Excel Beyond Numbers: Unconventional Uses of a Familiar Tool
A seasoned Microsoft Office user turned Excel into an unexpected canvas for creative projects. Tony Phillips, a document producer and data manager, shares his experience of using Excel in innovative ways beyond its traditional purpose.
Phillips experimented with creating pixel art, where he transformed the grid into individual pixels to build a 40-by-40 retro rocket-launch scene. He used the Format Painter feature to quickly apply formatting to larger areas and hid the gridlines for a more authentic look.
In addition to pixel art, Phillips employed Excel as a measuring grid for interior design projects. He set the scale to represent specific units of measurement, such as centimeters or meters, allowing him to visualize and estimate distances in his planned spaces. This feature proved particularly useful when planning his lounge furniture arrangement and garden layout.
Phillips also discovered that Excel can be used to create stop-motion animations by duplicating worksheets with minor changes between each frame. By using the Ctrl+Page Down shortcut, he could quickly cycle through the frames, creating a convincing animation of a dog walking.
Furthermore, Phillips utilized Excel as a tool for designing board game boards. He simply squared up the cells, added borders and colors, and created shapes for pieces, counters, or obstacles. This approach allowed him to experiment with different configurations and test ideas without starting from scratch.