Formatting objects

Since version 2007, Excel has been enriched with a wealth of options for “beautifying” reports, and from version to version it offers more of these functionalities that can be applied to the formatting of all graphic objects, whether these are charts or their elements, images, shapes, schemes … The following text will show how the appearance of the graphic object can change: its body, frames, the use of special formatting styles …

Before we begin to show ways to format graphic objects, one rectangle should be inserted, and then the text “PRAVOUGAONIK” (word RECTANGLE in Serbian) should be added to it. You can center the text inside the object, change the color, increase the font, its size, or font style … All this is done using the formatting options that you can find in the Home ribbon. We will use these options to center the text and increase it slightly.

Each time we create a graphic object, the Format ribbon appears in which there are options for formatting the added object. Basically, these options have function related to formatting shapes and text.

Formatting options are grouped in the Shape Styles menu. Here we can see some predefined styles, which was discussed in one of the previous texts. However, we will now show you how to add object formatting manually. Clicking on Shape Fill opens a menu that shows options for formatting shapes. We will be offered a color palette, the Automatic option (White) and the No Fill option (transparent object). By clicking on one of the colors, we paint the object in it. For example. if we click on the red color after selecting an object, it will become red. Clicking More Fill Colors will open a palette from which we can choose a different color or enter its value with a combination of RGB coefficients (the Transparency option can be used to make the existing color partly or completely transparent so that under the object with this color you see another object, if there is a need for it). If we select the Picture option in the Shape Fill menu, we will be offered to fill the subject with a given image. The Gradient option allows us to gradient color the object, and the Texture option allows you to fill the object with the given texture.

The options for formatting the object frame are grouped in the Shape Outline menu. Similar to the coloring of an object, with this option, we can choose the color of the frame among the colors offered, Automatic option (black color) or the No Outline (transparent). The More Outline Colors option lets you select one of the additional colors that are not displayed in the palette. The Weight option is used to adjust the frame’s thickness, and the Dashes option for selecting the style of displaying the frame line (lines, interrupted lines, dots, etc.). If the graphic object is a line, using the Arrows options we can adjust the style of the arrows to which it ends. The last group of formatting options Shape Effects offers us a variety of effects grouped by areas. With this option, we can add a shadow, reflection, gloss, “soft edges”, an engraving / popping effect or some of the 3D effects to our graphic object. Possibilities are numerous and beyond the scope of this text, you should try them …

When it comes to text formatting, we do this by using the options to the right of the shape formatting that are grouped into the WordArt Styles group. In some old versions of Excel there was WordArt, as a specific graphic object containing some text. By applying styles, in newer versions, it is possible to treat any text object (Text Box), and text within an existing object, as WordArt. It is also possible to add it from the Insert ribbon, by selecting the WordArt option. We format the text by choosing one of the offered styles, or choosing a Text Fill, a Text Outline, or some of the effects that can be applied to text (Text Effects). The principle is exactly the same as when formatting the shape, and a similar principle can be used later to format any other graphic object.