Instructor’s Notes
Beginning Excel
Tutorial 3
Beginning Excel
103-123
Tutorial 3
Notes
Activity
Improving Worksheet Appearance
Formatting Cell Data
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Predefined formats OK, but might need to customize
Formatting changes way data appears, not what is stored
Can format cells before or after data is entered
When copying cells, formats copied also
Default format: General
 Labels aligned to left, default font and size
 Numbers aligned to right, only as many decimals as
needed, no commas
Access the format menu
 Select cells to format
 Single cell
 Range
 Collection (ctrl-click)
 Access Cell Format menu
 Select button from format menu
 Right-click in range, Format Cells…
 Format | Cells… from menu
 Select formatting to apply
Number formatting
 Comma style button (commas, 2 decimals)
 Currency ($, commas, 2 decimals, negative in
red+parenthesis)
 Accounting ($ (fixed), commas, 2 decimals)
 Used for $ style button on toolbar
 Percent style: value in cell automatically
multiplied by 100, % sign, 2 decimals
 Increasing, reducing number of decimal places
 Specify as entering original format (when not
using format toolbar)
 Click Increase or Decrease Decimal buttons
on toolbar
Changing Font, Font Style, Font Size, Font Color
 All available on Formatting Toolbar
 To see font sample before applying to cells, use
Format dialog box, Font tab
Open Swingline Payroll 2
Change format of hours,
total hours, and average &
total hours to number, 1
decimal place
Change Gross Pay to $,2
Change Gross Pay to
currency, 2 (Note $
movement)
Change Pay Rate to $,2
Change Pay Increase to
%,1
Format Projected Pay for
Currency,2 Calculate
Projected Pay
1
Instructor’s Notes
Beginning Excel
Notes
Aligning Cell Contents
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Select cells to align
Select alignment button on Formatting Toolbar
or
Select Alignment tab from formatting dialog box and
adjust horizontal alignment
Tutorial 3
Activity
Right-align labels over
numeric columns
Right-align all other labels
except those in rows 1-3
Center Gross Pay and
Projected Pay
(Note vertical alignment option)
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Aligning Across Columns
 When labels are centered across columns, the text
will remain centered even if column widths are
changed or columns are added or deleted.
 Enter label (almost always) in left most cell
 Highlight cell containing data and cells to align
across
 Select Center Across Selection from Alignment tab
Center rows 1 & 2 across
columns A-K
Note: can center across for multiple rows
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Wrapping Text in a Cell
 Instead of entering one line of a long label in one row
of a cell and the next line in the row underneath, you
can instruct Excel to wrap text in a cell rather than
spilling over into adjacent cells.
 Select the cells where wrapping should apply
 Select the Wrap Text checkbox in the Format dialog
box Alignment tab
 Type label for cell. When text no longer fits in cell,
row height will increase to allow another line for the
label.
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Indenting Cell Contents
 Select the cells to be indented
 Click the Increase Indent button on the toolbar
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Instructor’s Notes
Beginning Excel
Notes
Adding/Removing Borders from cells
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Borders can be used to attract attention to cells and to
separate labels from data without adding extra rows.
Select cells where borders need to be changed
Access the Format Cells dialog box Borders tab
Change default (automatic) color if necessary
Select border style
Note border style must be chosen before border location
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Select border location
 Outline
 Inside
 All cells
Tip: Avoid adding borders to cells containing data. Add
borders to the header rows above and/or below the data.
This allows you to add new data rows without having to
adjust the borders.
 Adding Shadows to borders (not in text)
 Text describes adding shadows to text boxes; can
also do for regular outline borders
 Add border to cells
 Open drawing toolbar, click shadow
and select
type
Tutorial 3
Activity
Select J7 and K7 for
wrapping. Re-enter labels
in one cell only.
Remove excess row from
table
Use all techniques to
change font, size, style,
color of all data labels (all
but names)
Add borders (differing line
styles) to:
2 title lines
above and below row 6
above and below 18-19
Add shadow to title line
border. Add blank line to
improve spacing
Changing Cell Background Color
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Increased emphasis for data, plus a little life for boring
data
Highlight cells
Select color from Format dialog box, Patterns tab
or
Use Fill Color button on toolbar
Change color of title cells
Change color of Pay Rate
and Pay Raise cells
3
Instructor’s Notes
Beginning Excel
Notes
Using the Format Painter
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After setting a cell’s format, you may decide later to
apply that same formatting to another cell(s). You can
quickly do this by using the format painter. The format
painter copies the format of the selected cell to other
cells.
Select cell(s) with format to copy
Click the Format Painter button on the toolbar
(no menu option for this)
Highlight the cells to receive the new format
Note any other formatting applied to receiving cells is
replaced
Click outside the highlighted cells to see results
Tutorial 3
Activity
Copy the formatting of the
Pay Rate label to the
Minimum, Maximum,
Total, and Average labels.
Tip: To copy the format of a cell to multiple ranges of cells,
double-click the Format Painter button, drag as many
ranges as you want, then click the Format Painter button
again, to turn it off.
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Using the fill handle to copy formatting.
 Select the cell(s) whose format you want to copy
 Drag the fill handle over the cells you want to format
 Click the Auto Fill Options button
 Select the Fill Formatting Only option
Quickly Formatting a Worksheet
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Use AutoFormat to quickly improve the appearance of a
worksheet.
Highlight cells to formatted (normally all that contain
data)
Format | AutoFormat
Select the formatting style you like.
AutoFormat Girl Scout
Cookies.
Experiment with all styles,
undo to try others.
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Instructor’s Notes
Beginning Excel
Notes
Tutorial 3
Activity
Replacing One Format With Another
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Advanced Technique
If you want to replace one style of formatting with
another throughout the entire worksheet, you can use
Find/Replace to quickly make the changes
 Select Edit Replace from the menu
(or press Ctrl-H)
 Click the Options>>> button to make the formatting
options available
 Click the top Format button to designate which
format to replace
 Select the appropriate options to designate the format
to replace
 Click OK
 Select the bottom Format button to designate the
new format (to replace the original)
 Select the appropriate options to designate the new
format.
 Click OK
 Select the Replace All button to replace all
occurrences of the original format with the new
format.
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Instructor’s Notes
Beginning Excel
Notes
Tutorial 3
Activity
Using Styles
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Often many cells in a worksheet have the same style
(font, shading borders, etc)
If you decide to change the appearance of this group of
cells, you generally have to change the appearance of
each cell
Styles allow you change the format of cells with identical
appearance quickly.
Defining a Style
 Select a cell, format it the way you want
 Select Format Style… from the menu
 Enter a name for this style
 Uncheck any check boxes for features you don’t
want as part of the style definition
 Click Modify to make changes to the appearance you
didn’t make before.
 Click OK to save the style
Applying a Style
 Now that the definition is complete, you can apply
the style to other cells
 Select the cells
 FormatStyle…
 Select the style
Changing a Style
 Biggest advantage comes if you decide to change the
appearance of a style.
 All cells formatted with that style are automatically
changed
 Steps:
 Select one cell to change
 FormatStyle…
 Select the style to change
 Click the Modify button and modify the style
 Click OK
I’m not a big fan of styles.
 Format painter, being able to select a collection of
cells allow you to quickly change the appearance of
many cells
6
Instructor’s Notes
Beginning Excel
Notes
Tutorial 3
Activity
Preparing a Worksheet for Printing
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Even though we’re not printing in this class, you still
need to know how to print a worksheet.
Preparations made for printing are saved with the
worksheet, even if it’s not printed
Before printing any worksheets, always use Print Preview
to ensure the worksheet will print as you expect
 Use this technique when you’re not printing to verify
your page formatting options have taken affect
Changing orientation
 FilePage SetupPage tab
 Choose Landscape or Portrait
 Note there is also a Fit to option in this tab that
allows you to (try) fit a worksheet to a specified
number of pages. This is real handy for worksheets
that are just a little too long or too wide. Excel fits
them to one page.
Center a worksheet on a page
 File | Page Setup | Margins tab
 Check Horizontal and/or Vertical centering
 Note can also change page margins here
Adding Headers and Footers
 File | Page Setup | Header/Footer
 Click Custom Header button
 Left box left aligns
Middle box centers on page
Right box right aligns
 Buttons:
Payroll:
Landscape orientation
Center both
Header
Footer
- Font
- Page Number
- Number of pages
- Date
- Time
- File Name and Path
- File Name only
- Worksheet Name
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Instructor’s Notes
Notes
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Beginning Excel
Tutorial 3
Activity
Other Page Setup Options (the Sheet tab)
 Gridlines allows you to print the gridlines of the
worksheet
 Row and column headings displays the column
letters and row numbers in the printed version
(combine with Gridlines to make your print out look
like a worksheet on the screen
 Rows and Columns to Repeat copies the rows
and/or columns you designate to all pages of a multipage worksheet when it’s printed.
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Specifying a Print Area
 Sometimes you don’t want to print the whole
worksheet. One way of printing a selected part of a
worksheet is specifying a print area
 Select the range of cells to print
 Select FileSet Print Area from the menu
(not part of Page Setup)
 An alternative way of setting the print area is
 Select the range of cells to print
 Hit the Print button the toolbar
 Choose the Selection button in the dialog box to
designate only the selected cells should be
printed.
▪ Excel will mark the cells as a Print Area
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Designating Page Breaks
 Used to print certain parts of a worksheet on a new
page or to keep parts of a worksheet from splitting
across to two pages
 Place the cursor in the row you want the new page to
start with
 Select Insert Page Break from the menu
 This can also be done with columns, but you must
select the entire column, not just a cell in the column
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Instructor’s Notes
Beginning Excel
Notes
Tutorial 3
Activity
Hiding Rows and Columns
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Sometimes, you’ll want to temporarily hide rows and/or
columns
 You may want to show totals, but hide the data used
to calculate them for example
To hide rows / cols:
 Select the rows or columns to be hidden by selecting
the row number(s) or column letter(s)
 Right-click in the selected area and select Hide from
the pop-up menu.
To show hidden rows or columns:
 Select the two rows or two columns that surround the
hidden rows/columns
 For example: if columns D-F are hidden, select
columns C and G (they should be right next to
each other).
 For example if rows 15-25 are hidden, select
rows 14 and 26 (they should be one on top of the
other)
 Right-click in the selected area and select Unhide
from the pop-up menu
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