Text Edit - Please Help

[Merkava_4]

Hi People,

Last night I was trying to make an inventory list of the lumber I have in my yard. I was using Text Edit to make the list and I was trying to make three separate columns. The most difficult aspect is trying to control the columns separately without affecting the other columns. Well, that proved to be next to impossible. I finally created my inventory list, but it took me two hours! I know you people are a lot more technically savvy than I am, so if you have any ideas on how I could do something like this quicker, please speak up.

PS. I have Word 2008 loaded on here in case you people might suggest using that instead.

 

[simsaladimbamba]

Ever tried TABLES?

 

[GGJstudios]

Hi People,

Last night I was trying to make an inventory list of the lumber I have in my yard. I was using Text Edit to make the list and I was trying to make three separate columns. The most difficult aspect is trying to control the columns separately without affecting the other columns. Well, that proved to be next to impossible. I finally created my inventory list, but it took me two hours! I know you people are a lot more technically savvy than I am, so if you have any ideas on how I could do something like this quicker, please speak up.

PS. I have Word 2008 loaded on here in case you people might suggest using that instead.

Word would be a much better tool for advanced formatting applications like this, since it easily accommodates inserting a table with as many columns and rows as you need.

 

[Gregg2]

Or you could use a spreadsheet program. I think that's what I would use. The structure of rows and columns is already set up for you, and there's more flexibility using a spreadsheet than a word processor.

You have Word. Do you have Excel also? If not, do you have Apple's spreadsheet application, Numbers?

 

[Merkava_4]

I did it!! With your help I was able to go into Word 2008 and use the tables to create my new inventory list. You guys are brilliant!! Thank You!!

 

[ApfelKuchen]

Yep, Excel, Word, Numbers, Pages, OpenOffice… what can't do tables? The question was, "Can this be done with the basic app built into the OS, and if not…" The answer is, yes.

Too often we don't know the native capabilities of our OSes, and simply assume we need an app to do that. It's nice to be reminded that there are a whole lot of useful tools available, right out of the box.