Publishing
Before sending spreadsheets outside your organization, "sanitize" them with Macabacus. Apply the sanitization tools described below to protect proprietary or personal information, check workbook integrity, and tidy up formatting/appearance. These tools can be accessed from the Macabacus > Prepare to Share menu. Use the Prepare to Share dialog to perform several of these operations at once, on either a copy of the active workbook (recommended), or the original workbook. Macabacus will remember your last used Prepare to Share settings.
Replace formulas with values
Use this option if you want to share data, but not the underlying methodology used to arrive at the numbers.
Recolor cell fonts
While proper font coloring is important to understanding how a model works, it looks cleaner to use black fonts when such understanding is not critical to the recipient. You should select this option if you are replacing formulas with values.
Remove cell comments
While cell comments can provide clarity to assumptions and methodologies used in a model, they may contain sensitive information or exchanges between colleagues that are not suitable for external distribution.
Remove defined names
This tool replaces all defined names in formulas with their appropriate cell references, then deletes the name from the workbook.
Hidden worksheets may contain sensitive information or works-in-progress not suitable for external distribution. Be sure that removing hidden worksheets does not result in #REF! errors in your model.
Hide hidden worksheets so that they cannot be unhidden other than programmatically. This does not prevent viewing hidden worksheets, but does make it more difficult to view them. When performing this operation from the Prepare to Share dialog and "Remove hidden worksheets" is checked, hidden worksheets will be deleted, rather than buried.
Hidden rows and columns may contain sensitive information or works-in-progress not suitable for external distribution. Be sure that removing hidden rows and columns does not result in #REF! errors in your model.
Remove charts
Removes all charts from the workbook.
Remove watches
Removes all watches from the workbook.
Check for formula errors
Checks the entire workbook for formula errors, such as #REF!, #VALUE!, and #DIV/0! It is generally recommended that you check this option when preparing a workbook for distribution. This check is performed after removing hidden workbooks and hidden rows/columns to catch any errors resulting from these removals.
Reset all print areas
Remove all print area settings.
Hide gridlines
Hides gridlines on each worksheet in the workbook.
Zoom to 100%
Zoom all worksheets in the workbook to 100%.
Return all sheets to cell A1
Returns the cursor and scroll to cell A1 on each worksheet in the workbook.
Clean cells
Extra spaces sometimes appear in imported data and can prevent you from sorting or otherwise processing data. They can also result in unsightly data/text misalignment that requires correction before publishing. This tool trims leading, trailing, and excess (e.g., double) spaces from cells. Note that only cells containing values, not formulas, will be trimmed.
Additionally, this tool removes worksheet names from formulas where not required. For example, a formula on Sheet1 that reads =Sheet1!B3 will be changed to =B3, since the self-referenced sheet name in the formula is unnecessary.
Break hyperlinks
Break all hyperlinks in the workbook.
Attach workbook to email when done
Select this option to have Macabacus attach the workbook modified using Prepare to Share tools to a new Outlook email. Outlook must be open in order to use this feature. If you choose to modify a copy of the active workbook, rather than the active workbook itself, and select this email option, Macabacus will close and discard the duplicate workbook (although it will remain attached to the new email).
Creating a PDF
Use Macabacus to generate PDFs of print areas in your workbooks. Macabacus' PDF functionality offers a few advantages over Excel's native PDF functionality:
- Macabacus does not include anything outside of your print areas, since you presumably set print areas to include exactly what you want to print/publish;
- Macabacus can optionally recolor fonts to your default font color (typically black) for more professional outputs;
- Macabacus can optionally scan for formula errors before generating the PDF to avoid embarrassing mistakes.
Send Workbook Click the |
PDF to Folder Click the |
This documentation refers to the latest Macabacus version. Some features and descriptions of these features may not apply to older versions of Macabacus. Update your Macabacus software to take advantage of the latest features.