Excel 2007 For Dummies
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The Selection and Visibility task pane in Excel 2007 enables you to control whether various graphic objects in the worksheet are hidden or displayed. Hiding objects can make it easier to select other objects that are hidden or partially hidden behind them.

The way you open the Selection and Visibility task pane depends on the type of graphic object you’ve selected in the worksheet:

  • Charts: Click the Selection Pane button in the Arrange group of the Chart Tools Format tab.

  • Text Boxes and Shapes: Click the Selection Pane button in the Arrange group of the Drawing Tools Format tab.

  • Clip Art and Pictures: Click the Selection Pane button in the Arrange group of the Picture Tools Format tab.

  • SmartArt: Click Selection Pane button in the Arrange group of the SmartArt Tools Format tab.

After you open the Selection and Visibility task pane, you can temporarily hide any of the graphic objects listed by clicking its eye check box (to remove the eye icon). To remove the display of all the charts and graphics in the worksheet, click the Hide All button at the bottom of the Selection and Visibility task pane instead.

Use the Selection and Visibility task pane to hide graphic objects in the worksheet.
Use the Selection and Visibility task pane to hide graphic objects in the worksheet.

To redisplay a hidden graphic object, simply click its empty eye check box to put the eye icon back into it. To redisplay all graphic objects after hiding them all, click the Show All button at the bottom of the task pane.

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About the book author:

Greg Harvey has authored tons of computer books, the most recent being Excel Workbook For Dummies and Roxio Easy Media Creator 8 For Dummies, and the most popular being Excel 2003 For Dummies and Excel 2003 All-In-One Desk Reference For Dummies. He started out training business users on how to use IBM personal computers and their attendant computer software in the rough and tumble days of DOS, WordStar, and Lotus 1-2-3 in the mid-80s of the last century. After working for a number of independent training firms, Greg went on to teach semester-long courses in spreadsheet and database management software at Golden Gate University in San Francisco.
His love of teaching has translated into an equal love of writing. For Dummies books are, of course, his all-time favorites to write because they enable him to write to his favorite audience: the beginner. They also enable him to use humor (a key element to success in the training room) and, most delightful of all, to express an opinion or two about the subject matter at hand.
Greg received his doctorate degree in Humanities in Philosophy and Religion with a concentration in Asian Studies and Comparative Religion last May. Everyone is glad that Greg was finally able to get out of school before he retired.

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