Excel 2003 for Starters: The Missing Manual

Formatting Cell Appearance

Formatting cell values is important since it helps maintain consistency among your numbers. But to really make your spreadsheet readable, you're probably going to want to enlist some of Excel's tools for controlling things like alignment, color, and borders and shading.

Figure 4-6. Special number formats are ideal for formatting sequences of digits into a common pattern. For example, if you choose Phone Number in the Type list, Excel converts the sequence of digits 5551234567 into the proper phone-number style—[phone]—with no extra work required on your part.

To format the appearance of a cell, first select the single cell or group of cells that you want to work with, and then choose Format → Cells from the menu, or just right-click the selection and choose Format Cells. The Format Cells dialog box that appears (Figure 4-7, top) is the place where you adjust your settings.

Note

Even a small amount of formatting can make a worksheet easier to interpret by drawing the viewer's eye to important information. Of course, as with formatting a Word document or designing a Web page, a little goes a long way. Don't feel the need to bury your worksheet in exotic colors and styles just because you can.

Alignment and Orientation

As you saw in the previous chapter, Excel automatically aligns cells according to the type of information you've typed in. But what if this ...