|
|
||
|
|
|
Excel Index and Search Tool (Click
on the buttons below) |
|
Excel Lesson 12C of 30: Reporting with Excel (Text Boxes) Let's start this lesson on text boxes by talking about the MERGED CELLS. You want to write the word "Invoice" and you want this word to be centered within cells A2 to D2 like below. You select cells A2 to D2, you go to "Format/Cells/Alignment" and you check the box for "Merge Cells" and you select "Center" in "Horizontal"...and you end up with a major problem trying to modify the width of all 4 columns A to D. As much as possible avoid merging cells. Enter "Invoice" in cell "A2" then select cells A2 to D2. Go to "Format/Cells/Alignment" an in the "Horizontal" text box select "Center Across Selection". The effect is the same as with merging cells but you are now able to modify the width of all four columns without problems.
Now if you look at the image above you see that the height of row 2 is set by the largest font on the row. You end up with this same height in cell F2 even if what you need to enter is in a much smaller font. Also you could not enter two pieces of information and keep an interesting layout like in the image below.
Notice that all rows have the same height in this example. It is because the word "Invoice" has not been entered in a cell but in an invisible text box. Using these invisible text boxes make developing forms much easier. You can use the font that you want and you can move the text boxes around and adjust their position for much better layouts.
The invisible text boxes When you want to work with text boxes and other drawings you need to make the "Drawing" toolbar visible at all time. Go to "View/Toolbars" and select "Drawing". This toolbar becomes visible.
If it is not automatically installed at the bottom
of your screen, drag it there. Click on You are now ready to work with text boxes and other drawings. Click once on the text box icon. Go to the sheet click, hold and stretch a text box. And you get this:
When the editing border of the text box is a series of forward slashes you are in the text editing mode. You can enter text, copy/paste text, format the font... Right click INSIDE the text box and see the options. If you click on the editing border it becomes a set of dots meaning that you are now editing the text box itself.
To make the text box invisible right click on the editing border, select "Format Text Box" then go to "Colors and Lines", in "Fill/Color" select "No Fill" and in "Line/Color" select "No Line".
The text box is an indispensable tool when reporting with Excel. You should always have the "Design" toolbar below the sheet window.
|
|
|
|
|
||
|
|
hold and drag.
