Artistic with the Format Painter

AutoFormat is perfect for those times when you have a discrete table of data that needs formatting and you want to use one of its prefab table formats throughout. For the other times when you just need to apply a few different attributes to a cell range or two, seriously consider using the Format Painter to get the job done. As the name implies, the Format Painter enables you to copy the formatting from one prototypical cell to all the others that you drag through - in essence painting them with all its attributes.

That all painting were as easy as painting with the Format Painter! The steps for copying a cell's formatting are as simple as can be:

1. Select the cell that already contains the formatting that you want to copy.
   This cell can be manually formatted with several different attributes such a new cell alignment, font attribute, and number format.
2. Click the Format Painter button on the Standard toolbar (the one with the paintbrush icon).
   After you click the Format Painter button, Excel displays a marquee in the cell pointer in the current cell, and a paintbrush icon appears next to the white cross mouse pointer.
3. Drag through the cells to which you want to apply the same formatting as in the current cell.

When you release the mouse button, Excel applies all the formatting in the prototype cell to the range you selected with the Format Painter mouse pointer.

To format more than one range, double-click the Format Painter button instead of singleclicking it. That way, the Format Painter stays engaged until you next click the Format Painter button to disengage it. In between, you can use the mouse pointer to paint through as many cells and cell ranges as your little heart desires.

Although the Format Painter makes copying from one cell to another range a real breeze, copying formats is not its only claim to fame. You can also use the Format Painter to copy column widths in a worksheet. To do this, you click the letter of the column whose width you want to copy in the column header and then double-click the Format Painter button to engage it. Finally, click or drag through the letters of the columns that need to be the same width and then click the Format Painter to disengage it.

As if this weren't enough, you can also use the Format Painter to copy the attributes of one graphic object (such as a piece of WordArt, an AutoShape, a Clip Art image, or a graphics file inserted into the worksheet) to other objects of the same type.

For example, suppose that you insert a photo into a worksheet and then edit that photo with the More Contrast and Less Brightness buttons in the Picture toolbar. After a bit, you add another photo to the sheet with the same exposure problems. You can then use the Format Painter to copy the contrast and brightness settings applied to the first photo onto the second one. All you do is click the edited photo to select it, click the Format Painter button, and then click the second unedited photo. Excel then immediately copies the same contrast and brightness exposure settings to it.