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Visualizing Data Using Conditional Formatting
First, select a general rule type from the list at the top of the dialog box. The bottom part of the dialog box
varies, depending on your selection at the top. After you specify the rule, click the Format button to specify
the type of formatting to apply if the condition is met. An exception is the first rule type, which doesn’t
have a Format button (it uses graphics rather than cell formatting).
Following is a summary of the rule types:
n Format all cells based on their values: Use this rule type to create rules that display data bars,
color scales, or icon sets.
n Format only cells that contain: Use this rule type to create rules that format cells based on
mathematical comparisons (greater than, less than, greater than or equal to, less than or equal to,
equal to, not equal to, between, not between). You can also create rules based on text, dates,
blanks, nonblanks, and errors. This rule type is very similar to how conditional formatting was set
up in previous versions of Excel.
n Format only top or bottom ranked values: Use this rule type to create rules that involve identi-
fying cells in the top n, top n percent, bottom n, and bottom n percent.
n Format only values that are above or below average: Use this rule type to create rules that
identify cells that are above average, below average, or within a specified standard deviation from
the average.
n Format only unique or duplicate values: Use this rule type to create rules that format unique or 21
duplicate values in a range.
n Use a formula to determine which cells to format: Use this rule type to create rules based on a
logical formula. See “Formula-Based Conditions,” later in this chapter.
Conditional Formats That Use Graphics
This section describes the three conditional formatting options that are new to Excel 2007: data bars, color
scales, and icons sets. These types of conditional formatting can be useful for visualizing the values in a
range.
Using data bars
The data bars conditional format displays horizontal bars directly in the cell. Length of the bar is based on the
value of the cell, relative to the other values in the range.
A data bar example
Figure 21.4 shows a simple example of data bars. It’s a list of customers and sales amounts. I applied data
bar conditional formatting to the values in column B. You can tell at a glance where the higher values are.
The examples in the section are available on the companion CD-ROM. The workbook is named
ON the CD-ROM data bars examples.xlsx.
ON the CD-ROM

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