I had a client ask how to set the zoom for new and existing documents to something larger than 100% in Excel 2008 because he finds it too difficult to read at the default size. While my vision may be a tad better, I still find the Mac version of Excel to be on the small side. Sure, the preferences allow for the setting of a default font and size for new documents, but this will alter printouts and returns us to our problem. The "simple" answer I came up with is an AppleScript "assistant" for zooming that runs in the background and quits when it senses Excel is not running.
You can also drop files on it as a replacement for the Excel icon in your Dock! You can either download the script [24KB], or read the rest of this hint to view the source.
[robg adds: I've also provided an alternative solution that's not nearly as elegant, but which works for me, in the remainder of the hint.]
Here's the code...
[robg adds: I searched the net for a simpler way to make all documents appear at a higher zoom level, but didn't find an easy answer. You can modify the Normal template, I believe, to force new documents to appear at your chosen zoom level, but that won't affect existing documents. You can, of course, use the mouse to zoom the sheet -- Control-Command and scroll wheel in 10.5 will increase or decrease the zoom level. The control isn't all that precise, though, and you have to scroll very slowly to find the exact zoom level you want. As an alternative, you can create keyboard shortcuts for zoom in and zoom out, which is what I've done.Mac OS X Hints
http://hints.macworld.com/article.php?story=20080530061550929