1. The Magic of Excel –
Formatting Like a Pro
Jeff Steuben
Alliance to Save Energy
jsteuben@ase.org
2. Session Overview
• Introduction
• What you can do with Excel
• Key features of Excel
• Before you start…
• Jeff’s Rules for better spreadsheets
• Questions
7. Key features of Excel
• Experienced users please bear with us
8. Formulas
• All formulas start with =
• SUM
– sums up all the cells inside the ( )
– Specify a range or individual cells
9. Formulas
• IF
– Conducts a logical test and can do one of two
actions if test is TRUE or FALSE
10. Formulas
• ISBLANK
– Used in logical tests to see if a cell is blank
– Great for making calculations work without
making things look ugly
11. Dragging formulas
• You don’t want to type this on every line
• Hover near the bottom right corner
of a selected cell until you see this
• Click and drag to copy
13. Relative vs. Absolute position
• Still looking at these two:
• Position won’t change (absolute) in the
Column “$F” and the Row “$8”
14. Exclamation!
• Referencing a location on another tab uses
this format:
Tab Name!
Followed by the cell location
• Needs single quotation marks if
tab name is multiple words
15. Protecting Cells
• Two stage process
• By default, all cells will lock once you
enable “Protect”
1. Select cells you want to be editable (e.g. data
entry cells)
- Right Click
- “Format Cells” “Protection” Tab
- Uncheck “Locked”
17. What you see when you open Excel
• Center your screen on what you want the user
to see.
• Do this for every tab
• THEN save
18. What you see when you open Excel
• The difference between seeing …
19. Hide Cells
• Remove cells from sight without deleting
• Save blank areas for future use
• Improve visual clarity
• Select ROWS or COLUMNS (not cells)
– Right click
– “Hide”
21. Before you start…
• Identify your process/goals for the project
• Ask yourself some questions:
22. Q: Will other people be using this?
• Always design as if you will get amnesia
• Don’t cut corners on labeling
• If your document is good, it will resurface in
unexpected places
23. Q: Will the data be ongoing or
one-time?
Or: Will I need limited or unlimited space for my
data?
• Don’t box yourself in
24. Q: How many tabs will I need /
should I have?
• As few as possible without overcrowding
• One document that tries to do everything is
less helpful in the end
25. Q: How should I spatially arrange
my data?
• Rows, Columns or boxes (areas)
• Depends on what you’re doing
Rows
C
o
l
u
m
n
s
26. Q: Will multiple people provide
data to the sheet?
• Make a google doc
• Or track versions with file naming scheme –
v1, v2, etc. or timestamp “2-6-2011”
27. Q: Will I need to prevent people
from changing certain cells?
A: Protect the sheet
• Further editing becomes a pain – do this last
31. Jeff’s Rule #1
• Design with people in mind
– Label all your data
– Make your spreadsheet
easy to read
32. Jeff’s Rule #2
• No hidden numbers inside cells
– Cells have either calculations (formulas) OR
numbers
– Not both
33. Jeff’s Rule #3
• State your assumptions
– The world runs on assumptions
– Do the best you can
– Be able to justify how you got them
– Be flexible to adjusting them
34. Jeff’s Rule #4
• Take advantage of visual formatting to
improve clarity
– White border
– Bold outlines
– Fonts
– Cell colors (don’t overdo it!)
35.
36. Jeff’s Rule #4b
• Use consistent design
– Color scheme
– Fonts
– Rows vs. columns
37. Jeff’s Rule #5
• Avoid clutter and over complexity
– Don’t overcrowd a sheet, make multiple tabs
– Keep tabs to minimum
– Adding more and more features/information
results in a bloated document
– Significant figures
38. Wrap-up
• Excel can do many things
• Take advantage of Excel’s features
• Think before you start
• Remember Jeff’s Rules
and above all…