Excel Color Palette Change 2

[WillShakespeare]

Hi all,

Essentially, I am aware of how to change a color in the palette:
Tools --> Options, then Color Tab, select colour, and hit Modify. Click OK, OK, and it's done.

The problem we have is when you close the workbook, and go back into another document, the change is not kept.

What I need to do is change Excel default initial blank workbook to have the same changed palette.

Any ideas?

Thanks in advance,

Will

 

[xlbo]

The options under Tools>Options are generally saved with the workbook itself. When you open a workbook, the latest set of options are used ie if you opened the wb you have changed and then open another workbook without the colour palette changes, the colours will default back to standard. If you open the new workbook and then the one you have already modified, the new colour palette will be available to the non modified workbook as well.

In essence, what I am saying is that most of the options under Tools>Options are workbook level and do not affect the "vanilla" excel application. This might make more sense if you notice that Tools>Options is unavailable unless you have a workbook open.

Rgds, Geoff

Never test the depth of water with both feet

Help us to help you by reading FAQ222-2244 before you ask a question

 

[01Patrik]

...meaning that you can change you personal startfile, which is saved as a template. Standard directory:

c:\program files\microsoft office\office10\XLstart

You can also enter your own standard header / footer, printing options etc here.

// Patrik

 

[xlbo]

BUT - if you then open up an "old" workbook without the mods, it will change your settings in Tools>Options

Rgds, Geoff

Never test the depth of water with both feet

Help us to help you by reading FAQ222-2244 before you ask a question

 

[WillShakespeare]

Hi friends,

Yes, essentially the problem we are having is the one outlined last by xlbo.

It might be nice to play with the personal template, but it is not located in the directory mentioned above by Patrik. Not sure where it is. All I have in there is PDFMaker.xla which is the Acrobat plug-in.
I could search for the offending file is only I knew what it was called... (Patrik?)

Will

 

[poppiesfan]

Hi
You need to open a new workbook then change the colour palette and then save it as a template as BOOK.XLT in your Excel startup folder - probably at
...Documents and Settings\YOURUSERNAME\ Application Data\Microsoft\Excel\XLSTART\

Excel should then open using this template each time


Fingers crossed

Paul

 

[WillShakespeare]

Hi Paul,

Thanks for your input, but this was the first thing I tried of many before I even posted this query. If you look in the "Help" books of Excel 2003, you'll find that even Microsoft suggest this can't be done "out of the box".

What is likely going to happen is I am going to have to dive into VBA and Com Add-Ins, and while creating custom toolbars in-house, likely I'll find some way to customise the palette as well.

Previous versions of Excel did this fine, but for some reason it is not so easy in Excel 2K3... just a small entry in the long list of illogical changes to the suite in this current version which is pushing our bosses to roll back to XP! I'm almost half inclined to agree in order to save having these headaches!!

Oh well!

Will

 

[poppiesfan]

Will

Works on mine OK which is a puzzle! Maybe it's because I originally created the template in excel 2K? Maybe I've tweaked something along the way and got around the issue unintentionally? I really have no idea. Sorry.

Paul

 

[WillShakespeare]

So Paul,

Are you using Office 2003 then? I just, in case I made a mistake earlier, tried it again, and again it didn't work.

Here's what we do:
1. Open Excel 2003
2. Click on Tools -> Options.
3. Select Color Tab.
4. Select the Pink square in the bottom left corner of the Standard colors: pallete. This is the pink square right above the line that separates Chart fills: from Standard colors:
5. Then, click Modify.
6. Click on the Custom tab.
7. Enter the RGB values from top to bottom of:
18 69 120
8. Click OK, Click OK.
9. Now, if you click on the Paint pot (fill) or font colour change buttons on the toolbar, the standard colors show with the changed square in the bottom left corner of this colour rectangle (standard colors).
10. Click File -> Save As...
11. Choose .xlt template as file type, and the browser window automatically goes to the Templates folder you mentioned above, in which is an xlt file called Book.xlt
12. Delete the old .xlt file.
13. Click Save to save the new template in that folder, after naming it Book.xlt, because the default is Book1.xlt
14. Next, Tools -> Options to make sure the change is still in effect. It is!
15. Close Excel, and then re-open it.
16. Click on Fill or Font colour buttons to see the changed colour... but it has reverted to Pink!!

Now, the only reason I asked above if you are using Office 2003 is because in Office 2002, 2000, 97/98, and even 4.3, this wasn't a problem.

Now, if you look in the Help documentation with Excel, and even the MS supplied online training and help documentation, it reiterates that:

Change the color palette in a workbook
When you change a color in a workbook palette, any element formatted with that color is changed throughout the entire workbook.
...
Notes
[ul]
[li]To restore the default color palette, click Reset on the Color tab.[/li]
[li]If you copy an object or cells with a custom color to another workbook, the custom color is replaced by the color in the corresponding position on the other workbook's color palette. To retain the custom color, either copy the customized color palette to the other workbook or change the corresponding color in the workbook.[/li]
[/ul]
...

Note there is no mention of being able to change the default workbook, and I have searched long and hard before posting this thread in case someone here had a workaround.

All the best,

Will

 

[asrisk]

Works for me in Excel 2003. Type "template" into the Help box, and then click on "Create a Template" for guidance.

Don't forget that startup files can be fetched from somewhere other than XLSTART, if you have changed the setting in
"Tools/Options/General/At startup, open all files in..."

Also, don't forget that the change would affect all *new* workbooks, but will not affect *existing* workbooks, since they are not based on the new template.

I cannot see a way to change the template of an existing document, but you can copy the template's colour palette into your spreadsheet using the "Tools/Options/Color/Copy colors from" option.

 

[WillShakespeare]

Hi asrisk,

The "At startup" field on General tab is blank.

Also, when you click on "New" and then "Templates on my computer", I am presented with my Book.xlt template, but also one called "Workbook" which doesn't look like a template visually, and you can't right click on it to find it's location... perhaps if I could just locate this default template...

It's driving me batty!

Will

 

[WillShakespeare]

Okay, so I added the path to the Book.xlt in the At Startup field, and it works nicely, but still if you open a eorkbook without the change the change isn't persistent.

At least half the problem (more like 75% actually!) is fixed... surely deserving of stars on that!

Will