Changing the Appearance of Entries

Each data entry you type in a cell appears generic: Everything is displayed in Arial, 10-point type. Text entries are aligned on the left, and values are lined up on the right. If you want your worksheet to be merely functional, you can leave the entries as is. In many cases, however, you can make your worksheet more readable by making column and row labels larger, using a different typestyle, or applying text attributes, such as bold and italic. You might also want to change the way Excel aligns entries in cells or change a value's number format. The following sections provide instructions on how to take full control over the appearance of data entries in your worksheet.

Changing Text Attributes with the Toolbar Buttons

The most convenient way to change the appearance of data entries in a worksheet is to use Excel's Formatting toolbar, shown in Figure 7.3. This toolbar contains buttons that provide single-click access to the most common text attributes. With it, you can change fonts, increase or decrease the type size, align text in cells, change the text color , add borders, and more.

Figure 7.3. Excel's Formatting toolbar provides easy access to the most common formats.

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To apply formatting with the Formatting toolbar, follow these steps:

  1. Select the cells that contain the entries you want to format.

  2. Do one of the following:

    Open the drop-down list for the attribute you want to change, and then click the desired setting. For example, to change the text color, click the arrow to the right of the Font Color button, and then click the desired color.

    Click the button for the desired attribute. For example, to make the entries bold, click the Bold button.

Be aware that some of the buttons that open as drop-down lists retain the selected attribute. If you open the Font Color list, for example, and choose red, the Font Color button retains the ability to make text red. To apply the same color to other entries, select the cells that contain the entries, and then click the Font Color button.

Note

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graphics/undo.gif Don't forget about the Undo button. If you apply an attribute, and the entries take on an undesirable appearance, click the Undo button to return the entries to their previous appearance.


Using the Format Cells Dialog Box

The Formatting toolbar provides a quick way to apply common formats, but it does not give you access to all options. For that, you need to turn to the Format Cells dialog box. To apply formatting with this dialog box, select the cells you want to format, and then open the Format menu and select Cells . The Format Cells dialog box appears, as shown in Figure 7.4.

Figure 7.4. Each tab in the Format Cells dialog box displays a set of related formatting options.

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You can easily change many of the formatting features for your data by clicking the appropriate tabs in this dialog box and selecting the desired options. Following is a list of tabs in the Format Cells dialog box, along with a brief description of each tab:

  • Number: Provides various formats to control the appearance of values, including currency, percentages, dates, and times. Select the desired category, and then click the specific format you want to use, as explained in the section "Adjusting Number Formats" in Chapter 4, "Entering and Editing Labels and Values."

  • Alignment: Enables you to control the way labels and values are positioned inside cells. You can even rotate text to display it on an angle inside a cell. See the following section, "Changing the Alignment of Entries in a Cell," for details.

  • Font: Enables you to select a typeface and size for your text and to add enhancements, such as bold, italic, and color.

  • Border: Provides options for adding lines between and around cells. (The light gray gridlines that Excel uses to mark cell boundaries onscreen do not print.) See "Adding Cell Borders," later in this chapter, for details.

  • Patterns: Enables you to shade the selected cells. See "Adding Shading to Cells," later in this chapter, for details.

  • Protection: Provides options for hiding the cell's contents or locking the cell (to prevent someone from editing it). This option does nothing, however, unless you choose to protect the worksheet. This topic is covered in Chapter 10, "Printing and Protecting Your Workbook, Worksheets, and Charts."

Tip

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To use any font as the normal font for all your worksheets, you can change the default font . Open the Tools menu, choose Options , and click the General tab. Open the Standard Font drop-down list and click the desired font. Open the Size drop-down list and click the font size you want. Then click OK . The change doesn't take effect until you restart Excel.


Changing the Alignment of Entries in a Cell

When you enter data in an Excel worksheet, Excel automatically aligns the data entries within each cell. Text entries are pushed to the left side of the cells, and values are pushed to the right. All entries are aligned near the bottoms of the cells, and Excel adds a little space inside each cell border to prevent entries from overlapping. To change the way Excel aligns data entries in cells, follow these steps:

  1. Select the cell or range you want to align. To center a title or other text over a range, select the entire range of cells in which you want the text centered, including the cell that contains the entry.

  2. Open the Format menu and choose Cells . The Format Cells dialog box appears.

  3. Click the Alignment tab. The alignment options appear, as shown in Figure 7.5.

    Figure 7.5. Set the text alignment within a cell.

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  4. Choose from the following options and option groups to set the alignment:

    Horizontal enables you to specify left/right alignment in the cell(s). (The Center Across Selection option enables you to center a title or other text across a range of cells.)

    Vertical enables you to specify how you want the text aligned in relation to the top and bottom of the cell(s).

    Text Control contains three options: Wrap Text , Shrink to Fit , and Merge Cells . Wrap Text allows text to move from one line to the next within a cell; with Wrap Text off, all text within a cell appears on a single line. Shrink to Fit reduces the font size of the text to make it fit on a single line in the cell. Merge Cells combines the selected cells to make one big cell.

    Orientation enables you to tilt the entry within the cell from its normal 0 up to 90 or down to 90. You can enter a setting in the Degrees text box or drag inside the half-clock area to set the desired tilt.

    Right-to-Left is available only if you change the orientation of the entry. This setting enables you to have tilted text arranged according to its context, from left to right, or from right to left.

  5. After you have set the options as desired, click OK .



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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