Formatting Cell Borders...going in circles

G.,

You're going off course at step 2. Before setting the line type, or any other characteristic, you must choose the border pattern of the selection. This will be the Outside lines, or the Vertical lines, or the Horizontal lines, etc.

Jerry

In order to set the cell border parameters you have to:

select:

- which border

- the stoke type

- the stoke weight

- the stroke color

So really... you need to make four selections per boarder

If you want to se the left and right edges of a cell, then select the left side (A) (above), then select the type, weight, and color (2, 3, 4).

Then select right side (C), then select the type, weight, and color (2, 3, 4)

do not select another cell(s) until you have made all the selections.

There is no "done" button. It applies your changes as you make them.

1. Click on a cell. The entire cell will have a box around it
2. Use the toolbar button to choose the Left Edge. The cell should show the left edge as selected; the box around the entire cell will not be there anymore, just on the left edge.
3. Change the line type, width, color.

You can also turn on Allow Border Selection in the Table menu. You click on a border to select the entire border for a row/column. Click again on the border to select a segment of the border. Command-Click on other borders to add them to the selection. Now you can use the line type/width/color buttons on the toolbar to change them all at the same time

Operations on the Mac follow a consistent and logical syntax: Noun, Verb (or Object, Action).

"Noun" is the object, "Verb" is the action applied to that object.

Want to fill a shape with colour? Select the shape (Noun), Apply the colour (verb).

Want a word to appear in italic type? Select the text forming the word (Noun), Press command-I to apply the format (Verb).

Same syntax here. Select the border(s) (Noun), Apply the attributes (Verb).

Regards,

Barry

Or,

"Oi you! Do this!"

Ian.

gulmatan,

Menu > Table > Allow Border Selection.

Click on the left border. Left column of the whole column is selected.

Click again on the left border of that cell to select limit selection to that cell.

Shift Click on other borders.

(That's the "Oi You!" part)

Apply line weight, line pattern and colour (in any order).

(That's the "Do this!" part).

Ian.

gulmatan wrote:

Excellent analogy. This makes sense. But, my question and my confusion arises from the order in which the border line weight, line pattern and colour are selected and, how, if I wanted to set, for example both the left and right side border characteristics are set.

G.,

No, not that difficult.

1. Make the Selection

2. Choose the border pattern

3. Choose whatever attribute you wish to change for the selection. Color, Line type, Weight - in any order - do some and not others if you wish. The only exception to that rule is that you can't set line weight for a Thin line, so set the Line Type to some other type before setting the weight.

Jerry

Hi gulmatan,

Apple provides a pair of excellent resources with every copy of Numbers '09—links in the Help menu to download the Numbers '09 User Guide and the iWork Formulas and Functions User Guide.

While the advice above on creating a custom chart go well beyond the content of the Numbers User Guide, I think you'll find a thorough read of the first four chapters useful as an overview. The rest of the Numbers guide is more for browsing as the need arises. The F&F guide is a reference manual that's easier to search than the Help files. It contains the list (grouped) of all the functions supported in Numbers '09, with a description of each, its required syntax, and at least one example of its use..

Both guides are fully searchable PDF documents, and easy reads.

Regards,

Barry

This isn't a reply but an expansion on the question. I'm going in circles too because when I try to apply a specific border to one or two cells, other cells change too. So if I have a partial column of cells with no left border, and I put a border in one of those cells, it will not confine the change only to that single cell. I have to keep rechanging borders all over the place.

Sometimes I will Paste Style to get the entire cell bordered, but then it will put left line (e.g.) borders in cells above or below. Or Top or Bottom lines where I don't want them.

???

Thanks.