Add a color or pattern behind a group of objects, an entire page, or all pages

Add a color or pattern behind a group of objects

To add a color or a pattern behind a group of objects, you draw a shape, such as a rectangle, a circle, or an AutoShape, fill it with a color or pattern, and then move the shape behind the group of objects.

1. On the Objects toolbar, click the the shape that you want, and then drag the shape so that it surrounds the group of objects.

   For example, click Rectangle , and then drag to draw a rectangle around the group of objects.

   Note: If you drag the shape around or through a text box, you may need to remove text wrapping from the shape. To remove text wrapping, click the text wrapping button on the Picture toolbar, and then click None.

2. On the Format menu, click AutoShape, and then click the Colors and Lines tab.

3. Under Fill, in the Color box, do one of the following:

   • To use a color that you have used recently, click one of the colors that is displayed.

   • To see more color choices, click More Colors, and then select the options that you want.

   • To use a gradient, texture, pattern, picture, or tint, click Fill Effects, and then select the options that you want.

     Tip: To use a texture or picture of your own, click Other Texture on the Texture tab or click Select Picture on the Picture tab, and then locate the file for the texture or picture that you want to use.

4. Click OK twice.

5. On the Arrange menu, point to Order, and then click Send to Back.

Add a color or pattern behind an entire page or all the pages in your publication

1. On the Format menu, click Background.

2. In the Background task pane, under Apply a background, click a color (from the publication's color scheme) that you want to apply to the background.

3. Point to the background that you want, click the arrow next to it, and then do one of the following:

   • To add the color or pattern to a single page, click Apply to the Page.

   • To add the color or pattern to all pages in the publication, click Apply to All Pages.

     Notes: 

     • To see more color choices, click More colors and then choose the color that you want. Or, you can click Color Schemes to select a new color scheme and then return to the Background task pane to choose a color from the new color scheme.

     • To use a gradient, texture, pattern, picture, or tint, click More backgrounds, and then select the options that you want.

       Tip: To use a texture or picture of your own, click Other Texture on the Texture tab or click Select Picture on the Picture tab, and then locate the file for the texture or picture that you want to use.