See http://poi.apache.org/spreadsheet/quick-guide.html#CustomColors.
Custom colors
HSSF:
HSSFWorkbook wb = new HSSFWorkbook();
HSSFSheet sheet = wb.createSheet();
HSSFRow row = sheet.createRow((short) 0);
HSSFCell cell = row.createCell((short) 0);
cell.setCellValue("Default Palette");
//apply some colors from the standard palette,
// as in the previous examples.
//we'll use red text on a lime background
HSSFCellStyle style = wb.createCellStyle();
style.setFillForegroundColor(HSSFColor.LIME.index);
style.setFillPattern(HSSFCellStyle.SOLID_FOREGROUND);
HSSFFont font = wb.createFont();
font.setColor(HSSFColor.RED.index);
style.setFont(font);
cell.setCellStyle(style);
//save with the default palette
FileOutputStream out = new FileOutputStream("default_palette.xls");
wb.write(out);
out.close();
//now, let's replace RED and LIME in the palette
// with a more attractive combination
// (lovingly borrowed from freebsd.org)
cell.setCellValue("Modified Palette");
//creating a custom palette for the workbook
HSSFPalette palette = wb.getCustomPalette();
//replacing the standard red with freebsd.org red
palette.setColorAtIndex(HSSFColor.RED.index,
(byte) 153, //RGB red (0-255)
(byte) 0, //RGB green
(byte) 0 //RGB blue
);
//replacing lime with freebsd.org gold
palette.setColorAtIndex(HSSFColor.LIME.index, (byte) 255, (byte) 204, (byte) 102);
//save with the modified palette
// note that wherever we have previously used RED or LIME, the
// new colors magically appear
out = new FileOutputStream("modified_palette.xls");
wb.write(out);
out.close();
XSSF:
XSSFWorkbook wb = new XSSFWorkbook();
XSSFSheet sheet = wb.createSheet();
XSSFRow row = sheet.createRow(0);
XSSFCell cell = row.createCell( 0);
cell.setCellValue("custom XSSF colors");
XSSFCellStyle style1 = wb.createCellStyle();
style1.setFillForegroundColor(new XSSFColor(new java.awt.Color(128, 0, 128)));
style1.setFillPattern(CellStyle.SOLID_FOREGROUND);