Each cell in a spreadsheet can be formatted in a distinct way by changing properties such as the , and so on. Most of the formatting functions can be found on the format toolbar:
You should be clear on how to use the following formatting options on the toolbar:
Other options can be found under Format/Cells.
Format operations can be carried out on 1 cell or on many cells at a time. It is generally a good strategy to format a group of cells at a time; you certainly don't want to do the same formatting operations on one cell after another.
This allows you to apply complex formatting from one cell to any number of other cells elsewhere in the spreadsheet. This is a three-step procedure:
The format of a cell can persist when you want it to change. This is often the case with dates, you enter a date and the cell is formatted that way but later you want the cell to be a plain number. You could use Format/Cell to change the format of the cell but you can also use the format painter - click on a cell you haven't used, click the format painter and, finally, click on the cell whose format you want to change.
To change the width of a cell drag the border marker between the cell headers - A, B, C, etc. This also works for rows but you are less likely to use this as row height tends to change automatically.
Double clicking the border sets the cell width to a value just right for the data in the column. You can also do this through the Column/AutoFit Selection option in the Format Menu.
To set the width of a group of cells to a common value select the cells and then either double click one of the header panel borders, or select the Column/AutoFit Selection or Column/Width options from the Format Menu.
Where the text in a cell is lengthy you can make it wrap around to two or more lines so it takes up less width. To do this choose Format/Cells/Alignment and tick the Wrap Text option.
For this you will need the file: K:\IT\FourthForm\planets.xls.
The first thing to do to is to add some extra rows. Right click on the '1' of row 1 and choose 'Insert'. Repeat this so there are two clear rows.
Now right click the 'A' of the A column and choose 'Insert'. Repeat this to move the data two columns along.
The delete operation works in the same way but you choose 'Delete' - practise this later.
Select all the cells before you apply any formatting, that way you don't have to repeat the formatting on individual cells. To select one or more columns click on the header panels (A, B, C, etc.).
Select the cells from B2 to H40, set them to light yellow fill and place a single solid border around all of them.
(Your selection goes further down than this.)
Now select from B4 (an empty cell) to G13 (B4:G13) and apply a full border to each cell.
You can align data to the left, right or centre of a cell and you can also merge-centre it across two or more cells. If your spreadsheet is six cells wide you might place the title in the second or third columns so that it is roughly centred. To centre it precisely carry out the following:
Try merge-centre on the title of the spreadsheet. Set the font size of the merged text to 18.
If you have time look up the missing information. There are plenty of web sites that hold this basic data such as this one. Format the length of orbit data to 1 decimal place. Copy images from a web site and place them in the empty area of the spreadsheet - a single image of the solar system will do nicely.
You may find that you have unused rows in your design in which case you can delete them. To delete a row right click the number and choose Delete from the popup menu. Don't delete the bottom row as this has a line along it, though you could easily reformat this with a single line border if you did delete it.
Last but not least, headers and footers. Headers and footers contain information such as your name, centre number, date and page number, which will appear on every page of a document when printed.
To insert a header or footer choose View/Header and Footer. You can also get to the header and footer through the Print Preview section - click on 'Setup' and then on the Header/Footer tab.
There are drop-down lists of items you can place in a header or footer. If you cannot find what you require click on the Custom Header or Custom Footer buttons and set up your own. The custom header and footer options provide three sections for information, left, centre and right.
Click in each section in turn and enter the information required. Type items such as your name and add automatic items such as page number and date by clicking the appropriate icons (hover the mouse over them to identify them).
Before printing select Print/Preview or click the Preview button in the Standard Toolbar to see how your worksheet will look. When you close the preview you will see heavy dotted lines defining the limits of your paper:
Use these guides to help you set the width of columns to fit onto a page and to place charts so that they don't run across page breaks or hide the data. This is particularly important if you are printing charts which are embedded onto a worksheet rather than printed separately.
For the Planets spreadsheet click on the Print Preview button and then click on the Setup button. Change the orientation to Landscape and make sure the paper size is A4.
Now click on the Margins button and drag the top and bottom margins up and down until you can see all the rows of the spreadsheet. Note that there are two margin lines at both the top and bottom of the page, one for the top and the bottom of the page and one for the header and footer. Make sure you leave enough space for the header and footer, which you will insert next.
The spreadsheet is now ready to print (no need to do this now).
Choose Tools/Options/View/Gridlines. This will hide all light grey borders between cells that have not had borders applied. This makes your coloured area stand out even more.
Choose File/Page Setup and the 'Sheet' tab. To show gridlines (especially on a print-out) tick the 'Gridlines' box.
Choose File/Page Setup and the 'Sheet' tab. To show row and column headings (A, B, etc. and 1, 2, etc.) tick the 'Row and column headings' box.
Choose Tools/Options/View/Formulas (tick box). Note that column widths adjust. Repeat to turn them off again - have to reset column widths manually.
This is used when you want the formatting to depend on the contents of a cell. Choose Format/Conditional Formatting and set the values for the condition and the format the cell will take when a particular value results.
This can be used to provide emphasis when a particular result is achieved. Note that conditional formatting for negative numbers is already included under Format/Cell/Number.
Further examples:
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