February 2006Colby College ITS Formatting Techniques for Excel 2003

February 2006 Colby College ITS

Formatting Techniquesfor

Excel 2003


Topics

• Cells

• Rows and Columns

• Selected Cells

• Worksheets

• Autoformatting

• Style

• Customizing the Formatting Toolbar


Cells


Cell Formatting

• Format > Cells – Select category

• Number• Alignment• Font• Border• Patterns• Protection


Number Tab (1 of 2)• Format > Cells > Number tab• Some categories:

– NumberNumber of desired decimal placesDisplay of negative numbers

– CurrencyAdds currency symbolNumber of desired decimal placesDisplay of negative numbers

– DateDisplays date in specfied format

– TimeDisplays time in specified

– PercentageConverts number to a percentage(Multiplies by 100 and inserts % sign)

– FractionWrites decimal numbers as fractionsSpecifies how many digits to use in conversion


Number Formatting (2 of 2)• Custom

– Customizes display– Specify format by typing a

format code in Type field• Format code syntax:

– yinserts one digit of a year

– Minserts one digit of a month

– Dinserts one digit of a day

– : or / or break between digits

– For example: m-mm:mmm/mmmm

will display 9-09:Sep/September


Allignment and Orientation Tab

• Format > Cells > Alignment tab

• Horizontal:(left, center, right, justify)

• Vertical:(top, center, bottom)

• Orientation “tilts” text by specified angle


Font Tab

• Format > Cells > Font Tab

• Select:– Font Type– Size– Style

(bold, italic, regular)

• Add effects:– Superscript– Subscript– Strikethrough

Preview selection in Preview box


Border Tab

• Format > Cells > Border Tab• Sets border for cells, rows

and columns• Select desired line Style and

Color• Border appearance in

preview window– Buttons enable addition or

removal of border lines


Alternative Border Formatting

• Formatting Toolbar additionaly has a Border Formatting Button

• Each button applies formatting as shown on its small icon.

• Any action will overlay its effect on cell(s) the previous formatting action has made


Pattern Tab

• Format > Cells > Pattern Tab

• Adds background color to cell(s) and/or pattern overlay


Alternative Color Formatting

• Select Fill Color option on Formatting Toolbar

• Expandable menu allows you to select a color


Exercise for Formatting Cells

• Open an Excel spreadsheet• Fill few rows in a column with

random numbers• Format these numbers to appear

as a zip code• Make a thick boarder around these

cells and a thinner one separating each cell

• Change background color to blue


Rows and Columns


Changing Row Height

• For a specific value– Select the row or rows– Format > Row > Height– Enter a value.

• To fit the contents– Select the row or rows– Format > Row > Autofit

• By using the mouse– To change the row height of one row

• Drag the boundary below the row heading until the row is the height that you want

– To change the row height of multiple rows• Select the rows that you want to change, and then drag the boundary below

one of the selected row headings

• To change the row height for all rows on the worksheet– Click the Select All button– Drag the boundary below any row heading.


Changing Column Width (1 of 3)

• To a specific width– Select the column or columns – Format > Column > Width > Value

• To fit contents– Select the column or columns – Format > Column > AutoFit Selection

• To match another column– Select a cell in the source column – Click Copy on the Standard toolbar– Select target column – Edit > Paste Special > Column widths



• Change default width for all columns – For a worksheet

• Click its sheet tab

– For the entire workbook• Right-click a sheet tab• Click Select All Sheets

– Format > Column > Standard Width• Enter a value



Tips• To autofit all columns on the worksheet

– Click Select All– Double-click any boundary between two column headings

OR– Select all columns– Format > Column > AutoFit Selection

• To define the default column width for all new workbooks and worksheets– Create a workbook template and a worksheet template with

desired formats– Base new workbooks and worksheets on those templates


Hiding and Unhiding

Format > Column or Row > Hide

Format > Column or Row > Unhide


Formatting All Cells

• Select an entire row or column• Format > Cells > [select action]• All cells in row or column willb e

changed• Additional cells can be added to

the selection:– CTRL left mouse click on Windows– APPLE mouse click on Mac Additional

cellsselected

Columnselected


Selected Cells


Conditional Formatting (1 of 2)

• Example:– You want book sales

under 15 copies to be formatted in bold red or make underachieving sales stand out.

– Select column C (which contains the book sales numbers)

– Format > Conditional Formatting


Conditional Formatting (2 of 2)

• Select cell value totrigger formatting – In this example:

• Less than 15

• Click Format andselect bold red

• Any cell with less than 15 will be red and bolded

• Use up to 3 conditions per cell or range of cells


Find and Replace

• Edit > Replace tab– Find

• Specify search string• Options

– Specify search criteria

– Exact case, entire contents of cell, etc.

– Replace• Enter replacement

string• Indictae formatting if

desired


Find and Replace by Format

• Click Find Format button

• Select format search criteria

• Click Replace with Format button

• Select new format criteria


Formulas and Wildcards

• The * wildcard The asterisk (*) wildcard character represents any number of characters in that position, including zero characters.

• The ? wildcard The question mark (?) wildcard character represents one characters in that position.

• The ~ wildcard The tilde (~) wildcard character lets you search for characters that are used as wildcards.


Worksheets


Protection

• Tools > Protection > Protect Sheet

• Specify level of security on sheet and in cells

• Pasword is optional


Locking/Unlocking Selected Cells

• Prevents modification of cell contents

• Format > Cells > Protection

• Check Locked

NOTE:For cell protection to work, worksheet protection has to enabled


Freezing Header Titles (1 of 2)

• To keep header row visible while editing:– Window > Freeze

Panes• Freeze the row with

column or row headers in place

• While scrolling, content cells roll up under the frozen headers


Freezing Header Titles (2 of 2)

1. Column titles – Select the first row below the

titles

2. Row titles – Select the first column to the

right

3. Both column and row titles – Click the cell that is both just

below the column titles and just to the right of the row titles.

• If you make a mistake, Click Unfreeze Panes on the Window menu and try again

You can freeze panes anywhere, not just below the first row or to the right of the first column


Comparing Worksheets (1 of 2)

• Window > Compare Side by Side• Side by Side dialog comes up

• Select Scroll method by toggling first icon– Synchronous – both windows scroll simultaneously– Asynchronous – only the active window scrolls

• To positiion each window in a different location and then scroll synchronously:– Position each window using asynchronous scrolling– When in position, click synchronous– Both windows scroll from different positions


Comparing Worksheets (2 of 2)

• Display will look like this


Exercise for Worksheets

• Open an Excell spreadsheet• Open a documant containing many

rows and columns of data• Use AutoFit to adjust the height

and width of each column and row• Freeze Title Panes and scroll down

to see the effect• Replace all the cells containing

numbers with a word “testing”• Reverse this change


Costumizing Toolbars


Adding and Removing Buttons

• To add: • View > Toolbars >

Costumize > Commands– Click on toolbar– Select command to add– Drag it to toolbar

• To remove: • View > Toolbars >

Costumize > Commands– Click on Toolbar– Select command to delete– Right click on a button– Delete

Add or Remove by dragging


Creating a new Tool Bar

• View > Toolbars > Costumize > Toolbars Tab > New– Choose a new name

• Add buttons to it just as shown in previous slide


Editing Buttons

• View > Toolbars > Customize

• Right click on any icon

• A menu of customization options displays

• Example:– Change the button

image– Select an alternate

image for the button

To resetvalues todefaults


Exercise for Costumizing Toolbars

• Open an Excell spreadsheet• Create a new Toolbar and name it

“all in one”• Assign to it 6 commands most

commonly used by you• Change icons for each command• Place your new Toolbar under the

Formatting Toolbar at the top of the screen


Questions about scheduling training sessions or these materials?

Contact: Mel Regnell (ext. 4217)

Having problems with Excel?

Contact: Faculty/Staff Support (ext. 4222)

orStudent Computer Support (ext. 4224)

Documents

February 2006Colby College ITS Formatting Techniques for Excel 2003