Changing Office 2013 Color Theme

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hlewton
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Changing Office 2013 Color Theme

Post by hlewton »

While searching the WEB for a way to change Office 2013's color theme I found very little except how to change from White to a shade or two of gray. That was under Office Themes. The change made very little difference. There was also supposed to be a Back Ground Themes drop down list but for some reason my Office 365 did not offer that choice. I then ran across this quote from Jay Freedman in reply to someone asking about changing the Office themes.:
"Answer

Jay Freedman replied on June 20, 2013See post history Close

MVP Wiki Author Community Moderator MCC: Content Creator


If you have access to a computer where Office 2010 is installed, you can copy all of the XML files from the folder C:\Program Files\Microsoft Office\Document Themes 14\Theme Colors. [Note: If the computer is running 64-bit Windows, the first folder in that path will be "Program Files (x86)" instead of just "Program Files".] Paste those files into the folder C:\Program Files\Microsoft Office\Document Themes 15\Theme Colors on your computer (again, if you have 64-bit windows, use "Program Files (x86)" in the path). You'll then find the new entries at the bottom of the list on the Colors button.

If you don't have access to Office 2010, send an email to me. You'll find my address at http://jay-freedman.info/contact/contact.htm" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;. ?"
It was at this site http://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/offi ... 8a252c047c

Here was the question that prompted that reply: "I need to change my color theme.I have office 2013 and I need to change my theme color to concourse but I am not finding it how can I get this changed to concourse? "

I am not sure what to make of it because I'm not sure if it is saying I can make changes to Office 2013's themes to match Office 2010 or not. If that is the case what does it mean where it says, You'll then find the new entries at the bottom of the list on the Colors button?" Where is the colors button and is it used to make changes to Office's 2013's themes?

Thanks.
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hlewton

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HansV
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Re: Changing Office 2013 Color Theme

Post by HansV »

I think you are confusing two different features.

(1) The overall color scheme of the Office applications, named "Office Theme". You can choose between white, light gray and dark gray (the beta version of Office 2013 offered only blindingly white). That's it. There is no way to use the Blue, Silver or Black color scheme of Office 2010 in Office 2013.
You can select one of these three exciting color themes in File > Office Account.

(2) You can apply many different design themes to your documents, workbooks etc. A color theme is a set of coordinated colors, fonts etc.
You'll find these themes on the Design tab of the ribbon.
Office 2013 has a different set of design themes (including color themes) than Office 2010. Jay Freedman's post describes how you can add the Office 2010 color themes to those of Office 2013. But please note that this will NOT change the choice of Office Themes (white, light gray, dark gray) described under (1).
Best wishes,
Hans

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Rudi
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Re: Changing Office 2013 Color Theme

Post by Rudi »

To provide visual aid to Hans's reply, see the following:
Note : The illustrations use Excel 2013.

1. The Office Theme (overall for Office 2013)
1.jpg
2. Document Themes to change the overall appearance and colours of the current file.
The additional Office 2010 themes would be added into this list (based on Jay's process).
2.jpg
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Rudi

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hlewton
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Re: Changing Office 2013 Color Theme

Post by hlewton »

Yes you're correct. I was confusing that. It seems that there are many who do not like the new color of Office 2013 but so far as I can tell, even though it seems MS was asked to do so, there are no updates allowing you to make changes that are worth the time it takes to make the changes.

Thanks Hans for the clarification.
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hlewton

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hlewton
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Re: Changing Office 2013 Color Theme

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Rudi wrote:To provide visual aid to Hans's reply, see the following:
Note : The illustrations use Excel 2013.

1. The Office Theme (overall for Office 2013)
1.jpg
2. Document Themes to change the overall appearance and colours of the current file.
The additional Office 2010 themes would be added into this list (based on Jay's process).
2.jpg
Thanks Rudi for even more clarification. In your screen shot I see Office Background drop down box and on the WEB I saw some of the choices that are offered within it. I do not have that drop down offered to me. I am following instructions to get there as File, Info, Options and the only drop down I have is Office Theme. Any idea why I am not being offered that other drop down option? Again my Office is Office 365 if that makes any difference.
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hlewton

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HansV
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Re: Changing Office 2013 Color Theme

Post by HansV »

The changes in Office 2013, just like those in Windows 8, were mostly intended for smart phones and tablets. For small screens, the white background isn't such a problem, and the ALL CAPS tab names make sense. Microsoft deliberately ignored the negative reactions from desktop/laptop users.
Best wishes,
Hans

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HansV
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Re: Changing Office 2013 Color Theme

Post by HansV »

Do you see the Office Background dropdown if you select File > Options, General, in the section labeled "Personalize your copy of Microsoft Office"?
Best wishes,
Hans

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Re: Changing Office 2013 Color Theme

Post by Rudi »

Though the illustration is in Word, according to this article, the theme drop downs should be in the same place as a standard version of Office 2013. On the PAGE LAYOUT ribbon.
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Re: Changing Office 2013 Color Theme

Post by hlewton »

HansV wrote:Do you see the Office Background dropdown if you select File > Options, General, in the section labeled "Personalize your copy of Microsoft Office"?
No I'll attach a photo of what I see no matter the method taken to get there. Word is about the same with the exception of it show my initials in addition to my name.
Options.jpg
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hlewton

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Re: Changing Office 2013 Color Theme

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Rudi wrote:Though the illustration is in Word, according to this article, the theme drop downs should be in the same place as a standard version of Office 2013. On the PAGE LAYOUT ribbon.
Not sure we are talking about the same thing. Though I'm certain it is me that is confused but I seem to be missing an option for the Office Background dropdown when I try to find it using either my steps or the ones Hans asked me to try. I checked out your link and probably missed it but I don't see what I am talking about there. If I'm not mistaken I believe it has more to do with what I was asking about, but was confused on, in the first post of this thread. I wanted to change the appearance or theme for the Office 2013 programs themselves and I guess that is not at all what Jay Freedman was talking about in what I quoted from him.
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hlewton

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Re: Changing Office 2013 Color Theme

Post by HansV »

The article in Rudi's link is indeed about the color themes that you can apply to documents, workbooks etc.

What do you see on the right hand side of the Word (or Excel) window, just below the "x" close button? If it says "Sign in" you may have to sign in to the account you use for Office 2013 to be able to change the Office Background. Just grasping at straws here...
Best wishes,
Hans

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Re: Changing Office 2013 Color Theme

Post by Rudi »

hlewton wrote:Not sure we are talking about the same thing.
Sorry, it seems you are after the Office theme then...
You can access the Office theme settings from the link Hans refers to under the close button, or (assuming the settings are the same between these versions) from the File tab and then choose Account. my first screen shot above illustrates that (the one with the green interface). Below is a screenshot of the way Hans mentions...
1.jpg
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Re: Changing Office 2013 Color Theme

Post by hlewton »

HansV wrote:The article in Rudi's link is indeed about the color themes that you can apply to documents, workbooks etc.

What do you see on the right hand side of the Word (or Excel) window, just below the "x" close button? If it says "Sign in" you may have to sign in to the account you use for Office 2013 to be able to change the Office Background. Just grasping at straws here...
I was wondering about that but not sure what it wants. I am not using the cloud to store documents but do you suppose it wants the account associated with the Office 365? When I clicked that yesterday and again today it says to sign in with an email account I'd like associated with Office. I'm not at all sure I want any email account, other than my Hotmail one that MS just got straightened out for me so I could get that 1 TB storage, associated with Office. So if I don't give it an email account you're thinking I won't see that other dropdown menu, is that correct?
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hlewton

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hlewton
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Re: Changing Office 2013 Color Theme

Post by hlewton »

Rudi wrote:
hlewton wrote:Not sure we are talking about the same thing.
Sorry, it seems you are after the Office theme then...
You can access the Office theme settings from the link Hans refers to under the close button, or (assuming the settings are the same between these versions) from the File tab and then choose Account. my first screen shot above illustrates that (the one with the green interface). Below is a screenshot of the way Hans mentions...
1.jpg
Thanks Rudi. I think you just answered the question I asked Hans above. I guess I need an account associated with this version of Office to be able to get that other dropdown option. I'm just not sure why that is or what associating an email account with Office 2013 does. I don't want my email address on every document, spreadsheet, or anything else I create with Office nor do I want to store anything on line or in the cloud. Maybe I will have to forget about that second dropdown box that I am supposed to be seeing.
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hlewton

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Re: Changing Office 2013 Color Theme

Post by HansV »

hlewton wrote:
HansV wrote: So if I don't give it an email account you're thinking I won't see that other dropdown menu, is that correct?
That seems the most likely explanation.

You could try signing in with that Hotmail account. It doesn't mean that your e-mail address will be included in documents or that your documents MUST be stored in the cloud.
But it might well be that you lose the customization when you're not logged in.
Don't expect too much, by the way - it's just a bunch of gray-on-white doodles that will be displayed on the right hand side of the ribbon:
backgrounds.jpg
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Best wishes,
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hlewton
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Re: Changing Office 2013 Color Theme

Post by hlewton »

OK thanks Hans. I'm going to think about that one for awhile. I did read where it is no major difference.
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hlewton