2007 7:05:37 PM
Use one of the multitude of ways to select the table (triple-clicking in the
table is one easy way, Alt+5 on the Num Pad is another) and then use Format,
Borders and Shading. On the Borders tab, select Black from the colour
selector and the thickness of line from Line Style and then click on the ALL
icon: all the grid lines should change to a printable black.

--
Terry Farrell - MS Word MVP

"tbl" <hateThatSpam[ at ]invalid.net> wrote in message
news:epfr53h9sl0cn1pgkf9gcgtnktqd7v9r7p[ at ]4ax.com...
[Quoted Text]
> In a rather complex table in Word 2002, I'd like to change
> all of the line colors from black to blue (without getting
> black and blue myself) in one easy step, but I don't see a
> way of doing this.
>
> Any good souls here know a trick or two?
>
> --
> Thanks,
> tbl

Re: Changing the Color of Table Lines (?)
tbl <hateThatSpam[ at ]invalid.net> 5/30/2007 10:02:07 PM
On Wed, 30 May 2007 20:05:37 +0100, "Terry Farrell"
<terryfarrell[ at ]msn.com> wrote:

[Quoted Text]
>Use one of the multitude of ways to select the table (triple-clicking in the
>table is one easy way, Alt+5 on the Num Pad is another) and then use Format,
>Borders and Shading. On the Borders tab, select Black from the colour
>selector and the thickness of line from Line Style and then click on the ALL
>icon: all the grid lines should change to a printable black.


Thanks for the reply.

What I'm after here is a way to change *just* the color of
the lines. There are several thicknesses of lines in these
tables, and I don't want to mess with that--it would take a
long, long time.

--
tbl
Re: Changing the Color of Table Lines (?)
"Terry Farrell" <terryfarrell[ at ]msn.com> 5/30/2007 11:04:29 PM
In Word 2007, you can definitely select the table and use the Borders and
Shading dialog to select a new colour and it will apply itself immediately
to all borders without effecting the thickness setting. I'm not sure about
earlier versions though.

Terry

"tbl" <hateThatSpam[ at ]invalid.net> wrote in message
news:susr53lmg48l90eueh352ire1kqjl6u046[ at ]4ax.com...
[Quoted Text]
> On Wed, 30 May 2007 20:05:37 +0100, "Terry Farrell"
> <terryfarrell[ at ]msn.com> wrote:
>
>>Use one of the multitude of ways to select the table (triple-clicking in
>>the
>>table is one easy way, Alt+5 on the Num Pad is another) and then use
>>Format,
>>Borders and Shading. On the Borders tab, select Black from the colour
>>selector and the thickness of line from Line Style and then click on the
>>ALL
>>icon: all the grid lines should change to a printable black.
>
>
> Thanks for the reply.
>
> What I'm after here is a way to change *just* the color of
> the lines. There are several thicknesses of lines in these
> tables, and I don't want to mess with that--it would take a
> long, long time.
>
> --
> tbl

Re: Changing the Color of Table Lines (?)
"Herb Tyson [MVP]" <herb[ at ]1x2y3z.xnw> 5/31/2007 12:42:41 AM
Select the whole table. Right-click the selected table and click on Borders
and Shading. In the Borders tab, drop down the Color control and choose the
color you want.

--
Herb Tyson MS MVP
Author of the Word 2007 Bible
Blog: http://word2007bible.herbtyson.com
Web: http://www.herbtyson.com


"tbl" <hateThatSpam[ at ]invalid.net> wrote in message
news:susr53lmg48l90eueh352ire1kqjl6u046[ at ]4ax.com...
[Quoted Text]
> On Wed, 30 May 2007 20:05:37 +0100, "Terry Farrell"
> <terryfarrell[ at ]msn.com> wrote:
>
>>Use one of the multitude of ways to select the table (triple-clicking in
>>the
>>table is one easy way, Alt+5 on the Num Pad is another) and then use
>>Format,
>>Borders and Shading. On the Borders tab, select Black from the colour
>>selector and the thickness of line from Line Style and then click on the
>>ALL
>>icon: all the grid lines should change to a printable black.
>
>
> Thanks for the reply.
>
> What I'm after here is a way to change *just* the color of
> the lines. There are several thicknesses of lines in these
> tables, and I don't want to mess with that--it would take a
> long, long time.
>
> --
> tbl

Re: Changing the Color of Table Lines (?)
Jay Freedman <jay.freedman[ at ]verizon.net> 5/31/2007 1:39:47 AM
Herb, I believe your response and Terry's, but I can't make it work at
all, in either 2003 or 2007. When I change the color in the dialog
(with "Apply to" set to Table), the color simply doesn't change if the
borders aren't all the same type and weight (that is, if "Custom" is
selected in the left column). What am I missing?

--
Regards,
Jay Freedman
Microsoft Word MVP FAQ: http://word.mvps.org
Email cannot be acknowledged; please post all follow-ups to the
newsgroup so all may benefit.

On Wed, 30 May 2007 20:42:41 -0400, "Herb Tyson [MVP]"
<herb[ at ]1x2y3z.xnw> wrote:

[Quoted Text]
>Select the whole table. Right-click the selected table and click on Borders
>and Shading. In the Borders tab, drop down the Color control and choose the
>color you want.
>
>--
>Herb Tyson MS MVP
>Author of the Word 2007 Bible
>Blog: http://word2007bible.herbtyson.com
>Web: http://www.herbtyson.com
>
>
>"tbl" <hateThatSpam[ at ]invalid.net> wrote in message
>news:susr53lmg48l90eueh352ire1kqjl6u046[ at ]4ax.com...
>> On Wed, 30 May 2007 20:05:37 +0100, "Terry Farrell"
>> <terryfarrell[ at ]msn.com> wrote:
>>
>>>Use one of the multitude of ways to select the table (triple-clicking in
>>>the
>>>table is one easy way, Alt+5 on the Num Pad is another) and then use
>>>Format,
>>>Borders and Shading. On the Borders tab, select Black from the colour
>>>selector and the thickness of line from Line Style and then click on the
>>>ALL
>>>icon: all the grid lines should change to a printable black.
>>
>>
>> Thanks for the reply.
>>
>> What I'm after here is a way to change *just* the color of
>> the lines. There are several thicknesses of lines in these
>> tables, and I don't want to mess with that--it would take a
>> long, long time.
>>
>> --
>> tbl
Re: Changing the Color of Table Lines (?)
"Herb Tyson [MVP]" <herb[ at ]1x2y3z.xnw> 5/31/2007 3:37:16 AM
I completely missed the part about there being several thicknesses of lines
before. Yeah -- you're right. When "Custom" is enabled, it doesn't work.

In Word 2007, you can change just the border colors with the Colors tool in
the Page Layout tab. But, that will affect other theme-based colors as well.
So "just the border" might not be the case if other colors are employed
elsewhere.

So, I guess if you want to change border colors and line widths, the rule is
to change the color first, because [apparently], you can't apply just color.
Word forces you to apply line width at the same time.

It would take a macro to do it the other way around. The macro would need to
memorize the line types/thicknesses, apply the color, then reapply the
customized thicknesses.

--
Herb Tyson MS MVP
Author of the Word 2007 Bible
Blog: http://word2007bible.herbtyson.com
Web: http://www.herbtyson.com


"Jay Freedman" <jay.freedman[ at ]verizon.net> wrote in message
news:ff9s53puievlgh8omicgb9dnhretrp4pcv[ at ]4ax.com...
[Quoted Text]
> Herb, I believe your response and Terry's, but I can't make it work at
> all, in either 2003 or 2007. When I change the color in the dialog
> (with "Apply to" set to Table), the color simply doesn't change if the
> borders aren't all the same type and weight (that is, if "Custom" is
> selected in the left column). What am I missing?
>
> --
> Regards,
> Jay Freedman
> Microsoft Word MVP FAQ: http://word.mvps.org
> Email cannot be acknowledged; please post all follow-ups to the
> newsgroup so all may benefit.
>
> On Wed, 30 May 2007 20:42:41 -0400, "Herb Tyson [MVP]"
> <herb[ at ]1x2y3z.xnw> wrote:
>
>>Select the whole table. Right-click the selected table and click on
>>Borders
>>and Shading. In the Borders tab, drop down the Color control and choose
>>the
>>color you want.
>>
>>--
>>Herb Tyson MS MVP
>>Author of the Word 2007 Bible
>>Blog: http://word2007bible.herbtyson.com
>>Web: http://www.herbtyson.com
>>
>>
>>"tbl" <hateThatSpam[ at ]invalid.net> wrote in message
>>news:susr53lmg48l90eueh352ire1kqjl6u046[ at ]4ax.com...
>>> On Wed, 30 May 2007 20:05:37 +0100, "Terry Farrell"
>>> <terryfarrell[ at ]msn.com> wrote:
>>>
>>>>Use one of the multitude of ways to select the table (triple-clicking in
>>>>the
>>>>table is one easy way, Alt+5 on the Num Pad is another) and then use
>>>>Format,
>>>>Borders and Shading. On the Borders tab, select Black from the colour
>>>>selector and the thickness of line from Line Style and then click on the
>>>>ALL
>>>>icon: all the grid lines should change to a printable black.
>>>
>>>
>>> Thanks for the reply.
>>>
>>> What I'm after here is a way to change *just* the color of
>>> the lines. There are several thicknesses of lines in these
>>> tables, and I don't want to mess with that--it would take a
>>> long, long time.
>>>
>>> --
>>> tbl

Re: Changing the Color of Table Lines (?)
"Terry Farrell" <terryfarrell[ at ]msn.com> 5/31/2007 8:32:44 AM
Jay

Unfortunately, as Herb noted, you are correct. I only tested it with a table
using one of the default selections and not with custom active. I learn
something new every day! Maybe this can be done through VBA?

Terry

"Jay Freedman" <jay.freedman[ at ]verizon.net> wrote in message
news:ff9s53puievlgh8omicgb9dnhretrp4pcv[ at ]4ax.com...
[Quoted Text]
> Herb, I believe your response and Terry's, but I can't make it work at
> all, in either 2003 or 2007. When I change the color in the dialog
> (with "Apply to" set to Table), the color simply doesn't change if the
> borders aren't all the same type and weight (that is, if "Custom" is
> selected in the left column). What am I missing?
>
> --
> Regards,
> Jay Freedman
> Microsoft Word MVP FAQ: http://word.mvps.org
> Email cannot be acknowledged; please post all follow-ups to the
> newsgroup so all may benefit.
>
> On Wed, 30 May 2007 20:42:41 -0400, "Herb Tyson [MVP]"
> <herb[ at ]1x2y3z.xnw> wrote:
>
>>Select the whole table. Right-click the selected table and click on
>>Borders
>>and Shading. In the Borders tab, drop down the Color control and choose
>>the
>>color you want.
>>
>>--
>>Herb Tyson MS MVP
>>Author of the Word 2007 Bible
>>Blog: http://word2007bible.herbtyson.com
>>Web: http://www.herbtyson.com
>>
>>
>>"tbl" <hateThatSpam[ at ]invalid.net> wrote in message
>>news:susr53lmg48l90eueh352ire1kqjl6u046[ at ]4ax.com...
>>> On Wed, 30 May 2007 20:05:37 +0100, "Terry Farrell"
>>> <terryfarrell[ at ]msn.com> wrote:
>>>
>>>>Use one of the multitude of ways to select the table (triple-clicking in
>>>>the
>>>>table is one easy way, Alt+5 on the Num Pad is another) and then use
>>>>Format,
>>>>Borders and Shading. On the Borders tab, select Black from the colour
>>>>selector and the thickness of line from Line Style and then click on the
>>>>ALL
>>>>icon: all the grid lines should change to a printable black.
>>>
>>>
>>> Thanks for the reply.
>>>
>>> What I'm after here is a way to change *just* the color of
>>> the lines. There are several thicknesses of lines in these
>>> tables, and I don't want to mess with that--it would take a
>>> long, long time.
>>>
>>> --
>>> tbl

Re: Changing the Color of Table Lines (?)
"Jay Freedman" <jay.freedman[ at ]verizon.net> 5/31/2007 1:29:06 PM
Of course it can be done in VBA, and it's almost trivial:

Sub TableRecolorBorders()
Dim oBrd As Border
Dim oTbl As Table

For Each oTbl In ActiveDocument.Tables
For Each oBrd In oTbl.Borders
oBrd.Color = wdColorBlue ' or use a color picker
Next oBrd
Next oTbl
End Sub

I'm a bit disappointed in the UI, though. The dialog looks as though it's
going to do what you ask, but then it just does nothing.

--
Regards,
Jay Freedman
Microsoft Word MVP FAQ: http://word.mvps.org
Email cannot be acknowledged; please post all follow-ups to the newsgroup so
all may benefit.

Terry Farrell wrote:
[Quoted Text]
> Jay
>
> Unfortunately, as Herb noted, you are correct. I only tested it with
> a table using one of the default selections and not with custom
> active. I learn something new every day! Maybe this can be done
> through VBA?
> Terry
>
> "Jay Freedman" <jay.freedman[ at ]verizon.net> wrote in message
> news:ff9s53puievlgh8omicgb9dnhretrp4pcv[ at ]4ax.com...
>> Herb, I believe your response and Terry's, but I can't make it work
>> at all, in either 2003 or 2007. When I change the color in the dialog
>> (with "Apply to" set to Table), the color simply doesn't change if
>> the borders aren't all the same type and weight (that is, if
>> "Custom" is selected in the left column). What am I missing?
>>
>> --
>> Regards,
>> Jay Freedman
>> Microsoft Word MVP FAQ: http://word.mvps.org
>>
>> On Wed, 30 May 2007 20:42:41 -0400, "Herb Tyson [MVP]"
>> <herb[ at ]1x2y3z.xnw> wrote:
>>
>>> Select the whole table. Right-click the selected table and click on
>>> Borders
>>> and Shading. In the Borders tab, drop down the Color control and
>>> choose the
>>> color you want.
>>>
>>> --
>>> Herb Tyson MS MVP
>>> Author of the Word 2007 Bible
>>> Blog: http://word2007bible.herbtyson.com
>>> Web: http://www.herbtyson.com
>>>
>>>
>>> "tbl" <hateThatSpam[ at ]invalid.net> wrote in message
>>> news:susr53lmg48l90eueh352ire1kqjl6u046[ at ]4ax.com...
>>>> On Wed, 30 May 2007 20:05:37 +0100, "Terry Farrell"
>>>> <terryfarrell[ at ]msn.com> wrote:
>>>>
>>>>> Use one of the multitude of ways to select the table
>>>>> (triple-clicking in the
>>>>> table is one easy way, Alt+5 on the Num Pad is another) and then
>>>>> use Format,
>>>>> Borders and Shading. On the Borders tab, select Black from the
>>>>> colour selector and the thickness of line from Line Style and
>>>>> then click on the ALL
>>>>> icon: all the grid lines should change to a printable black.
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> Thanks for the reply.
>>>>
>>>> What I'm after here is a way to change *just* the color of
>>>> the lines. There are several thicknesses of lines in these
>>>> tables, and I don't want to mess with that--it would take a
>>>> long, long time.
>>>>
>>>> --
>>>> tbl


Re: Changing the Color of Table Lines (?)
tbl <hateThatSpam[ at ]invalid.net> 5/31/2007 1:53:47 PM
On Wed, 30 May 2007 11:18:15 -0700, tbl
<hateThatSpam[ at ]invalid.net> wrote:

[Quoted Text]
>In a rather complex table in Word 2002, I'd like to change
>all of the line colors from black to blue (without getting
>black and blue myself) in one easy step, but I don't see a
>way of doing this.
>
>Any good souls here know a trick or two?


Thanks to all who replied. It looks like we're all stuck
with manually changing the colors for existing, complex
tables, but at least we *know* we're stuck.

And for new tables, think about color, first!

Thanks everybody.
--
tbl
Re: Changing the Color of Table Lines (?)
"Terry Farrell" <terryfarrell[ at ]msn.com> 5/31/2007 4:25:56 PM
Especially disappointing that it does it for all but Custom borders. In fact
its weird.

Terry

"Jay Freedman" <jay.freedman[ at ]verizon.net> wrote in message
news:eCawqe4oHHA.3952[ at ]TK2MSFTNGP03.phx.gbl...
[Quoted Text]
> Of course it can be done in VBA, and it's almost trivial:
>
> Sub TableRecolorBorders()
> Dim oBrd As Border
> Dim oTbl As Table
>
> For Each oTbl In ActiveDocument.Tables
> For Each oBrd In oTbl.Borders
> oBrd.Color = wdColorBlue ' or use a color picker
> Next oBrd
> Next oTbl
> End Sub
>
> I'm a bit disappointed in the UI, though. The dialog looks as though it's
> going to do what you ask, but then it just does nothing.
>
> --
> Regards,
> Jay Freedman
> Microsoft Word MVP FAQ: http://word.mvps.org
> Email cannot be acknowledged; please post all follow-ups to the newsgroup
> so all may benefit.
>
> Terry Farrell wrote:
>> Jay
>>
>> Unfortunately, as Herb noted, you are correct. I only tested it with
>> a table using one of the default selections and not with custom
>> active. I learn something new every day! Maybe this can be done
>> through VBA?
>> Terry
>>
>> "Jay Freedman" <jay.freedman[ at ]verizon.net> wrote in message
>> news:ff9s53puievlgh8omicgb9dnhretrp4pcv[ at ]4ax.com...
>>> Herb, I believe your response and Terry's, but I can't make it work
>>> at all, in either 2003 or 2007. When I change the color in the dialog
>>> (with "Apply to" set to Table), the color simply doesn't change if
>>> the borders aren't all the same type and weight (that is, if
>>> "Custom" is selected in the left column). What am I missing?
>>>
>>> --
>>> Regards,
>>> Jay Freedman
>>> Microsoft Word MVP FAQ: http://word.mvps.org
>>>
>>> On Wed, 30 May 2007 20:42:41 -0400, "Herb Tyson [MVP]"
>>> <herb[ at ]1x2y3z.xnw> wrote:
>>>
>>>> Select the whole table. Right-click the selected table and click on
>>>> Borders
>>>> and Shading. In the Borders tab, drop down the Color control and
>>>> choose the
>>>> color you want.
>>>>
>>>> --
>>>> Herb Tyson MS MVP
>>>> Author of the Word 2007 Bible
>>>> Blog: http://word2007bible.herbtyson.com
>>>> Web: http://www.herbtyson.com
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> "tbl" <hateThatSpam[ at ]invalid.net> wrote in message
>>>> news:susr53lmg48l90eueh352ire1kqjl6u046[ at ]4ax.com...
>>>>> On Wed, 30 May 2007 20:05:37 +0100, "Terry Farrell"
>>>>> <terryfarrell[ at ]msn.com> wrote:
>>>>>
>>>>>> Use one of the multitude of ways to select the table
>>>>>> (triple-clicking in the
>>>>>> table is one easy way, Alt+5 on the Num Pad is another) and then
>>>>>> use Format,
>>>>>> Borders and Shading. On the Borders tab, select Black from the
>>>>>> colour selector and the thickness of line from Line Style and
>>>>>> then click on the ALL
>>>>>> icon: all the grid lines should change to a printable black.
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>> Thanks for the reply.
>>>>>
>>>>> What I'm after here is a way to change *just* the color of
>>>>> the lines. There are several thicknesses of lines in these
>>>>> tables, and I don't want to mess with that--it would take a
>>>>> long, long time.
>>>>>
>>>>> --
>>>>> tbl
>
>

Re: Changing the Color of Table Lines (?)
"Terry Farrell" <terryfarrell[ at ]msn.com> 5/31/2007 4:26:42 PM
Jay's macros works fine.

Terry

"tbl" <hateThatSpam[ at ]invalid.net> wrote in message
news:slkt53hp2b6usmni3t3iegjeo72a95s4cg[ at ]4ax.com...
[Quoted Text]
> On Wed, 30 May 2007 11:18:15 -0700, tbl
> <hateThatSpam[ at ]invalid.net> wrote:
>
>>In a rather complex table in Word 2002, I'd like to change
>>all of the line colors from black to blue (without getting
>>black and blue myself) in one easy step, but I don't see a
>>way of doing this.
>>
>>Any good souls here know a trick or two?
>
>
> Thanks to all who replied. It looks like we're all stuck
> with manually changing the colors for existing, complex
> tables, but at least we *know* we're stuck.
>
> And for new tables, think about color, first!
>
> Thanks everybody.
> --
> tbl

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