iWork '09 - how to print a single table in Numbers?
P. Sture
other day I bought the Mac Box Set (in anticipation of a Leopard capable
system which is coming in my direction).
Now, Numbers '09 is definitely snappier to use than the '08 version, but
the problem is this:
With Numbers '08 when I select a table and hit Print, it prints just
that table. With Numbers '09 however it prints every single table in
the spreadsheet. At 2 tables per month, that worked out at 40+ pages so
far this year, and I had to use Preview to find the right page in that
lot.
Every other spreadsheet I have ever used has allowed me to print a
specific selection or sheet (table in Numbers terminology).
How do I do this in Numbers '09?
--
Paul Sture
Davoud
> With Numbers '08 when I select a table and hit Print, it prints just
> that table. With Numbers '09 however it prints every single table in
> the spreadsheet.
> Every other spreadsheet I have ever used has allowed me to print a
> specific selection or sheet (table in Numbers terminology).
> How do I do this in Numbers '09?
I searched the manual, which I found at
<http://support.apple.com/en_US/manuals/#iwork>, but came up empty
handed.
Next I went to Apple's Support Forum for Numbers 09. This came from a
thread entitled "No Set Print Area? I'm Out." (I have edited some
typographical errors.)
*****
"In Numbers the best way to work is to plan your document layout before
you start to build it. If you are planning to print only a portion of a
table, you can make that a separate table from the beginning, and you
place it on a separate page. Or, you can plan to make a separate table
that mirrors a part of your larger data set, and again isolate it to a
separate page, perhaps a separate sheet but not necessarily, so that
when you print you can direct the Print utility to print just the part
you want.
"If your data started out being housed in a huge Excel spreadsheet,
you're right, the gyrations to print just a part seem burdensome, but
aren't really so bad. In Excel, you have to select the area you want to
print and then File > Set Print Area. In Numbers, you select the area
you want to print, CTRL-C to copy, insert a new Sheet, Edit > Paste
Values. Now you're ready to print just that area. It takes virtually
the same length of time and is a very transparent process.
"Further, now that you have separated the data you want to print from
the whole, you can adorn it with text boxes of explanation, reformat to
highlight certain data, etc. and then print. Really a much more civil
approach."
*****
That doesn't sound like a very good substitute for "Set Print Area."
Then I went to the Numbers '08 forum and I read that there is no way to
set a print area in Numbers '08, either--but you have been doing so by
simply making a selection. I can't figure that out.
In other words, I don't know.
Things like this are why I still use Excel even though I have an iWork
'09 Family Pack and have it installed on three Macs. I have really
tried to like Numbers, but it doesn't measure up even for my relatively
simple work. I don't print to paper all that often, but when I do have
occasion to print it is virtually always a small section of a much
larger spreadsheet, and I could not live without the "Set Print Area"
command.
Davoud
--
usenet *at* davidillig dawt com
Gregory Weston
"P. Sture" <paul.stu...@hispeed.ch> wrote:
After launching my copy of Numbers '09 I went to the help menu and chose
"Numbers Help." I then typed "print" in the search field of the help
window. The first result that came back is titled "Printing a
Spreadsheet".
Step 4 reads (in reference to the print job dialog):
| Indicate which sheets you want to print:
| All sheets:�Prints all the sheets in your spreadsheet.
| Current Sheet:�Prints only the sheet selected when you
| opened the print window.
On a quick skim there unfortunately doesn't appear to be a simple way to
print with granularity finer than a sheet.
--
I saw a truck today that had "AAA Batteries / Delivered and Installed" on the
side. My first thought was: That's a really weird business model. How many
inept people have urgent need of skinny little battery cells?
David Empson
> I have been using iWork '08 since it first became available, and the
> other day I bought the Mac Box Set (in anticipation of a Leopard capable
> system which is coming in my direction).
>
> Now, Numbers '09 is definitely snappier to use than the '08 version, but
> the problem is this:
>
> With Numbers '08 when I select a table and hit Print, it prints just
> that table.
Are you sure you don't have "sheets" and "tables" confused?
Numbers '08 prints the currently selected sheet.
A sheet can contain one or more tables. All tables on the sheet get
printed.
Selecting a single table on a sheet doesn't affect what gets printed.
(If each of your sheets only contains one table, you will effectively be
able to print an individual table.)
> With Numbers '09 however it prints every single table in the spreadsheet.
Numbers '09 adds an option in the print dialog to print all sheets or
just the currently selected sheet (which would be the same behaviour as
Numbers '08).
Mine seems to default to "Current Sheet", but it might remember the last
setting you chose.
If you are running 10.4.11, you might have to hunt to find the setting -
click on the "Copies & Pages" popup menu and choose "Numbers".
The 10.5 print dialog defaults to showing application-specific print
settings (with Copies & Pages always visible higher up), so it is easier
to see this.
> At 2 tables per month, that worked out at 40+ pages so far this year, and
> I had to use Preview to find the right page in that lot.
>
> Every other spreadsheet I have ever used has allowed me to print a
> specific selection or sheet (table in Numbers terminology).
You can certainly print a single sheet, or you can print a page range
within a sheet.
Numbers '08 and '09 have an annoying lack of control over page layout,
e.g. no way to force new pages at arbirary points, and no way to select
individual tables or ranges of cells to print (unless you put tables on
separate sheets).
--
David Empson
dem...@actrix.gen.nz
P. Sture
dem...@actrix.gen.nz (David Empson) wrote:
> P. Sture <paul.stu...@hispeed.ch> wrote:
>
> > I have been using iWork '08 since it first became available, and the
> > other day I bought the Mac Box Set (in anticipation of a Leopard capable
> > system which is coming in my direction).
> >
> > Now, Numbers '09 is definitely snappier to use than the '08 version, but
> > the problem is this:
> >
> > With Numbers '08 when I select a table and hit Print, it prints just
> > that table.
>
> Are you sure you don't have "sheets" and "tables" confused?
Yes I did, sorry. Not now :-)
> Numbers '08 prints the currently selected sheet.
>
> A sheet can contain one or more tables. All tables on the sheet get
> printed.
>
> Selecting a single table on a sheet doesn't affect what gets printed.
>
> (If each of your sheets only contains one table, you will effectively be
> able to print an individual table.)
>
> > With Numbers '09 however it prints every single table in the spreadsheet.
>
> Numbers '09 adds an option in the print dialog to print all sheets or
> just the currently selected sheet (which would be the same behaviour as
> Numbers '08).
Got it thanks.
> Mine seems to default to "Current Sheet", but it might remember the last
> setting you chose.
I've just tried selecting "Current Sheet", printing and saving, but it
reverts to "All sheets" every time I select Numbers from the Print
dialogue. I'm still on 10.4.11 at this point.
> If you are running 10.4.11, you might have to hunt to find the setting -
> click on the "Copies & Pages" popup menu and choose "Numbers".
>
> The 10.5 print dialog defaults to showing application-specific print
> settings (with Copies & Pages always visible higher up), so it is easier
> to see this.
>
> > At 2 tables per month, that worked out at 40+ pages so far this year, and
> > I had to use Preview to find the right page in that lot.
> >
> > Every other spreadsheet I have ever used has allowed me to print a
> > specific selection or sheet (table in Numbers terminology).
>
> You can certainly print a single sheet, or you can print a page range
> within a sheet.
>
> Numbers '08 and '09 have an annoying lack of control over page layout,
> e.g. no way to force new pages at arbirary points, and no way to select
> individual tables or ranges of cells to print (unless you put tables on
> separate sheets).
Now I think of how I came to lay out this spreadsheet the way I did, I
created a separate sheet for each month for the sole purpose of printing
a summary (and it just happens to have a single table).
--
Paul Sture
P. Sture
wrote:
> P. Sture wrote:
>
> > With Numbers '08 when I select a table and hit Print, it prints just
> > that table. With Numbers '09 however it prints every single table in
> > the spreadsheet.
>
> > Every other spreadsheet I have ever used has allowed me to print a
> > specific selection or sheet (table in Numbers terminology).
>
> > How do I do this in Numbers '09?
>
> I searched the manual, which I found at
> <http://support.apple.com/en_US/manuals/#iwork>, but came up empty
> handed.
>
> Next I went to Apple's Support Forum for Numbers 09. This came from a
> thread entitled "No Set Print Area? I'm Out." (I have edited some
> typographical errors.)
Thanks for the following quote:
> *****
>
> "In Numbers the best way to work is to plan your document layout before
> you start to build it. If you are planning to print only a portion of a
> table, you can make that a separate table from the beginning, and you
> place it on a separate page. Or, you can plan to make a separate table
> that mirrors a part of your larger data set, and again isolate it to a
> separate page, perhaps a separate sheet but not necessarily, so that
> when you print you can direct the Print utility to print just the part
> you want.
>
> "If your data started out being housed in a huge Excel spreadsheet,
> you're right, the gyrations to print just a part seem burdensome, but
> aren't really so bad. In Excel, you have to select the area you want to
> print and then File > Set Print Area. In Numbers, you select the area
> you want to print, CTRL-C to copy, insert a new Sheet, Edit > Paste
> Values. Now you're ready to print just that area. It takes virtually
> the same length of time and is a very transparent process.
>
> "Further, now that you have separated the data you want to print from
> the whole, you can adorn it with text boxes of explanation, reformat to
> highlight certain data, etc. and then print. Really a much more civil
> approach."
This is effectively what I am doing, though I don't copy and paste each
time, preferring to reference the data from one source. This allows me
to have different widths for columns on the sheet I print, making for a
more balanced printout.
> *****
>
> That doesn't sound like a very good substitute for "Set Print Area."
>
> Then I went to the Numbers '08 forum and I read that there is no way to
> set a print area in Numbers '08, either--but you have been doing so by
> simply making a selection. I can't figure that out.
>
> In other words, I don't know.
There's another slight niggle here. I started out constructing it so
that the sheet to print referenced cells on the main page, but blank
cell entries display as "0", so I do it the other way around - I enter
the data on the sheet to be printed, and those "0" entries are displayed
on the main sheet (which I don't need to print) instead. A "blank when
zero" formatting rule would solve this - time to play with Numbers '09
custom formats maybe.
> Things like this are why I still use Excel even though I have an iWork
> '09 Family Pack and have it installed on three Macs. I have really
> tried to like Numbers, but it doesn't measure up even for my relatively
> simple work. I don't print to paper all that often, but when I do have
> occasion to print it is virtually always a small section of a much
> larger spreadsheet, and I could not live without the "Set Print Area"
> command.
>
Like you, I have really tried to like Numbers, but still find myself
using Open Office, and the other week I resorted to taking a (third
party's) spreadsheet's contents and putting them into a Pages table to
get a decent looking printout (there weren't any calculations in it, so
arguably should have started out life as an MS Word table).
--
Paul Sture
David Empson
I get consistent behaviour when I use Numbers on my 10.4.11 machine. It
appears that Leopard simply reverses the setting - it always defaults to
"Current Sheet" when the Print dialog is entered.
This smells like a bug - it should behave the same way on both systems,
and I reckon Leopard's default (current sheet) is more appropriate. It
may be worth filing a feature request with Apple.
--
David Empson
dem...@actrix.gen.nz
P. Sture
dem...@actrix.gen.nz (David Empson) wrote:
Yes, it does smell like a bug. I also tried from an admin account just
in case that made a difference, but it didn't.
I also tried saving it under a different Printer Preset, without success.
--
Paul Sture