Spreadsheet Design:
Document Properties

Title: Jan's Illustrated Computer Literacy 101
Did you want Working with Numbers: 2007,2010,2013,2016  or españolIcon: Change web

The  various ways of sharing data between applications affect the document's file size differently. You must consider the final file size if you need to transport the file on a floppy disk or if you plan to email the file. Some email accounts cannot accept attachments over a certain size - usually 1 or 2 megabytes.

How big is the file?

How can you tell how big your document has gotten?

  • Look at file size in Explorer or My Computer.

  • Open document in the original application and look at the document Properties.

How to reduce the file size?

  • Save the file under a new name.

  • Delete unnecessary parts or blank pages.

  • Split the document into several smaller documents.

Word documents have a nasty habit of getting bigger and bigger as you work with them. This happens even if you do not write more words. Word is remembering the words you have deleted and the actions that you have taken.

TipTo get the document down to its smallest possible size, save it under a new name.


Where you are:
JegsWorks > Lessons > Numbers

Before you start...

Project 1: Excel IntroTo subtopics

Project 2: Excel BasicsTo subtopics    

Project 3: Format & ArrangeTo subtopics

Project 4: Groups & FormulasTo subtopics

Project 5: Design
    Analysis To subtopics
    What If...To subtopics
    Logical TestsTo subtopics
    Sharing Data To subtopics
    FootprintEmbed
    FootprintLink/Icon
    FootprintPicture
    FootprintDocument Properties
    Summary
    Quiz
    ExercisesTo subtopics

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Glossary  
Appendix

Formatting Changes

When you insert material from another program, the data's formatting may change. For example, when Excel data is pasted into a Word document, the Normal style is applied. Excel's default font size is 10 pt. Word's default Normal font size is 12 pt. Such surprises can drive you crazy!

Updating

What you see on your screen is not always what comes out of the printer. Linked data will be updated with the current version of the data. A picture or embedded data is not updated.

Icon Step-by-Step

Step-by-Step: Document Properties

  Icon Step-by-Step

What you will learn:

 to find Document Properties
to reduce file size by saving under new name

Start with: Class disk trips37.xls (saved in previous lesson) and sharedata.doc (saved in previous lesson)

  1. In Word with sharedata.doc showing, open  File  |  Properties  and look at the file size for sharedata.doc. Your size will vary.  It may be far too large to fit on a 1.44 MB floppy disk.
     

    Dialog: Document Properties | GeneralWhat is making this such a bulky document? It's only one page!
     

  2. Write down the file size for your sharedata.doc with all 4 items. This is almost certainly a different number from the illustration.
     
  3. Delete all but one of the charts and its label and save with a new name. [It's VERY important that you save with a new name!]
     
  4. Open the file properties and write down the new file size. Close this file and open the original sharedata.doc again.
     
  5. Repeat this for all the remaining items on the page - one at a time.

    Now you have 5 numbers for file size- the original with all four items, and 4 with only one of the items on the page.
     

  6. Sharedata.doc with sizes of each kind of sharingRecord the sizes of each document that you just created on a chart somewhere on your sharedata.doc.
     
  7. Class diskSave. [sharedata.doc]
  8. Print Print.

    WarningIf the original Excel file is available, your Linked chart changes to match the current state of the Excel file.
     

Document with Chart type

Size

Original - all 4

1.10 MB
Embedded 484 KB

Linked

399 KB

Icon

19 KB

Picture/Drawing

270 KB

Here are the results from one experiment in Excel 97 where the original sharedata.doc had a file size of 1,160,192 bytes. Your own file should give different results. There's quite a difference!

 


 

Clean up

  1. Close Word and close Excel.
     
  2. Open Explorer to My Documents. You can now delete sharedata.doc and the other files you saved on the hard disk, if you are sharing this computer.