MS-Excel / General Formatting

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Picture Borders, Effects, and Styles

If Excel's picture coloring, cropping, and shaping features don't keep you busy, you'll be happy to learn that the graphical fun doesn't stop there. Along with the features you've already seen, Excel also lets you apply a picture border and a picture effect.

When picking a border, it's up to you to pick the color, thickness, and style. You set all these details by selecting the picture in question, and then using the Picture Tools | Format > Picture Styles > Picture Border list. Here's what to do:

• If you don't want to use basic black, pick a color from the Picture Border list. It's always a good idea to use theme colors so your pictures blend in with the scenery.
• To make your border appear, choose a thickness from the Picture Border> Weight submenu. 1/4pt is sleek; 6pt is thick and heavy.
• If you don't want a solid border, choose another line style from the Picture Border> Dashes submenu. You'll see a variety of different types of dashed and dotted lines.
• To get rid of a border you don't like anymore, choose Picture Border> No Outline.

Picture effects are more exotic, but just as easy to discover. To get picture effects, you need to use the Picture Tools | Format> Picture Styles> Picture Effects list. You'll see submenus for applying shadow, reflection, 3-D rotation, a soft edge, or a glowing edge. Each of these submenus has a gallery of common options with thumbnail previews.

The best way to learn about all Excel's wacky picture effects is to experiment. As you move your mouse over the different picture effects, Excel's live preview changes the picture on your worksheet accordingly. To get a better look, click to apply the change, and then hit Ctrl+Z to undo it if it isn't to your liking.

You can picture shaping, border, and effect settings separately. Instead, you can choose a preset style that applies a combination of these settings from the style gallery in the ribbon's Picture Tools | Format> Picture Styles section. You'll find an option that makes your picture look like a postcard, a scrapbook clipping.