Thank you Martin, Gord, and Bill for your salient advice.

"Bill Sharpe" wrote:

Mango wrote:
Gord and Bill,
Thank you for your responses. I did read another thread on this subject, not
sure if it's the one you're alluding to Gord, and there was a site I found
where someone had written some code for a macro that I believe made a 1/4
inch grid. The problem was I didn't understand the instructions to be able to
use it. I have never made a macro before. Bill, Are those programs you
suggested or just other macros? Or are macros little programs themselves? I
don't know, it seems to be getting a little too complicated. I guess I'll
just use the graph paper grid I can download and make my drawings on that.
The fact that it's square means it will still be to scale, I just won't be
able to lay a ruler on the plan to measure off any intermediate distances.
I'm just making little plan drawings of simple remodeling projects for
clients (without the gridlines printing out). I guess Excel's not really
meant for drawing on a symmetrical grid.I should probably invest in some
architectural software.

"Bill Sharpe" wrote:


Mango wrote:

Hi,
I'm using Office 2003. I want to make a few templates for project layouts,
including 1/8 and 1/4 inch grid lines (that don't print). Reading similar
posts I found a macro that I think makes the grid into perfect 1/4 inch
squares. The problem is I don't really know what a macro is, or how to cut
and paste it into a module (what's a module?). I downloaded a graph paper
template. It was a symmetrical grid, but not a usable size. So I tried to
hone in on 1/8 inch by just reducing the values in the column/row boxes by
the same percentage. That didn't work because the values would snap to the
nearest allowable value (no fine tune adjustments). So is there a way to make
those point values in the width/height boxes not snap to stepped values?
(i.e. use pixels instead of point values). Do I really have to figure out how
to install a macro? If so, can I make the macro conform the grid to diiferent
sizes? I know Excel is not designed to be a layout program, but jeez, a
simple symmetrical grid pattern built in as a choice on the tool options menu
is too much to ask?
-Mango

I'm not sure you want to take such a drastic step to solve the problem,
but Quattro Pro and OpenOffice.Org Calc let you specify row height and
column width in inches, if desired. The latter is free.

Bill

Quattro Pro is the spreadsheet program in Corel's WordPerfect suite and
is available for purchase. It's cheaper than MS Office.

OpenOffice.Org Calc is the spreadsheet program in this open source suite
of programs. It's free, but it's a 100 mb download and the full
installation takes 285 mb in its program files folder. The suite also
includes a word processor, a drawing program, a database program, a
presentation program, and a math editor.

As I said, it's a drastic step to switch your spreadsheet program like
this, but it's quite easy to set up any height and width desired for a cell.

You might also consider setting up a table in Word. You can specify
column width and row height in inches in Table Properties.

Bill