Chapter 6: Worksheet Formatting
Tip
You may want to create a master workbook that contains all your custom styles so that you always know which workbook to merge styles from. n
Controlling styles with templates
When you start Excel, it loads with several default settings, including the settings for stylistic formatting. If you spend a lot of time changing the default elements, you should know about templates.
Here’s an example. You may prefer that gridlines aren’t displayed in worksheets. And maybe you prefer Wrap Text to be the default setting for alignment. Templates provide an easy way to change defaults.
The trick is to create a workbook with the Normal style modified to the way that you want it. Then, save the workbook as a template in your XLStart folder. After doing so, you choose
Office New to display a dialog box from which you can choose the template for the new workbook. Template files also can store other named styles, providing you with an excellent way to give your workbooks a consistent look.
Cross-Reference
Chapter 8 discusses templates in detail. n
Understanding Document Themes
To help users create more professional-looking documents, the Office designers incorporated a concept known as document themes. Using themes is an easy (and almost foolproof) way to specify the colors, fonts, and a variety of graphic effects in a document. And best of all, changing the entire look of your document is a breeze. A few mouse clicks is all it takes to apply a different theme and change the look of your workbook.
Importantly, the concept of themes is incorporated into other Office 2010 (and Office 2007) applications. Therefore, a company can easily create a standard look and feel for all its documents.
Note
Themes don’t override specific formatting that you apply. For example, assume that you apply the Accent 1– named style to a range. Then you use the Fill Color control to change the background color of that range. If you change to a different theme, the manually applied fill color will not be modified. Bottom line? If you plan to take advantage of themes, stick with default formatting choices. n
Figure 6.14 shows a worksheet that contains a SmartArt diagram, a table, a chart, and range formatted with the Heading 1–named style. These items all use the default theme, which is the Office Theme.
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FIGURE 6.14
The elements in this worksheet use the default theme.
Figure 6.15 shows the same worksheet after applying a different document theme. The different theme changed the fonts, colors (which may not be apparent in the figure), and the graphic effects for the SmartArt diagram.
On the CD
If you’d like to experiment with using various themes, the workbook shown in Figures 6.14 and 6.15 is available on the companion CD-ROM. The file is named theme examples.xlsx.
FIGURE 6.15
The worksheet, after applying a different theme.
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Applying a theme
Figure 6.16 shows the theme choices that appear when you choose Page Layout Themes Themes. This display is a live preview. (While you move your mouse over the theme choices, the active worksheet displays the theme.) When you see a theme you like, click it to apply the theme to all worksheets in the workbook.
Note
A theme applies to the entire workbook. You can’t use different themes on different worksheets within a workbook. n
FIGURE 6.16
Built-in Excel theme choices.
When you specify a particular theme, the gallery choices for various elements reflect the new theme. For example, the chart styles that you can choose from vary, depending on which theme is active.
Because themes use different fonts and font sizes, changing to a different theme may affect the layout of your worksheet. For example, after applying a new theme, a worksheet that printed on a single page may spill over to a second page. Therefore, you may need to make some adjustments after you apply a new theme.
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Customizing a theme
Notice that the Themes group on the Page Layout tab contains three other controls: Colors, Fonts, and Effects. You can use these controls to change just one of the three components of a theme. For example, if you like the Urban theme but would prefer different fonts, apply the Urban theme and then specify your preferred font set by choosing Page Layout Themes Font.
Each theme uses two fonts (one for headers, and one for the body), and in some cases, these two fonts are the same. If none of the theme choices is suitable, choose Page Layout Themes Font Create New Theme Fonts to specify the two fonts you prefer (see Figure 6.17).
FIGURE 6.17
Use this dialog box to specify two fonts for a theme.
Tip
When you choose Home Fonts Font, the two fonts for the current theme are listed first in the dropdown list. n
Choose Page Layout Themes Colors to select a different set of colors. And, if you’re so inclined, you can even create a custom set of colors by choosing Page Layout Themes Colors Create New Theme Colors. This command displays the Create New Theme Colors dialog box, shown in Figure 6.18. Note that each theme consists of 12 colors. Four of the colors are for text and backgrounds, six are for accents, and two are for hyperlinks. As you specify different colors, the preview panel in the dialog box updates.
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FIGURE 6.18
If you’re feeling creative, you can specify a set of custom colors for a theme.
Note
Theme effects operate on graphic elements, such as SmartArt, Shapes, and charts. You can’t customize theme effects. n
If you’ve customized a theme using different fonts or colors, you can save the new theme by choosing Page Layout Themes Save Current Theme. Your customized themes appear in the theme list in the Custom category. Other Office applications, such as Word and PowerPoint, can use these theme files.
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