Adding Text Outside a Cell

Adding Text Outside a Cell

Most of the text you type in a worksheet is contained in individual cells. However, Excel does enable you to add text outside the cells in separate text boxes. This capability is useful for adding text to charts or adding notes to worksheets. And, because the text in a text box is independent of the cells , you can place a text box anywhere on a worksheet or chart. To create a text box, follow these steps:

  1. Display the area on the worksheet or chart where you want the text box placed.

  2. If the Drawing toolbar is not displayed, right-click any toolbar or Excel's menu bar and click Drawing . The Drawing toolbar appears.

  3. graphics/text_ box-a.gif Click the Text Box button. When you move the mouse pointer over the worksheet area, it appears as a crosshair pointer.

  4. Position the pointer where you want one corner of the text box to appear, and then drag the pointer to the opposite corner to define the box size and dimensions. Excel inserts the text box, as shown in Figure 9.9.

    Figure 9.9. Excel inserts the text box.

    graphics/09fig09.jpg

  5. Type your text in the text box, and use the Formatting toolbar to style the text. As with WordArt, the text box is surrounded by handles you can drag to change the size or dimensions of the box. Drag the box's border to move it.

You can change the appearance of the text box itself by using the following buttons on the Drawing toolbar:

  • graphics/fill_colour.gif Fill Color adds the selected color inside the box as a background.

  • graphics/line_colour.gif Line Color controls the color of the line that defines the outline of the box.

  • graphics/font_colour.gif Font Color controls the color of the text inside the box.

  • graphics/line_style_a.gif Line Style controls the thickness and design of the line that defines the outline of the box.

  • graphics/dash_style.gif Dash Style transforms the line that defines the outline of the box into a dashed line.

  • graphics/shadow_style.gif Shadow Style adds a drop shadow to the box.

  • graphics/3d_style.gif 3-D Style turns the box into a three-dimensional box.

Note

graphics/nman.gif

You can change the appearance of the text box and the text it contains by using the Format Text Box dialog box. To display this dialog box, right-click the text box's border and then click Format Text Box . Use the options and settings in this dialog box to change the font and text size, the appearance of the border that defines the box, the text alignment inside the box, and the way the text box moves or stays fixed when surrounding cells move.




Absolute Beginner's Guide to Microsoft Office Excel 2003
Absolute Beginners Guide to Microsoft Office Excel 2003
ISBN: 0789729415
EAN: 2147483647
Year: 2002
Pages: 189

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