Excel Dashboards and Reports for Dummies, 3rd Edition

Chapter 3

Dressing Up Your Data Tables

In This Chapter

The principles of table design

Custom number formatting

Applying custom format colors

Applying custom format conditions

The Excel table is the perfect way to consolidate and relay information. Data tables are quite common — you’ll find one in any Excel report. Yet the concept of making tables easier to read and more visually appealing escapes most of us.

Maybe it’s because the nicely structured rows and columns of a table lull us into believing that the data is already presented in the best way possible. Maybe the options of adding color and borders make the table seem nicely packaged. Excel makes table creation easy, but even so, you can use several design principles to make your Excel table a more effective platform for conveying your data.

In this chapter, you explore how easy it is to apply a handful of table design best practices. The tips found here ultimately help you create visually appealing tables that make the data within them easier to consume and comprehend.

Table Design Principles

Table design is one of the most ...