Converting Excel files to Word

ThereareseveralmethodstocopyoneofThePublicPracticesreportsPortraits,
ProfilesorAnalystsothisguidefrommyexperiencemyaidyou.
Thegenerallyeasiestmethodsfortext,tablesandchartsareshaded.

a.

Method1Copyandpaste

YoucanmakeanysectionofaPortraitorAnalyst,press[CtrlC]tocopy,gotoyour
worddocumentandpress[CtrlV]topaste.TheExcelpagewillbecopiedasatable,
withthechartsfloatingintheirapproximateplaces.
However,thetablecolumnwidthswillnotbethesameasinExcel,sothelayoutwill
bemessy.Youcanadjustcolumnsbymakingthegridlinesvisible([Table]>[Show
gridlines]),andclickdraggingthecolumnborders,butitcangetmessyforlarge
sections.
Ifthesectionyoucopyisbiggerthanapage,thetablepastedwillflowoverontothe
nextpage.
Usefulfor:
Copyingafewparagraphsoftext.ThetextwillappearinWordinatablewith
thesamenumberofcellsyoucopied.Selectthistable(clickdragacrossit)then
converttotextusingthemenu[Table]>[Convert].Eachcellwillbeconvertedto
aparagraph.
A distinctive feature of indigenous communities is that people tend to
have shorter average life spans.
In Shellharbour, the proportion of indigenous people aged 65 or more is
onequarter that of the local nonindigenous people.

Copyingatable.Thetablewillretainitsfontsandborders,butnotshading.You
mayneedtoadjustthecolumnwidths(pointtotheedgeofcolumnuntilthe
cursorchanges,thenclickdragtheedge).Thecopiedtablewillhaveafixed
widthsochangingonecolumnwillaffectothers.Youcancancelthisfromthe
menu[Tables]>[Properties]>[Table]andunselectingthe[Preferredwidth]
box.
Shellharbour

Average size of
households

NSW

Indigenous

notIndig.

Relativesize

Indigenous

notIndig.

Relativesize

3.28

2.86

15%larger

3.22

2.65

21%larger

Copyingachart.Youcanselectthecellscontaining
thechartyouwant,andcopyandpasteintoWord.The
chartwillappearasapictureinatable.Selectthecells
ofthetableandconverttotexttohavejustthechart
graphicleft.Clickdragonacornerorsidetomoveor
reshape.
Thechartwillfloatoverthepageandcanevenbeput
overtext.Youcanadjustthisbyrightclickingonthe
edgeofthechartobject,selecting[FormatPicture],

thenchangingtheLayoutsothetextissquare.
IfyouselectthechartitselfandnotthecellsinExcelthatthechartisin(todo
this,pointandclickonthechartsothattheeightblackcorner/edgemarkers
appear,then[Ctrl]C),itwillbepastedasanExceldocumentlinkedtoyourExcel
spreadsheet.Ifyoudoubleclickit,youcanopenitasawindowintoExcel,and
changescanbemadetotheunderlyingExcelspreadsheet.Youwillbeableto
resizethechartanditwillprintasitappears.However,yourWordfilemay
becomemuchlargerbecauseoftheExcellinks.

b.

Method2CopyandPasteSpecialasUnformattedtext
YoucanselectanycellsofExcelwithtext,[Ctrl]Ctocopy,theninWorduse
[Edit]>[PasteSpecial]andselect[Unformattedtext].Thiswilldepositjustthe
wordsinyourdocument,anewparagraphforeachcell.Notetheremaybesome
tabsattheendoftheparagraph,whichyoumayneedtodeletegototheend
andbackspaceifneeded.
Copypastingtablesasunformattedtextwillplaceeachrowinaparagraphwith
textfromeachcolumnseparatedbytabs.Youmayneedtoadjustthetab
settingssothecolumnsallalignandfitonyourpage.Thismethodisusefulifyou
wanttoturnatableintoasetoftabbedcolumnsordotpoints.
Chartsdonotcopythisway.

c.

Method3CopyandPasteSpecialasaPicture(enhanced
Metafile)

YoucanselectanypartofExcelwithtext,tablesandcharts,[Ctrl]Ctocopy,thenin
Worduse[Edit]>[PasteSpecial]andselect[Picture(enhancedMetafile].Thiswill
pastetheExcelmaterialasapicture.
Youwillbeabletoresizethepicturetosuityourpage,butyouwillnotbeabletoget
toanybitsofit(egadjustachartorfont).
Thepicturewillfloatoverthepageandcaneven
Sizesofthemainagegroups
beputovertext.Youcanadjustthisbyright
clickingonthecornerofthepictureobject,
selecting[FormatPicture],thenchangingthe
Layoutsothetextissquare.Youcanalsoputa
borderaroundthepicturefromthismenu.
Ifyoucopyasectionlargerthanapage,onlya
pageworthwillbevisiblebecausethepicture
cannotbebiggerthanthepage.
ThisistheeasiestwaytocopyachartintoWordselectthechart,copy,andpastas
picture.
Workingage adults can be broadly divided
into two groups the babyboomers, born
postWar and aged 4054 in 2001 and
Generation X, aged 2539 in 2001. In
Shellharbour's indigenous community, there
were about 170 babyboomers, oneeighth
their population, and 37 in Generation X,
onefortieth of the population.
The proportion in Generation X (18%) was
less than the proportion of nonindigenous
people of this age (22%). However, the
proportion of babyboomers (13%) was
much less than the proportion amongst
nonindigenous people (21%).

d.

M ainagegroupsintheindigenous
community

Genera tionX
18%

youngadults
12%

highschool
16%

primary
school
21%

Method4CopyandPasteSpecialasHTMLformat

YoucanselectanypartofExcelwithtext,tablesandcharts,[Ctrl]Ctocopy,thenin
Worduse[Edit]>[PasteSpecial]andselectHTML.Thiswillpastetheselectedarea
asatable,withanychartsfloatingaspictures.
Youcanadjustthetablecolumnstofitbetter,andmovethechart,asdescribed
above.Ifyoujustselectacharttocopy,itwillbepastedasapicture.

baby
boomers
13%
matureadults
olderpersons
3%
2%
preschool
15%

In 2001, Shellharbour had some 385 households which

included indigenous people. The average usual
household size was 3.3 people. This was oneseventh
larger than nonindigenous households, which
averaged 2.9 people.
The most common sizes of Shellharbour's indigenous
households were 2 persons (onequarter of households)
and 4 persons (onequarter). For nonindigenous
households, the most common sizes were 2 persons
(threetenths of households) and 4 persons (onefifth).

e.

Method5CopyandPasteSpecialasanExcelobject

YoucanselectanypartofExcelwithtext,tablesandcharts,[Ctrl]Ctocopy,thenin
Worduse[Edit]>[PasteSpecial]andselectExcelObject.Thiswillpasteawindow
intoExcelinyourWorddocument,linkedtotheunderlyingExcelworksheet.Ifyou
doubleclickonit,itopensuptheExcelspreadsheet.
Youcanalsopasteacopiedchartusingthisoption,pastingitasanExcelChart
object.DoubleclickingonthiswillallowyoutoeditthechartusingExceltools.

f.

Method6CopyandPasteSpecialasFormattedText(RTF)

YoucanselectanypartofExcelwithtext,tablesandcharts,[Ctrl]Ctocopy,thenin
Worduse[Edit]>[PasteSpecial]andselectFormattedText(RTF).Thiswillcopy
textandtablesfromanypartoftheExcelspreadsheet,andpasteitasaformatted
table.Youcanconverttotext,oradjustappearance,asdiscussedabove.Charts
dontcopy.
Usefulforcopyingtoemails.

g.

Method7SelectanddragontoWord

IfyouhaveExcelandWordopenbesideeachother,youcanjustselectanareaof
theExcelspreadsheet,clickdragitacrosstoWord,anddropitwhereyouwantit.It
willappearasanExcelobjectlinkedtothespreadsheet.Doubleclickingonitwill
openthespreadsheetinthewindow.Rightclickingonacornerwillallowyoutoalter
layoutandborders.
NotethatthisremovesthecellsfromExcel,soafteryouhavedroppedtheobject,
returntoExcelandundoitwith[CtrlZ],sothematerialreappears(whilestayingin
theWorddocument).
NotethiscopiestheExcelfileintoyourWorddocumentsoitwillgrowbyabout
1.6Mb.

h.

Conclusion

Itiseasiesttocopyinsmallchunksasetoftextparagraphs,atable,orachart.
Copyandpastetext,tablesandchartsseparately.
Pastespecialtextasunformattedtext,orpastasatableandconverttotext
Pastetablesandadjustcolumn/rowsizes
Pastespecialchartsaspictures,thenaltertheirlayouttobesquarewiththetext.