Setting Default Styles in Google Docs and Word

Branding | | by Rebecca

As part of our website design and development projects we can help to formalise your brand, taking your assets and adding them to a brand guidelines document. When you receive these, we advise you to further optimise your branding by setting the fonts and colours from your brand guidelines as the default styles in your word processing software, so that you can create branded and consistent documents.

Read how to set default fonts and colours below.

But first…

Before we start, some tips regardless of your software or the type of branded communication you are creating:

Colours

Brand guidelines include a selection of colours to be used in your branding. Colour codes are usually provided in formats including CMYK, RGB and Hex (a six-character alphanumeric code starting with a #). For most programs, you will need to use the hex code to set the colour.

Fonts

When setting your default styles, unless specific font weights and sizes are specified in the brand guidelines, try to match the combinations and proportions used on your website or in the brand guidelines themselves for headings and paragraphs. Pay attention to line height and spacing.

Setting Default Styles in Google Docs

Setting Default Colours in Google Docs:

  1. Highlight any of your text and select either the Text Colour or Highlight Colour icon.
  2. Add custom colours by choosing the plus icon under Custom and then typing in the Hex code.
  3. Repeat the process for all of your brand colours.
Steps on setting default branding styles in Google Docs

Setting Default Fonts in Google Docs

Start a new document and type out the following (or copy and paste from this page):

Heading 1
Heading 2
Heading 3
Heading 4
Heading 5
Paragraph

  1. Highlight the first style you want to create, in this example we are choosing paragraph (aka Normal Text) styling.
  2. Apply the specific font, font weight and font size for a paragraph, as well as the correct colour.
  3. Ensuring the text is still highlighted, from the style dropdown hover over ‘Normal text’ and select ‘Update ‘Normal text’ to match’.
  4. Click the style dropdown again,  hover over ‘Options’ and then select ‘Save as my default styles’. This will universally apply the same styling to future documents you create.
  5. Repeat the process in steps 1-4 for Headings.
Steps on setting default font styles in Google Docs

Save Your Styles in a Google Docs Template

For future reference and as a starting point for new documents, you can go as far as creating a template in Google Docs with all of your styles saved and ready to go. 

To elevate your documents you can even add a branded header and footer with your logo and contact information. In-house, we’ve even set guidelines for how to style tables, links, lists and code snippets – at the moment Google Docs doesn’t currently allow styling for these elements to be set as defaults.

  1. Ensure you set your styles and save the document with a memorable name.
  2. Navigate to the Google Docs home screen.
  3. Select ‘Template Gallery’ > [your organisation’s name] > ‘Submit template’.
  4. In the ‘Submit template’ window, select your document that you want to make a template, and click ‘Open’.
  5. You’ll also need to select a category for your file, and press ‘Submit’.
  6. Your new template will be in the Template Gallery.
Steps on setting default heading fonts styles in Google Docs

To use your template going forward:

  1. In Google Drive, right click and hover over ‘Google Docs’.
  2. Instead of clicking ‘Blank document’, select ‘From a template’.
  3. Double click the template you’d like to use.
  4. You can also use a template by creating a blank document, and navigating to ‘File’ > ‘New’ > ‘From template gallery’.

Setting Default Styles in Microsoft Word

  1. Create a blank document.
  2. Go to Home.
  3. Select ‘Font Dialog Box Launcher’ (the small arrow below the ‘Font’ section).
  4. Choose your font colour from the dropdown – click ‘More Colours’ > ‘Custom’ and input the hex code in the correct field.
  5. Click OK.
  6. Select ‘Set as Default’.
  7. Select ‘All documents based on the Normal template’.
  8. Click OK twice.
  9. Repeat the process for all brand colours.
Steps on setting default font colour styles in Microsoft Word

Setting Default Fonts in Microsoft Word

Start a new document and type out the following (or copy and paste from this page):

Heading 1
Heading 2
Heading 3
Heading 4
Heading 5
Paragraph

  1. Go to Home.
  2. Select ‘Font Dialog Box Launcher’ also called ‘Styles’ (the small arrow below the ‘Font’ section). This can also be accessed by pressing Alt+Ctrl+Shift+S.
  3. Choose your font, size and colour for a paragraph.
  4. Select ‘Set as Default’ or ‘Update Normal to match selection’.
  5. Select ‘All documents based on the Normal template’.
  6. Click OK twice.
Steps on setting default font styles in Microsoft Word

Save your Styles as a Microsoft Theme

  1. Create a Blank Document.
  2. Go to ‘Design’ > ‘Themes’ drop down > ‘Save Current Theme’.
  3. Save the theme template, by choosing a folder on your computer and renaming.
  4. Press ‘Save’.
  5. Send the template file to your colleagues, who will need to save it on their computer.
  6. They will need to open Word on their computer.
  7. Go to ‘Design’ > ‘Themes’ drop down > ‘Browse for Themes’.
  8. Select the theme template doc that they saved.
Steps on setting default branding styles in Microsoft Word

Support from Ballyhoo

Need help formalising your brand? We can take your existing brand assets and transform them into a broader visual identity.  Contact us to see how we can help today.

Headshot of Rebecca young new team member

Rebecca

Rebecca helps to keep the team organised and supports all of our clients with day to day activities and content. She also runs all of Ballyhoo's internal marketing.