How to Apply Formatting That Updates Automatically When You Change the Document Theme

Apply Formatting That Updates Automatically When You Change the Document Theme
You may already know that the new Document Themes feature in the 2007 Microsoft Office system programs Word, Excel, and PowerPoint enables you to apply a set of fonts, colors, and graphic effects throughout the document at once. Document Themes also help you apply that same formatting automatically to new content as you add it. However, if you’ve tried to use the Themes gallery (available from the Page Layout tab in Word and Excel or the Design tab in PowerPoint) and some document elements didn’t update, here’s the reason.

Theme elements such as fonts or colors correspond to specific formatting options. When you use those options to format document content, that content will automatically update when you change the theme (this is often referred to as theme-ready formatting). To apply colors that are theme-ready, choose colors from the Theme Colors portion of the color palette; to apply fonts that are theme-ready, use the fonts under the heading Theme Fonts.

Note: You must choose formatting from Theme Colors or Theme Fonts for that formatting to be theme-ready. Even the identical formatting selected from a different location—such as by typing in RGB color values that match a color in the Theme Colors palette—will not be theme-ready.