Unit 2 Formatting And Printing Worksheet

2.0 Introduction
The formatting features of MS-Excel enhance the appearance of the data which is presented in the worksheets. Many formatting features are same as other MS-Office packages ( WORD, POWER-POINT etc.) like formatting of characters in cells.

2.1 Objectives
Set up the page, change the column width and row height Use different fonts for the data in the cell Align the data Use the autoformat and format painter.

2.2 Page Set-up

As with other Windows programs, Excel also provides you with the feature of WYSIWYG (what you see is what you get). Therefore it is always better to start with the page layout which you want as a printer copy also. For this : 1. 2. Open the File menu by clicking on the File. Click on the Page Set-up.

The following dialogue box is displayed.

The Page option allows you to set the paper size, orientation of the data, scaling of the area etc. Excel inserts automatic page-breaks also. The Margins tab, when clicked, displays the dialogue box. You can set the top, bottom, left and right margins of the page. These are the distances in inches from the edge of the page. This also allows you to see the preview of the data when it will be printed.

Header/Footer tab gives you the option to set the header (which will be displayed on top of every page) and the footer (which will be displayed at the bottom of every page). The header may include the name of the organisation or date or any other thing you wish to write. The footer may include the page number or a line or something you wish to write. To add more data as header or footer, click on Custom Header.. or Custom Footer.. .

The Sheet tab has the option to select the area to be printed (i.e. the range of cells), set the row or column titles (these will be printed on every page), or select the page order from the multiple worksheet etc.

2.3 Column Width and Row Height

The width of the column(s) and the height of the row(s) can be easily changed by different ways :

2.3.1
1. 2. 3. 4.

Using Menu Commands

To Set the Column Width Select any cell(s) in the column(s) to change its width. Choose Column option from the Format menu. From the cascading menu, choose Width.. option. The default width is 8.43 which can be changed by typing-in the new width.

The other option available for formatting columns are :

AUTOFIT SELECTION - It adjusts the width of the column according to the widest entry in that column. HIDE - Hides the selected column, though the data is still there. Hiding the column does not clear the entries of it. UNHIDE - Select this option if you want to unhide the hidden columns. e.g. if you want to unhide the column D select the columns from C to E and choose this option. STANDARD WIDTH - You can give the default column standard width.

To Set the Row Height

1. 2. 3. Select the cell(s) of the row(s). Choose Format -> Row -> Height. Give the height of the row as shown below.

2.2.2
1.

Using Mouse

To set the Column Height Take the mouse pointer to the line between the two letters. Now look at the cursor. It has changed its shape. Move it little left or right. You will again notice the change in the look of the cursor and it has taken the same shape. (the shape of the pointer becomes crosshair).

2.

Press the left mouse button and drag it to change the width of the column. or Double click the line between two column headings and the width will be adjusted according to the widest entry of the column. To set the Row Height 1. 2. Take the mouse pointer to the line between the two row numbers (the shape of the pointer becomes crosshair). Press the left mouse button and drag it up or down to change the height of the row.

2.4 Fonts
Fonts are the typefaces (e.g. TIMES NEW ROMAN, ARIAL etc.) which have Size (in points) colour special effects (like strike through, superscript, and subscript) Fonts can be in bold, italics, or regular. They could also be underlined. Fonts can be changed either through Formatting Toolbar. 1. 2. Select the cells or characters to be formatted. Click on the appropriate options on the Toolbar.

Or, through the menu command : 1. 2. 3. Select the cells or characters to be formatted. Choose Format -> Cells. Select the Font tab. Following dialogue box is displayed.

2.5 Alignment
To position the characters left aligned or right aligned, click on the Alignment tab of the Format Cells dialogue box. The dialogue box is displayed. The various horizontal alignment options are : General - the text is left aligned and the numbers are right aligned. This is the default status.

Left - aligns the contents to the left of the cell. Center - aligns the cell contents to the center of the cell. Right - aligns the contents to the right of the cell. Fill - fills the selected cells with the single character. Justify - this option is selected with multiple lines of text as it wraps the contents from left to right. Center Across Selection - centers the text across multiple columns.

The various vertical Alignment options are : Top - aligns the text at the top of the cell. Center - places the text in the center of the cell. Bottom - aligns the text on the bottom of the cell. Justify - wraps the text from top to bottom. Orientation of the text can also be changed.

2.6 Numbers
Number formats include the options to format various kind of number data, like: Number Date Time Percentage Scientific Fraction 1. Select the Number tab from the Format Cells dialogue box.

2.

On choosing and category given on the left side different format codes are listed on the right side and the sample is displayed at the bottom.

You can create your own number, date and time formats in the following way : 1. 2. Select the cells to format. Open the Format Cells dialogue box and click on the Number tab.

Code Box 3. 4. In the Code box edit the built-in format or type the new format. Click on OK button.

2.7 Autoformat
This is a built-in table format which can be applied to the range of cells This feature includes the formatting of numbers, border alignment, font, colour, row height and column width. To apply Autoformat to a range of cells follow the given steps : 1. 2. 3. 4. Select the range of cells. Select Autoformat option from the Format menu. Choose the appropriate format from the list of Table Format. Click on OK.

2.8 Format Painter

This feature of Excel provides the facility to copy the format of cell(s) to the selected cells easily and quickly by clicking on the Format Painter tool button on the Standard Toolbar.

To apply Format Painter

1. 2. 3. Select the formatted cells whose format you want to copy. Press the left mouse button on the Format Painter tool button. Drag the mouse pointed through the cell(s) where you want to apply the formatting.

This formatting technique can be repeated without going through the steps given above. If you doubleclick the Format Painter tool button, the cursor remains active until you click on the button again.

2.9 Getting Worksheet Printed

Information can be easily carted and looked into on the screens but it is difficult to share it with other people unless you have the hard copy of the same.

To Print Your Worksheet

1. 2. Select the range of the worksheet to be printed. You can see the preview of the hard copy you will get.

3. 4. 5.

Check if the printer is on-line and Choose File -> Print command. Select the appropriate options in the dialogue box which is displayed. Click on OK.

2.10 Summary
In this session, you learned the formatting techniques.

1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7.

Page Set-up is necessary before starting your work, as all the formatting of the text can be done according to that. If you give attributes for the page after formatting, you will have to make changes again. The width of the columns and the height of the rows can be adjusted to fit in the data in the cells. Fonts can be selected from the Formatting Toolbar as well as from the dialogue box. Special formats can be selected from the dialogue box only like superscript, subscript and strike through. Alignment of the data can be changed. You can choose the format of numbers to display and print from the list. The options of Autoformat and Format Painter are also available to make to make repetitive tasks easier. You can print the complete worksheet or a range of cells from it.

2.11 Exercise
1. Explain the following terms : Autoformat Autofit Font WYSIWYG Page Setup 2. 3. What is Alignment ? What are its different options that are available ? What is Format Painter and when is it useful ?