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10.5: Put a Numbers chart on the Dashboard Apps
I built a Numbers document to track my finances. One thing I added was a chart that allows me to see the balance in every account over time, plus my total worth.

Wouldn't that be great to have that chart at my fingertips? Why, it'd be awesome to have that as a Dashboard widget. Numbers doesn't support this, and it has no AppleScript dictionary. Taking a screenshot won't do so great either, since I'd have to take it every time I updated the numbers.

So here's what you do:
  1. Put your chart(s) on their own sheet.
  2. Save the workbook with that sheet active.
  3. Find the Numbers file using the Finder, control-click on it, and choose Show Package Contents from the pop-up menu.
  4. There will be a folder called QuickLook (see note). Inside that folder, there will be a jpg image file.
  5. Open that image file in Safari, and use the built-in web-clip features to turn it into a widget.
Note: While the folder is named QuickLook, it doesn't appear to be used for QuickLook; instead, it becomes the icon for the bundle. This means this hint should also work on Tiger.

[robg adds: Note that web clip is a 10.5-only feature. On 10.4, you'll have to find some other way to display the image. I imagine that, amongst the 3,421 Dashboard widgets listed on Apple's site, there's probably one that can display an image file. Alternatively, you could use GeekTool to display the image, but it would then be on your screen all the time.]
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10.5: Put a Numbers chart on the Dashboard | 5 comments | Create New Account
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10.5: Put a Numbers chart on the Dashboard
Authored by: t3knomanser on Feb 08, '08 08:19:21AM

It's also worth noting that after changing the spreadsheet, you must make sure the sheet with your chart is in front when you save.



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10.5: Put a Numbers chart on the Dashboard
Authored by: mcmikemn on Feb 08, '08 11:00:16AM

This was some good thinking!

I wanted to do this with a 1-page spreadsheet I use (not a chart) and it technically worked, but the .jpg image did not include all the cells. It seems to capture only the first 7 columns (out of 15 - it captured all of my chart's 25 rows).

I realized it was related to print preview. I changed my page layout to landscape and the .jpg showed more columns (i.e. wider capture area).

Still some columns were missing, so I adjusted the Content Scale (viewable in the "Show Print View" mode) to a smaller value so the entire chart would fit and resaved the document. This, unfortunately, did not affect the .jpg - it apparently ignores the "Content Scale" adjustment.

I could, of course, shrink my actual data (font and cell size) but then it would be annoying to view from within Numbers. Oh well. Good tip to know for other purposes.



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10.5: Put a Numbers chart on the Dashboard
Authored by: Stephen Macklin on Feb 08, '08 11:10:02AM

As a simpler alternative for Leopard only, put an alias of the Numbers file in a convenient location. Accessing Quicklook on the alias will display the original document.



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10.5: Put a Numbers chart on the Dashboard
Authored by: Stephen Macklin on Feb 08, '08 11:32:12AM

Quicklook will also let you switch between different sheets so there is no need to be worried about which sheet is showing when you save.



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10.5: Put a Numbers chart on the Dashboard
Authored by: t3knomanser on Feb 08, '08 02:59:52PM

This is true. I know for myself, there's no real convenient location. The Dashboard is nice because I pop in there at least once a day to check the weather as least. Maybe use the calculator, or the dictionary.

To my mind, this is what the dashboard is for, and it's madness that Numbers doesn't support this.



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