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>Cell Formatting</TITLE
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><DIV
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><H1
><A
NAME="FORMATTING"
>Chapter 3. Cell Formatting</A
></H1
><DIV
CLASS="TOC"
><DL
><DT
><B
>Table of Contents</B
></DT
><DT
><A
HREF="formatting.html#AEN488"
>Cell Formatting</A
></DT
><DT
><A
HREF="x669.html"
>Number formatting overview</A
></DT
><DT
><A
HREF="x683.html"
>Date and Time formatting</A
></DT
></DL
></DIV
><DIV
CLASS="SECT1"
><H1
CLASS="SECT1"
><A
NAME="AEN488"
>Cell Formatting</A
></H1
><P
>Cell formats allow you to change the way cell data appears in
    the spreadsheet. It is important to keep in mind that it only
    alters the way the data is presented, and does not change the
    value of the data. </P
><P
>The formatting options allows for monetary units, scientific
     options, dates, times, fractions,and more. Positive and negative
     values can have different colors and formats for aiding in
     keeping track of values. There are also a large variety of date
     and time formats for virtually any time and date format one can
     think of.
    </P
><P
>To change the formatting style for a cell or a range of cells,
    you only need to select the range of cells (see <A
HREF="editing-selections.html"
>the section called <I
>Editing cells using the selection</I
> in Chapter 1</A
>) where you want to apply/change the
    format and then select from the
    <SPAN
CLASS="GUIMENU"
>Format</SPAN
>/<SPAN
CLASS="GUIMENUITEM"
>Cells</SPAN
>/Numbers
    menu (or from the context sensitive popup menu bound to the right
    mouse button) the appropriate format.</P
><P
>The quickest way to access the cell format dialog is to use
        its keyboard shortcut,
        <B
CLASS="KEYCAP"
>Ctrl</B
>-<B
CLASS="KEYCAP"
>1</B
>.
        This is equivalent to selecting the cell format item from the
        menus.</P
><P
>Gnumeric provides a wide range of predetermined formatting
    styles.  These formatting styles are shown by category in the
    Cell/Style dialog box.  Just choose one of the display formats and
    accept the changes to change the display format for your
    cells.</P
><P
>If none of the predetermined formatting styles fits your
    needs, you can define your own number formatting style by using a
    custom formatting expression: the custom formatting expressions
    give you more flexibility in number display.</P
><DIV
CLASS="SECT2"
><H2
CLASS="SECT2"
><A
NAME="FORMAT-DIALOG"
>The Format Dialog</A
></H2
><P
>The number formatting dialog (see <A
HREF="formatting.html#NUMBER-FORMAT-DIALOG"
>Figure 3-1</A
> ) 
      provides a wide range of options for 
    formatting numbers. The primary use of the dialog is to select from
      one of the many preset number formatting rules. These formatting styles
      should be more than adequate for the vast majority of cases. If none
      of these meet the needs of the user, it is possible to create your own
      formats. </P
><DIV
CLASS="FIGURE"
><A
NAME="NUMBER-FORMAT-DIALOG"
></A
><P
><B
>Figure 3-1. The main number formatting dialog.</B
></P
><P
><IMG
SRC="images/number-format-dialog.jpg"></P
></DIV
><P
>The page is split into two sections, a set of formatting
  categories, and some convenience tools for manipulating the formats
  in each category.</P
><P
>There is also a Sample output of what the new formatting should look like.
  </P
><P
></P
></DIV
><DIV
CLASS="SECT2"
><H2
CLASS="SECT2"
><A
NAME="CHANGING-FONT"
>Changing the Font or Font Color</A
></H2
><P
>Any cell can use any font that is availble to Gnumeric. This 
includes font attributes like bold, italics, etc as well as
font size.</P
><P
>To change the font for cells, simply open the file format
dialog (see <A
HREF="formatting.html#FORMAT-DIALOG"
>the section called <I
>The Format Dialog</I
></A
>), and select the font
tab. This will open the standard Gnome font selection dialog.</P
><DIV
CLASS="FIGURE"
><A
NAME="NUMBER-FORMAT-FONT-DIALOG"
></A
><P
><B
>Figure 3-2. The Font selection dialog</B
></P
><P
><IMG
SRC="images/number-format-font-dialog.jpg"></P
></DIV
><P
>Reference docs on how to use the font dialog here.</P
><DIV
CLASS="PROCEDURE"
><P
><B
>To change a cells font</B
></P
><OL
TYPE="1"
><LI
><P
>        Select the cell or range of cell that the font needs to be changed in. </P
></LI
><LI
><P
>Open the cell format dialog. This dialog can be opened from the
         <SPAN
CLASS="GUIMENU"
>Format</SPAN
><SPAN
CLASS="GUIMENUITEM"
>Cells</SPAN
> menu,
         with the <B
CLASS="KEYCAP"
>Ctrl</B
>-<B
CLASS="KEYCAP"
>1</B
>,
         or from right-clicking (<SPAN
CLASS="MOUSEBUTTON"
>MB3</SPAN
>) and choosing
         the <SPAN
CLASS="GUIMENUITEM"
>Cell Format</SPAN
> menu option.</P
></LI
><LI
><P
>Select the font tab in the dialog box notebook. This will open
            the font selection part of the dialog. See
            <A
HREF="formatting.html#NUMBER-FORMAT-FONT-DIALOG"
>Figure 3-2</A
> for a look at
            the dialog.</P
></LI
><LI
><P
>TELL PEOPLE HOW TO USE THE FONT DIALOG HERE</P
></LI
></OL
></DIV
><P
>For simply changing a cell's format to be Bold or Italics,
there are buttons on the toolbar for doing this quickly.
See <A
HREF="formatting.html#NUMBER-FORMAT-BOLD-ITALICS"
>the section called <I
>Cell Formatting options on the buttonbar.</I
></A
></P
><DIV
CLASS="PROCEDURE"
><P
><B
>Changing a cell's text color</B
></P
><OL
TYPE="1"
><LI
><P
>        Select the cell or range of cell that the color needs to be changed in. </P
></LI
><LI
><P
>Open the cell format dialog. This dialog can be opened from the
         <SPAN
CLASS="GUIMENU"
>Format</SPAN
><SPAN
CLASS="GUIMENUITEM"
>Cells</SPAN
> menu,
         with the <B
CLASS="KEYCAP"
>Ctrl</B
>-<B
CLASS="KEYCAP"
>1</B
>,
         or from right-clicking (<SPAN
CLASS="MOUSEBUTTON"
>MB3</SPAN
>) and choosing
         the <SPAN
CLASS="GUIMENUITEM"
>Cell Format</SPAN
> menu option.</P
></LI
><LI
><P
>Select the <SPAN
CLASS="GUILABEL"
>Font </SPAN
> tab in the dialog box notebook. This will open
       the font selection part of the dialog. See 
       <A
HREF="formatting.html#NUMBER-FORMAT-COLOR-DIALOG"
>Figure 3-3</A
> for a look at the dialog.</P
></LI
><LI
><P
>TELL PEOPLE HOW TO USE THE COLOR PICKER HERE</P
></LI
></OL
></DIV
></DIV
><DIV
CLASS="SECT2"
><H2
CLASS="SECT2"
><A
NAME="AEN562"
>Changing the cell's Background Colors and Patterns</A
></H2
><P
>A cell in gnumeric can be assigned a solid background color, and an
pattern with a potentially different colour.</P
><DIV
CLASS="FIGURE"
><A
NAME="NUMBER-FORMAT-COLOR-DIALOG"
></A
><P
><B
>Figure 3-3. The cell color dialog.</B
></P
><P
><IMG
SRC="images/number-format-color-dialog.jpg"></P
></DIV
><P
>The <SPAN
CLASS="GUILABEL"
>background configuration</SPAN
> includes
options for setting the cells background to either a solid
color or a pattern.</P
><P
>To set the background of the cell to a solid color,
click on the <SPAN
CLASS="GUIBUTTON"
>use solid color</SPAN
>, and
choose a color from the color selector dialog. </P
><P
>To set a pattern for the cell background, 
click on the <SPAN
CLASS="GUIBUTTON"
>use a pattern</SPAN
> button
and select a pattern by clicking on the pattern the user wants.
there is a solid black border that should outline the currently
selected pattern. </P
></DIV
><DIV
CLASS="SECT2"
><H2
CLASS="SECT2"
><A
NAME="AEN575"
>Cell content justification and alignment</A
></H2
><P
>The contents of cell can be justified and aligned
as needed. There are several justification options. See
<A
HREF="formatting.html#NUMBER-FORMAT-JUSTIFICATION"
>Figure 3-4</A
>.</P
><DIV
CLASS="FIGURE"
><A
NAME="NUMBER-FORMAT-JUSTIFICATION"
></A
><P
><B
>Figure 3-4. Example of text justification.</B
></P
><P
><IMG
SRC="images/number-format-justification.jpg"></P
></DIV
><DIV
CLASS="FIGURE"
><A
NAME="NUMBER-FORMAT-JUSTIFICATION-DIALOG"
></A
><P
><B
>Figure 3-5. The cell justification dialog.</B
></P
><P
><IMG
SRC="images/number-format-justification-dialog-2.jpg"></P
></DIV
><DIV
CLASS="PROCEDURE"
><P
><B
>Changing a cells justification.</B
></P
><OL
TYPE="1"
><LI
><P
>        Select the cell or range of cell that the justification needs to be changed in. </P
></LI
><LI
><P
>Open the cell format dialog. This dialog can be opened from the
         <SPAN
CLASS="GUIMENU"
>Format</SPAN
><SPAN
CLASS="GUIMENUITEM"
>Cells</SPAN
> menu,
         with the <B
CLASS="KEYCAP"
>Ctrl</B
>-<B
CLASS="KEYCAP"
>1</B
>,
         or from right-clicking (<SPAN
CLASS="MOUSEBUTTON"
>MB3</SPAN
>) and choosing
         the <SPAN
CLASS="GUIMENUITEM"
>Cell Format</SPAN
> menu option.</P
></LI
><LI
><P
>       Select the <SPAN
CLASS="GUILABEL"
>Alignment</SPAN
> tab from the notebook tabs. This
       will open the font selection part of the dialog. See
       <A
HREF="formatting.html#NUMBER-FORMAT-JUSTIFICATION-DIALOG"
>Figure 3-5</A
> for a look at the dialog.
     </P
></LI
><LI
><P
>Choose a horizontal and Vertical justification type by clicking on
     one of the buttons. Only one choice from each option group is allowed. </P
></LI
></OL
></DIV
><P
></P
><DIV
CLASS="VARIABLELIST"
><P
><B
>Horizontal justitfication options.</B
></P
><DL
><DT
><SPAN
CLASS="GUIBUTTON"
>General</SPAN
></DT
><DD
><P
>The standard default justification. This equates to right justifying
           numbers and formulas, and left justifying strings and labels.</P
></DD
><DT
><SPAN
CLASS="GUIBUTTON"
>Left</SPAN
></DT
><DD
><P
>Left justitify all cell contents.</P
></DD
><DT
><SPAN
CLASS="GUIBUTTON"
>Center</SPAN
></DT
><DD
><P
>Center all cell contents.</P
></DD
><DT
><SPAN
CLASS="GUIBUTTON"
>Right</SPAN
></DT
><DD
><P
>Right justify all cell contents.</P
></DD
><DT
><SPAN
CLASS="GUIBUTTON"
>Fill</SPAN
></DT
><DD
><P
>Fill the cell with the contents. This will repeat the cells
                contents to fill the space.</P
></DD
><DT
><SPAN
CLASS="GUIBUTTON"
>Justify</SPAN
></DT
><DD
><P
>Left justify and verticaly center the cells contents.</P
></DD
></DL
></DIV
><P
></P
><DIV
CLASS="VARIABLELIST"
><P
><B
>Vertical Justification options.</B
></P
><DL
><DT
><SPAN
CLASS="GUIBUTTON"
>Top</SPAN
></DT
><DD
><P
>Align the top of the cells contents with the top of the cell.</P
></DD
><DT
><SPAN
CLASS="GUIBUTTON"
>Center</SPAN
></DT
><DD
><P
>Center the cells contents vertically. Equally space between the top and bottom</P
></DD
><DT
><SPAN
CLASS="GUIBUTTON"
>Bottom</SPAN
></DT
><DD
><P
>Align the contents of the cell with the bottom of the cell.</P
></DD
><DT
><SPAN
CLASS="GUIBUTTON"
>Justify</SPAN
></DT
><DD
><P
>FIXME FIXME</P
></DD
></DL
></DIV
></DIV
><DIV
CLASS="SECT2"
><H2
CLASS="SECT2"
><A
NAME="NUMBER-FORMAT-BOLD-ITALICS"
>Cell Formatting options on the buttonbar.</A
></H2
><P
>For frequently applied formats, there are some quick
 access buttons on the button bar. </P
><DIV
CLASS="FIGURE"
><A
NAME="NUMBER-FORMAT-BUTTONBAR"
></A
><P
><B
>Figure 3-6. Example of justification quick buttons.</B
></P
><P
><IMG
SRC="images/number-format-buttonbar.jpg"></P
></DIV
><P
>See <A
HREF="worksheet.html#BUTTONBAR-BUTTONS"
>the section called <I
>The Button Bar</I
> in Chapter 4</A
> for more detail one what these
 buttons do.</P
></DIV
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