lock shapes to grid by default

  • Thread starter Thread starter #DIV/0
  • Start date Start date
D

#DIV/0

Good morning,
I do a lot of flowcharting and would love to find a way to get Excel to open
with shapes set to lock to the cell grid by default (excuse me if the terms
aren't always correct - I'm translating from the Italian version of
Excel2003).
 
Hi,

First I would display the flowchart shapes toolbar. (Assuming you are using
Excel 2003 or earlier):
1. On the Standard toolbar click Drawing.
2. On the Drawing toolbar open AutoShapes, and open Flowchart, drag the
Flowchart submenu away from the AutoShapes menu by grabbing its title bar,
the gray dotted line at the top of the pop out menu.
3. To get the shapes to lock the the grid on the Drawing toolbar choose
Draw, Snap to, Grid. This will make snap to grid the default.
On a case by case basis you can activate snap to grid by press the Alt key
as you drag a shape around. But once you have set the default to Snap to
Grid, then the Alt key will temporarily turn off snap to grid as you drag.
 
Thanks Shane,
I've already set up a custom toolbar with only the shapes and connectors I
use most often and some macros to change formatting depending on context.
You say that selecting Draw / Snap to / Grid will set that to default but
that's exactly what isn't happening. I close and reopen Excel and I have to
repeat the operation because as default my Excel doesn't snap to anything
(I've put a button directly on the above toolbar so at least it's only one
click instead of three!
I was hoping there was some way to check the setting on opening and if it's
not snapping, change it. But I can't find anything in the VBA help...
 
Hi,

I had been working long hours so I didn't have a chance to get back to this.
But you should attach that macro to the Personal Macro Workbook's
thisWorkbook object as and Open_Workbook macro. That will cause it to set
automatically anytime you open Excel.
 
Hi,

I am a novice in flowcharting.

1) Should I use Excel, or, Powerpoint, or other Microsoft Office program?
I appreciate your comments.

2) On locking shapes to grid, your instruction here still holds true?

Thanks,
 
Hi,

Where to do flowcharting? - Visio has tools for doing advance flowcharting,
but the basic drawing tools for flowcharting are in Word, Excel, and
PowerPoint as well. There are also programs dedicated just to flowcharting
but made by other companies, you could do a Google search. Within Office I
suggest that you work in the program in which you fell most comfortable.

The locking to gridlines feature is available in Word, Excel, PowerPoint and
Visio although they each work in a slightly different fashion. In the first
three open the Drawing toolbar and choose the Draw command and you will see
something related to grids.
 
I've used Visio in the past and it is definitely powerful. But I can't
justify purchase in my new place of work so I guessed I'd use Excel.
I have a template with narrow columns to make a convenient grid, the
"SnapToGrid" macro run-on-opening that this thread was originally concerned
with, and a custom toolbar.
I like this setup because it's very convenient combining with Word - a
flowchart down the right and explanations down the left. A double-click
activates my flowchart and gives me my toolbar and I can still see the whole
Word doc. If I remember correctly, this is something Visio didn't do -
double-clicking a chart embedded in Word would open Visio fully and you work
on your chart seperately.
 

Ask a Question

Want to reply to this thread or ask your own question?

You'll need to choose a username for the site, which only take a couple of moments. After that, you can post your question and our members will help you out.

Ask a Question

Similar Threads

Changing Comment box shape by default 2
send color filled shape behind text 3
Changing defaults to a shape 3
Shape Outline (border) 1
can't change default fonts 7
Powerpoint 2007 Snap to Freeform Shape? 9
Create shape, name shape, add text to shape 2
unexpected file lock by user 1

Back
Top