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Fill Effects in Excel – What you Need to Know

Posted on by Posted in Microsoft Excel

Excel does not purport to be a specialized graphics program. It is a Worksheet program.  Having said that, you can insert drawing objects that could be helpful to the viewer regarding the information you are trying to convey to them in your worksheet. You can even get fancy and  fill them with a color.

Follow the steps below to learn how:

  1. Select the drawing object you would like to modify.
  2. Be certain the Format tab of your Ribbon is displayed.
  3. In the Shape Styles group, click the Shape Fill tool to display  fill options.

You can select any of the following:

  • GRADIENT –  Is used to modify the density of the color used in various parts of the drawing object. You can experiment with these to get the desired effect.
  • TEXTURE  – Displays many different surface textures you can use to fill your drawing object. There are some great textures provided with Excel.
  • PICTURE – Allows you to select a picture that is used to fill your drawing object. Depending upon the picture you select, this can create some neat special effects.