Spreadsheet software exam retake 2
TyJac
Registered Posts: 42 Epic contributor 🐘
Hi guys,
My first attempt this this exam was a fail, due to repeated mistakes of not being able to print each page to one visible A4 page and insert a footer on all pages.
Can you walk me through on the settings (what options and boxes I need to check) that I need in order to make it visible on one A4 page when printed?
Thx
My first attempt this this exam was a fail, due to repeated mistakes of not being able to print each page to one visible A4 page and insert a footer on all pages.
Can you walk me through on the settings (what options and boxes I need to check) that I need in order to make it visible on one A4 page when printed?
Thx
0
Comments
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Hello
It depends what version of Excel you are using.
If you know how to get print preview, then you should be able to select page setup and then fit to page (1 wide by 1 tall) then preview again to ensure it is on one page.
Does this help? If not, let us know what version of Excel you are using.
JC~ An investment in knowledge always pays the best interest ~Benjamin Franklin0 -
I haven't sat the module yet so don't know if this is the official answer, but in Excel 2010 you simply go File -> Print, then on the menu that appears the very bottom option is 'Scaling', which by default is set to 'No Scaling'. Select 'Fit sheet on one page' from this menu.
On older versions of Excel from memory it's File -> Page Setup, go to the Page tab, and there's a 'Scaling'/'Fit to' option there somewhere.0 -
You set your footer in page set up too.
I got mine to fit to one page by going to print and I think on the left there was a button saying scaling & if you click on that you can select fit to one page.
Hope this (& Jo's reply) has helped a bit? X0 -
Jo, you're always a minute ahead of me...!0
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Hi guys,
My first attempt this this exam was a fail, due to repeated mistakes of not being able to print each page to one visible A4 page and insert a footer on all pages.
Can you walk me through on the settings (what options and boxes I need to check) that I need in order to make it visible on one A4 page when printed?
Thx
Hi TyJac
The replies you have received ARE correct. However, something important has been left out. Even if you print to one page the print (on some tasks) is much too small. There are various ways to make the print larger and still get everything onto one page. Here are the steps:
1) if you are printing a very wide report (wider than long) then you need to use landscape, i.e, change from the default portrait.
2) if the column headings are too wide, then use "wrap text" putting the title on 2 or 3 lines within the same cell. If you don't know how to do that, then use 2 or 3 rows to split up the title.
3) use format, autofit width to reduce the column sizes to a tighter fit
4) highlight all the rows and columns you want to print, then go to: page layout, then to "print area", then "set print area". Then follow the instruction given by others to fit sheet on one page
After you have saved the file you no longer need to choose what to print because whenever you go to 'file', 'print' it will automatically print everything in the set area.
Try it out. It will save you a lot of time and every report that AAT asks you to print out WILL be the correct size - even the formula worksheets and even including the "IF" formula will be a suitable READABLE print size.0 -
mentorkeith wrote: »Hi TyJac
The replies you have received ARE correct. However, something important has been left out. Even if you print to one page the print (on some tasks) is much too small. There are various ways to make the print larger and still get everything onto one page. Here are the steps:
1) if you are printing a very wide report (wider than long) then you need to use landscape, i.e, change from the default portrait.
2) if the column headings are too wide, then use "wrap text" putting the title on 2 or 3 lines within the same cell. If you don't know how to do that, then use 2 or 3 rows to split up the title.
3) use format, autofit width to reduce the column sizes to a tighter fit
4) highlight all the rows and columns you want to print, then go to: page layout, then to "print area", then "set print area". Then follow the instruction given by others to fit sheet on one page
After you have saved the file you no longer need to choose what to print because whenever you go to 'file', 'print' it will automatically print everything in the set area.
Try it out. It will save you a lot of time and every report that AAT asks you to print out WILL be the correct size - even the formula worksheets and even including the "IF" formula will be a suitable READABLE print size.
I formatted all my sheets to print to 1 page landscape except 1 which looked better portrait. The print was small but exam doesn't ask you to make it bigger, it just says print to 1 A4 page. I would of though if you start using wrap text on the headings etc you're going to lose marks because you haven't been asked to do so.0 -
Hi Kris
According to my tutor, he said you will not lose marks for using wrap text. You will actually be demonstrating that you have read the book. The book takes you through the wrap text process.
In general, it is better/advisable to stick to doing no more than is required, otherwise you waste valuable time needlessly, but you will not lose marks as long as all the requests ARE followed. However, if the examiners cannot read the printouts because it is too small THEY WILL mark you down. For the benefit of those who still need to take the exam, find ways of reducing the width of the columns because that will automatically increase the size of the wording and figures on the printout. The examiners have said that if the print-outs are illegible they will reject them.
Congrats Kris in passing your exam. Clearly your printout WAS legible enough. My advice is DON'T TAKE CHANCES.0 -
mentorkeith wrote: »2) if the column headings are too wide, then use "wrap text" putting the title on 2 or 3 lines within the same cell. If you don't know how to do that, then use 2 or 3 rows to split up the title.
Probably not applicable in the exam (but you never know) however I would avoid doing this if you are going to want to sort the data as any headings need to be in the same cell and not split over several rows... just personal preference and how you are going to use the spreadsheet I guess
~ An investment in knowledge always pays the best interest ~Benjamin Franklin0 -
Probably not applicable in the exam (but you never know) however I would avoid doing this if you are going to want to sort the data as any headings need to be in the same cell and not split over several rows... just personal preference and how you are going to use the spreadsheet I guess
Hi Jo
Nice to hear from you again.
I appreciate what you are saying regarding data sort. However, you don't necessarily need to refer to the titles in data sort. you can refer to columns eg, column A might be the primary data. You then highlight only the data of the rows/columns of which you want to sort - not highlighting the titles.
My tutor told me that I would need to wrap text in order to reduce column widths so that the defaulted print size would be large enough. Of course that is really only applicable to the very wide worksheets such as the "show formula" worksheets. By practicing in advance students would learn (ready for the exam) which worksheets require the wrap texts and which ones do not.0 -
Thank you all for you replies, it's very useful.
One further question though, if the exam ask for all spreadsheets to be titled, does this mean using a header?
Also, when it ask for your name, date and AAT membership number to be included as a footer, how would you align it? (left, center, right)0 -
Thank you all for you replies, it's very useful.
One further question though, if the exam ask for all spreadsheets to be titled, does this mean using a header?
Also, when it ask for your name, date and AAT membership number to be included as a footer, how would you align it? (left, center, right)
Yes, for the title and I centred my footer with my name and membership number etc.~ An investment in knowledge always pays the best interest ~Benjamin Franklin0 -
Thank you all for you replies, it's very useful.
One further question though, if the exam ask for all spreadsheets to be titled, does this mean using a header?
Also, when it ask for your name, date and AAT membership number to be included as a footer, how would you align it? (left, center, right)
You should NOT use the header option. All titles should appear on one of the top rows of the worksheet (usually the top row (all depending on if they ask you to put it on a different row to the top one).
The footer should appear as follows (using the "header/footer" facility):
Left section: Your full name, Centre Section: date (using the "insert date" icon), Right section: your membership number.
This is because it is easier for the examiner to read and avoids the centre section getting too crowded.
In a mock test, I entered the titles using the header facility. My college tutor told me that I should not use the header but enter the title within the top row of the sheet (i.e row 1, usually A1) and then highlight all the cells in row 1 up to the last column used for data, and then click on "merge and centre". He also said that we would never be asked to use the header facility, but ONLY use the footer facility. So my advice is based on what he told me to do.0 -
By the way, every single worksheet should contain the same footer details. There is NO shortcut. You just have to write the same thing every single time.0
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I guess each tutor/assessor may ask for different things... use common sense, read the question and follow the instructions and you can't go far wrong...
I think I used the header function (long time ago so maybe not, can't recall) but if you have titles in the top row then you can't use that for a title... would need to decide how best to layout the information. I really do think it is down to following the instructions or what your tutor teaches you as they are the one who will be assessing/marking your work, not the AAT.~ An investment in knowledge always pays the best interest ~Benjamin Franklin0 -
mentorkeith wrote: »By the way, every single worksheet should contain the same footer details. There is NO shortcut. You just have to write the same thing every single time.
If you read through the paper and each section advises that the worksheet should have the same information, i.e. name, membership number, etc. why not create a worksheet and copy it for subsequent exercises? Like I said it was a long time ago that I completed SPSW.~ An investment in knowledge always pays the best interest ~Benjamin Franklin0 -
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If you read through the paper and each section advises that the worksheet should have the same information, i.e. name, membership number, etc. why not create a worksheet and copy it for subsequent exercises? Like I said it was a long time ago that I completed SPSW.
Hi Jo, I tried that. On my version excel 2010, it does not copy the footer details when you copy from worksheet to worksheet. You STILL have to go into footer on every single page and do the same job repetitiously.
If someone has discovered a way to avoid the repetition, please let me know how.0 -
mentorkeith wrote: »Hi Jo, I tried that. On my version excel 2010, it does not copy the footer details when you copy from worksheet to worksheet. You STILL have to go into footer on every single page and do the same job repetitiously.
If someone has discovered a way to avoid the repetition, please let me know how.
Hello Keith
I just tried it in 2007 and it works... I'm not going mad :001_tongue:~ An investment in knowledge always pays the best interest ~Benjamin Franklin0 -
Copy the actual worksheet tab... right click, move or copy, create a copy~ An investment in knowledge always pays the best interest ~Benjamin Franklin0
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Copy the actual worksheet tab... right click, move or copy, create a copy
Thanks Jo
I just followed what you said on excel 2010. Bingo! It DOES work!
I assume you mean that we should enter footer details (before we do anything else) onto a blank worksheet. Then follow your instructions to create copies (plenty of them) of this BLANK worksheet. Only then start filling out the worksheets or copy/pasting from the exam's downloaded worksheets.
That definitely works and WILL save time from having to repetitiously write out the footer on every sheet.
Thanks again - learnt something new from you.0 -
You're welcome Keith, that is what I love about this forum... always learning new things :001_tongue:
As I said above, I sat SPSW a long time ago so would not want to advise students what to do, they should take advice from their tutor, however I just wanted to illustrate a time saving option if it is the same footer on each sheet... what I recall from my exam was that I had to copy data into blank worksheets.
Wonder what other Excel tips we can share... maybe a sub forum on here for Excel... hints and tips~ An investment in knowledge always pays the best interest ~Benjamin Franklin0 -
Just to clarify something that's been bugging me, do you save each task on a separate individual worksheet or can you create a workbook and save each sheet in that? As I say it's been bugging me & doing the practice assessment confused me even more as it seems you save things individually but then that sheet ends up being duplicated when doing the connecting task...if that makes sense!0
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I wanted to ask the same thing as Angmc, as it struck me when doing the practice assessment. If I recall correctly when I actually took the test, I simply just renamed the tab page worksheet and saved the file under the originally workbook name.
So using the practice assessment as an example:
'Title this worksheet as 'J A Muddlestone monthly figures for 2009, and save as worksheet 'JAM1'. Copy this to a new worksheet and display as formula. Save this worksheet as 'JAM2'.
The part where it says 'save this worksheet as JAM2', does it mean renaming the tab worksheet as JAM2, or actually save the file using 'save as', or just rename the tab worksheet and just save the worksheet using 'save'? (To avoid having multiple workbook files).
Also if the task doesn't ask you to format the cells to show the pound sign or use 1000 separator, should I do it or not? It's more legible to read I reckon, but not sure whether I should do it or not.
How do I edit the text on a legend on a line chart?0 -
Hi Angmc and Tyjac
The examiners will expect you to open up just ONE workbook, but open up quite a number of worksheets within that one workbook file. One of the first tasks, asks you to name this file and tells you how to name it, example JSmith20.06.13SHS. Where JSmith is your name followed by date and the reference they give you like SHS.
Every 5-10 mins or so it is advisable to save this ONE workbook to avoid losing work if there is a power cut.
If you first follow the instructions that Jo and I gave (regarding the footer) then you can start copying and pasting from the download worksheets INTO your different worksheets. As I say, ALL the worksheets should be within the ONE workbook file.
Where it asks you to give a workSHEET a name, then you name the tab belonging to that worksheet. For example you may have worksheets named JAM1, JAM2, JAM2 (F). The "F" means that is is the same data as in JAM2 but showing all the formulas rather than just the figures thyat the formulas created. Example =sum(a1:A3) may equal 200 and will show as 200 on JAM2, but the "show formulas" worksheet JAM2(f) will not show the 200 but simply as "=sum(a1:a3)".
The task will usually ask you to enter the £ sign. However, if it doesn't, then don't. Why waste time doing something they have not asked you to do. The only thing I would do (that they don't ask) is to ensure the font size (on the print-outs) is legible.
Editing the text on a legend:
Right Click within the legend box of your chart. Choose "select data". Highlight the legend title (on the left hand side)where it says "legend entries (series). Just above (where you highlighted) click the edit icon. Then enter the name you want. Then click "ok".0 -
Thank you so much mentorkeith. Sometimes you just need things to be spelt out to you step by step and then it all makes perfectly lovely sense.0
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Thanx Mentorkeith, it's very clear as to what I need to do now. The legend text editing rattled my brain, but it worked! Thx0
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