Module Three: Formatting and Printinghome.xnet.com/~stuart/prc/files/Module 3.pdfPage 3.6 Excel1 2007 Module 3 PRC Computer Literacy Program Formatting Fonts Fonts come in a variety

Page 3.1

Excel1 2007 Module 3 PRC Computer Literacy Program

Module Three: Formatting and Printing

Welcome to the third lesson in the PRC’s Excel Spreadsheets Course 1. This lesson focuses on

the appearance of the spreadsheet, both on the display screen and on the printed page. But

before that material, the lesson covers what might be the most important topic in Course 1 – how

to get and use Help. After the course is over, after your instructor has changed his phone

number, after you have forgotten how to make Excel dance to your tune, Help is still available if

you remember how to use it. That’s why it is such an important topic. After completing this

lesson, you will be able to format both the spreadsheet as a whole and individual cells within the

spreadsheet, and you will be able to take advantage of formatting schemes contained in a library

of built in styles.

Topics Relative Cell Reference ......................................................................................................... 3.2

Get help .................................................................................................................................. 3.3

Change the look of a spreadsheet ........................................................................................... 3.4

Formatting Fonts .................................................................................................................... 3.6

Print a Spreadsheet ................................................................................................................. 3.8

Set page breaks ...................................................................................................................... 3.9

Setup the Printed Page ......................................................................................................... 3.10

Exercises Exercise A - Use Microsoft Excel help................................................................................ 3.13

Exercise B - Format the Budget Spreadsheet ...................................................................... 3.14

Exercise C - Enhance the Budget Spreadsheet Format ........................................................ 3.17

Exercise D - Enhance the Auto Mileage Spreadsheet ......................................................... 3.19

Summary .............................................................................................................................. 3.22

Objectives Get and use Help

Format the straightforward and uncomplicated aspects of a spreadsheet

Set up spreadsheet features for the printed page

Page 3.2


Relative Cell Reference

The concept of relative cell reference is not easy to grasp. This module begins with a short review of the topic as it

was introduced in the previous module.

The short phrase, “by default,” means that a software program will behave in a certain way unless the user directs

otherwise. By default, the formulas entered in Excel use relative reference. That is, even if a formula contains a cell

reference that appears to point to a specific cell, Excel understands the point in terms of where that cell sits in

relation to the cell containing the reference. This is best understood with a simple example. Starting with a blank

spreadsheet, enter the information shown below.

Figure 3.1 Cell References in Formulas

Remember that although you enter the formula =A1 into cell C2, the value of the formula is displayed in C2. The

formula, itself, is shown on the Formula bar when C2 is selected.

This is about as simple a formula as is possible. It says, “Display the contents of cell A1 in cell C2.” Or that’s what

it seems to say. Excel understands the formula to say, “Display the contents of the cell two columns to the left and

one row up from the cell where the formula resides.” In other words, Excel is using the relative position of the two

cells, C2 and A1, to determine what should be displayed in C2. You can verify this with a small experiment.

Select cell C2. Using the Copy and Paste commands on the Home tab, Clipboard group , or Ctrl+C followed by

Ctrl+V, copy the formula from C2 and paste it into D3. Cell D3 now displays 5, and the Formula bar now shows

=B2. Cell B2 is two columns to the left and one row up from cell D3, where the formula resides. The relative

position of cells C2 and A1 has been preserved in the relation between cells D3 and B2. All methods of copying,

including Autofill and Ctrl + Drag and Drop, will preserve relative reference.

Delete the formula in cell D3. Select cell C2. Using the Cut and Paste commands on the Home tab, Clipboard group

, or Ctrl+X followed by Ctrl+V, move the formula from C2 and paste it into D3. Cell D3 still displays 1, and the

Formula bar still shows =A1. The relative position of cells C2 and A1 has not been preserved in the relation

between cells D3 and B2. All methods of moving, including Drag and Drop, will not preserve relative reference.

By default, copying preserves the relative reference by changing the formula; moving preserves the formula by

changing the relative reference.

Page 3.3


Get Help

After you finish this course, you must face the brutal reality of being without an instructor the next time you tackle a

problem with Microsoft Excel. So the most important thing for you learn in this course is how to get Help with a

capital H. Excel has extensive Help, both on line and off. The next several paragraphs discuss the Help that is

available off line; that is, unconnected to Microsoft Support on the Web.

Help is invoked by clicking on the Help symbol (circle with a ? inside) located at the far right on theTab bar in the

Ribbon or by hitting the F1 key. The Help button is a bit hard to find but it is located in the upper right corner like in

all 2007 Microsoft Applications and it looks like a question mark.

Figure 3.2 Help Button

Type your topic or question in the search box to find information on a specific topic in Help. See Figure 3.2

Figure 3.2 Help Topics

. For example you can type “How do I round off numbers?” or simply “Round Numbers” and Excel will display all

Page 3.4


related topics. The more specific you make your query, the better chance you have of getting the information you

are looking for.

3.3 Example of information returned from Search

Change the look of a spreadsheet

After you have created your spreadsheet, the next step is to change the look both on the screen and as a printed

document. There are a number of obvious changes you can make, like type style, type size, color, etc. However one

useful tool is viewing the formulas in your spreadsheet. Viewing the formulas can help you find errors and provide a

way of documenting your hard work. Figure 3.4 is an example of the Mileage Chart spreadsheet with the formulas

exposed.

Page 3.5


Figure 3.4 Sample spreadsheet with formulas displayed

Selecting the Show Formulas button on the Formulas tab, Formula auditing group changes the cells from values

to formulas. Pressing the Show Formulas button will toggle between values and corresponding formulas.

Figure 3.5 The Formulas Tab

There are many creative changes you can make to a spreadsheet to enhance your final product. For example,

just like the button to show formulas, there is also a checkbox to the left of Gridlines in the View tab, Show/Hide

group. Selecting Gridlines will remove or restore the horizontal and vertical gridlines from the spreadsheet.

Note: The Gridlines command does not have any effect on printing. Printing gridlines is controlled in the Page

Setup area. How to print gridlines will be discussed later in this lesson.

While you’re entering data, gridlines can help the eye focus on the correct row. Once your data has been entered,

removing the gridlines makes your spreadsheet more appealing.

Page 3.6


Formatting Fonts

Fonts come in a variety of shapes and they are categorized into families. For example, Arial is the name of a popular

and commonly used font.

Figure 3.6 Sample fonts found on most computers

Within the Arial family, there are Arial Narrow, Arial Black, Arial Rounded MT Bold. Many fonts have strange

names, like Bodoni Poster. Courier is very similar to the type found on Selectric typewriters.

Times New Roman is the font used in this paragraph and throughout the course material. Font size is measured in

points. 72 points is equal to one inch. The type you’re looking at now is 10 points. It is common to make titles and

headings a few points larger than the data in your spreadsheet.

The fonts installed on your computer can be quickly selected by using the Font and Font Size drop-down menus in

the Home tab, Font group within the ribbon.

Figure 3.7 The Font and Font Size drop-down toolbar menus within the Home tab, Font group

By clicking on the down arrowhead to the right of the font name, a drop-down menu reveals all the fonts available to

you.

The Formatting tool bar can also be displayed by right clicking the button while the cursor is in any cell.

Figure 3.8 The Toolbar is displayed when right clicking on any cell

A r ia l

A ria l N a rro w

A r ia l B la c k

A r ia l R o u n d e d M T B o ld

B o d o n i P o s t e r

T im e s N e w R o m a n

C o u r i e r

Page 3.7


In addition to size, a single font can have one of four styles, it can be underlined and/or colored, and it can display

one of three effects. These choices are available in the same toolbar. The three most frequently used styles, Bold,

Italic, Underlined, and COLOR have buttons on the Formatting toolbar which makes it easy to apply these styles.

Figure 3.9 Common Formats Used

You also have additional formatting choices by right clicking on any cell and choosing the Format menu.

Figure 3.10 The Format Cells Dialog

Other options like borders and shading will be discussed in a later lesson.

Preset formatting for cells and tables within an Excel spreadsheet can be found on the Home tab, Styles group.

Page 3.8


Print a Spreadsheet

Printing a spreadsheet is somewhat more complicated than printing a word processing document. The reason can be

traced back to the original intent of the two programs. Originally, word processing documents were bound, or

closely-coupled, to a standard 8.5 by 11 page size. Originally, spreadsheets were freed, or de-coupled, from the

standard, multi-column accounting pad. Printing parameters like physical page size, margins around all four edges

of the physical page, printing orientation, headers, footers, etc. are supported by both programs, but the method of

implementation is different. You set these parameters in Page Setup… under the Office Button->Print->Print

Preview view.

Figure 3.11 Getting to the Page Setup Dialog

The first issue you need to resolve is where page breaks, both horizontal and vertical, will occur in your spreadsheet.

Excel will try to figure how much will fit onto the page defined in Page Setup as shown above and will

automatically insert page breaks for you. So a good first step is to see what Excel has already done automatically.

This can be done two ways: (1) select Page Break Preview under the View tab, Workbook views group or (2)

select Print Preview under the Office button as shown above.

Page 3.9


Figure 3.12 Showing Page Break View by clicking Page Break View

Using (2) is preferable to (1) because headers and footers are also displayed in Print Preview.

If the results of the preview are satisfactory then you are ready to print. To print a spreadsheet,select the Print

Menu->Print command on the Office Menu Button. The appearance of the Print dialog box varies depending on

your brand and type of printer, but it should give you an opportunity to choose which pages you would like to print

and how many copies you want printed.

Figure 3.13 Print Command under Print Menu in Office Button

Set page breaks

If the results of the preview are not satisfactory, you can override the automatic settings and place a page break, both

horizontal and vertical, anywhere you want, as long as that placement results in a smaller page size than the

automatic setting. Excel will then adjust the automatic settings to compensate for your manual settings. Automatic

page breaks appear as a dashed line with very short dashes. To set a page break, click on the row heading below

where you want the break to occur or click on the column heading to the right of where you want the break to occur.

Then select the Breaks->Insert Page Break command on the Page Layout tab, Page Setup group. Manual page

breaks appear as a dashed line with longer dashes.

Page 3.10


If you experience strange results when you print your spreadsheet, check for unwanted page breaks. Tip: It is easier

to see page breaks, and the difference between automatic and manual page breaks, if gridlines are off. It is

always smart to call for a Print Preview before printing.

To remove a vertical page break that you have manually inserted you must select a cell or column immediately to

the right of the dashed line. For example, if the dashed line is between column C and column D, select any cell in

column D to remove the page break. Then select the Breaks->Remove Page Break command in the Page Layout

tab, Page Setup group. To remove a horizontal page break that you have manually inserted you must select a cell or

column immediately below the dashed line. For example, if the dashed line is between row 11 and row 12, select

any cell in row 12 to remove the page break. Then select the Breaks->Remove Page Break command in the Page

Layout tab, Page Setup group.

Figure 3.13 Page Breaks Command on Page Layout tab, Page Setup group

If the results of manually setting page breaks are satisfactory then you are ready to print. To print a spreadsheet

select the Print command on the Office Button Menu. The print dialog box gives you an opportunity to choose

which pages you would like to print and how many copies you want printed.

Setup the Printed Page

If the results of manually manipulating page breaks are not satisfactory, or there are other print parameters that you

want to change, then you need to select the Page Setup group under the Page Layout tab. (see Figure 3.13)

You can also access the Page Setup dialog box by selecting Print > Print preview under the Office button (see Figure

3.11)

Page setup dialog box is is sub-divided into four areas:

* Orientation and Size

* Margins

* Headers and Footers

* Other Options

Under the Page tab you will find the Portrait or Landscape orientation setting, Scaling, and Paper Size. There are 22

pre-defined paper sizes built into Excel. If you cannot find the size you need in that list, you can define your own,

custom size. Your printer must be able to accommodate whichever size you choose..

Page 3.11


Figure 3.16 The Page Setup dialog box looking at Orientation and Size

The Print Quality option is usually overridden by the settings you make for your printer. You can also set where

you want page numbering to begin on the Page tab. This is handy when your workbook contains a number of pages

including one that acts as a cover sheet on which you do not want a page number to appear.

The margins settings are located under the Margins tab and can be set to inches and/or fractions of an inch for the

top, bottom, left and right. While working in your spreadsheet you will not see these margins. You must use Print

Preview to see if the margins are correct before printing. You may want to minimize your margins to get more

rows/columns printed on the paper. The header and footer margin text boxes are used to set the distance from the

edge of the paper to the top of the header or the bottom of the footer.

Page 3.12


Figure 3.17 The Page Setup dialog box looking at Margins

In Figure 3.17 the distance from the edge of the page to the top of the header is 0.5 inches and to the top of the

spreadsheet is 1.0 inches. This creates a header textbox that is 0.5 inches high. If the material you put into that

textbox needs more than 0.5 inches, you will have to come back to this dialog box and adjust the Top margin.

____________________________________

The following exercises will help solidify the topics taught in this lesson. The sample spreadsheets can be found on

the computer hard drive in the Excel 1 2007 Files folder. Explore the samples and have fun making changes.

Page 3.13


Exercise A - Use Microsoft Excel help

In this exercise you will use a blank spreadsheet and the Microsoft Excel Help system to locate information

on several topics

Start Microsoft Excel.

1 Select the Help Menu and put the cursor in the search box.

You are interested in finding help on copying the results of a formula

2 Enter “How do I copy a formula?” then click Search.

3 Select the help document Move or Copy a Formula.

4 Adjust the widths of the windows to make reading easier

5 Read through the description (on the right) in the Help window and check the meaning of the phrase

“absolute” shown in maroon.

Now you are interested in some information on changing formats

6 Enter How do I change formatting? and then click Search.

7 In the window below, double-click on Change the font or font size in Excel

8 Read through the description (on the right) in the Help window and check the meaning of the phrase

“defaul” shown in maroon.

Congratulations! You have successfully completed Exercise A

Page 3.14


Exercise B - Format the Budget Spreadsheet

In this exercise you will continue working on the budget spreadsheet from Lesson Two. The budget

spreadsheet can be found on your hard drive as 1.3budget.xls. Make changes to the spreadsheet and save it

as 1.3budget_rev.xls.

Select the Excel 1 2007 Files folder on your computer.

1 Start Microsoft Excel by selecting it from among the Programs in the Start Menu.

It should open with a blank spreadsheet named Book1

2 Select Open under the Office Button

3 In the Open dialog box, find the My Documents folder

4 Click on (Select) the Excel 1 2007 Files folder icon

5 Click on (Open) to open the folder containing the Excel 1 files

6 From the list of files, click on 1.3budget and then click the Open button.

To preserve the original spreadsheet, save the spreadsheet using a new name.

7 Select the Office Button and then select the Save As... command.

8 Select Excel Workbook at the top of the list

9 In the File name: text box, type the new name 1.3budget_rev

10 Verify that the Excel 1 2007 Files is displayed in the Save In: text box

11 Click on the Save button

The budget spreadsheet should now be open.

Changing font styles to draw attention to the titles

12 Click in cell A1 to select the spreadsheet title cell

13 Click on the Home tab

14 Under the Font group choose the Times New Roman font, 18pt, Bold and the color Blue under Fonts

group.

Use the small scroll bar to see the Times New Roman font selection

15 You may need to adjust the row height after changing the font size in A1. To change the row height,

double-click on the border between the row headings for rows 1 and 2

16 Click in cell A2 and change the font style to Bold and Italic using the buttons on the Home tab, Font

group.

17 Click in cell A21 and make the same changes

18 Click in the row heading on Row 3 and make the month titles Bold. Repeat for the month titles in Row 22

19 Click and drag from cell A4 through cell A16 to select all the expense titles

20 Click on the Home tab (if you are not there already)

21 Choose Bold and the color Dark Red under the Fonts group

22 Select all the income titles, click and drag from cell A23 through A27

23 Choose Bold and the color Dark Green under the Fonts group

24 Change the remaining titles to Bold

Expense Total

Grand Total

Income Total

Grand Total

Difference

Page 3.15


25 Using the font size selection box on the Home tab, Font group, change the font size in cell A2 and A21 to

16 points.

You may need to adjust the row height after changing the font sizes in cells A2 and A21.

26 Click in the row heading for Row 2 to select the row

27 In the Home tab, Cells group select the Format drop down menu and select Autofit Row Height

28 Repeat the same procedure for Row 21

29 Press Ctrl+Home to return to cell A1

30 Remove the gridlines by selecting checkmark next to Gridlines under the Show/Hide group in the View

tab.

31 With the gridlines removed, select the Print Preview command under the Office Button to view your

handy work.

32 While in Print Preview, the scroll in the mouse will toggle you between page 1 and 2 and the Close Print

Preview button will close Print Preview. You can also click on the Next Page/Previous Page buttons.

Change the spreadsheet to print in Landscape mode

33 Select the Page Setup group under the Page Layout tab

34 Select the Orientation drop down menu and and choose Landscape..

35 Select the Print/Print Preview command under the Office Button

36 Click the Close Print Preview button to return to the spreadsheet

Add a page break between June and July to split the year into 6 month intervals

37 Click in the column header just to the right of where you want the vertical page break; in this case, click in

the column header of column H

38 Select the Breaks button under the Page Setup group in the Page Layout tab

39 Select Insert Page Breaks

40 You can see the two types of dashed lines indicating a page break. To see what it would look like on the

printed page, go to the Office Button, Print option and click the Print Preview button .

41 Use the Next Page button on the Print Preview screen to see page 2, then press the Close button to continue

Removing a page break is an important skill

42 To remove a vertical page break, click in any cell which borders on the right of the dashed line. In this case,

any cell in Column H

43 Select the Remove Page Break command on the Breaks Button in the Page Setup group in the Page

Layout tab.

Removing horizontal page breaks works basically the same way. You must click in the cell just below the

gray dashed line. With the page break removed and if you are satisfied with the changes, print you

spreadsheet

44 Restore the gridlines by selecting the checkmark next to Gridlines on the Show/Hide group in the View

tab

Remember that this option only affects the Gridlines on the screen. Printed Gridlines are controlled under

Page Setup/Sheet under the Page Setup group in the Page Layout Tab.

45 Print your spreadsheet either by selecting the Print/Print command under the Office Button .

46 Return to cell A1 by pressing Ctrl+Home

Your completed spreadsheet should look like Figure 3.18 below.

Page 3.16


Figure 3.18 Exercise B completed spreadsheet

47 Save your work using the Save command under the Office Button.

Congratulations! You have successfully completed Exercise B

Page 3.17


Exercise C - Enhance the Budget Spreadsheet Format

In this exercise you will continue working on the budget spreadsheet.

1 The 1.3budget_rev spreadsheet should still be open. If it is, skip to Step 4.

2 Use the Office Button and click on Open

3 Open 1.3budget_rev under My Documents\Excel 1 2007 Files folder

The budget spreadsheet should now be open.

4 Select the range of cells B4:M16

5 Find the Home tab, Number group

6 Use the increase decimal button to increase the decimals to 2, then select “,” button, 7Repeat the same for

the income range of cells B23:M27

Center the Title

8 Click in cell A1 and drag to cell M1

9 Merge the cells and center the title by clicking on the Merge Cells dropdown oin the Home tab,

Alignment group. Choose Merge & Center from the dropdown menu

Figure 3.19 The Merge Cells button on the Home tab, Alignment group

10 Click outside the current selection, in any blank cell, to turn off the highlighting

11 Select the Page Layout tab in the ribbon

12 Use the Orientation dropdown to choose Landscape

14 Select the Margins dropdown menu and choose Custom Margins

15 Double-click in the Left Margin: text box and type .4

16 Repeat in the Right Margin: text box then click OK.

17 Find the Sheet Options group on the Page Layout tab

18 Uncheck the Gridlines Print box and uncheck the Headings Print box

19 Click on Print Preview

20 Verify that the budget spreadsheet fits all on one page. If it doesn’t go to the Scale to Fit group on the

Page Layout tab. Under the Width dropdown menu choose “1 page” and under the Height dropdown

menu choose “1 page”.

21 Click on Close

Your spreadsheet should look similar to the one in Figure 3.20 on the next page.

Page 3.18


Figure 3.20 Exercise C completed spreadsheet

22 Select the Office Button and then select the Close command – do not save the spreadsheet

Congratulations! You have successfully completed Exercise C

Page 3.19


Exercise D - Enhance the Auto Mileage Spreadsheet

In this exercise you will continue working on the auto mileage spreadsheet from Lesson 2. The auto

mileage spreadsheet can be found in the Excel 1 2007 Files folder as 1.3auto.xls. Make changes to the

spreadsheet and save it as 1.3auto_rev.xls.

1 Close all open Excel documents.

2 Using the Office Button|Open sequence, open 1.3auto in the Excel 1 2007 Files folder

To preserve the original spreadsheet, save the spreadsheet using a new name.

3 Using the File | Save As… sequence, save the document as 1.3auto_rev in the same folder

The auto mileage spreadsheet should now be open.

Changing the font type for the entire spreadsheet

4 Click on the small button just left of the Column A heading button and just above the Row 1 heading

button. This button is called the “Select All” button. The entire spreadsheet should be highlighted.

Figure 3.21 The Select All button or how to highlight all cells in a spreadsheet

5 Click on the Home tab, go to the Font group and change the font type to Times New Roman. You will

need to click on the drop down arrowhead on the right-hand side of the font box to see all the font

choices.

6 Also change the font size to 12 points using the font size box on the Formatting toolbar

The contents of the spreadsheet now looked “scrunched” into their cells. This is because, while you made a

global change in font size, Excel was not smart enough to change the Row height to make room for your

change. Excel will automatically adjust Row height for local changes to individual cells.

7 Starting at Home tab, in the Cells group, use the Format | Autofit Row Height sequence to adjust Row

height

8 Click once in cell A1 to turn off the highlighting.

Selectively change the spreadsheet titles

9 Click in cell A1 and change the title to 20 points, Bold

10 Click and drag to select cells D2 and D3, change them to Bold and Italic

11 Click in the row heading for Row 5 and change the titles to Bold and Blue. Font color can be selected from

a button in the Font group.

Readjust the column widths

12 Click and drag to the right across the column headings Column A through Column E

13 Select the Autofit Column Width command using the Format button in the Cells group

14 Click into cell A1 to remove the highlighting

Page 3.20


Oops, Column A is too big

15 Position the mouse pointer on the borderline between the Column A heading and the Column B heading.

Once the mouse pointer turns into the vertical adjust pointer, click and drag the dotted vertical line to the

left until Departure City just fits, thereby making Column A narrower.

16 Click and drag to select all Departure Cities A6 through A54 and change the color of the font to any color.

Font color can be selected from a button on the Home tab Font group.

17 Change the color of the font on the Destination Cities B6 through B54

18 Click and drag down across cells E2 and E3 and change their color to Red

19 Click and drag from cell C6 through cell E54 and change to Italic

20 Press Ctrl+Home to return to A1

21 Remove the gridlines by deselecting the Gridlines checkbox in the Show/Hide group on the View tab

(note: you can also delect the View Gridlines from the PageLayout tab, Sheet Options group)

22 With the gridlines removed, select the Print Preview command under the Print menu in the Office Button

to view your handy work.

The spreadsheet spans across two pages. Use the Next Page and Previous Page buttons to change which

page is displayed. Use the Close button to close Print Preview.

Adjust the margins to fit all the data on one page

23 Open up the Page Setup dialog box in the Page Layout tab under Page setup group

24 Type over the 1” number highlighted in the Top margin text box and type .25

25 Press the Tab key and make the Bottom margin the same, .25

26 Click the OK button

27 Click on the Print Preview button on the Print menu in the Office button

The data still overflows onto Page 2.

Let’s try changing the space between the rows of information.

28 Click and drag in the row heading from Row 6 to Row 54 to select all the detailed information.

29 On the Home tab select the Format button in the Cells group, the click Row Height. Change the size to 13

and click the OK button.

30 Now click on the Print Preview button on the Print Menu in the Office Button

Success!!! By reducing the size of the margins and the spacing between rows, you were able to fit the

spreadsheet on one page.

40 Print the Auto Mileage spreadsheet

Your completed spreadsheet should look like the one in Figure 3.22 on the next page.

Page 3.21


Figure 3.22 Exercise D completed spreadsheet

41 Save your work by selecting the Save command under the Office button.

Congratulations! You have successfully completed Exercise D

Page 3.22


Summary

Now you can...

Use the Show Formulas command in the Formulas tab, Formula Auditing group to display

spreadsheet formulas.

Remove gridlines when viewing a chart and add them to printed reports.

Change Fonts and Font sizes.

Set formatting preferences for your spreadsheet using the commands in the Page Setup group under

the Page Layout tab.

Identify and manipulate Page Breaks.

You have explored how to change the appearance of a spreadsheet both on the display screen and on paper.

In the next lesson you will learn about functions like sum, average, min and max to further enhance your

spreadsheets. You will also explore sorting and spell check to create complex and comprehensive

spreadsheets.

NOTES