Why is Numbers column A defaulted to bold?

Hi Larry,

The default 'blank template in Numbers has a single Sheet, on which there is a single Table.

The first column (A) of the Table is defined as a Header column; the first row (1) of the table is defined as a Header row.

Header rows and columns (and Footer rows) have several special properties. The two most useful are:

• Header rows and Header columns may be frozen, to keep them visible in the document window as long as any part of their Table is still visible.
• Headers and Footers are excluded from full column or full row range references in most functions, permitting such formulas as SUM(B) to be placed in a Header or Footer cell in column B without generating a self-reference error.

The bold formatting in these rows and column, and the contrasting fill colour is mostly to remind the user these are Header and Footer rows or columns.

Regards,

Barry

Hi Larry,

I guess my only option is to change the default template to exclude the gray fill and bolding

Yes, and don't forget to remove Header Rows and Header Columns if you want a plain table. The gray fill and bolding do not create Header Rows, Header Columns (or Footer Rows). Gray fill and bolding are simply visual clues.

You need to do this: Header Rows, Header Columns, Footer Rows 0

Then Menu > File > Save as Template for future use.

To make that Template the default, Menu > Numbers > Preferences > For New Documents > Use Template [your custom template name]

Regards,

Ian.

Hi Larry,

"Row 1 has a bottom border I can't remove, and Column A has a right border I can't remove."

Those are the borders between Header row and Header column and the body cells of the table. As you've likely learned from setting Header rows and Header columns both to 0, those borders disappear.

But a check with a table created in Numbers 3.6.2, using a template containing one header row and no header columns, showed that even those borders can be removed. Here's my test example:

The table on the left is created from a custom template as a blank table with a header row plus 10 body rows.

'Data' in the header row was entered directly.

'Data' in the body rows was created with a formula that grabbed the column letter from the entry in row 1, and attached the row number of the cell. The cells were copied, and the formulas replaced by the results using Edit>Paste Formula Results.

The table on the right is a duplicate of the one on the left, created after the last step above.

I selected the Table (click any cell, then click the bullseye at top left).

In the Format Inspector, I chose the Cell section, Clicked the top right button for All Borders, then set the border style to "No Borders".

Deselecting the table showed the result in the example above.

For two further checks, I used the Format inspector to remove the fill from cells in the header row and remove the bold attribute to the text in those cells, then duplicated the 'borderless' example, moved the original and the first duplicate down the sheet a few rows, and added a shape to the sheet and moved it down beyond the bottom of the window to make scrolling the screen possible.

On the new duplicate, I went Table (menu) > Freeze Header Row, then scrolled the screen to move the tables upward, with the result shown below:

The copy on the left shows the table after the new formatting. Note the absence of fill, bold, and row border between row 1 (still a header row) and the rest of the table.

On the right, we see the header border reappear when the frozen header reaches the window boundary and the body rows begin to slide beneath it.

Thanks for the opportunity to explore this!

Regards,

Barry

Larry McJunkin wrote:

I've figured out I can still let my Office 365 subscription expire. I realize iWork isn't as robust...but actually, at this stage of my life, I don't need it to be.

You may miss Office 365 if you need to do things like mail merge or print precisely formatted documents or some types of charts. But for most tasks Numbers provides a pleasant environment with plenty of power.

Note that you can set up an unshaded table with a click or so just by using the built-in options:

SG

Hi Larry,

If most of your documents are for your own use, and you have few occasions requiring Word or Excel, you may well be happy with Numbers and Pages.

If you are frequently transferring files between your Mac and others using Word or Excel, you may want to check out LibreOffice and Apache OpenOffice, both intended to mimic the Office applications more closely than Numbers or Pages.

Or you could get MS Office for Mac.

Regards,

Barry

No problem. Numbers does help in getting back to basics and keeping solutions simple. If you haven't already, be sure to check out the templates at File > New in your menu. They illustrate the table-centric approach of Numbers.

(I'm not sure I agree Excel is buggy on the Mac. With the exception of a few rough edges in Visual Basic Macros, I've found it to be solid, able to handle just about anything thrown at it.)

SG

Hi Larry,

Interesting. Am a heavy user, and have never experienced anything like what you describe (on rMBP) running Excel (now v 15.33). Could be something to do with preference files on both your machines.

Anyway, happy and productive "spreadsheeting" with Numbers!

SG

"it's amazing how quickly the "KIS" principle kicks in, especially when complexity isn't needed."

No disagreement there! 😁

Regards,

Barry