Work quickly, confidently, and effectively in Apple’s Numbers app!

Take Control of
Numbers

Third Edition

Work quickly, confidently, and effectively in Numbers 11 with Sharon Zardetto’s detailed instructions. Input, calculate, sort, filter, format, and chart your data with ease as you learn not just the basics but also special tricks and power-user features.

We are very sorry to say this title was discontinued on October 28, 2022. It will not be updated in the future.

Note: This title was discontinued on October 28, 2022, and it will not be updated, due to the author’s health issues. We’re very sorry we were unable to find a way to keep it going.

There are many benefits to using Apple’s Numbers app, which is free for all Mac users. If you’ve ever wanted to add to your knowledge of Numbers—whether you’re new to spreadsheet programs in general, new to Numbers, or simply new to this latest version of Numbers—this book gives you detailed information about how to get the most out of this powerful app.

Following the advice of author Sharon Zardetto, you’ll learn how to input, calculate, sort, filter, format, and chart your data with ease. Taking you from the basics, all the way through complex formulas, charting, and other power-user features, this book will expand your understanding of what Numbers can do.

This book will show you how to:

  • Get started with Numbers: Learn about Numbers’ terminology and interface, sheets and templates, table basics, and cell basics. For those new to spreadsheets, learn about the anatomy of a table and data entry basics. For those new to Numbers, but comfortable with spreadsheets, learn about working with sheets and tabs, the template chooser, and pop-up and contextual table menus.
  • Work more efficiently: Customize your environment, utilize built-in and custom templates, speed up your work with autocomplete, autofill, and text substitution, make custom templates, use table styles, paragraph styles, and define a default text box.
  • Use formulas and functions: Find out about formula-building basics, cell references, and functions and arguments. Explore the formula editor and the Function Browser, and use quick calculation tokens.
  • Polish your formatting: Explore your formatting options, standardize the look of components in tables and sheets with styles, use rulers and ruler guides, add graphical elements (shapes and text boxes), and use color controls for everything from text to cell borders to shapes.
  • Visualize data with charts: Learn the basics of chart parts and terminology, how to choose the right chart, how to create a chart, and how to work with 3D charts and interactive charts.
  • Work with other people: Share, collaborate, and add comments to your work with other Numbers users. Find out how to import, export, and share files when others are not using Numbers.

What’s New in the Third Edition

Sometimes it’s difficult to keep up with Apple’s app updates. Within days of the original release of the second edition of this book, for instance, Numbers jumped from version 4.3 to 5.0, which we were able to accommodate with a swift update.Then there were minor Numbers updates for “stability and performance improvements,” tweaks to existing features, and the addition of minor but convenient features. Numbers 5.3 presented some changes and soon begat Numbers 6.0. Then, suddenly, version 10.x appeared, with quite a few changes—although not quite worthy of such a version-number jump. It was however, worthy of a new edition of this book—and while I was working on it, Numbers was updated again, so you’re reading Take Control of Numbers, Third Edition, which was written for Numbers 11.x.

The major additions to this book since the last version are:

  • How to Use Titles and Captions on nearly everything.
  • An exploration of the color well used for assigning colors to almost anything in Numbers; it includes how to make pastel shades and add your own colors to its popover (“Consider Color”).
  • Coverage of the new, easier and yet more powerful table-sorting options (“Sort with the Organize Inspector”).

These are a few of the smaller helpful additions:

  • Meet the new and improved version of The Template Chooser.
  • Add a color to your background when you Colorize a Sheet.
  • Make a handy floating palette of the options in the Format inspector’s Arrange section: see the end of “The Sidebar and Inspectors.”
  • Learn how to Use the Smart-View Strip (and why you’d want to).

What versions and platforms does this book cover?

This book is about Numbers 11 on a Mac. It does not specifically covers Numbers in iCloud or on iOS/iPadOS devices. Almost all the information in the book, however, is directly applicable to Numbers for iCloud, and the fundamentals (including how to construct formulas, which charts to use for what kind of data, and filtering and sorting data) apply to the iOS/iPadOS version as well.

  • Read Me First
    • What’s New in the Third Edition
  • Introduction
  • Numbers Quick Start
  • About Numbers
  • Learn Terminology and the Interface
    • Tables and Sheets
    • The Sidebar and Inspectors
    • Customize Your Environment
    • Global Features
  • Work with Sheets and Templates
    • Colorize a Sheet
    • Manage Sheets and Sheet Tabs
    • Use Built-In and Custom Templates
  • Learn Table Basics
    • Learn Table Anatomy
    • Recognize Table States
    • Create and Control Tables
    • Use Pop-Up and Contextual Table Menus
    • Title and Caption Tables
    • Manipulate Rows and Columns
  • Master Cell Basics
    • Cell Referencing
    • Select Cells
    • Move Between Cells
    • Move Within a Block of Cells
    • Move a Cell or Its Data
    • Merge and Unmerge Cells
  • Use Table Formats and Styles
    • Apply Table Formats
    • Use Table Styles
    • Reorganize Styles
  • Learn About Cell Formats
    • Apply Basic Cell Formats
    • Use Conditional Highlighting
  • Control Data Input
    • Learn Data Entry Basics
    • Understand Automatic Data Formats
    • Control Text Wrap in Cells
    • Speed Data Entry with Autocomplete
    • Speed Data Entry with Autofill
    • Explore Copy and Paste Options
  • Learn About Data Formats
    • Review Standard Data Formats
    • Create a Custom Data Format
  • Use Special Data‑Input Options
    • Create Checkboxes
    • Define Sliders and Steppers
    • Build Pop-Up Menus
  • Sort Data
    • Learn About Sorting Order
    • Sort with Column Menus
    • Sort with the Organize Inspector
    • Master Unsorting
    • Deal with Special Sorting Issues
  • Filter Data
    • Use Quick Filters
    • Filter with the Inspector
  • Analyze Data with Categories
    • See the Categories Advantage
    • Create a Sample Category Table
    • Define and View Categories
    • Add a Summary Function
    • More About Categories
  • Handle Formulas and Functions
    • Save Time with Quick Calculations
    • Learn Formula-Building Basics
    • Work in the Formula Editor
    • Understand Functions and Arguments
    • Explore the Functions Browser
  • Master IF Statements and Logical Operators
    • What Is Truth?
    • Review Comparison Operators
    • Construct IF Statements
    • Learn About Logical Operators
    • Put It All Together
    • Construct Nested IF Statements
  • Work with Text Functions
    • Know Your Text Terminology
    • Learn Basic String Manipulations
    • Master Other Common Text Tasks
  • Create Charts
    • Chart Choices
    • Learn Chart Parts and Terminology
    • Create a Chart
    • Edit Chart Data
    • Design 3D Charts
    • Make Interactive Charts
  • Format Charts
    • Select Chart Elements
    • The Chart Tab
    • The Axis Tab
    • The Series Tab
    • The Style Tab
    • Tweak Text Elements
  • Add Comments
    • Set Comment Options
    • Solo vs. Swapped vs. Shared
    • Comments, Comments, Everywhere
    • Handle Comments and Replies
  • Add Audio
    • Create a Voice Recording
    • Work in the Audio Tab
  • Work with Shapes and Images
    • Add Shapes to a Sheet
    • Edit Shapes
    • Create a Custom Shape
    • Use Shape Styles
    • All About Arrows
    • Use Image Galleries
  • Tackle Text
    • What’s a Text Container?
    • Put Text in Text Boxes and Shapes
    • Tour the Text Tab
    • Create Bullet and Ordered Lists
    • Use Paragraph and Character Styles
    • Create a New Style
    • Search for Text
    • Search for and Replace Fonts
  • Manipulate Objects
    • Set Ruler and Guide Preferences
    • Select, Move, and Duplicate Objects
    • Work on the Sheet
    • Work on the Arrange Tab
  • Import, Export, and Share Files
    • Exchange Files with Excel
    • Import and Export Delimited Files
    • Export as a CSV or TSV File
    • Share a Numbers Document
  • Print Spreadsheets
    • The Print Process
    • Hone Headers and Footers
  • About This Book
    • Ebook Extras
    • About the Author
    • Acknowledgments
    • About the Publisher
    • Credits
    • Copyright and Fine Print

Michael Cohen talks Numbers with Chuck Joiner

Posted by Joe Kissell on October 31, 2021

Michael Cohen, who edited Sharon Zardetto’s Take Control of Numbers, discussed the new edition of that book on MacVoices. He covers what’s new in Numbers and what makes it a superior spreadsheet for many users.

Force a Table Recalculation

Posted by Joe Kissell on February 6, 2016

Longtime Excel users have another reason to need it: some multi-worksheet files are so complexly intertwined that the automatic recalculation of connected formulas every time you enter new data can slow things down. So, they turn off the automatic calculation feature and trigger it when they want the sheet refreshed.

But, back to Numbers. It’s unlikely your spreadsheets will be so complex that recalculation will slow things down; and, in any case, there’s no way to turn off the automatic recalculation that occurs when you enter data. But you can’t specifically trigger a recalc of cells, so those containing random numbers (from the RAND or RANDBETWEEN function) are quite static. Whether you’ve set up a bunch of random-number cells to test what will happen when real data is entered, or intend to keep the random-number formula in place to interact with data you input later, it’s important to test the results of various possibilities in your random range.

Why? What would happen if, coincidentally, all the randomly generated numbers are even, or there’s nothing under 10 or over 99, or perhaps there are no multiples of 5, and you’ve set up something where an odd number, a low or high number, or a multiple of 5 will result in flawed output? (Even if “flawed output” is nothing more than a column that’s not wide enough to display three digits.) You won’t realize there’s a problem because the random numbers are static until something else you enter forces a recalculation.

The solution I proposed in the book was to go to any cell adjacent a block of cells that include RAND or RANDBETWEEN cells and use Command-X to force Numbers to recalculate the entire table, resulting in newly generated random numbers. If there was nothing in the cell, nothing gets cut, and if there was, you can paste it right back.

Well, as of Numbers 3.6.1—and perhaps before, because this was only recently brought to my attention—this no longer works. Command-V in any cell works, but that runs the risk of accidentally pasting something that could overwrite nearby cells and really make a mess of your table. So, let me recommend the trick that everybody in the know has used all along for recalculating Numbers spreadsheets; I had ignored it because it requires using a cell specifically for the recalc trigger.

Simply format any cell to hold a checkbox: select the cell and go to the Format Inspector’s Cell tab, and then choose Checkbox from the Data Format menu. When you check or uncheck the checkbox, every formula in the document—in every cell of every table on every sheet—will be recalculated. The fact that the recalc is global in the document, really takes care of my objection to setting aside a cell in one of your tables for this purpose. You could, of course, stick it in the usually unused cell A1 where it’s easy to get at, and you could easily just delete it and set it up again if you don’t need it in the interim. But since the recalc works globally, you don’t have to keep the checkbox in any of your working tables. Make a table specifically for the checkbox—it can even be alone on its own tab. And, you can delete all but its first row and first column, making it a single-cell table (yes, an amoeba table!) and duplicate it on every tab for convenience.

Sharon and Chuck Run the Numbers on MacVoices

Posted by Michael E. Cohen on June 5, 2015

Sharon Zardetto and Chuck Joiner discuss Sharon’s exhaustive, but far-from-exhausting, book about Apple’s Numbers. Don’t think spreadsheets can be fun? Sharon thinks different. Find out why on this episode of MacVoices.

How to Stop Doing the Same Thing Over and Over

Posted by Tonya Engst on April 27, 2015

Although this ebook covers many features, it doesn’t discuss scripting with Apple’s Automator and AppleScript tools to automate repetitive tasks that would be better carried out by a script than by you. To learn more about what’s possible and get started, check out the iWork & Automation portion of the Mac OS X Automation Web site.

If you’ve never thought about creating automation on a computer before, Automator or AppleScript may be a little much to jump into, though there are helpful introductory materials on the site. For even more help, check out Take Control of Automating Your Mac, by Joe Kissell, which introduces you to the automation mindset, helps you understand a variety of common automation techniques, and helps you take those first few baby steps toward Automator or AppleScript proficiency.

The Limits of the iWork for iCloud Beta

Posted by Michael E. Cohen on

Apple has posted a support document, Size limits of iWork for iCloud beta documents. Among other interesting facts provided by the document are these: the iWork for iCloud beta can share a document with as many as 100 users at a time, an iWork document can be as large as 1 GB (though a few such documents can use up your iCloud storage allocation quickly), and each image in a document (JPEG, PNG, or GIF) can be as large as 10 MB (except in IE 9 on Windows, where the limit is 5 MB). Also, in Numbers you can create as many sheets as you like, and change as many as 100,000 table cells at one time. Furthermore, tables can have as many as 255 columns, 65,536 rows, and 130,000 data-containing cells.

Reviews

There are no reviews yet.

Be the first to review “Take Control of Numbers”

You may also like…