Giving a Parchment Paper Background to a Word Document

The vast majority of documents look best when formatted with dark text on a light background- especially a white background. However, there may be times when you need something a little more interesting. For example, light text on a dark background is a great way to make text box and table headers stand out. For the document as a whole, you  want to avoid busy backgrounds because they almost always render the document text unreadable. An occasionally useful exception is to use a background that resembles some kind of specialty paper. This can add a sense of realism to the document, which can be effective (if used sparingly, of course).

 One of the nicest of these specialty paper backgrounds is parchment  paper, which can give documents a classy, slightly old-time feel. Follow these steps to apply a parchment paper background :

1. Choose Page Layout, Page Color, Fill Effects. Word opens the Fill Effects dialog box.
2. Click the Texture tab.
3. Click OK. Word applies the texture to the background.
4. Click OK. Word applies the texture to the background.

The Texture also comes with the following  paper textures : Papyrus, Paper Bag, Newsprint, Recycled Paper, Stationery, Blue Tissue Paper  and Pink Tissue Paper.