How to set print area

Dan,

If Excel didn't do Print Area, there would be no way to tell it what to print. Numbers on the other hand, always prints everything you can see, no area selection commands required. You can mimic the Excel method if you aren't shy about using the system application Prevlew.app. Here's the drill:

o Select the cell range to be printed

o Command-C

o Switch to Preview.app

o Command-N

o Command-P

There are better ways, using the unique Numbers features, but the above method most closely duplicates what you did in Excel.

Regards,

Jerry

Jerry,

That was an awesome answer! You just taught me some very basic but incredibly useful stuff--thank you!

I would be curious to hear about the "better ways, using the unique Numbers features" mentioned above. Care to share them?

Thanks again.

DR

DR,

Here are a few, and maybe others will fill in my gaps...

Make tables fit your data, using Header Rows and Columns for data labels.

Put different data sets in separate tables.

Put summary calculations in separate tables that fit the summaries.

Name your tables descriptively and check the Inspector box to turn on the Name feature so that you tables have titles. Between the Name feature and the Headers containing row and column titles, you shouldn't need to do much additional annotation.

Simple statistics like column totals, can be put in Header or Footer rows.

Using these features, you can now reference entire columns of data by just using the letter designation for the column. Headers and Footers are automatically excluded from calculation ranges in this case. Adding rows of data is a snap, just click the Add Row handle. Similarly, entire rows of body cells can be referenced with similar notation. For example, 2:2 references all the data in row 2.

If all calculations are the same in the body cells of a column, the formula will be automatically Filled into a new row.

All the body cell content in a table can be referenced by simply giving the TableaName. For example, you could add up all the data for sales in all the categories (columns) and time periods (rows) in a table called Sales by writing: =SUM(Sales)

That same table could be Printed, without printing the rest of the Sheet, by clicking on the Tablename Sales in the Sheets Pane and then switching to Preview.app and typing Command-N, Command-P.

I'm sure I've left out many favorite features, so I hope others will chime in.

Regards,

Jerry

Hi Dan and DR,

Another feature of Numbers is that you can hide a Table by moving it to another Sheet. Formulas will automatically adjust to keep the links. It is possible to plan your work to have a Sheet with Table(s) for input, another Sheet as an "engine room" where the work is done, and another "presentation" Sheet for printing the output. No need, then, to set a print area!

Regards,

Ian.