This short but pithy article explains how to dress a worksheet in its Sunday best in case you want to print it and present it to others. It explains how to align numbers and text, as well as insert rows and columns and change the size of rows and columns. You find out how to decorate a worksheet with colors and borders. Finally, this article describes everything you need to know to print a worksheet, including how to make it fit on one page and repeat row labels and column names.

Laying Out a Worksheet

Especially if you intend to print your worksheet, you may as well dress it in its Sunday best. And you can do a number of things to make worksheets easier to read and understand. You can change character fonts. You can draw borders around or shade important cells. You can also format the numbers so that readers know, for example, whether they’re staring at dollar figures or percentages. This part of the article is dedicated to the proposition that a worksheet doesn’t have to look drab and solemn.

Aligning numbers and text in columns and rows

To start with, numbers in worksheets are right-aligned in cells, and text is left-aligned. Numbers and text sit squarely on the bottom of cells. You can, however, change the way that data is aligned. For example, you can make data float at the top of cells rather than rest at the bottom, and you can center or justify data in cells. Select the cells whose alignment needs changing and follow these instructions to realign data in the cells:

 -  Changing the horizontal (side-to-side) alignment: Click an Align or Center button on the Formatting toolbar. You can also choose Format -> Cells and, on the Alignment tab of the Format Cells dialog box, choose an option on the Horizontal drop-down list.

 -  Changing the vertical (top-to-bottom) alignment: Choose Format -> Cells and, on the Alignment tab of the Format Cells dialog box, choose an option on the Vertical drop-down list. The Distribution option makes all the letters or numbers fit in a cell, even if it means wrapping text to two or more lines.

 -  Reorienting the cells: Choose Format -> Cells and, on the Alignment Tab of the Format Cells dialog box, drag the diamond in the Orientation box or enter a number in the Degrees text box. Changing the orientation of text in cells is an elegant solution to the problem of keeping a worksheet from getting too wide. Numbers are usually a few characters wide, but heading labels can be much wider than that. By changing the orientation of a heading label, you make columns narrower and keep worksheets from growing too fat to fit on the page.

Inserting and deleting rows and columns

At some point, everybody has to insert new columns and rows and delete ones that are no longer needed. Make sure before you delete a row or column that you don’t delete data that you really need. Do the following to insert and delete rows and columns:

 -  Deleting rows or columns: Drag across the row numbers or column letters of the rows or columns you want to delete; then right-click and choose Delete or press the Delete key.

 -  Inserting rows: Right-click the row number below where you want the new row to be and choose Insert. For example, to insert a new row above row 11, right-click row 11’s number and choose Insert. You can also click in the row below where you want the new row to appear and choose Insert -> Rows.

 -  Inserting columns: Right-click the column letter to the right of where you want the new column to be and choose Insert. You can also click in the worksheet and choose Insert -> Columns. A fast way to insert several columns is to insert one and keep pressing F4 (the Repeat command) until you’ve inserted all of them. After you insert rows or columns, the Paste Options button appears. Click it and choose an option from the drop-down list if you want your new row or column to have the same or different formats as the row or column you selected to start the Insert operation. To insert more than one row or column at a time, select more than one row number or column letter before giving the Insert command.

Changing the width of columns and height of rows

By default, columns are 8.43 characters wide. To make columns wider, you have to widen them yourself. Rows are 12.75 points high, but Excel makes them higher when you enter letters or numbers that are taller than 12.75 points (72 points equals one inch). Here are ways to change the height of rows:

 -  One at a time: Move the mouse pointer onto the boundary between row numbers and, when the pointer changes to a cross, drag the boundary between rows up or down. A pop-up box tells you how tall the row will be when you release the mouse button. You can also double-click the bottom of a cell border to make the row as tall as its tallest entry.

 -  Several at a time: Select the rows and choose Format -> Row -> Height. In the Row Height dialog box, enter a measurement and click OK. Here are ways to make columns wider or narrower:

 -  One at a time: Move the mouse pointer onto the boundary between column letters and, when the pointer changes to a cross, drag the border between the columns. A pop-up box tells you what size the column is.

 -  Several at a time: Select the columns, choose Format -> Column -> Width and, in the Column Width dialog box, enter the number of characters you want to fit in the column. You can also select the columns and drag a column border. Doing so changes the size of all the columns you selected. Rather than dicker with the width of columns, you can tell Excel to make columns as wide as their widest entries. This way, you can be certain that the data in each cell appears on-screen. To make columns as wide as their widest entries, select the columns and choose Format -> Column -> AutoFit Selection. You can also double-click the right border of the columns after you select them.

Decorating a Worksheet with Borders and Colors

The job of gridlines is simply to help you line up numbers and letters in cells. Gridlines aren’t printed when you print a worksheet, and because gridlines are not printed, drawing borders on worksheets is absolutely necessary if you intend to print your worksheet. Use borders to steer the reader’s eye to the most important parts of a worksheet the totals, column labels, and heading labels. You can also decorate worksheets with colors. This part of the article explains how to put borders and colors on worksheets. Decorating a worksheet requires clicking buttons on the Drawing toolbar. Click the Drawing button on the Standard toolbar to display the Drawing toolbar.

Choosing an autoformat

Rather than go to the trouble of decorating a worksheet with borders and colors, start by seeing whether one of Excel’s autoformats does the trick. An autoformat (where do they get these ridiculous names?) is a prefabricated spreadsheet design. Excel offers no less than 19 different autoformats. Trying them on for size takes about a second. To try on an autoformat, select the data in your worksheet and choose Format -> AutoFormat. Scroll through the autoformats and find one that tickles your fancy. Clicking the Options button in the dialog box provides you with a few extra options for tinkering with the worksheet design.

Decorating worksheets with colors

Select the cells that need color and try one of these techniques to splash color on your worksheet:

 -  Click the down arrow beside the Fill Color button and choose a color from the drop-down list. Choose No Fill to remove a color.

 -  Choose Format -> Cells and, on the Patterns tab of the Format Cells dialog box, select a color.

Slapping borders on worksheet cells

To draw borders on a worksheet, start by selecting the cells around which you want to place borders. Then click the down arrow beside the Borders button (you’ll find it on the Formatting toolbar) and choose a border. Usually, you have to wrestle with the Borders buttons until you come up with borders you like. By the way, don’t be afraid to click the Undo button and start all over, or select a new set of cells and press F4 to apply the same kind of border a second time.