how to format row head text vertically

Hi FMW,

Numbers does not (yet) allow table cells to be rotated. This workaround places rotated text boxes over the Header Row.

See this User Tip:

Rotate cell contents in Numbers 3: Workaround

Regards,

Ian.

You can do this in Numbers using rotated Text boxes in columns B - H.

Steps

1. For each column A - H, select row 1 - 3, and merge them.
2. With the Table tab selected
   1. Set column A width to 55 pts
   2. Set column B - H width to 35 pts.
   3. Font Helvetica 12 pt.
   4. Check marks are option + V with text centered in cell
   5. Pi symbol is option + p
3. For your header cells B - H, insert Text box, your text, and from the Arrange tab, select Rotate 90°.

   Unfortunately, you can only align the bottoms of all selected Text boxes. You can horizontally align the Text boxes in each column B - H with arrow keys.

Hi Frank-Michael,

I just retested the script in Ian's user tip. It works fine. Since you didn't post what your table looks like it's hard to say for sure what might have gone wrong on your end, but I'm guessing you have some blank cells in the Header Row. If so, just type a space in any blank cells you have there and run the script again.

The advantage of the script approach is that it takes less than a second or so and you're done. You can save yourself a LOT of work.

Also, caution is strongly recommended in any approach that involves merging cells. Merged cells tend to cause mysterious problems with sorting and other operations in Numbers. There are always other ways to achieve the same visual effect. (The script, by the way, assumes no merged cells.)

SG

Hi Frank-Michael,

Adding to SG's reply about not merging cells.

Text Boxes placed over the table Header cells will not respond to Numbers formulas. The Text Boxes are cosmetic. Any formulas in your document that refer to the Header cells will refer to the contents of those cells (and will ignore whatever is in the overlying Text Boxes). Therefore those Header cells must contain proper values, even if they are "Hidden" by blending into the cell fill colour.

Merging those Header cells will make no sense to any formula that refers to them.

Danger, Will Robinson! Do not merge those cells!

Regards,

Ian.

Hi Frank-Michael,

As far as I know, Text Boxes are independent of the table and "float" in a layer "above" the table.

I can see no way to "Group" the Text Boxes to the table.

Perhaps another user will reply with a way to lock Text Boxes to table columns.

Thank you for the green tick and your feedback. Please keep posting in the Numbers for Mac forum 🙂.

Regards,

Ian.

FMW51 wrote:

Thank you SGIII,

The table I’ve tested the script is:

Any idea what I did wrong?

Best,

Frank-Michael

Hi Frank-Michael,

Nothing you did wrong! As written, the script doesn't anticipate the row with headings having no fill color. If you give row 1 a fill color (I generally define mine as a Header Row and that automatically gives it a fill color) and you also add a space in the blank cell A1 then the script should work as written.

Of course the code could be modified to cover these cases, but that adds complexity that I usually try to avoid. Please don't hesitate to post if the script works and you'll be using it enough for a modification to make sense.

SG