Numbers is a spreadsheet application in iWork. If you are familiar with Excel or other spreadsheet applications, you will be able to open a Numbers document and start working in it without any difficulty. Even if you aren't comfortable with spreadsheets, it's likely that you have already used tables in word processing applications, such as Pages. Numbers isn't that different from navigating tables.

Once you have started using Numbers, you will see that the application is not only easy to use, but is also handy—and fun—for many practical tasks that have little or nothing to do with calculations.

Recipes in this chapter are primarily for occasional users of spreadsheets. But experienced users will also find the techniques described here useful, especially the recipes for how to use photos and graphics in Numbers documents.