- The default "white" page background color is actually an absence of color, which won't use any ink even if you print on a non-white sheet of paper. See this tutorial for a text-highlight marker effect.
- To change your document's background color, select on the "Page Layout" in the Ribbon and click "Page Color": choose one of the standard backgrounds in the color picker, or click "More Colors" to create your own combination in RGB / HSL mode (pick base color and adjust brightness slider).
Tip: no need to click on a swatch - mousing above it lets you preview the change in real time!
- Choosing "Fill Effects" allows you to create more advanced backgrounds including gradients, textures, patterns, and even pictures (covered in watermark background image tutorial).
- To use a custom gradient as document background, select Fill Effects and make sure that the Gradient tab is selected. Choose "one color" (gradient will go from it to white) or two colors (pick both!). The "Preset" dropdown lets you use template gradients, like "Sunset", shown below:
- To remove a non-white background, pick "No Color" from the dropdown: unlike choosing "white", "no color" inherits the default background color defined in your current theme.
Note: the page color defaults to white in Outline or Draft view; clicking on the Page Color dropdown confirms the currently selected color, outlined with a dark orange border.
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