how do you rotate text

This formum is dedicated to Number for Mac OS X. I can provide details specific to Numbers on Mac OS X in hopes things are close enough you can find the analog in the iOS version:

To rotate text (I am assuming you mean a text box in a sheet) select the text box (or other objects), then open the inspector and choose the "Metrics" segment. ou can then type in the rotate angle,

Hi Bru,

Text rotation is possible in Shapes and Text Boxes, but not in Tables. You can put a rotated image into a table cell, but you won't be able to use the text in the image in any functions.

Here's the way I prefer for placing rotated text into a Table Cell.

• Insert > Text Box
• Type text into box
• Size the text and set the box dimensions to your liking - not critical on the size, but the proportions are important
• Click once on the box to select the object, not the text inside
• Rotate the object in the direction you desire
• Command-C to copy the object to the Clipboard
• Switch to Preview.app
• Command-N to make a PDF of the Clipboard Content
• Command-C to place the PDF file on the clipboard
• Switch back to Numbers
• Command-V to paste it to the cell where you want it

It takes less time to do it than to tell about it.🙂

Jerry

I made an error in my sequence in the original post - now corrected.

Bru_D wrote:

Oh dear Jerry, what a comlex way to do it. By the time I posted the question I had worked out what to do with text boxes, but thought I would ask the community in case I was missing something obvious . It would appear the programmers at Apple have not thought this one through. I hate to say it but microsoft is better at this (and other things), and in some respects leaves numbers looking a bit amatuer. Saying that it does other things very well.

Thanks for replying so quickly.

I suggest that you try out both methods. In particular, experiment with moving and resizing your table, and the cell that the text is in. You will quickly see the advantage of the Background Image Fill technique. Then again, if the iOS version doesn't support Fill Images, you're stuck.

Jerry

You cannot rotate a text box in iOS but you can rotate a shape.

OK I havn't found a way.

I use an uncoloured square shape under the + double tap to type into it. Resize and Rotate with two fingers.

S.

Please use the "Provide Numbers Feedback" option found under the "Numbers" menu to request this feature. The more often they hear the request the more likely it will happen. 😉