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 Excel – Working with Formulas
Working with and fixing formulas in Excel is made easier by a few tricks that you might not know exist.
 F2 to Follow a Formula. Click on the cell that contains a formula and then hit F2. The cells referenced in the formula will each take on a different font color. This color is also reflected as a border around the referenced cell. In the example shown I added the arrows that show the relationship.
Tools, Formula Audit. Under the Tools menu choose Formula Audit to choose from a variety of ways to examine your spreadsheet:
- Trace Precedents – shows a line to all the cells that are used to create the formula.
- Trace Dependents – shows a line from all cells that use that cell as part of their formula.
- Trace Error – use when you have an error like #DIV/0!, #N/A, #NAME?, #NULL!, #NUM!, #REF!, or #VALUE! This tool will display lines from the cells related to the errored formula.
- Remove All Arrows – this command removes the lines that were created using Trace Precedents, Dependents, and Error.
- Evaluate Formula – use to examine the formula and value of the underlined reference. The result of the evaluation is shown in italics. If the underlined part of the formula references another formula, click Step In to display the other formula in the Evaluation box. Click Step Out to go to the previous cell and formula.
- Show Watch Window – watch formulas and their results in a separate window. Great if your formula is not within your screen view but you need to watch how it changes as you work on your spreadsheet.
- Formula Auditing Mode – expands your view to show every formula in every cell of the worksheet.
- Show Formula Auditing Toolbar – reveals the auditing toolbar.
Print – Providing Graphics to Your Print Vendor
To get the best results from any print job you do, be sure you are providing your print vendor with the highest resolution file of graphics you are using. Avoid sending them a graphic in Word or PowerPoint as the resolution and size of the graphic can be affected when inserted into a document or slide. Graphics pulled from the web can be too low in resolution to print clearly.
Resolution refers to the number of units (pixels) that are in a linear inch in an image. When you are using a graphic for print you are measuring dpi (dots per inch). When measuring resolution on a monitor it is called ppi (pixels per inch).
The higher an image resolution the more detail and subtle color transitions you will see in the graphic. A graphic with low resolution will look pixelated (made up of small squares) and could have jagged, rough edges. An image which looks fine on the web may not be suitable for printing. Generally, a web graphic is 72 dpi because the typical monitor resolution is 72 ppi. To achieve the best results for your printed material your graphics should be a minimum of 300 dpi. Sizing will also affect the look of the graphic. If your graphic is small in size (i.e., 1” x 2”) and low in resolution, you might not see as much of the pixelation. But as soon as you make it bigger you will notice the pixelation.
If you have questions about resolution just give us a call (203-934-4275) and work with our print experts or call us to discuss your next project.
Word – Bullets and Numbered Lists
I found a trick to edit numbered lists and bullets the other day that I want to share with you.
 While working with a numbered list I noticed that the numbers were a different font size than the text (see example). I tried fixing it by highlighting the whole list, but that only changed the font size of the text. So I tried clicking on the number 4 and voila! it highlighted only the list of numbers and not all the text. From there I was able to change the font size of the numbers on the menu bar. This trick also works on bullets.
To show even more options to control your bullets and numbers right click on the highlighted numbers. If you choose Bullets and Numbering you can adjust the look of the bullets and numbers, the style and tabbing of lists, or create your own styles.
Fun Facts for May – Using Google Alerts to Track Key Phrases.
Do you want to monitor a topic of interest? Are you curious to know what’s being searched for on Google with regard to that topic and the resulting links? Then you gotta try Google Alerts.
Google Alerts is a great way to monitor the results of a Google search for any phrase or key words. For instance, we are interested in subjects such as “Print on Demand,” “Managed Markets,” and “Digital Store Fronts”. Every morning Google sends us an email with the results of the previous days searches.
Use it to keep up on a topic or as a business, to monitor competition or your target market. Click here to begin using this resource.
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