by Anthony Jordan (1 July 2010)
Software: Excel 2007 and other MS Office components under Windows 7
N.B.: Most techniques mentioned here can usually be achieved in
multiple ways, but only one way for each technique is described below.
Snipping Tool (Windows 7 and Vista only, system wide)
For capturing screen shots.
This is an alternative to PrtSc (entire screen) or Alt-PrtSc (single window).
Open main window: Start -> All Programs -> Accessories -> Snipping Tool.
The drop-down-arrow next to NEW selects one of these types of snip:
Free-form, Rectangular, Window, Full-screen
Once the snip type is selected, the snipping tool shows how to do the snipping.
Finally save the snip to the clipboard and/or disc file and/or email it.
Special Snipping for hard-to-snip items that tend to vanish e.g. menus
1. Open the Snipping Tool, then click ESC to hibernate the tool.
2. Display the item[s] to be snipped, then click Ctrl+PrtSc to awake the tool.
3. Do the snipping in the usual way.
Ribbons (MS Office components and many other programs)
A more-visual, icon-centric, alternative to menus.
Hovering over each ribbon icon shows its name.
Excel's top level ribbon items (each having an Alt shortcut) are:
Home, Insert, Page Layout, Formulas, Data, Review, View [, Developer]
Right-clicking on the ribbon enables it to [not] be shown in a minimal format
Fonts and Typefaces (MS Office components and many other programs)
To change the typeface or fontsize or other attributes for some existing text:
Select the text, then Home -> Font -> Font [Size] on the ribbon.
The word 'font' is often used when 'typeface' is meant.
Typeface describes [is a name for] the general appearance of some text.
A font is the total collection of attributes for some text, including:
typeface [Forte], size, colour, embellishments, etc.
Too many typefaces slows down windows, so try to restrict to about 500.
Type faces are in C:\Windows\Fonts .
To count them in Windows Explorer: Right-click the Fonts folder, then Properties.
Text Colour (MS Office components and many other programs)
To change text colour: Home -> Font -> Font Color ->
To change text background colour: ... -> Fill Color ->
Clicking 'more Colors' allows (in MS Office) selection by RGB or HSL.
HSL (Hue, Saturation, Luminence/Lightness) is easier for getting an exact colour.
Shapes (MS Office components)
Predefined graphics such as rectangles, circles, arrows, lines, special symbols.
Ribbon: Insert -> Illustrations -> Shapes
Whilst resizing a shape, hold down the Shift key to preserve the aspect ratio.
Shapes can have solid, gradient, picture, texture or no fills.
Fills are on the Home ribbon or via
Gradient fills can be rotated through any angle and transparency can be applied.
SmartArt Graphics (MS Office components)
For complex graphics (MS Office on steroids!).
Insert -> Illustrations -> SmartArt
Charts (MS Office components, but mainly Excel)
Select the data, typically one or two columns, depending on the chart type.
Then in the ribbon: Insert -> Charts ->
Done!
Conditional Formatting (Excel)
Helps to make a spreadsheet easier to follow ('see the wood from the trees')
Purely cosmetic
Example 1: Show positive numbers in one colour and negative numbers in another.
Example 2: Show values above the average in bold.
Main predefined formatting actions:
Format cells using 2 or 3 colours
Format cells using icons or bars (see example below)
Main predefined formatting criteria:
Format only cells with numbers/text/dates/times
Format only bottom/top ranking values
Format only values below/above the average
Format only values that are unique/duplicates
Format cells using up to 64 (only 3 in Excel pre-2007) custom formulae
Usage: Select the cells that are candidates for formatting
Home -> Styles -> Conditional Formatting -> ... [-> More Rules]
Done!
Excel conditional formatting example (bars), captured using the Snipping tool:
See: http://www.computeractive.co.uk/computeractive/workshop/2262708/conditional-formatting-excel
