CHAPTER

Using and Creating

Templates

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FIGURE 8.1

The New page in Backstage View displays template categories.

Note

Microsoft Office Online has a wide variety of templates, and some are better than others. If you download a few duds, don’t give up. Even though a template may not be perfect, you can often modify a template to meet your needs. Modifying an existing template is often easier than creating a workbook from scratch. n

Creating a workbook from a template

To create a workbook based on a template, just locate the template and click the Create button on the right. If the template is on Microsoft Office Online, the Create button is replaced with a Download button.

What you do next depends on the template. Every template is different, but most are selfexplanatory. Some workbooks require customization. Just replace the generic information with your own information.

Figure 8.2 shows a workbook based on an invoice template. This particular workbook has a few simple formulas that perform calculations using the data that you enter. Figure 8.3 shows the workbook after it has been customized a bit, and some items added. Notice that formulas calculate the subtotal, sales tax, and total.

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Chapter 8: Using and Creating Templates

Note

It’s important to understand that you’re not working with the template file. Rather, you’re working with a workbook that was created from the template file. If you make any changes, you’re not changing the

template — you’re changing the workbook that’s based on the template. After you download a template from Microsoft Office Online, that template is available in the My Templates category (in the Available Templates screen) so you don’t need to redownload it if you want to re-use the template. n

FIGURE 8.2

A workbook created from an invoice template downloaded from Microsoft Office Online.

If you want to save the workbook, click the Save button. Excel proposes a named based on the template’s name, but you can use any name you like.

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FIGURE 8.3

The workbook, after customizing it and entering some information.

Modifying a template

A template file is just like a workbook file. As such, you can open a template file, make changes to it, and then resave the template file. Looking at the invoice template shown earlier in this chapter, you may want to modify it so that it shows your company information and uses your actual sales tax rate. Then, when you use that template in the future, the workbook created from it will already be customized.

To open a template, choose File Open (not File New) and locate the template file (it will have an .xltx or .xlt extension).

Tip

The location for template files varies. To find out where Excel stores template files, open a new workbook and choose File Save As. In the Save As dialog box, choose Excel Template (*.xltx) from the Save as Type dropdown list. Excel will activate your template folder. Make a note of this location, and click Cancel to close the Save As dialog box. On my system, templates are stored here:

C:\Users\<username>\AppData\Roaming\Microsoft\Templates

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