A lot of users like to print the detailed data in reports, but have trouble formatting the data once exported into Excel into a readable format. The article below provides step-by-step instructions for how to format the raw .CSV file into a nicer view for printing and analysis.
For our example, we are going to use the Sales Detail report.
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Download Report - Open the report you want to print in Tekmetric. Ensure you have the correct date range and report parameters selected and then select the cloud download icon located in the top right corner of the data table.
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Open in Excel - After clicking the cloud download icon, you should have a download file appear in the bottom left corner of your screen. Right click the file to open up menu options and select "Open with--> Excel". What you are doing here is saying that you want .CSV file types to open in Excel as the default option. If you already have this set up, then Excel should automatically open when you click the cloud download icon.
- When the file opens in Excel, it will be un-formatted as shown below. The next few steps will guide you through formatting your data so that it prints in a readable format.
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Add filters (optional) - Select the top left cell (A1) and press CTRL+A on your keyboard. This should highlight the full data set. With the full data set selected, apply filters to all the headers by going to the Data tab and clicking the Filter button. This will allow you to sort or filter a column for only certain data.
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Note: You might also want to increase the size of your text here as well if size 11 is too small. GIF below has no sound
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Remove background - Select the top left corner (to the left of column A and above row 1) to highlight the entire sheet and then use the paint bucket to make the full sheet white. GIF below has no sound
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Apply borders - Select the top left cell (A1) and press CTRL+A on your keyboard to select the full data set. With the full data selected, click the grid looking icon next to the paint bucket to apply borders. GIF below has no sound
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Adjust the width of all the columns:
- Click the column 'A' header so that the entire column is highlighted. You might have to click twice.
- Once you have column A selected, press CTRL+ --> (the right arrow key on your keyboard). This will auto select all the column headers for however many columns exist in your data. it is okay that the rows below your data set are selected.
- Move your cursor to the border line between columns A and B, you should see your cursor change to look like this:
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- When that icon appears, double click your mouse. This should automatically expand each column to fit the data within.
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Enhance Headers - Select cell A1 again and press CTRL+ --> (right arrow on your keyboard). This should select all the header columns across your data set.
- Go to the paint bucket and select a dark color. I usually like black or dark gray.
- Go the the text color selector and choose white.
- Click the 'B' icon to Bold the header text. GIF below has no sound
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Repeat Headers on each page - If you data has lots of rows, you'll want to make sure you have the headers printed at the top of each page so you know what you're looking at.
- Go to Page Layout from the top menu categories.
- Select Print Titles, a window should pop-up.
- In the box titled "Rows to repeat at top:" enter "$1:$1".
- Click OK.
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Print Report - You likely want all the columns data to show on one page width.
- Select File --> Print to pull up the print settings.
- Change the Orientation from Portrait to Landscape.
- Change Margins from Normal to Narrow.
- Change No scaling to Fit all columns on one page.
- Click Print. GIF below has no sound
