You can use borders to make entries on your spreadsheet stand out. Accountants usually place a single underline above a final number and a double underline below. The following illustrates:

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• Select the cell A1.
• Choose Format ? Cells from the menu.
• Choose the Border tab.

• Click on the single underline from the Style box

• Click the top of the Border box.
• In the Style box, click on the double underline.
• Click the bottom of the Border box.
• Click OK. Cell A1 now has a border on the top and bottom.

Alternate Method: Creating Borders by Using the Icon

• Go to cell B1. Click the down arrow beside the Borders icon.

• Select the Top and Double Bottom Border. Cell B1 now has borders.

Adding Background Color

You can add background color to a cell or group of cells:

• Go to cell B1.
• Choose Format ? Cells from the menu.
• Choose the Patterns tab.

• Choose Sky Blue.
• Click OK. The background of cell B1 is now Sky Blue.

Adding Pattern

• Select the cell or range of cells which you want to set the pattern.
• Click on Format menu and select Cells option.
• Click on Pattern from Format cells dialog box.
• Select the base color from the color list.
• Select a pattern and a color for the pattern from the pattern list.
• Click OK.

Merge and Center

You will sometimes want to center a piece of text over several columns. When reviewing cells, we found out that a cell doesn’t have dimensions of its own. Its width is imposed by its parent column and its height is set on its parent row. All of the cells we have used so far were considered individually. Microsoft Excel allows you to combine various cells in a group. This is called merging cells.

The following steps shows how to put heading with the help of Merge and Center option.

• Go to cell A1.
• Type Sample of Merging Spreadsheet.
• Click the check mark on the Formula bar.
• Select columns A1 to H1.

Click the Merge and Center icon on the formatting toolbar. Cells B1, C1, and D1 are merged and centered.

Styles

The use of styles in Excel allow you to quickly format your worksheet, provide consistency, and create a professional look. Select the Styles drop-down box from the formatting toolbar (it can be added by customizing the toolbar). Excel provides several preset styles:

• Comma – Adds commas to the number and two digits beyond a decimal point.
• Comma [0] – Comma style that displays a whole number.
• Currency – Formats the number as currency with a dollar sign, commas, and two digits beyond the decimal point.
• Currency [0] – Currency style that displays a whole number.
• Normal – Reverts any changes to general format.
• Percent – Changes the number to a percent and adds a percent sign.

Style Dialog Box

Create your own styles from the Style Dialog Box.

• Highlight the cell(s) you want to add a style to.
• Select Format?Style… from the menu bar.

• Modify the attributes by clicking the Modify button.
• Check all the items under Style includes that the style should format.
• Click Add to preview the formatting changes on the worksheet.
• Highlight the style you want to apply to the cells and click Apply.

Create a New Style

• Select the cell on the worksheet containing the formatting you would like to set as a new style.
• Click the Style box on the Formatting toolbar so the style name is highlighted.

• Delete the text in the Style box and type the name of the new style.
• Press ENTER when finished.

Format Painter

A handy and very convenient feature on the standard toolbar for formatting text is the Format Painter. If you have formatted a cell with a certain font style, date format, border, and other formatting options, and you want to apply the same format on another cell or group of cells, then highlight the cell and place the cursor within the cell containing the formatting you want to copy. Click the Format Painter button in the standard toolbar (notice that your pointer now has a paintbrush beside it). Highlight the cells you want to apply the same formatting to.

To copy the formatting to many groups of cells, double-click the Format Painter button. The format painter remains active until you press the ESC key to turn it off.

Auto Format

Excel has many preset table formatting options. With the help of these options you can format your data quickly.

• Highlight the cells to be formatted.

• Select Format?AutoFormat from the menu bar.
• On the AutoFormat dialog box, selet the type of format you want to apply to the table. Use the scroll bar to view all of the format options available.

• Click the Options button to select the elements that the formatting will apply to.

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