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#1
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1/8 inch grid lines
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 |
#2
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1/8 inch grid lines
Hi Mango,
Maybe, Click on the box at the row and column header intersection to select all rows and columns. Then right click on one of the column headers select column width and set it to 0.8. Then right click on one of the row headers select row height and set it to 8. This should give you a grid of around an 1/8th of an inch when printed on an A4 sheet (11x8) however it is not a very usable size for a spreadsheet. HTH Martin "Mango" wrote in message ... 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 |
#3
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1/8 inch grid lines
Hi Martin,
I don't understand your response unfortunately. Where's the box at the row and column header intersection? To select all rows and columns can't I just hit Ctrl A? What you're suggesting sounds like what I tried already by accessing the Format menu. The values for height and width aren't measured in the same units (points). They're both called points for some reason but they aren't the same. A value of 11.5 for height and 1.29 for width results in a square grid, but not the size I want. "MartinW" wrote: Hi Mango, Maybe, Click on the box at the row and column header intersection to select all rows and columns. Then right click on one of the column headers select column width and set it to 0.8. Then right click on one of the row headers select row height and set it to 8. This should give you a grid of around an 1/8th of an inch when printed on an A4 sheet (11x8) however it is not a very usable size for a spreadsheet. HTH Martin "Mango" wrote in message ... 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 |
#4
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1/8 inch grid lines
Mango
Very difficult to get an exact 1/8th grid natively in Excel. Row heights are measured in points or pixels. There are 72 points to an inch and "maybe" 96 pixels to the inch. The number that appears in the Standard column width box is the average number of digits 0-9 of the standard font that fit in a cell. For an interesting and enlightening discussion on this subject see http://snipurl.com/dzz8 If you want to use VBA to set height and width in mm. Ole Erlandson has code for setting row and column dimensions. http://www.erlandsendata.no/english/...vbawssetrowcol Gord Dibben Excel MVP On Fri, 1 Jun 2007 18:44:00 -0700, Mango wrote: Hi Martin, I don't understand your response unfortunately. Where's the box at the row and column header intersection? To select all rows and columns can't I just hit Ctrl A? What you're suggesting sounds like what I tried already by accessing the Format menu. The values for height and width aren't measured in the same units (points). They're both called points for some reason but they aren't the same. A value of 11.5 for height and 1.29 for width results in a square grid, but not the size I want. "MartinW" wrote: Hi Mango, Maybe, Click on the box at the row and column header intersection to select all rows and columns. Then right click on one of the column headers select column width and set it to 0.8. Then right click on one of the row headers select row height and set it to 8. This should give you a grid of around an 1/8th of an inch when printed on an A4 sheet (11x8) however it is not a very usable size for a spreadsheet. HTH Martin "Mango" wrote in message ... 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 |
#5
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1/8 inch grid lines
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 |
#6
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1/8 inch grid lines
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 |
#7
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1/8 inch grid lines
Mango
First off. I tried Martin's advice and looks very good to me with a tiny adjustment. Row height to 9 and column width to 0.9 looks pretty close to 1/8th inch to my eyes. As far as macros go.............................. I'm assuming you did not go to Ole Erlandson's site where you would find code to set heights and widths in mm. 3.175mm = 1/8th inch I will post the necessary code here below for you and anyone else interested in this subject. Sub SetColumnWidthMM(ColNo As Long, mmWidth As Integer) ' changes the column width to mmWidth Dim w As Single If ColNo < 1 Or ColNo 255 Then Exit Sub Application.ScreenUpdating = False w = Application.CentimetersToPoints(mmWidth / 10) While Columns(ColNo + 1).Left - Columns(ColNo).Left - 0.1 w Columns(ColNo).ColumnWidth = Columns(ColNo).ColumnWidth - 0.1 Wend While Columns(ColNo + 1).Left - Columns(ColNo).Left + 0.1 < w Columns(ColNo).ColumnWidth = Columns(ColNo).ColumnWidth + 0.1 Wend End Sub Sub SetRowHeightMM(RowNo As Long, mmHeight As Integer) ' changes the row height to mmHeight If RowNo < 1 Or RowNo 65536 Then Exit Sub Rows(RowNo).RowHeight = Application.CentimetersToPoints(mmHeight / 10) End Sub This example macro shows how you can set the row heights to 3.175mm and the column widths 3.175mm. Sub ChangeWidthAndHeight() Dim w As Long Dim r As Long For w = 1 To 60 SetColumnWidthMM w, 3.175 Next w For r = 1 To 120 SetRowHeightMM r, 3.175 Next r End Sub If not familiar with VBA and macros, see David McRitchie's site for more on "getting started". http://www.mvps.org/dmcritchie/excel/getstarted.htm In the meantime.......... I don't use 2007 yet but I'll give you the 2003 and earlier instructions. First...create a backup copy of your original workbook. To create a General Module, hit ALT + F11 to open the Visual Basic Editor. Hit CRTL + r to open Project Explorer. Find your workbook/project and select it. Right-click and InsertModule. Paste the three sets of code in there. Save the workbook and hit ALT + Q to return to your workbook. Run the ChangeWidthAndHeight macro by going to ToolMacroMacros. You can also assign this macro to a button or a shortcut key combo. NOTE: the code operates on whatever sheet is selected before running the macro. Gord On Sat, 2 Jun 2007 18:31:00 -0700, 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 |
#8
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1/8 inch grid lines
Hi Mango,
Now that Gord has sorted out your grid size, I really think you are on the wrong track here. You're trying to chop down a tree with a shovel! It can be done, but takes a lot of sweat and a lot of frustration. You should be looking at CAD software. I use Autocad which is by far the best however, at over $5,000, is only for corporate users and consultant designers and the like. There are plenty of free or relatively cheap programs available on the net and I have read some good reports on some of these programs, unfortunately I only read these posts with a passing interest and can't remember the details just now. For advice on the best way to go do a google search for Cad discussion groups. Most of the groups are about Autocad but provided you go to the independent sites the people don't mind discussing other products. Steer away from the Autodesk sites they do frown at the mention of any other product (Autodesk is the Microsoft of the CAD world) Believe me, once you have drawn something in CAD you will never attempt to draw anything more than a line or a box in Excel or Word or the like. Even for fundamental shapes you get a much crisper image by drawing it in CAD and exporting to Excel, Word etc. as CAD is vector based so that a curve is a curve and not a pixellised representation of a curve. HTH Martin |
#9
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1/8 inch grid lines
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 |
#10
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1/8 inch grid lines
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 |
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