Video:How to Apply Shapes and Word Art to Excel

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Transcript:How to Apply Shapes and Word Art to Excel

Hi, I'm Don Schechter for About.com Computing. Today I'll show you how to apply shapes and word art to a spreadsheet in Microsoft Excel.

Getting Started Applying Shapes to Excel Spreadsheets

• Open Excel
• Click "Insert / Picture / AutoShapes*"
• Click a shape from the small AutoShape toolbar that pops up
• Click and drag for shape to appear
• Click corner handles to resize, the side handles to stretch or skew and the green handle to rotate the shape. Click the yellow handle (not all shapes have this) for some type of transformation.

*To see all AutoShapes available, click the "More AutoShapes" icon

Tips for Applying Shapes and Word Art to an Excel Spreadsheet

• Click File/Toolbar and make sure "Drawing" is selected
• Click fill tool on bottom drawing toolbar
• Select "More Fill Colors"
• Click on color you like and click "OK"
• Click "Fill Effects" to apply a gradient or pattern
• Click the line/style icon on the bottom to change the thickness and style of the shape's outline
• Click the shadow or 3D effect icons for there given effect (though you can only choose one)

Putting Shapes Behind Another Shape

• Right-click shape you want sent back
• Click "Order / Send to Back"

Applying Word Art to Excel Spreadsheets

• Click WordArt icon in Drawing toolbar
• Choose style for text and TYPE
• Click "OK"
• Click WordArt Shape to change shape of text
• Click the icons for "WordArt Same Letter Height," "WordArt Vertical Text," "WordArt Alignment" and "WordArt Character Spacing" for their respective effects

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