Into August

I was having a meeting this past Thursday, and we needed to get some papers signed. The person I was meeting with signed a form, then added the date. She paused and exclaimed, "I can't believe July is over already!"

It's a sentiment with which I can identify. It is hard to believe that summer is almost through. It will be just a few short weeks and kids will be back to school in our area. I have no idea where the summer has gone, let alone the entire year.

Regardless of how fast time seems to fly for you, I hope that you have a chance to check out the tips in this newsletter and see if they can make your life with Excel just a bit easier.

My best to you.

—Allen
     

ExcelTips (ribbon) for 2 August 2025
Graphics
Deleting All Pictures

Do you have a workbook in which you want to delete all pictures? If so, you'll find the techniques described in this tip to be very helpful.

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(Thanks to Brian Dorey, Michael Avidan (MVP), Chris van Zyl, Ryszard Raciborski, Dave Newcomer, Phil Vaughan, Alex Blakenburg, Tom Reeves, James Woolley, Steve Aprahamian, Ian Davis, Alan Cannon, William Field, Andrew May, Yvan Loranger, and Neil Woller for contributing to this tip.)

 
Macros extend Excel
Tools on Developer Tab are Unavailable

Want to add some macros to your workbook? What do you do if you try to add the macros but the program has disabled the tools?

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Formatting Made Powerful

Discover one of the foundational building blocks of Excel. Custom formats are the basis for all cell-level formatting in Excel, and you can master their use. Display your data exactly and precisely as you want.

 
Formulas
Deriving a Secant and Cosecant

Two rather common trigonometric functions are secants and cosecants. This tip provides information on how to derive either of these values, regardless of your Excel version.

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Macros extend Excel
Replacing Commas with Periods

Want to replace all commas in a formatted number with periods, and vice-versa? There are a couple of approaches you can use, as detailed in this tip.

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Help Wanted

This section is for those having problems making Excel behave. If Excel is giving you fits, feel free to submit your own Help Wanted question.

If you have a solution for the problems below, click the link after the problem to send us your answer. (All responses become the sole property of Sharon Parq Associates, Inc., and can be used in any way deemed appropriate.) If your response is used in a future issue, you will be credited for your contribution to the answer.

 
Specifying Chart Sizes in Inches

When I create charts, most all of them are embedded in a worksheet. Excel sizes the charts based on the data in the chart, which means they are often different sizes. I need to click and drag the sizing handles to adjust the chart sizes, which is tedious. Is there a way I can specify a size for the embedded charts in inches? This would make my work much easier.
—Tonya Robertson (provide an answer for this Help Wanted question)

 
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