Specifying a Font in WordArt

WordArt is a program that allows you to treat text as a graphic. You can use the program to add special effects and flourishes to text and then insert the text in your worksheet. It may seem weird to talk about a tool normally associated with Word when discussing Excel, but WordArt works just as well in Excel as it does in Word.

Once you have a WordArt object in your worksheet, you may want to modify it to give it more "pizzazz." By changing the font used by WordArt, you can greatly change the appearance of your WordArt object. To change fonts, follow these general steps:

1. Select the WordArt object by clicking on it. In versions of Excel prior to Excel 2007, the WordArt toolbar should appear. In Excel 2007 the Format tab should appear on the ribbon (make sure it is selected).
2. Click on the Edit Text tool. WordArt displays the Edit WordArt Text dialog box. (Click here to see a related figure.)
3. Use the Font pull-down list to select a font to use.
4. Change the font size, as desired.
5. Use Bold or Italics, as desired.
6. Click on OK. WordArt updates your WordArt object.

You should understand that WordArt in Excel 2007 is different than in previous versions of Excel. In this version, the WordArt tool on the Insert tab of the ribbon allows you to pick from some predefined text treatments. If you create WordArt using the Excel 2007 tool, then all you need to do is select the text that makes up the WordArt. As you move the mouse pointer over the selected text you should see a small formatting palette appear. Use the controls in the palette to select the typeface and font size for your WordArt.

It is possible, however, that if you have WordArt in a workbook created in a previous version of Excel, and you are now working on it in Excel 2007, that you will need to follow the steps for changing fonts as described earlier in this tip. The method for changing depends on the version of WordArt used to create the WordArt object in the first place.