Adjusting Row Height In Microsoft Excel 2007
Microsoft Excel measures row height in points, the same units used to measure font size. When creating reports this makes it easy to relate the height of rows to the required line spacing. This means that you can increase the line spacing simply by increasing the height of your rows.
The methods used for changing column widths (something that Excel users do far more frequently) can also be used to change row height. Firstly. we can make a selection and. in the Cells section of the Home Tab of the Excel Ribbon, choose Format then Row Height. If you double Excel’s default row height, you will obtain an approximation of double line spacing. If you multiple the default by a factor of 1.5, you will obtain approximately 1 1/2 line spacing, and so forth.
Excel’s AutoFit facility can also be used to automatically resize the height of rows to accommodate the largest font size contained in a given selection. To AutoFit a single row position the cursor at the bottom of the row heading and simply double-click. To AutoFit a range of rows make a selection and then double-click at the bottom of any of the row headings. The same thing can also be achieved by using Format – AutoFit Row Height in the Cells section of the Home Tab of the Excel Ribbon.
It is very often the case that row height can be completely ignored since Excel will automatically adjust the height of rows to accommodate the largest font size found on each row. Let us suppose, for example, that we insert a header row at the top of a worksheet centred across all the columns containing data. If we were to increase the font size of our heading, Excel will automatically increase the height of the row to accommodate the new font size, pushing the rest of the data down.
It is also possible to increase the row height interactively. This is done by placing the cursor on the line below the row heading and dragging up or down. As you drag, Excel displays the row height, both in points and in pixels.
Increasing the height of a row makes the vertical alignment of your text more apparent. By default Excel aligns text vertically at the bottom of the cell. In the case of headings, changing the vertical alignment to centred is often far more useful.
Changing Column Widths in Excel Spreadsheets
Microsoft Excel has a number of different ways of changing the width of columns and the height of rows. The width of columns is specified in characters. By default, every column has a width of just over eight characters. This means that if you’re using the spreadsheets primarily for numerical data, you can enter eight digits in each column using the default width.
If you plan to modify the default width, it makes sense to do so before you start entering data into your worksheet. For example, if you know that you’ll be entering fairly short pieces of data in each column, you might want to reduce the default width. To customise the default width, go to the Cells section of the Home Tab of the Excel Ribbon. Click the Format button and choose Default Width from the drop-down. In the window which appears, you will see Excel’s standard column width of approximately 8 characters. Simply input a new entry and click OK.
As long as you haven’t changed a column width using any other technique, you can change the default width at any time and any cells that have been left at the default width will automatically change to reflect the new setting.
The second method of changing column widths is to use Excel’s AutoFit feature. This technique automatically adjusts the width of a column to ensure that the contents of the selected cells are completely visible. To AutoFit a range columns, highlight the cells that you want Excel to take into account or simply highlight the entire column. Next, position the cursor on the right hand edge of the column and, when the cursor changes to a double arrow, double-click.
To AutoFit data in a range of columns either select a range of data across several columns or highlight several entire columns. With your selection in place, choose Format then AutoFit Column Width in the Cells group of the Home Tab of the Excel Ribbon.
When using Excel’s AutoFit feature, it’s inevitable that you’ll end up with columns that have different widths. If you want a range of columns to have exactly the same width then simply select the range and choose Format then Column Widths and enter the required width.
Excel also allows you to interactively adjust the width of columns. To do this, position the cursor on the right hand edge of the column. When the cursor changes to a double arrow, click, hold and drag. As you drag, the width of the column is displayed both in characters and in pixels. This technique can be used either to adjust the width of a single column or a range of columns.
The Microsoft Word 2007 Mini Toolbar
The Mini toolbar is a ghostly floating palette which automatically appears whenever you highlight text. Initially all the options it contains are discreetly semi-transparent. However, when you position your cursor over the various controls it contains, the Mini toolbar becomes activated.
It contains a number of buttons for formatting your text. All of these buttons can also be found in the Home tab of the Word Ribbon. The top row of buttons allows you to alter the font, size and colour of our text and also contains Word’s nifty Format Painter. The Format Painter tool allows you to copy the format of the selected text to other areas of your document.
The second row of the Mini toolbar contains buttons for making text bold, italic, centre aligned. It also has options for changing the colour of the highlighted text, indenting text and inserting bullets.
In short, the Mini toolbar offers a very convenient way of quickly formatting your text without having to go back to the Ribbon to find the options you’re looking for. However, there may be times when you will find it inconvenient. This is particularly likely when using the drag-and-drop facility within Microsoft Word.
This feature enables you to highlight text and simply drag it to a new location. However, as you are about to drag, it’s very easy for the cursor to collide with the Mini toolbar and instead of dragging your text you end up changing its format.
As a user of Word 2007, only you can decide whether you like the Mini toolbar facility or not. If you decide it’s not for you, Word allows you to deactivate the Mini toolbar facility. Choose Word Options from the Office button. The very first option in the Popular category is “Show Mini Toolbar on selection”. If you decide that the you not like the Mini toolbar, simply switch off this option. Now, whenever you highlight text, no Mini toolbar palette will appear.
Even when you have asked Word not to display the Mini toolbar, it is still possible to show it by simply right-clicking on selected text.