Setting Options and Customising Microsoft Excel 2002
Introduction
Like all Microsoft Office products, Excel allows you to customise various
settings to suit your own requirements. Whereas Microsoft Word has a default
template called normal.dot, Excel has a special file called Excel.xlb in which
your settings are stored. Note that not all settings are stored here, however for example, each file has its own colour palette.
Perhaps the most useful customisation centres around the toolbars and menus.
You can decide which toolbars to display (and where you would like them
positioned on the screen). If you want to, you can remove, add or rearrange
the buttons on a toolbar (or the commands in a menu). You can even create
your own toolbars and menus, adding either built-in commands or your own
(using macros - see Writing Macros in Microsoft Excel 2003 for further
information).
Another common area of customisation concerns charts. You can create your
own chart types and change the palette of colours used on charts. Defining
your own types lets you apply a given layout to a set of charts - eg for a
particular publication or thesis. While on the subject of colours, you can also
modify the default colour palette used for fonts and filling cells.
A further aspect of customisation centres around customised lists. A few lists
are built into the system (eg the days of the week and months of the year) but
you can create your own. These can then be used to fill further cells or to sort
data in a particular order.
Finally, there are a host of other options which can be set, some of which you
may find useful.
NOTE: On the public PCs, any changes you make to the settings held in
Excel.xlb are not retained by the system - they are saved on the PC you
are using, not in My Documents.
Customising Menus and Toolbars
Customising the buttons displayed on the toolbars is one of the easiest ways to
improve the efficiency of your use of Excel. Any command which you use
regularly (and which may be hidden deep within the menu system) can be
added as an icon on a toolbar. If you prefer using the menu system then the
command can similarly be displayed more prominently there.
The way menus and toolbars (plus toolbar buttons) can be customised is
virtually the same throughout the Microsoft Office applications. As such, these
aspects of customisation are not dealt with explicitly in this document. Instead,
you are directed to the following sets of notes:
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Changing Button Images in Microsoft Office
Customising Menus in Microsoft Office
Customising Toolbars in Microsoft Office
Customising the Colour Palette
The colour palette used by Excel for data in cells, filling cells, chart lines and
areas can be modified to suit your own preferences. Some of the default fill
colours which appear on charts are not that exciting and, for people with visual
impairment, may be difficult to distinguish between. To change the colours in
the palette:
1. Start up Excel with an empty worksheet
2. Open the Tools menu and select Options...
3. Click on the Color tab
The 56-colour palette is divided into three sections. The Standard colors: (40 in
total) are those used for fonts and filling cells; the Chart fills: (8 colours) are
used for shading areas in charts; a further 8 colours are used for Chart lines:.
To change any of the colours:
4. Click on the colour to be changed
5. Now click on [Modify...]
6. In the Colors window, click on the Standard tab (or set a colour from the
Custom tab)
7. Select the new colour from the range of 127 (+ 15 grey shades) provided
8. Press <Enter> or click on [OK]
9. Repeat steps 4 to 8 for any further colours you would like to change
10. Click on [OK] to fix the amended palette
Try out the new palette, if you like, by colouring cells, changing font colour or
by entering data and drawing a graph.
Copying a Colour Palette
The colour palette is a setting which is associated with the workbook, not Excel
itself. To demonstrate this:
1. Click on the [New] button
2. Open the Tools menu and select Options... - move to the Color tab if
necessary
You should find that the colour palette is the original default one provided by
the system. If you want the revised palette then you have to copy it from the
workbook where it has been defined. You can only do this if both workbooks
are open at the same time (which they are here).
3. Click on the list arrow attached to the Copy colors from: box
4. Select Book1 - the palette changes immediately
5. Press <Enter> for [OK] to close the Options window
Note that if you copy an object or cells with a customized colour from one
workbook to another, the colour will change to that of the corresponding colour
in the other workbook's palette. To retain the colour, you either have to modify
the second workbook's palette or copy across the palette from the first
workbook.
Saving a Colour Palette
If you want to have the colour palette permanently available, you have to save
it in a template. Full instructions on using templates are given in Templates in
Microsoft Excel 2003.
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Open the File menu and choose Save As...
Change Save as type: to Template (*.xlt)
Supply a File name: (eg Colour) then press <Enter> for [Save]
[Close] the template file window
Now, to create a new file with your personalised colour palette:
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Open the File menu and choose New... - the Task Pane is displayed
Under the heading New from template click on General templates
Select the new template (Colour.xlt) then press <Enter> for [OK]
Open the Tools menu and select Options... - move to the Color tab if
necessary
You should find you have your own palette of colours. Note that if you have
your own PC you can save the template (as Book.xlt) in a special XLStart
folder so that it becomes the Excel default.
9. Press <Enter> for [OK] to close the Options window
Restoring the Colour Palette
To restore the colour palette back to the system default:
1. Open the Tools menu and select Options... - move to the Color tab if
necessary
2. Click on the [Reset] button - the default colours reappear
3. Click on [OK] to close the Options window
Creating Custom Chart Types
Another very useful area of customisation is being able to save a chart as a
custom type. This is particularly useful if you want a set format for a group of
charts - instead of having to format each chart element individually, you simply
impose the required format on each chart in turn.
1. [Open] the file example.xls, which is stored in the User folder on the
User (D:) drive
2. Click on the background of the graph to select it then apply a different [Fill
Color]
3. Double click on the Chart Title and, on the Font tab, change the Font style:
to Bold Italic and the Size: to 13.5 - press <Enter> for [OK]
You have now customised the chart - it has a different colour background and
different title to normal. To save the changes as a custom chart type:
4. Open the Chart menu and choose Chart Type...
5. Click on the Custom Types tab in the Chart Type window
6. Under the option Select from choose User-defined then click on [Add...]
7. In the Add Custom Chart Type window supply a Name: for your chart - eg
MyColumn
8. Press <Enter> for [OK] - the type is added to the list (note that you can
define it or any other type as the default type via the [Set as default
chart] button)
9. Click on [OK] to close the Chart Type window
To test out the new chart type:
10. Select the cell range A1 to C13 (ie missing out row 14)
11. Click on the [Chart Wizard] button
12. Click on [Finish] to get a standard column chart on the worksheet
13. Now open the Chart menu, select Chart Type... and view the Custom
Types tab
14. Select from User-defined, choose MyColumn then press <Enter> for
[OK]
Your chart now matches the original (except for the size - it's better to store
charts on separate chart sheets). Note that you could also have selected your
custom chart type in the Chart Wizard.
Once defined, the chart type is available for you to apply to other charts in
other files. If you are customising Excel on your own PC, it will be there each
time you use Excel in future. On the public PCs, however, the information is
lost and you have to re-define the chart type each time you use Excel - simply
load up a file containing the required chart, add it to the custom types as above,
close the file then open the second file and apply the chart type to it.
Creating Custom Lists
A list is a set of values which can be entered into cells via a single list member.
For example, if you type May into a cell you can obtain all the months of the
year by dragging out the cell handle. The list continues on from the list member
typed (forwards or backwards) and circles round when it reaches the list end.
Examples of useful lists are A B C D E F G ... X Y Z (for the alphabet),
Bridges Bulmershe Childs ... Windsor (for the Halls of Residence at the
University) or a list of names (of staff or students). Whereas the months of the
year are built in, personal lists like the above have to be entered into the
system.
1. Open the Tools menu and select Options...
2. Click on the Custom Lists tab
To enter a new list:
3. Click in the List entries: box and type in the required values (separate
them either by commas or by pressing <Enter>) - any values will do for
practice
4. When the list is finished, click on [Add] - the values now appear under
Custom lists:
5. You can make changes to the list, if you need to, by editing in the List
entries box
Note that you can also Import list from cells: by typing a cell range into the box
and clicking on [Import] and can [Delete] a list you no longer require.
6. Click on [OK] to close the Options window
7. Now type any value from the list into a cell
8. Drag the cell handle across/back or down/up to extend the list
forwards/backwards to other cells
Further details on using lists can be found in the document Extending a Series
and Creating a Custom List in Microsoft Excel 2003. Instructions on using a
custom list for sorting data can be found under Advanced Sort Options in the
document Sorting, Subtotals and Outlines in Microsoft Excel 2003.
Other Option Settings
The other tabs in the Options window provide various other settings which can
be customised. A summary of some of what's available follows. For an option
not covered, right click on it and select What's this? to get a brief summary of
what it does. For further information consult the on-line help system.
1. Open the Tools menu and select Options...
2. Click on each tab in turn to review what's available (see the sections which
follow)
3. When you have finished, click on [OK] to close the Options window
View Options
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Show - note that Startup Task Pane has been turned off on the ITS lab
PCs. With Windows in Taskbar set on an icon for each file open appears
in the taskbar
Comments - choose whichever of the 3 options you prefer. With
Comment indicator only comments show as you move the cursor over the
red triangles
Objects (eg pictures) - again, choose the setting you prefer. Show all is
the usual choice
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Window options - most options here are self-evident. Showing Page
breaks can be useful; showing Formulas instead of values is useful in
teaching notes. Zero values displays a 0 rather than leaving the cell blank.
Color refers to the colour of the gridlines
Calculation Options
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Calculation - usually these are performed Automatically as you enter data
but sometimes you want Manual control. With this option on you can
choose to recalculate all the sheets with [Calc Now (F9)] or just the active
sheet [Calc Sheet]
Iteration - the values set here are used in limiting goal seeking and for
resolving circular references. You can set the Maximum change and
number of iterations
Workbook options - Update remote references recalculates formulae
using values from another file. If you are picking up data via linked files
you might need to turn Save external link values off (to reduce disk space
and the time to open the file). The 1904 date system might need to be
used if you open an Excel file from a Mac on a PC. Precision as displayed
permanently changes stored values from the standard 15 digits accuracy.
Accept labels in formulas lets you type in a formula such as = number *
cost where you have columns of data headed number and cost.
Edit Options
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Edit directly in cell lets you double click on a cell to edit a formula or value
Allow cell drag and drop lets you move or copy cells by dragging on the
cell border; it also lets you fill a series using the cell handle
Move selection after Enter determines what happens after pressing the
<Enter> key
With Fixed decimal on (and 2 Places) typing 111 gives 1.11 (if Places are
-1 you get 1110)
Cut, copy, and sort objects with cells keeps graphics with their associated
cell in sort etc
Enable AutoComplete for cell values picks up previous values in a list as
you type
Extend list formats and formulas autoformats new items added to a list or
repeats formulas (if 3 of the above 5 rows are full). For example, if you
have the numbers 1 to 3 in a column and formulae calculating their
squares (shown in bold) in the next, as you type 4 in the next row, 16 in
bold appears automatically
Enable automatic percent entry multiplies all numbers <1 by 100 in cells
with a % format - ie 5 becomes 5% but .5 gives 50%
Note that Show Paste Options buttons and Show Insert Options buttons
have both been turned off on the ITS lab PCs. If these are switched on
then a button appears each time you issue a Paste command, from which
you can choose options like Paste Special
General Options
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Settings - R1C1 reference style lets you use relative references (eg R1C1
is A1; RC[-1] is the cell to the left; R[1]C the cell below). If you want to
provide summary information, turn on Prompt for workbook properties.
Zoom on roll with IntelliMouse can be useful but Zoom is limited to 100%.
Function tooltips sets whether the tooltips are shown or not. Up to 9
entries can appear in the Recently used file list:
Click on the link to Web Options… and explore these if you are interested
The other options here are largely self-explanatory. The number of Sheets
in new workbook and Standard font and font Size are particularly useful.
The Default file location can be set here. Any files you want loaded
automatically each time you start Excel can be placed in the XLStart folder
or the Alternate startup file location
Transition Options
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Excel files can be saved in a different default format by changing Save
Excel files as
Settings - the options here allow a Lotus 1-2-3 user to use Excel by
pressing the keystrokes familiar to him. With Lotus 1-2-3 Help on, for
example, typing / invokes the Help menu
Sheet options - these again determine what happens when you open a
file saved with Lotus 1-2-3 rules
Chart Options
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Active chart - these only become operative when you have a chart
selected. The first option gives you three ways of Plotting empty cells
(missing values). For Interpolated you need an X-Y graph. If you don’t
want hidden cells plotted, turn on Plot visible cells only. If you want to size
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the chart independent of the window size, turn off Chart sizes with window
frame
Chart tips - Show names / Show values display these settings when you
rest the pointer over the chart item
International Options
Save Options
Error Checking Options
Spelling Options
Security Options