Take Control of Numbers

Take Control of Numbers

by Sharon Zardetto
Released April 2015
Publisher(s): Take Control Books
ISBN: 9781615424474

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Book description

Get serious with Numbers, Apple's powerful spreadsheet for the Mac!

Apple's Numbers has become a grown-up spreadsheet (and it's free on every Mac sold since October 2013!), but many of us still haven't learned even the basics, much less been able to take advantage of its surprisingly deep collection of features.

With the advice in this 330-page ebook, you'll learn to input, calculate, sort, filter, format, and chart your data with ease, as author Sharon Zardetto guides you through the basics all the way to power-user features like conditional highlighting, custom data formats, and star ratings. Richly illustrated with hundreds of annotated screenshots, the ebook also includes a hands-on example spreadsheet you can use to try what you're learning, plus a special tutorial chapter that helps you put it all together. Of course, you can also treat the book as a reference, using the Quick Start to focus on a topic of interest.

The book covers Numbers 3.5, which works on any Mac running OS X 10.10 Yosemite.

You'll learn how to...

Handle the basics:

  • Input data into a table.
  • Choose the best chart type for your data.
  • Add, modify, and position shapes, such as arrows, comments, and text boxes.
  • Import/export from Excel, text, CSV, and older versions of Numbers.
  • Set up page numbers and other header/footer information for printing.

See what you want to see:

  • Know what to expect when you sort by column.
  • Hide and show columns.
  • Merge and unmerge cells.
  • Create rules that filter data to display only specific rows.
  • Set up and view interactive charts.

Make formulas:

  • Work fluidly in the formula editor to create formulas.
  • Make formulas from the tear-off tokens on the Quick Calc bar.
  • Nimbly use various types of cell references in formulas.
  • Understand how to use IF, TRUE, and FALSE in formulas.
  • Take charge of logical operators (AND, OR, NOT) in formulas.
  • Concatenate and break apart text.
  • Strip extra spaces out of data.
  • Find medians, modes, ranks, percentiles, and more.

Create clever formulas that can:

  • Calculate a sales discount based on whether a total is over or under a certain amount.
  • Sort seemingly unsortable data, such as items described as Poor, Good, or Excellent.
  • Take a column of cells, with each cell containing a full name, and move all the last names into a different column.

Apply formatting:

  • Add and remove grid lines and cell borders.
  • Work with a cell's background fill.
  • Format a chart so it looks fabulous.
  • Set up conditional highlighting that appears only when data meets certain criteria.
  • Ensure accurate data entry with cell formats like sliders, menus, and checkboxes.
  • Use and create templates.
  • Format faster with character, paragraph, list, shape, and table styles.

Publisher resources

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Table of contents

  1. Read Me First
    1. Updates and More
  2. Introduction
  3. Numbers Quick Start
  4. Meet Numbers
    1. Buy Numbers and Stay Up to Date
    2. Understand the Terminology and Interface
    3. Customize Your Environment
  5. Sheets and Templates
    1. Sheet-handling Basics
    2. Built-in and Custom Templates
  6. Table Basics
    1. Anatomy of a Table
    2. Creating and Controlling Tables
    3. Naming a Table
    4. Pop-up and Contextual Table Menus
    5. Rows and Columns
  7. Cell Basics
    1. Select Cells
    2. Move between Cells
    3. Merge and Unmerge Cells
  8. Table Formats and Styles
    1. Table-wide Formats
    2. Table Styles
  9. Cell Formats
    1. Basic Cell Formats
    2. Conditional Highlighting
  10. Data Input
    1. Data Entry Basics
    2. Types of Data
    3. Text Wrap in Cells
    4. Autocomplete
    5. Autofill
    6. Copy and Paste
    7. Special Data-input Formats
  11. Data Formats
    1. Standard Data Formats
    2. Custom Data Formats
  12. Sorting Data
    1. Sorting Order
    2. Special Sorting Issues
    3. Instant Sort Gratification
    4. Sorting with the Inspector
    5. Special Solutions for Special Issues
  13. Filtering Data
    1. Quick Filters
    2. Filtering with the Inspector
  14. Fun with Formulas and Functions
    1. The Function Button and Quick Calc Bar
    2. Formula-building Basics
    3. The Formula Editor
    4. Functions and Arguments
    5. The Function Browser
  15. IF Statements and Logical Operators
    1. What Is Truth?
    2. Comparison Operators
    3. IF Statements
    4. Logical Operators
    5. Putting It All Together
    6. Nested IF Statements
  16. Text Functions
    1. Text Terminology
    2. Basic String Manipulations
    3. Other Common Text Tasks
  17. More Functions
    1. Numeric Functions
    2. Statistical Functions
    3. Reference Functions
  18. Creating Charts
    1. Chart Parts and Terminology
    2. Choosing the Right Chart
    3. Creating a Chart
    4. Editing a Chart
    5. 3D Charts
    6. Interactive Charts
  19. Formatting Charts
    1. Selecting Chart Elements
    2. Formatting Panes and Tabs
    3. Tweaking Text Elements
  20. Adding Comments
    1. Set Comment Options
    2. Create Comments
    3. View and Edit Comments
  21. Getting in Shapes
    1. Add and Edit Shapes
    2. All about Arrows
  22. Tackling Text
    1. Text vs. Container
    2. Text Pane
    3. Text in Shapes and Text Boxes
    4. Bullets and Lists
    5. Paragraph and Character Styles
  23. Manipulating Objects
    1. Ruler and Guide Preferences
    2. Select and Move Objects
    3. Work on the Sheet
    4. Work in the Arrange Pane
  24. Color Controls
    1. Color Well
    2. Colors Window
    3. Gradient Fills
    4. Custom Fills
  25. Importing, Exporting, and Sharing Files
    1. Exchange Files with Excel
    2. Import and Export Text Files
    3. Share with iCloud
  26. Printing Spreadsheets
    1. The Print Process
    2. Handling Headers and Footers
  27. Numbers Tutorial
    1. Table Terminology
    2. The Tutorial
  28. About This Book
    1. Ebook Extras
    2. About the Author
    3. Acknowledgments
    4. About the Publisher
  29. Copyright and Fine Print

Product information

  • Title: Take Control of Numbers
  • Author(s): Sharon Zardetto
  • Release date: April 2015
  • Publisher(s): Take Control Books
  • ISBN: 9781615424474