Formatting Cell Patterns

Instructions: You will use the Patterns commands from the Format menu.

Comments: Patterns can be effective on spreadsheets for drawing peoples' attention to particular data, or by making large tables of data easier to read. Colour used well can also add a lot of clarity to a presentation, but used badly it can be distracting and unhelpful.

Actvity 9.2 We will now do something that you will probably never want to do again, but which demonstrates the Patterns dialogue box superbly.

From the Color palette select yellow.

From the Pattern palette list box select blue. The sample box will still just show the yellow.

Now click on the Pattern palette list box again. A range of patterns appears in the top half which normally would be in black and white. Select one of the stripy patterns and click <OK>.

The yellowbackground and blue stripes pattern is put into the background of the cell, but has now made the text almost unreadable. This is the danger of badly used colour! We will correct this revolting tastelessness in the next task.

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