How to Make Good Excel Color Combinations (5 Methods)

Method 1 – Using a Color Combination Based on Values

Steps:

• Choose the set of cells containing the values you want to make a good color combination.  We have used the B5 to B14 cell range, which contains numerical values.
• Go to Home>>Styles group >>Conditional Formatting>>New Rule.

• Choose Format only cells that contain under Select a Rule Type in the New Formatting Rule Choose the put between condition and the values 100 and 400 in the rule description.
• Click on Format.

• Choose Fill>> pick a color>> click OK.

• To complete the task in the New Formatting Rule box, click OK.

The final output will look like the following image.

• In the New Formatting Rule box, select Format only cells that contain under Select a Rule Type.
• Choose the greater than condition and the value 400 in the rule description.
• Click on Format, choose a color, and click OK twice.

• The cells are filled with the red color as those countries have more population than 400 million.

• To complete the color combination, select the range C5:C14, and click on conditional formatting. The New Formatting Rule window will appear again.

You get the color combination to highlight the Population (millions) column.

Method 2 – Using Color Combination Based on Multiple Criteria

Steps:

• The Population (millions) and GDP (billions USD) values can be found in cells C5:C14 and D5:D14.
• Select the range B5:D14.
• Go to the “Home” tab and select “Conditional Formatting” >> “New Rule“.
• Follow the process: Select a Rule Type: Use a formula to decide which cells to format in the New Formatting Rule dialog box.
• Fill out the “Format values where this formula is true” field with the formula given below:

• Click the “Format” button.
• In the dialog box for the new formatting rule, click “OK” to apply the rule.

• The cells in column B are highlighted in red.

• To apply formatting for the rest of the cells, follow the process:
  • Select a Rule Type: Use a formula to decide which cells to format in the New Formatting Rule dialog box.
• Enter the following formula in the “Format values where this formula is true” field:

• Click the “Format” button to select color options for cells that meet the double criteria.
• Click “OK“.

• For the remaining cells, follow the process: Select a Rule Type: Use a formula to decide which cells to format in the New Formatting Rule dialog box.
• Enter the following formula in the “Format values where this formula is true” field:

• Select the “Format” button to modify the formatting color options for cells that meet the triple requirements.
• Select “OK“.

You get the color combination, like in the image below.

Method 3 – Applying a Color Combination to a Graph

Steps:

• Using your desired data, make a column chart in Excel.
• Go to Insert>> Charts>> 2-D column.

• Right-click on the data series you want to format and select “Format Data Series” from the context menu.
• Select a secondary axis for perfect visualization.

• Go to the “Fill & Line” tab in the Format Data Series pane.
• From the Fill drop-down menu, select “Solid fill“.
• To choose the ideal color scheme for the data series, click the color picker or color options.
• The data series in the graph will be updated with the new colors.
• Alternatively, you can repeat the procedure for additional data series in the graph or modify additional formatting options in the Format Data Series pane.

Read More: How to Create an Excel Theme

Method 4 – Using a Color Palate

Steps:

• Follow the path: Page Layout>> Colors>>Customize Colors

• A Create New Theme Colors window will appear.
• Make changes to your preference.

Read More: How to Change Theme Colors in Excel

Method 5 – Applying a Color Combination Based on Text

Steps:

• Follow the path: Select the column(column D)>>Home>>Styles>>Conditional Formatting>>Highlight Cells Rules>>Text that Contains.

• Text That Contains window will appear in Excel.
• Select your text, for example, Medium, under the “Format Cells that contain the text:” and choose a color: Yellow Fill with Dark Yellow Text.
• Click OK.

• Follow the path: Select the column(column D)>>Home>>Styles>>Conditional Formatting>>Highlight Cells Rules>>Text that Contains.

• A Text That Contains window will appear.
• Choose a color that has been selected, Light Red Fill with Dark Red Text in that window’s “Format Cells that contain the text:” section, and select your text, for instance, High.
• Press OK.

• Excel will display a Text That Contains Under “Format Cells that contain the text:“
• Select your text, for instance, Low, and then pick the color Green Fill with Dark Green Text.
• Click OK.

Read More: How to Change Excel Theme to Black

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