how to change colour based on date

Hi,

I am new to using excel and currently working through a interactive work book. my problem is this i need to change the colour of individual cells according to the date. column 1 contains dates of qualifications if it is within 5 months from the date listed to todays date i need it to turn green. If it is between 5-6 months then i need to turn it orange and if it is over 6 months i need it to turn red. Further columns in this spread sheet are to do the same but with different dates.

I.E

If the date today is 04/10/08 then the following dates will need to be the following colours:

04/09/08 is within 5 months and will stay green

01/05/08 is between 5 months and 6 moths ago and will need to turn orange

01/03/08 is over 6 months and should turn red

i hope that someone can help with this problem as it will save me a lot of paperwork

many thanks pete

• highlight all the date cells
• select Format\Conditional formatting from the menu
• Select Formula is from the first drop down box
• enter a formula in the next box that will resolve as true or false. ie =A1+152>today()
• set your colour by clicking the format button and then the patterns tab
• create 2 more conditions as per your example

Matt