iWork '09: The Missing Manual

Adding Text Callouts

To add a text box to your spreadsheet, click the toolbar’s Text Box button or choose Insert → Text Box, and Numbers drops the object into the middle of the canvas, with the placeholder word, “Text”. Go ahead and type something a bit more expressive, as shown in Figure 23-4.

Figure 23-4. This text box displays the title of the Summary sheet. Add a new text box by clicking the Text Box button in the toolbar, and Numbers deposits a two-handled object into the sheet canvas with the inspiring placeholder prose, “Text”. Double-click to edit the text.

Numbers text boxes work just like free text boxes in Keynote (Editing Text in Keynote). Unlike every other object in Numbers, these objects have just two selection handles, one on each side. That means you can adjust their width but not their height—at least not with selection handles. Numbers manages the height of text boxes automatically: As you enter text, these text boxes grow vertically to accommodate all of your typing. Likewise, when you delete text, the text box shrinks back down to size.

Tip

You can also add a text box by drawing it directly onto the canvas. Option-click the Text Box button in the toolbar and release the Option key. Position your cursor—which now has the I-beam shape—where you want one corner of your text box, and drag across to the opposite corner. Numbers draws a rectangle indicating the size of ...