[automandc]

Here's my problem: I recently started trying ClearType, and I generally like
it, except for one major problem: selected text in MS Word. When typing in
page layout view (or any view AFAICT), the standard is a white page (duh)
with black text. Selected text then appears as completely inverted -- white
on black. With ClearType on, this is virtually unreadable, especially on a
monitor in portrait mode.

I thought that "correct" selection behavior is to highlight in the "Selected
Items" color set in Windows. E.g., selecting text in a white explorer window
does not simply invert it. Why does Word not use the "Selected Items" color
scheme, and can this be fixed?

I *want* my text to be black on a white page -- just like it will be when it
is printed. So changing the text color/background color is not an adequate
solution.

As a disclaimer, I have read this message which is about the only thing I
can find on the web that even remotely addresses this -- but it seems to
suggest that Word should behave like every other application.

-------------------From 12/05---------------
Hi Heidi,

In Windows, the selection background color is the complement of the normal
background of the selected text. For example, if you go to Format Borders
& Shading Shading and set the background color for a paragraph to yellow,
then any text you select in that paragraph will show a blue background. If
the background shading of the paragraph is green, then selected text in that
paragraph will show a magenta background.

The selected text itself is shown in the complement of the text's foreground
color. That is, if the text of the paragraph is magenta, then the selected
text will be green, independent of whatever the background color is.

Of course, both background shading and foreground text color can be set
character by character, not just by paragraph or document.

You can get some really awful combinations this way. :-b

--
Regards,
Jay Freedman
Microsoft Word MVP FAQ: http://word.mvps.org