Double line on the bottom border of a cell

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Level 1

8 points

Double line on the bottom border of a cell

I am a CPA and I want to use Numbers for all of my spreadsheet work in my office. However, I cannot because I need to be able to use a double underline as the bottom border for a total at the end of a column of numbers - footing at the bottom of a column. This is a common need of all accountants. I know how to do this to double underline text, but cannot see how to do this for the bottom border of a cell. Any ideas on how this can be done very simply and in a professional looking manner? Thanks!

MacBook Pro (Retina, 13-inch, Mid 2014), OS X Yosemite (10.10.5)

Posted on Sep 19, 2015 11:25 AM

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Answer 1

Top-ranking reply

t quinn

Level 5

7,056 points

Sep 19, 2015 3:28 PM in response to Jeff.Tarver

Hi Jeff,

Numbers does not do this well. The best I can come up with is still two separate moves.

The first line you can do as the lower cell border.

The second still won't fill the cell but nearly. Text>Layout>Borders & Rules.

There needs to be some text in the cell, if only a single space. In addition to setting the Offset at 5pt, I set the Text Inset to 0pt.

quinn

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Answer 2

SGIII

Level 8

36,152 points

Sep 19, 2015 4:28 PM in response to Jeff.Tarver

Here is a workaround that gives you double lines that are of equal length fill the cells entirely. It takes advantage of the fact that you can paste images into the background of Numbers cells.

First create a low double line in an extra cell using the REPT function and the character code for low double line.

=REPT(CHAR(8215),50)

Turn off text wrapping (Format > Text and uncheck 'Wrap text in Cell') and widen the cell until it's a little wider than the columns containing cells where you a double underline to appear. Then take a screenshot of that cell using shift-command 4 and selecting the screen area for the cell, omitting the little blank space in the left of the cell. Drag the screenshot onto the Numbers canvas. On my machine the screenshot appears large but it will "shrink" to the right size when pasted into a cell. Click it, command-c to copy, click in cells where you want the double underlining, and command-v to paste.

Getting things just right the first time is a little fussy, but the image is reusable and can be pasted into other cells when needed. The ultimate effect perhaps looks a little more professional than other workarounds.

SG

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Answer 3

Jeff.Tarver Author

Level 1

8 points

Sep 19, 2015 1:51 PM in response to Sparkleberry

Yes, I have done that successfully - double underline only the text in a cell. But what I need to do is to place a double underline at the lower edge of the entire cell - it is a border issue - "bottom border double underline". A single line on the bottom border is easy - it is the double line that is giving me trouble. In Excel it is easy. I just cannot see how to make that happen in Numbers. Any ideas?

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Answer 4

Jeff.Tarver Author

Level 1

8 points

Sep 19, 2015 3:28 PM in response to t quinn

Thanks for the work around. Good idea. I do not understand why this double line cell border is such a problem for Apple to add to the program, but I am sure there must be a good reason for it. I did send a feedback message to them requesting it be added. I appreciate your help!

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Answer 5

SGIII

Level 8

36,152 points

Sep 19, 2015 4:48 PM in response to Jeff.Tarver

Jeff.Tarver wrote:

I wish Apple would add this to Numbers like it is in Excel. JT

I agree. Don't forget you can leave feedback for Apple via your menu Numbers > Provide Numbers Feedback. (Edit: Oops... rereading post above I see you already did that.). Thanks for gold star!

SG

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