[sav9]

I am trying to display data in individual boxes on screen so that I can view it and move it about in front of co workers. I need to be able to display individual boxes of information (of which we currently display on post it notes) on a program where I can play around with them.
I already have an excel graph which has all the data for each separate item which needs to be on each virtual post it note/ information box..
For example... each post it note will have simple titles such as:
1) Name
2) Price
3) Bar Code
I need to have the same titles on each post it note, however the values will obviously be different per product. I have up to 200+ different products to get through in any one section so manually inputting this would take far too much time.
My first thoughts are to use photoshop to create these boxes and turn them into JPEGs which can then be inserted into one photoshop document and moved around... however I don’t know how to move multiple columns of data from excel to photoshop?
Can anyone tell me if I am on the right lights or guide me towards a better way of doing this? Will be very grateful for any help!
Many Thanks!
Graham

[Zack Barresse]

Hi there Graham, welcome to the board!

I think you need to first think about the "why". For what purpose is this for? Using pictures will give you a non-editable static object. If you don't want to edit it, then they move around with the click/drag of a mouse. Simple.

The other question I would ask is, are you using the right program. Do you have OneNote? Have you ever used it? Sounds like it'd be much easier in that program. Also, are you going to need to print this? If not, and you just need real estate, almost any program would do. Heck, even Paint would work, as you can do Text Boxes in there as well as (almost) all Office programs.

So if you're still wanting to use Excel, it can be done by using Text Boxes. You have two options (not sure of which version you're using here). One is an ActiveX control (Controls toolbox), the other is a Forms control (Forms toolbar). Both have different properties, some are forwards compatible, etc. For instance, ActiveX controls do not work on a Macintosh machine. But ActiveX controls you can format them to look "prettier" with a higher degree of customization (especially formatting).

Not sure if this answers your question or not. And yes, you could do the same thing in Word or PowerPoint for instance. Excel would be just as well, but as opposed to Word, you have more real estate to do what you want, and are not limited to vertical pages (i.e. you can move about freely, even if on multiple pages, hence the printer question). What I would suggest is that if you have OneNote, you check it out, otherwise perhaps a Text Box will work for you.

Let us know if this helps.

[slurpee55]

Just to add to what Zack said, I know nothing about OneNote, but I suspect you may be thinking of doing this in Excel because you have your data and graphs built there.

However, you can import graphs or spreadsheets into Word as objects and display them there, which would give you greater flexibility also.

(You can also do this in OneNote and other MS products. Actually, I watched a video on OneNote and it looks quite neat!)

[Zack Barresse]

OneNote is very cool.

I spoke with the OP via email. It sounds like this can be done in Excel, and while OneNote could do this, doesn't sound like they have it. I've recommended to Graham that he keep the communications to the board, as so he can benefit from everyone's viewpoint (plus my ultimate lack of time).