The last few computers we have purchased have come from the factory equipped with Corel Office Software rather than Microsoft Office products. While Corel is downloaded on the computers as a trial offer, it is by far cheaper than Microsoft products.
There are many people live and breath by Microsoft Office products. However, the upside to Corel is, as a user, you do have the option of using the Corel Office products in the Corel mode or in Microsoft mode in any of the areas.
The Corel Office software I have on my desktop is the standard edition. The Corel Standard Edition is also on our daughters Dell laptop. However, when we purchased my laptop we opted for the Corel Business Edition since I use it for my home business.
I write many of my articles and Website content in Corel WordPerfect. When it comes to the Website content, I write for myself, I can publish it to HTML, PDF or XML. I then can upload the Website to a web hosting service ready to go. You can also publish your Quattro Pro spreadsheets to the Web or in XML.
Hopefully, after you have read how to make a spreadsheet with Quattro Pro with Corel, you will see there are other options available to you.
Instructions for Making a Quattro Pro Spreadsheet
NOTE: The instructions for making a spreadsheet in Quattro Pro will work with either the Standard or Business Editions of Corel. For the purpose of this article, I will be referencing Quattro Pro 12. Your own Corel Quattro Pro may be a little different depending on the edition and version you have.
Step One: Opening Quattro Pro
If you haven’t used Quattro Pro yet, click on the start button on your task bar. You will then click on All Programs, and then find WordPerfect Office 12 (you may have another edition like 11 on your computer).
You will then click on WordPerfect Office, and then click on Quattro Pro.
Quattro Pro will open and should have a dialogue box appear asking you which mode you want to work in. In Quattro Pro 12, you will have the options of Corel Quattro Pro, Microsoft Excel or Lotus 1-2-3 modes.
In this dialogue box, you will find a circle to check, choose Quattro Pro.
In the lower left hand corner, there will be a statement as follows, “Show at Startup,” leave the check mark in the box for future use. This way you will be able to change your modes once you are comfortable with making spreadsheets. You will click “ok” to continue.
Step Two: Creating Column Titles
You will see you have a blank spreadsheet to work with. We will now make a title for three of the columns.
Column Definition
The columns in a spreadsheet are the vertical rows. In Quattro Pro 12, the columns are showing with the letters of the alphabet A through Z. Once you have added a few titles for your column titles, the alphabetical order of the columns will have double alphabet lettering added.
Row Definition
The rows in a spreadsheet are the horizontal rows. In Quattro Pro 12, the rows show numbers from one through into the thousands.
Cell Definition
Cells are the small boxes information is placed in.
Click on the square below the letter A and to the right of the number one. Now type in what you want to name this column. You will see if you use more than eight spaces, your title will move over to the next cell.
To widen the column, place your cursor on the line between the letters A and B. You will see your cursor change to a bold line with a right and left bold arrow.
Hold the left-click button down on your mouse with the cursor on the line and drag the column width to the right until your text shows in one cell and release your mouse button.
You can continue this process until you have enough columns titled for your spreadsheet.
Step Three: Inputting Row Information
Now we will input the information needed for each of the rows of your Quattro Pro spreadsheet.
For example, place the name of your product into the cell below the first column’s title. In the next cell to right of the product title, you will place the amount of the product in the cell in the same row to the right of the product description.
You will continue across until you come the total column for the amount sold. In the next step, we will cover how to total your rows and columns.
Step Four: Row and Column Totaling
You will need to highlight the rows and columns starting with row 2 of your spreadsheet and highlight across to one row past the last row with the information in it.
Go to the toolbar at the top and look for the Greek looking letter E, click on the drop down menu. You will need to look for the icon that says Sum or Product. The sum icon adds the rows and columns; while the product icon multiplies the rows and columns. Click on the one you need to obtain your totals.
You now have finished the quick session on totaling your columns.
Step Five: Line Drawing for Your Cells
The line drawing icon is located on your toolbar on Corel Quattro Pro. This icon looks like a broken line outlined square.
You will need to highlight the area you want to have the solid lines around them. This will help in blocking or creating a table if you wish to print this out to make it look like a ledger.
You will now click on the drop down arrow of the line drawing icon. You will see several choices for line drawing. You will want to choose the icon that draws the line around all the cells you have highlighted. The icon you need has thin solid lines with a plus in the middle of the square and click on that icon. Click anywhere on your spreadsheet and you will see the bolded lines around the area you chose.
Step Five: Printing Your Spreadsheet
You will want to highlight the area you want to print. Once you have the area highlighted, click the print button on your toolbar and follow the popup box for printing. Generally, when the popup box comes up, all you have to do is hit print. On occasion, depending on the size of the spreadsheet, especially the width, you will need to change from portrait to landscape in order to have all the information printed out.
These are the five basic, most commonly used areas on any spreadsheet software. You can obtain further help through the help icon along the top of the toolbar. While I could go into depth about every icon on the toolbar, I felt it may bore many of you to tears.
