For many users, setting up a complex(ish) spreadsheet can be quite exciting because the functions often appear to be magic, but actually adding data can be quite tedious. It’s important, however, to be diligent because you’ll only get out of any piece of software what you put in, so for a spreadsheet to provide an accurate view of a person’s or company’s finances, the right information has to be entered to base that view on. Yes, it can be boring, but after the data are in there, you can sort things and make charts, which is exciting. Maybe exciting is the wrong word, but it can be interesting to visualize all those numbers.
You may also find some templates on the Internet that could save some work, but even if you find a template that does exactly the job you want, knowing how things happen inside the cells is very helpful. Let’s begin by creating and formatting a simple spreadsheet, which can then be used to examine the chart options in Calc. We’ll then move on to the more ambitious project that uses functions and sums. So begin by choosing File --> New --> Spreadsheet, and add some data similar. To create the title cell, select everything between C1 and I1, and then choose Format --> Merge Cells. You can then center the title text and format it using the Formatting toolbar.
This spreadsheet features a typical array of information such as labels and figures,
though the formatting could do with some work.
though the formatting could do with some work.
The new, more manageable spreadsheet contains sales figures for five stylish products over six years. Before you actually investigate the charts, let’s make this display of raw data a bit more readable. By default, Calc squashes up cells to get as much onscreen as possible, but for this example, this is not an issue, so you can create a bit more space around the data. Select the entire spreadsheet by pressing Ctrl+A, choose Format --> Row --> Height, set the height to 1.00cm, and click OK (see Figure 4-5). Now choose Format --> Column --> Width, and set the value to 3.00cm before clicking OK.
