How to I Make Footnotes in Numbers?

Question

How to I Make Footnotes in Numbers?

I'd like to add footnotes to a spreadsheet in Numbers but can't seem to find a way to do it. The dude at my One-on-One session said my only option is to use the comment feature but I find that hard to believe. Is that really the case? Footnotes are such a common feature in financial reports that I find it surprising that Apple wouldn't have built that functionality into the program. Any suggestions about how others add notes to charts or tables would be much appreciated.

MacBook Pro, Mac OS X (10.6.3)

Posted on Apr 13, 2010 6:47 AM

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Answer 1

Apr 13, 2010 11:46 AM in response to Badunit

Thanks but what happens to the data and formulas when I cut/paste the tables into Pages? Can I add data after that point or does the data entry have to be complete before I move the tables?

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Answer 2

Apr 13, 2010 7:09 AM in response to lagoldberg8397

l,

You can Insert a Text Box and place it anywhere you wish. Formatting options are limited, but the method is functional.

You also have the ability to create your footnote in Pages, Print to PDF and insert the PDF in the Numbers document.

Jerry

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Answer 3

Badunit

Level 7

30,924 points

Apr 13, 2010 7:44 AM in response to Jerrold Green1

Lagoldberg8397,

If you are talking about notes to the financial statements, not simply a few little footnotes, you should consider iWork as a suite of applications that work together. Spreadsheets are spreadsheets, they are meant to have tables and charts, not a lot of text. Pages is probably the better choice for the final document if these are financial statements with an actual set of "notes to the financial statements".

You can create your financial tables in Numbers and the notes in Pages then copy/paste the financial tables to Pages. That way the footnotes can flow across pages. The tables must be sized to fit correctly on the page or else they will get reformatted when pasted into Pages.

Alternatively, if you want the final document to be in Numbers, you can create the notes in Pages, copy them, then paste to the Numbers canvas and you'll get a text box. I would recommend copying the notes in sections so that each time you paste into Numbers you create a text box that will fit on a page.

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Answer 4

Badunit

Level 7

30,924 points

Apr 13, 2010 4:26 PM in response to lagoldberg8397

The data and formulas remain. Not to be disrespectful but you could have tested that yourself.

You can also add new rows to the table and do just about everything else but you don't have all the tools available in Numbers so some things are not as easy.

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