Equation Editor Font Color

Written by Allen Wyatt (last updated June 26, 2021)
This tip applies to Word 97, 2000, 2002, and 2003


2

The Equation Editor provided with Microsoft Office allows you to construct complex equations and insert them into your documents. Interestingly enough, the Equation Editor works a bit differently with different Office applications. If you add an Equation Editor object to a PowerPoint presentation, the color of the object can be changed. You cannot change the color used for individual characters in the equation, but you can change the color of an equation as a whole.

The behavior of the Equation Editor with Word is different—you don't have the ability to change the font color. In addition, if you change the color of an equation in PowerPoint and then paste the equation into Word, the color information is stripped from the object and the equation reverts back to black type.

There is a workaround, however. Remember that an Equation Editor object is a graphic. Specifically, it is a metafile graphic. This means that you can copy it to a graphics program that allows you to modify vector artwork (such as CorelDraw, Illustrator, or Paint Shop Pro), and make changes to individual parts of the graphic. Once changed, you can paste the graphic back into Word.

You should understand that if you do color portions of the equation in your graphics program, you can no longer double-click on the equation in Word and edit it in Equation Editor. Instead, the graphics program will open because the equation object now "belongs" to the graphics program, not the Equation Editor. If you need to change the equation, the only option is to start all over again.

If you do decide to color your equation in a graphics program, you should pay attention to how you paste the graphic back into Word. You paste it by coping the image to the Clipboard and then using Paste Special. Depending on the graphics program you used, you will then have several pasting options for the graphic. Make sure you choose "picture" or "enhanced metafile" as your pasting method. If you choose "bitmap," you may not get the results you want. The reason is that bitmap images do not scale particularly well, and the graphic could appear distorted in your document. You should not have this problem if you use the "picture" or "enhanced metafile" types.

If you do quite a few equations, you should seriously consider upgrading Equation Editor to MathType. (Equation Editor is a stripped-down version of MathType.) MathType allows total control over the color of equations, regardless of the application the equation is used in, and also allows combining more than one color in a single equation. You can find out more information about MathType here:

http://www.dessci.com/en/products/mathtype/

WordTips is your source for cost-effective Microsoft Word training. (Microsoft Word is the most popular word processing software in the world.) This tip (776) applies to Microsoft Word 97, 2000, 2002, and 2003.

Author Bio

Allen Wyatt

With more than 50 non-fiction books and numerous magazine articles to his credit, Allen Wyatt is an internationally recognized author. He is president of Sharon Parq Associates, a computer and publishing services company. ...

MORE FROM ALLEN

Repeating Rows on a Printout Except On the Last Page

When setting up a worksheet for printing, you can specify that Excel repeat some of your rows at the top of each page ...

Discover More

Permanently Turning Off the Tracking of Formatting Changes

The Track Changes tool can be a great asset when you are working on a document with others. It can also be a hassle if ...

Discover More

Understanding Paragraph Alignment

One of the most basic ways to align paragraphs is to set the alignment used for the text in the paragraph. Word provides ...

Discover More

Comprehensive VBA Guide Visual Basic for Applications (VBA) is the language used for writing macros in all Office programs. This complete guide shows both professionals and novices how to master VBA in order to customize the entire Office suite for their needs. Check out Mastering VBA for Office 2010 today!

More WordTips (menu)

Refreshing the Discussion

To keep up with the Discussion, you will need to refresh the comments to make sure you are in-the-know.

Discover More

Comparing Document Versions

Do you need to compare two versions of a document to each other? Word provides a tool that can make this easy, as ...

Discover More

Recovering Corrupt Document Files with StarOffice

A possibility to try if you have a corrupt document.

Discover More
Subscribe

FREE SERVICE: Get tips like this every week in WordTips, a free productivity newsletter. Enter your address and click "Subscribe."

View most recent newsletter.

Comments

If you would like to add an image to your comment (not an avatar, but an image to help in making the point of your comment), include the characters [{fig}] (all 7 characters, in the sequence shown) in your comment text. You’ll be prompted to upload your image when you submit the comment. Maximum image size is 6Mpixels. Images larger than 600px wide or 1000px tall will be reduced. Up to three images may be included in a comment. All images are subject to review. Commenting privileges may be curtailed if inappropriate images are posted.

What is 2 + 8?

2021-10-20 21:36:40

Maria

"The behavior of the Equation Editor with Word is different—you don't have the ability to change the font color. "
Actually, this is not exactly correct. There is a weird workaround I found out just now (works in Microsoft® Word 2019 MSO (Version 2109 Build 16.0.14430.20292) 64-bit ).
You need to select the equation you want to change color, go to Fonts -> Text Effects (button at the bottom of the window) -> Text Fill -> Gradient Fill and in the field "Gradient Stops" choose the desired color for all of the gradient stops.

(see Figure 1 below)

Figure 1. 


2021-10-20 21:10:27

Maria

"The behavior of the Equation Editor with Word is different—you don't have the ability to change the font color. "
Actually, this is not exactly correct. There is a weird workaround I found out just now (works in Microsoft® Word 2019 MSO (Version 2109 Build 16.0.14430.20292) 64-bit ).
You need to select the equation you want to change color, go to Fonts -> Text Effects (button at the bottom of the window) -> Text Fill -> Gradient Fill and in the field "Gradient Stops" choose the desired color for all of the gradient stops.


This Site

Got a version of Word that uses the menu interface (Word 97, Word 2000, Word 2002, or Word 2003)? This site is for you! If you use a later version of Word, visit our WordTips site focusing on the ribbon interface.

Videos
Subscribe

FREE SERVICE: Get tips like this every week in WordTips, a free productivity newsletter. Enter your address and click "Subscribe."

(Your e-mail address is not shared with anyone, ever.)

View the most recent newsletter.