Getting Started

Getting started with Excel 2007 you will notice that there are many similar features to previous versions.  You will also notice that there are many new features that you’ll be able to utilize.  There are three features that you should remember as you work within Excel 2007:  the Microsoft Office Button, the Quick Access Toolbar, and the Ribbon.  The function of these features will be more fully explored below.

Spreadsheets
A spreadsheet is an electronic document that stores various types of data.  There are vertical columns and horizontal rows.  A cell is where the column and row intersect.  A cell can contain data and can be used in calculations of data within the spreadsheet.  An Excel spreadsheet can contain workbooks and worksheets.  The workbook is the holder for related worksheets.

Microsoft Office Button
The Microsoft Office Button performs many of the functions that were located in the File menu of older versions of Excel.  This button allows you to create a new workbook, Open an existing workbook, save and save as, print, send, or close.

Ribbon
The ribbon is the panel at the top portion of the document   It has seven tabs:  Home, Insert, Page Layouts, Formulas, Data, Review, and View.  Each tab is divided into groups.  The groups are logical collections of features designed to perform function that you will utilize in developing or editing your Excel spreadsheets. 

Commonly utilized features are displayed on the Ribbon.  To view additional features within each group, click the arrow at the bottom right corner of each group.

Home:  Clipboard, Fonts, Alignment, Number, Styles, Cells, Editing
Insert: Tables, Illustrations, Charts, Links, Text
Page Layouts: Themes, Page Setup, Scale to Fit, Sheet Options, Arrange
Formulas: Function Library, Defined Names, Formula Auditing, Calculation
Data:  Get External Data, Connections, Sort & Filter, Data Tools, Outline
Review:  Proofing, Comments, Changes
View: Workbook Views, Show/Hide, Zoom, Window, Macros

Quick Access Toolbar
The quick access toolbar is a customizable toolbar that contains commands that you may want to use.  You can place the quick access toolbar above or below the ribbon.  To change the location of the quick access toolbar, click on the arrow at the end of the toolbar and click Show Below the Ribbon.

You can also add items to the quick access toolbar.  Right click on any item in the Office Button or the Ribbon and click Add to Quick Access Toolbar and a shortcut will be added.

Mini Toolbar
A new feature in Office 2007 is the Mini Toolbar.  This is a floating toolbar that is displayed when you select text or right-click text.  It displays common formatting tools, such as Bold, Italics, Fonts, Font Size and Font Color.
 

Customize Excel

Excel 2007 offers a wide range of customizable options that allow you to make Excel work the best for you.  To access these customizable options:

• Click the Office Button
• Click Excel Options

Popular
These features allow you to personalize your work environment with the mini toolbar, color schemes, default options for new workbooks, customize sort and fill sequences user name and allow you to access the Live Preview feature.  The Live Preview feature allows you to preview the results of applying design and formatting changes without actually applying it.

Formulas
This feature allows you to modify calculation options, working with formulas, error checking, and error checking rules.

Proofing
This feature allows you personalize how word corrects and formats your text. You can customize auto correction settings and have word ignore certain words or errors in a document through the Custom Dictionaries.

Save
This feature allows you personalize how your workbook is saved.  You can specify how often you want auto save to run and where you want the workbooks saved.

Advanced
This feature allows you to specify options for editing, copying, pasting, printing, displaying, formulas, calculations, and other general settings.

Customize
Customize allows you to add features to the Quick Access Toolbar.  If there are tools that you are utilizing frequently, you may want to add these to the Quick Access Toolbar.

Working with a Workbook

Create a Workbook
To create a new Workbook:

• Click the Microsoft Office Toolbar
• Click New
• Choose Blank Document

If you want to create a new document from a template, explore the templates and choose one that fits your needs.

Save a Workbook
When you save a workbook, you have two choices: Save or Save As.
To save a document:

• Click the Microsoft Office Button
• Click Save

You may need to use the Save As feature when you need to save a workbook under a different name or to save it for earlier versions of Excel.  Remember that older versions of Excel will not be able to open an Excel 2007 worksheet unless you save it as an Excel 97-2003 Format. To use the Save As feature:

• Click the Microsoft Office Button
• Click Save As
• Type in the name for the Workbook
• In the Save as Type box, choose Excel 97-2003 Workbook

Open a Workbook
To open an existing workbook:

• Click the Microsoft Office Button
• Click Open
• Browse to the workbook
• Click the title of the workbook
• Click Open

Entering Data
There are different ways to enter data in Excel:  in an active cell or in the formula bar.
To enter data in an active cell:

• Click in the cell where you want the data
• Begin typing

To enter data into the formula bar

• Click the cell where you would like the data
• Place the cursor in the Formula Bar
• Type in the data

Manipulating Data

Excel allows you to move, copy, and paste cells and cell content through cutting and pasting and copying and pasting.

Select Data
To select a cell or data to be copied or cut:

• Click the cell

• Click and drag the cursor to select many cells in a range

Select a Row or Column
To select a row or column click on the row or column header.

Copy and Paste
To copy and paste data:

• Select the cell(s) that you wish to copy
• On the Clipboard group of the Home tab, click Copy

• Select the cell(s) where you would like to copy the data
• On the Clipboard group of the Home tab, click Paste

Cut and Paste
To cut and paste data:

• Select the cell(s) that you wish to copy
• On the Clipboard group of the Home tab, click Cut

• Select the cell(s) where you would like to copy the data
• On the Clipboard group of the Home tab, click Paste

Undo and Redo
To undo or redo your most recent actions:

• On the Quick Access Toolbar
• Click Undo or Redo

Auto Fill
The Auto Fill feature fills  cell data or series of data in a worksheet into a selected range of cells. If you want the same data copied into the other cells, you only need to complete one cell.  If you want to have a series of data (for example, days of the week) fill in the first two cells in the series and then use the auto fill feature. To use the Auto Fill feature:

• Click the Fill Handle
• Drag the Fill Handle to complete the cells

Modifying a Worksheet

Insert Cells, Rows, and Columns
To insert cells, rows, and columns in Excel:

• Place the cursor in the row below where you want the new row, or in the column to the left of where you want the new column
• Click the Insert button on the Cells group of the Home tab
• Click the appropriate choice: Cell, Row,  or Column

Delete Cells, Rows and Columns
To delete cells, rows, and columns:

• Place the cursor in the cell, row, or column that you want to delete
• Click the Delete button on the Cells group of the Home tab
• Click the appropriate choice:  Cell, Row, or Column

Find and Replace
To find data or find and replace data:

• Click the Find & Select button on the Editing group of the Home tab
• Choose Find or Replace
• Complete the Find What text box
• Click on Options for more search options

Go To Command
The Go To command takes you to a specific cell either by cell reference (the Column Letter and the Row Number) or cell name. 

• Click the Find & Select button on the Editing group of the Home tab
• Click Go To

Spell Check
To check the spelling:

• On the Review tab click the Spelling button

Performing Calculations

Excel Formulas
A formula is a set of mathematical instructions that can be used in Excel to perform calculations.  Formals are started in the formula box with an = sign.

There are many elements to and excel formula.

References:  The cell or range of cells that you want to use in your calculation
Operators:  Symbols (+, -, *, /, etc.) that specify the calculation to be performed
Constants:  Numbers or text values that do not change
Functions:  Predefined formulas in Excel

To create a basic formula in Excel:

• Select the cell for the formula
• Type = (the equal sign) and the formula
• Click Enter

Calculate with Functions
A function is a built in formula in Excel.  A function has a name and arguments (the mathematical function) in parentheses.  Common functions in Excel:

Sum:  Adds all cells in the argument
Average:  Calculates the average of the cells in the argument
Min:  Finds the minimum value
Max:  Finds the maximum value
Count:  Finds the number of cells that contain a numerical value within a range of the argument

To calculate a function:

• Click the cell where you want the function applied
• Click the Insert Function button
• Choose the function
• Click OK

• Complete the Number 1 box with the first cell in the range that you want calculated
• Complete the Number 2 box with the last cell in the range that you want calculated

Function Library
The function library is a large group of functions on the Formula Tab of the Ribbon.  These functions include:

AutoSum:  Easily calculates the sum of a range
Recently Used:  All recently used functions
Financial: Accrued interest, cash flow return rates and additional financial functions
Logical: And, If, True, False, etc.
Text: Text based functions
Date & Time: Functions calculated on date and time
Math & Trig:  Mathematical Functions

Relative, Absolute and Mixed References

Calling cells by just their column and row labels (such as "A1") is called relative referencing. When a formula contains relative referencing and it is copied from one cell to another, Excel does not create an exact copy of the formula. It will change cell addresses relative to the row and column they are moved to. For example, if a simple addition formula in cell C1 "=(A1+B1)" is copied to cell C2, the formula would change to "=(A2+B2)" to reflect the new row. To prevent this change, cells must be called by absolute referencing and this is accomplished by placing dollar signs "$" within the cell addresses in the formula. Continuing the previous example, the formula in cell C1 would read "=($A$1+$B$1)" if the value of cell C2 should be the sum of cells A1 and B1. Both the column and row of both cells are absolute and will not change when copied. Mixed referencing can also be used where only the row OR column fixed. For example, in the formula "=(A$1+$B2)", the row of cell A1 is fixed and the column of cell B2 is fixed.

Linking Worksheets
You may want to use the value from a cell in another worksheet within the same workbook in a formula. For example, the value of cell A1 in the current worksheet and cell A2 in the second worksheet can be added using the format "sheetname!celladdress". The formula for this example would be "=A1+Sheet2!A2" where the value of cell A1 in the current worksheet is added to the value of cell A2 in the worksheet named "Sheet2".

Macros

Macros are advanced features that can speed up editing or formatting you may perform often in an Excel worksheet. They record sequences of menu selections that you choose so that a series of actions can be completed in one step.

Recording a Macro
To record a Macro:

• Click the View tab on the Ribbon
• Click Macros
• Click Record Macro
• Enter a name (without spaces)
• Enter a Shortcut Key
• Enter a Description

• Perform the Macro
• Click Marcos
• Click Stop Recording

Running a Macro
To run a Macro from the Keyboard shortcut, simply press the keys that you have programmed to run the Macro.  Or you can view all macros and run by:

• Click Macros
• Click View Macros
• Choose the Macro and click Run

Sort and Filter

Sorting and Filtering allow you to manipulate data in a worksheet based on given set of criteria.

Basic Sorts
To execute a basic descending or ascending sort based on one column:

• Highlight the cells that will be sorted
• Click the Sort & Filter button on the Home tab
• Click the Sort Ascending (A-Z) button or Sort Descending (Z-A) button

Custom Sorts
To sort on the basis of more than one column:

• Click the Sort & Filter button on the Home tab
• Choose which column you want to sort by first
• Click Add Level
• Choose the next column you want to sort
• Click OK

Filtering
Filtering allows you to display only data that meets certain criteria. To filter:

• Click the column or columns that contain the data you wish to filter
• On the Home tab, click on Sort & Filter
• Click  Filter button
• Click the Arrow at the bottom of the first cell
• Click the Text Filter
• Click the Words you wish to Filter

• To clear the filter click the Sort & Filter button
• Click Clear

Graphics

Adding a Picture
To add a picture:

• Click the Insert tab
• Click the Picture button
• Browse to the picture from your files
• Click the name of the picture
• Click Insert
• To move the graphic, click it and drag it to where you want it

Adding Clip Art
To add Clip Art:

• Click the Insert tab
• Click the Clip Art button
• Search for the clip art using the search Clip Art dialog box
• Click the clip art
• To move the graphic, click it and drag it to where you want it

Editing Pictures and Clip Art
When you add a graphic to the worksheet, an additional tab appears on the Ribbon.  The Format tab allows you to format the pictures and graphics.  This tab has four groups:

Adjust:  Controls the picture brightness, contrast, and colors
Picture Style:  Allows you to place a frame or border around the picture and add effects
Arrange:  Controls the alignment and rotation of the picture
Size:  Cropping and size of graphic

Adding Shapes
To add Shape:

• Click the Insert tab
• Click the Shapes button
• Click the shape you choose

• Click the Worksheet
• Drag the cursor to expand the Shape

To format the shapes:

• Click the Shape
• Click the Format tab

Adding SmartArt
SmartArt is a feature in Office 2007 that allows you to choose from a variety of graphics, including flow charts, lists, cycles, and processes.  To add SmartArt:

• Click the Insert tab
• Click the SmartArt button
• Click the SmartArt you choose

• Select the Smart Art
• Drag it to the desired location in the worksheet

To format the SmartArt:

• Select the SmartArt
• Click either the Design or the Format tab
• Click the SmartArt to add text and pictures.

Charts

Charts allow you to present information contained in the worksheet in a graphic format. Excel offers many types of charts including: Column, Line, Pie, Bar, Area, Scatter and more.  To view the charts available click the Insert Tab on the Ribbon.

Create a Chart
To create a chart:

• Select the cells that contain the data you want to use in the chart
• Click the Insert tab on the Ribbon
• Click the type of Chart you want to create

Modify a Chart
Once you have created a chart you can do several things to modify the chart. 

To move the chart:

• Click the Chart and Drag it another location on the same worksheet, or
• Click the Move Chart button on the Design tab
• Choose the desired location (either a new sheet or a current sheet in the workbook)

To change the data included in the chart:

• Click the Chart
• Click the Select Data button on the Design tab

To reverse which data are displayed in the rows and columns:

• Click the Chart
• Click the Switch Row/Column button on the Design tab

To modify the labels and titles:

• Click the Chart
• On the Layout tab, click the Chart Title or the Data Labels button
• Change the Title and click Enter

Chart Tools
The Chart Tools appear on the Ribbon when you click on the chart.  The tools are located on three tabs:  Design, Layout, and Format. 

Within the Design tab you can control the chart type, layout, styles, and location.

Within the Layout tab you can control inserting pictures, shapes and text boxes, labels, axes, background, and analysis.

Within the Format tab you can modify shape styles, word styles and size of the chart.

Copy a Chart to Word

• Select the chart
• Click Copy on the Home tab
• Go to the Word document where you want the chart located
• Click Paste on the Home tab

Formatting a Worksheet

Convert Text to Columns
Sometimes you will want to split data in one cell into two or more cells.  You can do this easily by utilizing the Convert Text to Columns Wizard.

• Highlight the column in which you wish to split the data
• Click the Text to Columns button on the Data tab
• Click Delimited if you have a comma or tab separating the data, or click fixed widths to set the data separation at a specific size. 

Modify Fonts
Modifying fonts in Excel will allow you to emphasize titles and headings. To modify a font:

• Select the cell or cells that you would like the font applied
• On the Font group on the Home tab, choose the font type, size, bold, italics, underline, or color

Format Cells Dialog Box
In Excel, you can also apply specific formatting to a cell. To apply formatting to a cell or group of cells:

• Select the cell or cells that will have the formatting
• Click the Dialog Box arrow on the Alignment group of the Home tab

There are several tabs on this dialog box that allow you to modify properties of the cell or cells. 

Number:  Allows for the display of different number types and decimal places
Alignment:  Allows for the horizontal and vertical alignment of text, wrap text, shrink text, merge cells and the direction of the text.
Font:  Allows for control of font, font style, size, color, and additional features
Border:  Border styles and colors
Fill:  Cell fill colors and styles

Add Borders and Colors to Cells
Borders and colors can be added to cells manually or through the use of styles.  To add borders manually:

• Click the Borders drop down menu on the Font group of the Home tab
• Choose the appropriate border

To apply colors manually:

• Click the Fill drop down menu on the Font group of the Home tab
• Choose the appropriate color

To apply borders and colors using styles:

• Click Cell Styles on the Home tab
• Choose a style or click New Cell Style

Change Column Width and Row Height
To change the width of a column or the height of a row:

• Click the Format button on the Cells group of the Home tab
• Manually adjust the height and width by clicking Row Height or Column Width
• To use AutoFit click AutoFit Row Height or AutoFit Column Width

Hide or Unhide Rows or Columns
To hide or unhide rows or columns:

• Select the row or column you wish to hide or unhide
• Click the Format button on the Cells group of the Home tab
• Click Hide & Unhide

Merge Cells
To merge cells select the cells you want to merge and click the Merge & Center button on the Alignment group of the Home tab.  The four choices for merging cells are:

Merge & Center: Combines the cells and centers the contents in the new, larger cell
Merge Across: Combines the cells across columns without centering data
Merge Cells: Combines the cells in a range without centering
Unmerge Cells: Splits the cell that has been merged

Align Cell Contents
To align cell contents, click the cell or cells you want to align and click on the options within the Alignment group on the Home tab.  There are several options for alignment of cell contents:

Top Align:  Aligns text to the top of the cell
Middle Align:  Aligns text between the top and bottom of the cell
Bottom Align:  Aligns text to the bottom of the cell
Align Text Left:  Aligns text to the left of the cell
Center:  Centers the text from left to right in the cell
Align Text Right:  Aligns text to the right of the cell
Decrease Indent:  Decreases the indent between the left border and the text
Increase Indent:  Increase the indent between the left border and the text
Orientation:  Rotate the text diagonally or vertically

Developing a Workbook

Format Worksheet Tab
You can rename a worksheet or change the color of the tabs to meet your needs.
To rename a worksheet:

• Open the sheet to be renamed
• Click the Format button on the Home tab
• Click Rename sheet
• Type in a new name
• Press Enter

To change the color of a worksheet tab:

• Open the sheet to be renamed
• Click the Format button on the Home tab
• Click Tab Color
• Click the color

Reposition Worksheets in a Workbook
To move worksheets in a workbook:

• Open the workbook that contains the sheets you want to rearrange
• Click and hold the worksheet tab that will be moved until an arrow appears in the left corner of the sheet
• Drag the worksheet to the desired location

Insert and Delete Worksheets
To insert a worksheet

• Open the workbook
• Click the Insert button on the Cells group of the Home tab
• Click Insert Sheet

To delete a worksheet

• Open the workbook
• Click the Delete button on the Cells group of the Home tab
• Click Delete Sheet

Copy and Paste Worksheets:
To copy and paste a worksheet:

• Click the tab of the worksheet to be copied
• Right click and choose Move or Copy
• Choose the desired position of the sheet
• Click the check box next to Create a Copy
• Click OK

Page Properties and Printing

Set Print Titles
The print titles function allows you to repeat the column and row headings at the beginning of each new page to make reading a multiple page sheet easier to read when printed.  To Print Titles:

• Click the Page Layout tab on the Ribbon
• Click the Print Titles button
• In the Print Titles section, click the box to select the rows/columns to be repeated
• Select the row or column
• Click the Select Row/Column Button
• Click OK

Create a Header or Footer
To create a header or footer:

• Click the Header & Footer button on the Insert tab
• This will display the Header & Footer Design Tools Tab
• To switch between the Header and Footer, click the Go to Header or Go to Footer button

• To insert text, enter the text in the header or footer
• To enter preprogrammed data such as page numbers, date, time, file name or sheet name, click the appropriate button
• To change the location of data, click the desired cell

Set Page Margins
To set the page margins:

• Click the Margins button on the Page Layout tab
• Select one of the give choices, or

• Click Custom Margins
• Complete the boxes to set margins
• Click Ok

Change Page Orientation
To change the page orientation from portrait to landscape:

• Click the Orientation button on the Page Layout tab
• Choose Portrait or Landscape

Set Page Breaks
You can manually set up page breaks in a worksheet for ease of reading when the sheet is printed.  To set a page break:

• Click the Breaks button on the Page Layout tab
• Click Insert Page Break

Print a Range
There may be times when you only want to print a portion of a worksheet.  This is easily done through the Print Range function.  To print a range:

• Select the area to be printed
• Click the Print Area button on the Page Layout tab
• Click Select Print Area

Customize the Layout

Split a Worksheet
You can split a worksheet into multiple resizable panes for easier viewing of parts of a worksheet. To split a worksheet:

• Select any cell in center of the worksheet you want to split
• Click the Split button on the View tab
• Notice the split in the screen, you can manipulate each part separately

Freeze Rows and Columns
You can select a particular portion of a worksheet to stay static while you work on other parts of the sheet.  This is accomplished through the Freeze Rows and Columns Function.  To Freeze a row or column:

• Click the Freeze Panes button on the View tab
• Either select a section to be frozen or click the defaults of top row or left column
• To unfreeze, click the Freeze Panes button
• Click Unfreeze

Hide Worksheets
To hide a worksheet:

• Select the tab of the sheet you wish to hide
• Right-click on the tab
• Click Hide

To unhide a worksheet:

• Right-click on any worksheet tab
• Click Unhide
• Choose the worksheet to unhide

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