Diagonal Text on Rows

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Level 1

76 points

Diagonal Text on Rows

I am trying to set up an 8 1/2 X 11'' grid type document in Pages.
Down the left side I want to list the names of about 20 people.

Across the top I'll need about 15 rows with Job Titles. I want to be able label these rows in a diagonal fashion. Is there an easy way to do so?

The grid cells created by these rows and columns will be small, only 3 letters wide. Thus the need to be able to label the rows in a diagonal fashion so they'll be readable.

Any other suggestions would be appreciated.

Thanks, Bob.

Intel iMac 2 ghz, Mac OS X (10.6.6)

Posted on Mar 13, 2011 10:24 PM

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Answer 1

Mar 13, 2011 10:59 PM in response to Bob Covell

Bob

I gather you are talking about setting up a table.

Pages can not rotate text within tables, but you can put the text in a Text box and rotate that.

You will need to make the Textboxes floating with no Text Wrap and position them where you need them.

A quick method to have identical text boxes in a row is to create and rotate the 1st one and then +command option shift drag+ out copies next to it.

Peter

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Answer 2

Bob Covell Author

Level 1

76 points

Mar 14, 2011 4:21 PM in response to PeterBreis0807

Peter-
Thanks for the reply. I'm not well versed in such things and was pleased that your idea worked for me.
I've been able to set up a Pages document, drop a text box into it, rotate it to my columns and label it as desired. Your tip on duplicating the text box works great.

My wife has to use a PC at work and she says she sets up tables in Excel all the time and it's much easier to do them. So, I'm kinda hoping for an easier solution to my problem using the Mac.

Thanks again. Bob.

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Answer 3

Mar 14, 2011 11:43 PM in response to Bob Covell

Excel is a powerhouse solution for spreadsheets and has an enormous number of features.

Pages is the Word Processing/DTP solution, Numbers is a closer match for Excel and you would need to investigate what it can do for you.

Peter

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Answer 4

Mar 15, 2011 5:04 AM in response to Bob Covell

Hi Bob,

If you think you may be interested in using Numbers, the best way to begin is to download the Numbers User Guide via the Help menu. Read at least the first few chapters. It's easy reading, not a technical manual that might bore you to death. You will learn important nomenclature and a basic understanding of what can be done. Generally speaking, if you aren't making calculations or graphs, you are probably better off in Pages, but there may be occasions when Numbers can help even if all you are using it for is to make lists.

As an example, I wondered how difficult it might be to turn a list of names into diagonal labels using Numbers 09. It took a minute or two to convert a group of 25 labels from a plain columnar list to diagonal labels in a horizontal array, using the Chart tool. The question would be whether it would be worth learning how to do this if you only use the technique once in a blue moon vs. the only slightly more laborious method you used.

You can be sure that if you decide to give Numbers a try, there will be lots of folks willing to give you a hand, as Peter did here.

Jerry

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Answer 5

Bob Covell Author

Level 1

76 points

Mar 15, 2011 9:10 PM in response to Jerrold Green1

Thanks Jerry, I might take a look.

I did muddle my way through the grid I was trying to do and emailed it to the person I thought might be interested. She emailed back that she thought I had too much time on my hands! Not the case for sure, so I'm guessing this might have been a one shot deal.

Thanks for the suggestions. Bob.

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