Creating a Custom Number Format
To define your own display format for numbers in table cells:
1
Select one or more cells.
2
Choose Custom from the Cell Format pop-up menu in the Format pane of the
Table inspector.
Format field
Drag the elements to
the format field.
3
From the Type pop-up menu, choose Number & Text.
4
Define your number format by dragging the (blue) elements from the Number & Text
Elements box into the format field above the box.
When an element is in the format field, click its disclosure triangle and choose a
formatting option from the pop-up menu.
Click a disclosure triangle to
choose a formatting option.
Integers: Add this element when you want to format digits to the left of a decimal
point. See “Defining the Integers Element of a Custom Number Format” on page 209
for more information.
Currency: Add this element to display a currency symbol. To identify the symbol you
want to use, click the Currency element’s triangle and choose a symbol.
208
Chapter 9
Working with Table Cells
Chapter 9
Working with Table Cells
209
Decimals: Add this element to format how decimal digits are displayed. See “Defining
the Decimals Element of a Custom Number Format” on page 210 for more information.
Spaces: Use this element to control the amount of space displayed between elements.
Click the Spaces element’s triangle and choose an option. Normal adds a standard
space, Wide adds an em space, and Narrow adds a sixth of an em space. You can add
more than one Spaces element to the format field with these options, but only one of
the Spaces elements can be Flexible. Flexible left-aligns elements that precede it and
right-aligns elements that follow it.
Scale: Use this element to size the display value of a number. For example, you can
display values over 100 as number of hundreds (1000 displays as 10). See “Defining the
Scale of a Custom Number Format” on page 212 for more information.
5
To display predefined text before or after any element, place an insertion point in the
format field, and then type your text. You can click any element and use the Left Arrow
and Right Arrow keys to place the insertion point.
6
To delete an element in the field, select it, and then press Delete.
To move the element around in the field, drag it.
7
In the Name field, type a name for your number format.
Custom format names are listed in the Cell Formats pop-up menu in the Format pane
of the Table inspector.
8
Click OK to save your number format and apply it to the selected cells.
Here’s an example of a number format:
The hyphen is a Spaces element, set to display one Normal space between the
Â
currency symbol and the number.
The dollar sign is a Currency element.
Â
#,### is an Integers element that displays numbers greater than 999 with a
Â
thousands separator.
.## is a Decimals element.
Â
When you type this number into a cell with the
above format
The number is displayed like this
10000000
Balance: $ 10,000.000
0.95
Balance: $ 0.95
.666
Balance: $ 0.67