Excel in Office 365 is a very versatile application. Excel’s built-in features make it a building block for many projects. While we can’t predict or avoid all disasters, our response to them can make a big difference. Our response to disasters depends heavily on our planning and preparedness. One important disaster preparedness tool is a Floor Plan with evacuation routes and emergency numbers. Microsoft Office 365 Excel can help you prepare your family or even your workplace for any eventuality. Microsoft Office 365 Excel has some features that will allow anyone with even basic skills to create a Floor Plan showing evacuation routes.
Microsoft Office 365 Excel can also be used to create floor plans to organize rooms, seating arrangements, and more. With the built-in calculation feature, you can show the floor plan and make calculations if the plan is for seating arrangements.
How to create a floor plan in Excel
To create a floor plan using Office 365 Excel, follow these steps:
- Memorize or obtain a floor plan
- Make a draft on paper
- Get a mouse instead of a touchpad
- Remember where all the entrance stairs are located
- Switch from paper to Microsoft Office 365 Excel.
Let us show you how you can create a Floor Plan using Excel.
At some point, you may want to create a floor plan, seating arrangement, or room organization. You may have a limited budget, so you can’t get the software to do the job. You may have the skills for layout, so you don’t need to hire a professional. Well, you already have the perfect tools, Microsoft Office 365 Excel, your creativity, skills and time.
Learn by heart or make a site plan.
Make your rounds of the space several times to get a mental picture of the layout. You can walk around with a pencil and paper to sketch the space you want to plan. Write down the important points you need to remember. If it is a floor plan for an emergency route, you can make notes about stairs, elevators, fire extinguishers, etc. D. After sketching, try to follow the plan on paper and see if it fits the space. Do the same with floor plans for emergency routes, seating arrangements, or design/decorating spaces.
Make a draft on paper.
Making a draft on paper is important because it will help you remember. When you go over the design in Excel, you may think you will remember, but you may miss important details. The draft will also give you an idea of whether you’re on the right track when comparing to Excel.
Get a mouse instead of a touchpad.
If you’re using a laptop, it’s better to use a wired or wireless mouse instead of a touchpad. An external mouse will be more comfortable and more accurate. You can buy an inexpensive and simple mouse or choose a fancy one. Whatever you choose, an external mouse will make designing in Excel more convenient and accurate.
Switch from paper to Microsoft Office 365 Excel
Now let’s move on to the most interesting part of implementing the design in Microsoft Office 365 Excel. Excel consists of grids. These grids help make it more accurate when you’re trying to align things perfectly. These grids can be hard to get around when you need to create curves in your design, but a little creativity, imagination and some Excel features will help.
If your design has elements on all sides, it’s best to place it in the middle of an Excel sheet. Make sure the beginning is correct or it will affect the rest of the design. Corrections can be very time consuming. Choose an area and start with the general shape of the design or space you want to design.
You will use thick frames to show walls or basic boundaries. Thinner frames can be used to show interior walls and partitions, and dashed lines can be used to show doorways. Other features can be represented as you choose. Be sure to indicate the key so people will understand.
Shapes are extremely useful when there is a need for features that cannot be created with grids. Shapes such as lines, arcs, squares, etc. etc. Shapes can be used to represent objects such as tables, as well as to represent curvilinear sections of the plan and passageways.
A finished floor plan with all parts in place using various Microsoft Excel features. The grid lines will still be displayed in Microsoft Excel. The default grid lines are not printed, you will need to set them. The print segment will show you how to print the grid lines.
The finished floor plan, seating plan, or any plan should be clear and accurate. Anyone reading the floor plan should be able to see what needs to be done. Microsoft Office 365 Excel makes a floor plan clear and easy to read.
Printing a floor plan in Excel
The first step to take before printing is to see how many sheets the floor plan is on. Create a printable area to avoid wasting paper. The printable area is the section with the floor plan and information.
To set a printable area, select the areas you want to include, go to Page Layout, click Printable Area, then click Set Printable Area. If you decide to change or delete a printable area, just go to the Page Layout, click Printable Area, and then click Clear Printable Area.
You can change the paper size to have a larger plan on a single sheet. The margins can also be changed to make the floor plan fit on one sheet. You can leave the grid lines on the final printout or make it simple, using only the floor plan lines. To print the grid lines, go to Page Layout then go to Grid Line and select Print.
Microsoft Office 365 Excel, like other Microsoft Office applications, is very versatile. They can do much more than meets the eye. Excel makes it very easy to create Floor Plans and any other plans. Microsoft Office 365 Excel is an application to consider for easy and economical plan design. It requires little or no technical skill, and anyone familiar with Microsoft Office 365 and Excel can use it to create a floor plan.
