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As in all the color dialogs, the theme colors are displayed at the top of the list and, below this, are a range of lighter and darker variants of these same colors and which coordinate with them. Below this are the Standard Colors which are the same for all schemes.

Once you have applied a built-in theme to a document such as a PowerPoint presentation you can then make changes to it to customize it to your own needs. You can change the theme colors by selecting the Page Layout tab in Word or Excel, the Options tab in Outlook, and the Design tab in PowerPoint and click the Colors option.

From the list you can select one of the color schemes shown or you can click Create New Theme Colors at the bottom of the list and configure your own set of colors. If you plan to do this, it's best to first select a scheme that has most of the colors you like so you only change those you need to change. You then name your new scheme and you can use it as you would any other set of colors.

Theme fonts are combinations of fonts that work well together in helping you to create good-looking results very quickly. These fonts work well together because they are either very different or they involve two applications of the same font.

So, for example, a font combination might include Arial or Georgia in two sizes and styles or a combination of a serif and a san serif font such as Arial and Times Roman used together.

From the Font list you can select your preference for font combinations from those shown or create your own by clicking the Create New Theme Fonts option and select the two fonts to use. Type a name for your new theme fonts and click Save and they will become an additional option in the list.

Effects are another option that you can configure for a theme. The effects include shadows and 3D effects that are applied to the elements formatted by the theme. In PowerPoint, for example, you have a series of Effects to choose from and which are named to match the various themes. You can, however, mix and match these so you can use effects from a theme such as Equity with another theme.

In the Effects dialog you will see each option shows a circle, a rectangle and an arrow. These effects are various combinations of lines, fills, and special effects. The circle shows the effect applied to a subtle style object, the arrow shows it applied to a moderate style, and the rectangle to intense styles.

In general, in subtle styles the lines are very narrow, whereas in intense styles the lines are much thicker. Fills become more detailed and dimensional as the styles vary from subtle to intense.

Effects work in combination with Styles, so to get the most out of them you need to know how to apply a style. In PowerPoint, for example, you can specify the style of a SmartArt object by selecting it and from the SmartArt, Design tab select one of the SmartArt Styles.

When you hold your mouse pointer over any one of these you will notice that some are indicated as being Subtle, some as Moderate and some as Intense corresponding with the three options for each group of Effects.

This article first appeared on WinPlanet.com. Click here for the full article.

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