Every text cell can have its individual shading. The whole extent of the text cell appears shaded.
2. Shading text areas
A text area's shading is set in the area's layout dialog, accessed with the Alt+Y hotkeys when the cursor is placed on a cell of the area. All cells of the area appear in the shading set for the area, unless they override it.
3. Shading borders
Text areas as well as text cells may have borders. Both types of borders may have a shading. In this example, the text area's border is set to diagonal shading. The text cell's border is set to horizontal shading. The text cell itself is set to solid shading. The text's color is set to white.
This text cell's shading is set to DEFAULT.
This text cell's shading is set to DEFAULT.
This text cell's shading is set to OFF.
This text cell is set to 10% shading. The shading was set with the Alt+C hotkey while the cursor was positioned here.