Hi SG,
Thanks for your help in this workaround thread, and the "What has been GAINED in the Numbers 3.0 upgrade?" thread and the many ways you have shown leadership in keeping us all level-headed in this transition to Numbers 3. This broad workaround thread can never have a single "This solved my question" reply (sic, should read "This solved my problem").
You deserve the green tick from this thread. Bravo!
New
Thanks Kev50 and Al Gunther.
Both of your workarounds for the loss of Print View and Show Layout are added to the top of the following updated list.
In some language settings, month names (intended to be simply that, names of months) are converted to dates. Workaround: in this thread, https://discussions.apple.com/thread/5484435?start=0&tstart=0 the consensus from users seems to be that date recognition in Numbers 3.0 is a bit too clever. Force the month names to Text Format by typing a single quote (apostrophe, ') before each date name. Or, type a space after each date name.
I can't change the name of an axis in a chart. Workaround: click on the chart to select it, then in Format Inspector > Axis > X or Y > Axis Options > put a tick in Axis Name. From Numbers 3.0 Help: "If you selected an Axis Name checkbox, Numbers adds a placeholder axis name to the chart. To change it, triple-click the name on the chart, then type your own." [I am not sure if this a workaround or a GAIN in Numbers 3.]
From SG: Insert Date menu pick is gone in Numbers 3.0. Workaround: create an Automator Service that retrieves the date and time from the system clock and pastes it into the selected cell in Numbers. This service can be accessed via Numbers>Services in the menu or can be assigned to a keyboard shortcut. For details see this thread. Thanks to alexhax and slypix for refinements.
(You may need to remove 'Day of the week' from your "Full" date format in System Preferences>Language & Region for it to give you the desired result.)
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Updated list:
Show Print View and Show Layout have gone (update). Workaround hints:
Work out where the pages are in print preview and then draw a line on the side of your Sheet. That line will hold it's position if you make changes to your row heights or add photos etc. It will add pages to your overall sheet, but then just select the page range to print.
Save a modified Numbers file to Numbers '09, make any required print view adjustments there and save. Then open in Numbers 3.0 and see if it prints okay. You may find that one line spills over to the second page; deleting one blank line may make a second try perfect. Perhaps the top or bottom margins are smaller than the default size in 3.0.
Menu > View >Show Rulers. Drag Alignment Guides from a ruler to where you want them. Caution: the rulers and/or Alignment Guides may not be accurate. Try Format Inspector > Arrange > Position (or Size) to see if that works better for you.
Menu > Numbers > Preferences > Rulers > Alignment Guides. That allows you to align objects with *each other* (rather than with the ruler guides). These guides help to align objects left, middle, right, top, bottom.
Select multiple objects, then Format Inspector > Arrange > Align (or Distribute). Also under Menu > Arrange.
When duplicating an object (such as a nicely formatted Table that you want to reuse) select the Table, copy, and before you paste, click on the canvas below or beside. Pasted Table will automatically be aligned with the original.
Menu > File > Print to see the Print Preview. Use the Content Scale slider.
Also, see where you can delete blank rows or columns, or make columns narrower, or drag objects to reduce white space. Not as easy as editing in Print View in Numbers 2, but you are still responsible for (and in charge of) the final look!
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In some language settings, month names (intended to be simply that, names of months) are converted to dates. Workaround: Force the month names to Text Format by typing a single quote (apostrophe, ') before each date name. Or, type a space after each date name.
I can't change the name of an axis in a chart. Workaround: click on the chart to select it, then in Format Inspector > Axis > X or Y > Axis Options > put a tick in Axis Name. From Numbers 3.0 Help: "If you selected an Axis Name checkbox, Numbers adds a placeholder axis name to the chart. To change it, triple-click the name on the chart, then type your own." [I am not sure if this a workaround or a GAIN in Numbers 3.]
Insert Date menu pick is gone in Numbers 3.0. Workaround: create an Automator Service that retrieves the date and time from the system clock and pastes it into the selected cell in Numbers. This service can be accessed via Numbers>Services in the menu or can be assigned to a keyboard shortcut. For details see this thread.
Custom Formats no longer available. Workaround: Create a Custom Format in a Numbers 2 document. Save. Then Save As… a copy with a new name so Numbers 3 can't snaffle your original Numbers 2 document. Open the copy in Numbers 3 and the Custom formats will be listed in Format Inspector > Cell > Data Format. The Custom Formats are carried over and they work. Note: copying a custom formatted Cell or Table in Numbers 2, then pasting into Numbers 3 does not work. The Custom cell(s) are pasted as text.
I can't add a shadow to a Table. Workaround: insert a rectangle Shape, Arrange > Send To Back, slide it behind the Table. Use the Alignment Guides to drag and resize the rectangle. Numbers > Preferences > Rulers > Alignment Guides. Turn them on.
Sorting by multiple Columns has gone. Workaround: Add another Column (e.g. D) =A&B&C (or your preferred sort order for Columns). Sort by Column D.
No way to set margins. Workaround: Print the document as PDF. Open the PDF in Preview and use the Cropping Tool to crop out the white space.
Reorganize panel has gone. How do I Sort selected rows? Workaround: copy those rows to a new table, sort, then copy and paste back.
Autocomplete has gone. Workaround: enter your most used values into a column. Select all body cells in that Column and change the Cell format to pop-up. The pop-up will now contain choices for filling in other Rows. Another workaround could be to use a lookup table of frequently used entries (each with a unique first character). Type the first character of an entry in one Column. The next Column fills in the full entry from a lookup table. After all, is this not how Autocomplete works?
Numbers 3.0 does not show dates in a Scatter Chart. Workaround: convert the dates to a Duration (day or week from the starting time) or even a number to represent time elapsed. The DATEDIF function will help to calculate days (or months or whatever) from the starting date.
Regards,
Ian.
Reminder: http://www.spencerjohnson.com/Book-WhoMovedMyCheese.html
