Pictures, shapes and text boxes

Pictures, shapes and text boxes float over the grid rather than sitting in cells — a logo, a box round a total, an arrow pointing at the cell that explains it. Charts float over the grid in the same way; see Charts and sparklines.

Insert a picture

1. Click the cell where the picture’s top-left corner should go.
2. Click the picture button in Insert › Illustrations (Put a picture on the sheet).
3. Choose a PNG, JPEG, GIF or BMP file.

The picture is placed over the cells from the current cell, about four columns wide and ten rows tall, and selected. It is named after its file, and the status bar says, for example, logo.png added at B2. The picture is stored inside the workbook, not linked.

If the file isn’t a picture that can be stored in a workbook, the status bar says That file is not a PNG, JPEG, GIF or BMP, so it cannot go in an .xlsx — the file would not open.

Insert a shape

1. Click the cell where the shape should go.
2. Open Insert › Illustrations › Shapes and choose a shape: Rectangle, Rounded rectangle, Ellipse, Triangle, Diamond, Arrow (pointing right), Left arrow, Up arrow, Down arrow, Line, Connector, Star or Callout.

The shape is placed at the current cell with a light blue fill and a blue outline, and selected. It is named after its kind and a number, such as Rectangle 1.

Insert a text box

1. Click the cell where the text box should go.
2. Click the text box button in Insert › Text (A box of words that floats over the cells).

A text box with no fill and no outline is placed at the current cell, holding the word Text. To change its words, select it and use Format… in the Selection pane — see Name, describe and format an object.

Select objects

Clicking any object in a group selects the whole group.

Move and resize objects

• Move: drag the object. Every selected object moves together.
• Line up with the grid: hold Alt as you release a single object; its top-left corner snaps to the nearest cell corner.
• Nudge: press the arrow keys to move the selection a little; hold Shift to move it further.
• Resize: drag one of the eight handles. When several objects are selected, they are scaled together and keep their arrangement.

Each move or resize is one undo step. An object that was locked in the workbook it came from can’t be moved or resized; trying says its name followed by is locked.

Delete objects

Select the objects and press Delete or Backspace. The status bar says Deleted. or Deleted followed by the number of objects.

Arrange

The Arrange group on the Page Layout tab changes how objects sit.

Front to back

Open Page Layout › Arrange › Arrange and choose:

With nothing selected, the status bar says Select an object first.

Align

1. Select two or more objects (Shift-click to add each one).
2. Open Page Layout › Arrange › Align and choose Align left, Align centre, Align right, Align top, Align middle or Align bottom.

The objects are lined up with each other. With fewer than two selected, the status bar says Select two or more objects to line them up. Shift-click to add to the selection.

Group and ungroup

A group moves, resizes, reorders, hides and deletes as one object.

1. Select two or more objects.
2. Open Page Layout › Arrange › Group and choose Group.

The status bar says, for example, Grouped 3 objects. They move as one now. To take a group apart, select it and choose Ungroup.

Grouping objects that are already in a group puts them all in one new group.

Rotate

1. Select one object.
2. Open Page Layout › Arrange › Rotate and choose:

Each choice sets the angle from upright; choosing 90° right twice leaves the object at a quarter turn. With no object, or several, selected, the status bar says Select one object to rotate.

The Selection pane

The Selection pane lists every picture, shape and text box on the sheet, front to back. It is the way to reach an object hidden behind another, and to hide an object without deleting it.

1. Click Page Layout › Arrange › Selection pane.
2. Under FRONT TO BACK, each object shows its name and, below it, its kind (such as PNG or Rectangle), the cells it covers, and whether it has a description (described or no description).
3. Click an object’s name to select it.
4. Click the eye beside an object to hide it (Hide … without deleting it), or click again to show it.
5. Click Close.

Hidden objects stay in the workbook but aren’t drawn. If the sheet has no objects, the pane says so.

Name, describe and format an object

1. Select one object — click it, or click its name in the Selection pane.
2. Open Page Layout › Arrange › Selection pane and click Format…. The button appears when exactly one object is selected; clicking a name in the pane selects that object.
3. In Format picture or Format shape, set the options:

4. Click Apply.

Give every picture and every shape that carries meaning a description. The accessibility checker lists objects without one — see Checking a workbook before you share it.

Objects in saved workbooks

Pictures, shapes and text boxes are saved in the workbook in the format Excel uses, with their position, size, rotation, fill, outline, words and description, and in front-to-back order.