> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.grunt.io/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Text and number rules

> Use Font, paragraph, number, fill, border, and text rotation rules in Grunt

This page covers the legacy rules used to control text appearance, number display, and cell-level styling.

## Font (character style) rule

Use the Font rule when you want to change the appearance of individual characters consistently across a target area.

Key properties from the legacy support article:

* **Color** for text color
* **Family** for font family
* **Size** for font size
* **Style** for bold, italic, underline, and strikethrough

Use this rule for character-level styling. Use **Paragraph style** when the whole paragraph structure should change.

## Paragraph style rule

Use Paragraph style when you need paragraph-level formatting rather than character styling.

The legacy support article calls out these capabilities:

* Text alignment
* Text wrapping
* Indentation level
* Paragraph spacing and line height
* Bullet style
* First-line and hanging indentation

Paragraph style is especially useful when every paragraph after the first should get the same formatting pattern.

## Number format rule

Use Number format when numeric values should be displayed differently without changing the underlying data.

Legacy support guidance highlights:

* Thousand separator
* Decimal symbol
* Magnitude such as thousands or millions
* Decimal places
* Negative number style
* Zero display
* Prefix and postfix

If the object is linked to Excel, the Excel format is the default starting point, but this rule can override it in Grunt.

## Fill rule

Use Fill when you want to color cells, chart artifacts, or graphics inside a Grunt object.

The legacy support article notes that Fill can target:

* Visual Grid cells
* Shapes inside Visual Grid cells
* Icons inside Visual Grid cells
* Chart artifacts such as bars, lines, and funnels

Key settings:

* **Color**
* **Blending mode**

Use the Font rule for text color. Use Fill for the object background or graphic fill.

## Border rule

Use Border when the edge of a cell or graphic should communicate structure.

Typical uses:

* Separate header rows from content
* Add emphasis around selected data
* Create table-like framing without native PowerPoint borders

Common settings are border color, thickness, and which edges should be shown. This description is inferred from the legacy rule catalog and adjacent Grunt rule behavior.

## Text rotation rule

Use Text rotation when labels need a different reading direction, such as narrow headers or compact side labels.

Typical use cases:

* Rotated column headers
* Vertical labels in dense tables
* Compact text inside chart-style layouts

This rule is best used sparingly because aggressive rotation can reduce readability. This summary is inferred from the legacy rule catalog and surrounding layout guidance.

## When to combine these rules

These rules often work best together:

* **Font** for character emphasis
* **Paragraph style** for bullets, spacing, and indentation
* **Number format** for numeric readability
* **Fill** and **Border** for visual grouping
* **Text rotation** for space-constrained labels

For alignment, margin, merge, and size behavior, continue to [Layout and structure rules](/powerpoint-add-in/user/rules-layout-and-structure).