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How do you fill text with color?

By: Author Color With Leo


Adding color to text can be a great way to make your documents, webpages, presentations, and other visual content more visually engaging and appealing. Using color strategically can help draw attention to key points, differentiate sections or types of text, and just make things look more lively and interesting overall. In this post, we’ll look at some different ways you can fill text with color using HTML and CSS code.

Using HTML tags

One of the simplest ways to add color to text on a webpage is using HTML tags. There are two main tags that can be used for this:

Tag Example
<font color=”color”>Text</font> This text is blue
<span style=”color: color”>Text</span> This text is green

The <font> tag is deprecated in HTML5, so the <span> tag is generally preferred now. The color can be specified by name (like red, blue, green, etc.) or by hex code (#336699, for example).

Here are some examples of using HTML tags to add color to text:

This text is red

This text is purple

This makes it easy to quickly add color to specific parts of text without having to deal with CSS stylesheets. The downside is that it mixes content and presentation concerns – ideally, the HTML deals with the structure and semantics, while the CSS handles presentation details like color. Still, for quick coloring needs, HTML tags get the job done.

Using CSS

For more robust, scalable, and flexible text coloring, CSS is the way to go. With CSS, you can define classes or ID selectors that apply color rules, then add those classes/IDs to text elements as needed. Some advantages of using CSS include:

  • Keeps HTML code clean and semantic
  • Centralizes color rules in stylesheet
  • Easily update colors by editing stylesheet
  • Reuse classes on multiple elements
  • Change colors site-wide by changing one rule

Here are some examples of using CSS to add color to text:

In stylesheet:

.red-text {
  color: red; 
}

.blue-text {
  color: #00F; /* hex code for blue */
}

In HTML:

  
<p class="red-text">This text will be red.</p>

<h2 class="blue-text">This heading will be blue.</h2>

You can also use CSS to color specific HTML elements like links, visited links, and hovered links:

/* unvisited link */
a:link {
  color: #FF0000; 
}

/* visited link */
a:visited {
  color: #00FF00;
}

/* mouse over link */ 
a:hover {
  color: #FF00FF; 
}

This provides much more flexible and maintainable text coloring than HTML tags.

Using JavaScript

In addition to HTML and CSS, you can also use JavaScript code to dynamically set text colors. This allows you to change the color on the fly, toggle between colors, or otherwise manipulate the text coloring behavior via code.

Here are some examples of coloring text with JavaScript:

“`js
// Set text color by element ID
document.getElementById(“text”).style.color = “blue”;

// Set color by clicking a button
const setRed = () => {
document.getElementById(“text”).style.color = “red”;
}

// Cycle through colors
let colors = [“red”, “green”, “blue”];
let colorIndex = 0;

function changeColor() {
const text = document.getElementById(“text”);
const color = colors[colorIndex];
text.style.color = color;

colorIndex++;
if (colorIndex >= colors.length) {
colorIndex = 0;
}
}
“`

This allows for interactive text coloring effects without needing to reload the page or change CSS.

Coloring Text in Word Processors

In programs like Microsoft Word, Google Docs, and Apple Pages, you can apply color to text using built-in formatting options. Typically, you would highlight the text you want to color, then open up the “Font Color” option to select and apply a color.

For example, in Microsoft Word:

1. Highlight the text you want to color
2. On the Home tab, open the Font Color dropdown and select a color
3. The highlighted text will change to that color

In Google Docs:

1. Highlight the desired text
2. Click the A icon with a paintbrush (Text Color option)
3. Choose a color from the palette
4. The text will update with the selected color

The process is very similar in most word processors. You can use keyboard shortcuts like Ctrl/Cmd + Shift + C to quickly access font color options as well.

Most word processors also allow you to create custom color themes, set default text colors, and store colors for reuse. So coloring text in documents is very flexible and user-friendly.

Coloring Text in Design Programs

Graphics, design, and photo editing software like Adobe Photoshop, Illustrator, and InDesign provide extensive tools for adding color to text elements for logos, posters, infographics, and other visual media.

For example, in Adobe Illustrator:

1. Use the Text tool to add text to the document
2. With the text selected, open the Character Styles panel
3. Under Fill Color, select a color from the swatch options
4. You can also adjust the stroke color and width for outline effects

In Photoshop:

1. Add text to the canvas using horizontal/vertical type tools
2. With the text layer selected, open the Character Style panel
3. Choose the color from the Fill dropdown
4. Adjust Gradient and Stroke options as desired

Adobe programs offer advanced typography and color features like gradients, color mixing, transparency, textures, glow effects, and much more. This level of control makes it easy to create eye-catching text effects.

Other programs like Pixelmator, Affinity Designer, and Procreate offer similar text coloring tools tailored to digital illustration and design work. So whether you’re designing a logo, poster, social media graphic, or any other visual content, these professional design programs have all the text coloring features you need.

Coloring Text from the Command Line

You can also add color to terminal text when working from the Linux, Unix, or Mac command line. This can help highlight important information, differentiate output, and improve readability of the terminal.

For example, to print red text in Bash:

“`
echo -e “\e[31mThis is red text\e[0m”
“`

The escape codes:

– \e[31m – Sets red text color
– \e[0m – Resets to default terminal color

Some commonly used color codes:

Color Escape Code
Red \e[31m
Green \e[32m
Yellow \e[33m
Blue \e[34m
Magenta \e[35m
Cyan \e[36m

You can also chain codes for different colors, styles, and formatting like bold, underline, background color, etc.

Coloring text from the command line takes a little more effort than GUI text editors, but allows for rich formatting options right within the terminal.

Conclusion

In summary, there are a variety of options available for adding color to text across different mediums:

– Use HTML tags like <font> and <span> for simple webpage text coloring
– Leverage CSS classes, IDs, and other selectors for more advanced and flexible text color styling
– Employ JavaScript programming to dynamically set text colors
– Use built-in formatting options in word processors and design programs for documents and graphics
– Add escape codes and ANSI sequences when working in terminal environments

The key is choosing the right approach based on your specific use case and needs. HTML and CSS provide the most versatility for web content, while word processors and design tools are great for documents and visual media. Programming languages open up more advanced interactivity and effects.

No matter what the medium, adding color to text can be an impactful way to improve the aesthetic appeal, readability, and effectiveness of your content. With so many options available, you’re sure to find a coloring solution that brings your words to life.