I want to be able to print borders on selected cells in a spreadsheet, but not the actual grid lines of the entire spreadsheet. I've tried everything and found no way to stop printing the grid lines. The cell borders are there, and are darker as they should be, but how do I stop the grid lines from printing?
iMac with Retina 5K display, macOS Sierra (10.12)
select the table in question:
Open the cell formatter and select all cell borders by clicking the top right grid activator:
Now select "No Border" from the border type pop-up menu
when you unselect the table it should look like this and it should print with no borders around each cell
I also should have mentioned, that you can have a working version with gridlines shown and a duplicate (which references the one with the grid lines) that does not have grid lines shown for printing (on a different sheet named, e.g., "Print").
Like this:
"I know the first thing I'll need to do is install the Cambria font on this Mac so I'll be compatible with all the folks who receive my spreadsheets and use Excel."
While having Cambria installed on your Mac will prevent seeing the warning every time you import an Excel document, it won't in itself make your spreadsheets (fully) compatible with 'all the folks who...use Excel.'
Although you may think of it as "opening" an Excel document, the more accurate description is that you are 'importing and translating' an Excel document. Once the document is open in Numbers, it is no longer an Excel document, and it is no longer exactly the same as it was. When you export that Numbers document to Excel format, it goes through a reverse translation. Neither translation is perfect—it cannot be, as there are features in excel that are not supported i Numbers, features in Numbers that are not supported in Excel, and features in both applications that are implemented differently in each.
If your spreadsheets remain fairly simple, back and forth compatibility could be 'pretty good.'
If you want FULL compatibility with Excel (on Windows), you'll get much closer to it using Excel for Mac.
Regards,
Barry
No, I tried it. But what I end up with is just what you posted with your last image, which has no grid lines. I want the grid lines while I'm working in the spreadsheet, but I don't want them to be on the printed page. Doesn't seem too difficult but Numbers obviously thinks it is :-)
Thanks, Wayne, but I may have incorrectly explained my problem. If I open Microsoft Excel and put borders around four cells and then print the document, the "only" thing that prints is the four cells. The rest of the page is blank white. If I open that same spreadsheet with Numbers (or create the same spreadsheet with Numbers) and print it, the four cells have the border but the light grey grid lines show up on the entire printed page.
There are no specific tables involved in the spreadsheet. I want the grid lines for working with the spreadsheet (like Excel) but why should I have to go through all your outlined steps simply to "not" print gridlines? I understand Numbers is not Excel, but I'm trying to quit using Office 365 and rely more on iWork.
are you saying you tried what I suggested and it did not work? Or are you saying you are unwilling to do that? If it seems onerous to you, you can do it once, then save the document as a template (using the menu item "File > Save as Template…") so that the document starts with a table with no borders. If you can see the borders on the screen they will be there on the print... if you do not see borders on the screen you should not see them on the print.
As you said... "Numbers is not excel".
If you can see the borders on the screen they will be there on the print... if you do not see borders on the screen you should not see them on the print.
You have a couple things you can do...
1) Post feedback to Apple using the menu item "Numbers > Provide Numbers Feedback"
2) accept Numbers works as it does and continue using Numbers
3) reject Numbers and use excel or some other application
I always suggest using the tool that does the job for you.
Got it! Thanks for your help, Wayne, and probably most important is we all just have to use the tools that get the job done. I'll probably change what I'm doing some and see what an impact it has if I start using Numbers to open hundreds of existing spreadsheets. I know the first thing I'll need to do is install the Cambria font on this Mac so I'll be compatible with all the folks who receive my spreadsheets and use Excel.
I'm definitely logged in and the green "Solved" button actually shows up in my forum notification email, but not here in the forum. I pushed it anyway...we'll see what happens. I just wanted you to know I tried :-)
Thanks for the tip on the font, Barry. I did already know about the conversion process but not the font. In the end, I may have to keep Office 365 for awhile as Wayne said, one has to use the tool best suited for the job. Numbers is very good for simple spreadsheets, but for some of my more complex ones it doesn't seem as good. Five or six years ago, when I didn't need the functionality and I didn't even use it that much, it seems to me that Numbers was a better app. Probably part of what Apple had to do in order to make it more compatible with iOS.
Hi Wayne,
I am hoping that you or someone can explain the difference between gridlines (Format Panel > Table > Gridlines) and Cell Borders (Format Panel > Cell > Cell Borders). Always a puzzle to me.
Regards,
Ian.
Yellowbox wrote:
I am hoping that you or someone can explain the difference between gridlines (Format Panel > Table > Gridlines) and Cell Borders (Format Panel > Cell > Cell Borders).
Hi Ian,
Surely the fact that they are set in different ways in different places is a difference. 🙂
I do see that cell border settings override gridline settings. For example, when I set borders around a cell then turn off gridlines the borders around that cell remain as I set them.
SG
Wayne, I'm not seeing the "Solved" button...only the "Helpful" button. Any ideas why?
I am sorry. I do not know why "Solved" is not available. Perhaps you are not logged in?
How to hide grid lines in Numbers?
