Typography, whitespace, print/screen sizing

1. One font, three or four sizes

Use one clean font (Calibri, Aptos, Segoe UI, Arial). Create hierarchy with size and weight, not different fonts:

Avoid all-caps paragraphs, italics for numbers, and underline (looks like a link).

2. Numbers that read fast

• Round: ₹29.50 cr, not ₹29,49,96,410 on a KPI card (exact values go in tables).
• Consistent units per dashboard (all lakh or all crore), stated in the subtitle.
• Right-align numbers in tables; same decimals in a column.
• Percent with 0–1 decimal: 96.6%, not 96.5618%.
• Indian grouping (12,34,567) needs the Indian locale or the [>=10000000]##\,##\,##\,##0;[>=100000]##\,##\,##0;##,##0 custom format — test it on your Excel before using it widely.

3. Whitespace is a design tool

Empty cells between groups tell the eye "new section" more cleanly than borders. Leave:

• a 1–2 column margin around the dashboard,
• equal gaps between cards and charts,
• padding inside cards (don't let numbers touch the edge).

If it feels crowded, remove something rather than shrink fonts.

4. Screen sizing

• Design at 100% zoom on the most common screen of your viewers (often 1366 × 768 or 1920 × 1080).
• Collapse the ribbon (Ctrl + F1), hide gridlines/headings, and check what's visible.
• For a shared file, set the zoom and scroll position, then save — Excel remembers them per sheet.
• Freeze the title rows if the dashboard is taller than the screen.

5. Print sizing (A4 / PDF)

Page Layout tab:

1. Print Area = the dashboard range.
2. Orientation: Landscape.
3. Scale to fit: Width 1 page, Height 1 page.
4. Margins: Narrow; Center on page horizontally.
5. Header/footer: dashboard name, period, page and print date.
6. Preview (Ctrl + P). Slicer buttons and form controls print as pictures — clear filters first or show selections in the subtitle.

Export a PDF for people who only need to look: File → Export → Create PDF.

Common mistakes

Five fonts and ten sizes. Full-precision numbers on cards. No margins. A dashboard that prints on three pages.