Chart Template Editor

About this tool

An Office chart template (.crtx) remembers how a chart should look, but Office gives you no way to set the one thing that matters most: the order in which series colours are used. This tool opens a .crtx, shows its colour sequence and variations, and lets you edit them — each entry either a fixed RGB value or a colour linked to the document theme.

When to use it

Use it when your charts keep coming out with the wrong colour first, when a template needs to follow a corporate palette exactly, or when you want a reusable chart look you can apply in one click instead of restyling every chart.

How to use it

1. Open a .crtx file, or start from one of the built-in chart templates.
2. Edit the colour sequence — add, remove or change entries, choosing fixed RGB or theme-linked colours.
3. Download the edited .crtx and apply it in Office from the chart template gallery.

Good to know

• Theme-linked colours follow whatever document the chart lands in, so the same template looks right in differently branded files; fixed RGB values stay put regardless.
• A chart template captures appearance, not data — applying it restyles a chart without touching the numbers behind it.
• Templates saved by older Office versions store their colours differently, and the tool handles both, so a file you edit here keeps working where it came from.

Common questions

Why does Office ignore the colour order I set in the chart itself?

Formatting a chart by hand changes that one chart. The sequence a template applies lives in the template's own colour definition, which Office's interface never exposes — which is exactly what this edits.

How do I use the template after editing?

Save the .crtx where Office keeps chart templates, then in Office choose Change Chart Type and pick it from Templates. Applying it restyles the selected chart.

Is my file uploaded?

No. The template is read, edited and rebuilt entirely in your browser and never sent to a server.