This Isn't Excel, It's Magic!: Tips and Tricks for Getting the Most Out of Microsoft Excel [Illustrated] [Paperback]

Bob Umlas (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0970827652 | ISBN-13: 978-0970827654 | Publication Date: September 30, 2005 | Edition: illustrated edition

Professionals around the world who use Microsoft® Excel know the value of the widely-used spreadsheet program. However, they may not know the amazing shortcuts and "magic" contained in the 85 tips and tricks discovered by Excel guru and author Bob Umlas, now published in THIS ISN'T EXCEL, IT'S MAGIC!. THIS ISN'T EXCEL, IT'S MAGIC! is a handy and portable book, full of easy-to-understand graphics and chock full of tips and antics of how to get the most out of Excel. THIS ISN'T EXCEL, IT'S MAGIC! is not for the beginning Excel user but is aimed at those experienced with the software, which use its detailed capabilities on a routine basis. Excel users will find THIS ISN'T EXCEL, IT'S MAGIC! to be helpful and informative with every page they turn. The enjoyment, excitement and education they will receive throughout the 144 pages will bring them back to their Excel software over and over again to test the tips and tricks.

Product Details

• Paperback: 150 pages
• Publisher: Intl Inst for Learning; illustrated edition edition (September 30, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0970827652
• ISBN-13: 978-0970827654
• Product Dimensions: 8.9 x 5.8 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 8 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (8 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,683,617 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

15 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A simple, but amazingly useful book. - Very Clever! :), December 27, 2005

By 

Darryl Collins "darklydrawl" (Melbourne - Australia) - See all my reviews

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This review is from: This Isn't Excel, It's Magic!: Tips and Tricks for Getting the Most Out of Microsoft Excel (Paperback)

Bob Umlas is a regular and valued contributor to numerous Excel user groups and mailing lists. Whilst I have never met him personally he has always been generous with his time and knowledge, and infinite with his patience. He is also one of the smartest guys you will meet and understands Excel and spreadsheets inside out.

This is only a little book (142 pages), but that certainly is not a criticism. Rather than filling many pages with fluff, Bob has produced a compact, but brilliantly useful book of shortcuts, formula secrets and tricks.

Amazingly there is no Visual Basic (macro) coding in this book. It is all done using Excel's built in features and formulae capabilities.

One thing I loved about this book is it tackles `real world' problems. Bob clearly understands the frustrating types of issues that the average excel user has to tackle on a day to day basis. The sort of annoying and time consuming problems the IT training department gloss over at the corporate Excel training classes.

Some of the tips are simple one liners - but that doesn't make them any less useful. Indeed I was constantly surprised at how often I was going "oh that is sooo cool" or "Hey, I didn't know you could do that!" and I have been designing and developing custom built spreadsheets for large corporations for over 15 years.

Is this book for you? Well that depends. This is not a book for Excel beginners or if you want to learn to write macros in Visual Basic. If you are the type of person who likes to have big chunky books on the shelf to look important and impress people, then this brilliant, pithy and simple book is also not for you.

However, if you use Excel professionally or fun then you absolutely should consider grabbing a copy of this highly useful and informative book. It will save you many hours of work and delight you at the same time. - Excellent stuff

Highly Recommended.

10 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Amazing Tricks for Excel, November 30, 2005

By 

Bill Jelen "MrExcel.com" (Akron, Ohio USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: This Isn't Excel, It's Magic!: Tips and Tricks for Getting the Most Out of Microsoft Excel (Paperback)

Bob Umlas is an amazing guy. He has been an Excel MVP since the program began. He has a reputation among the MVPs as being the guy who can find amazing things in Excel.

This book contains 85 tips about Excel. I was amazed as I went through the book that I had never heard of at least 50 of these tips! They are cool things that you can do with Excel. Even if you are the Excel guru in your office, you will find new tips in this book. At 142 pages, it is packed with cool stuff.

4 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars An absolute must have for Excel users of all levels. True magic!, February 19, 2006

By 

Alesa Ward "Southern Girl" (Pearl, Ms USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: This Isn't Excel, It's Magic!: Tips and Tricks for Getting the Most Out of Microsoft Excel (Paperback)

This isn't Excel, It's Magic! is a fantastic book. I thought I knew a lot about Excel; but I now realize how little I did know. It is hard to pick a favorite because there are so many great head spinning, jaw dropping tips & tricks.

The book is well written with easy to follow examples. It makes unlocking the power of Excel an amazing experience. 85 great topics ranging from using advance filters to using vba bookmarks. A must have for beginning and expert users everywhere.

Thanks for a great time saving book, Mr. Umlas. You are a true magician!!