MS Excel

4 Cool Uses Of Microsoft Office You Probably Didn’t Know About

When you think of Microsoft Office, you probably think of office documents, presentations and spreadsheets. However, you can have a bit of fun with the suite just by knowing how to use the applications and features to their fullest extent.

A few power users out there manipulated their way through the MS Office programs to come up with some extremely creative  content.  Take a look at the following creative, jaw-dropping examples.

Create Art In Microsoft Excel 

Excel Spreadsheet Artwork

You may have heard of this guy on the internet before. Japanese artist, Tatsuo Horiuchi, has been producing art using only Microsoft Excel. It may sound crazy to use MS Excel for generating images let alone creating artwork. But this artist has proven, hands down, that it can be done.

Use Microsoft Word As An Advanced Image Editor

MS Word Graphics Editing

If you think Microsoft Word can only be used for generating documents, you’ll be shocked to see it in action as an advanced graphics editor. This amazing time-lapse video was created and posted by Vaclav Krejci who, according to his YouTube channel bio, aims to “explain graphic design to everyday users using software they are already familiar with.” And he does just that. This video shows how he recreates the iOS 7 home screen using nothing but Microsoft Word, start to finish.

Play A Role Playing Game In Microsoft Excel

Bet you never thought you could turn your data-analyzing, formula-calculating Microsoft Excel spreadsheet into an RPG game. We sure didn’t.  This macro-based RPG was put together in 5 months by Toronto-based chartered accountant, Cary Walkin, whose passion for spreadsheets and video games resulted in Arena.Xlsm.

Excel Spreadsheet RPG Game

Arena.Xlsm comes with character statistics, abilities for ranged attacks, achievements, boss encounters, and magic spells (available at level 10).  This cool game may look slightly different than your average MMPORG, but all the same interactive and essential elements are there.  See how far you can get.

Create Your Own Anime Movie In Microsoft PowerPoint

You’ve probably watched anime before, but we’re guessing that it didn’t require MS PowerPoint.  We caught this awesome example on PowerPoint Heaven, a site created by Shawn Tow that started out as a place to post his own tutorials and work. It is now a popular site for PowerPoint diehards to showcase their innovative uses of the application.

PowerPoint Anime Movie

One user took PowerPoint slides and animation to the next level with Rewrite, an anime drawn and animated in PowerPoint by Han Byul Jang (Zzangdol). We won’t provide you with any spoilers, but download the PowerPoint file to see it in action yourself. You won’t be disappointed.

We never really appreciate the full capabilities of the tools we use on a daily basis. But with a bit of practice and skill you can perhaps work your own magic and come up with a creative way of using MS Office yourself.

Able2Extract 8 Tip: How To Get Accurate Excel Spreadsheet Calculations During Tax Season

Using Excel is a great way to keep things organized during tax season.  The popular spreadsheet program has advanced features that let you work with your financial data as accurately as possible.

And that’s important.

Half the battle for tax filers every year is making sure that the numbers on those tax forms are correct.  The nitty-gritty calculations can be especially tedious if those numbers are generated from PDF conversions.

Fortunately, Able2Extract can refine the conversion process right down to the cell content.  Honourably mentioned by AccountingToday.com, the PDF converter was recognized for its PDF to Excel spreadsheet conversion and aiding in auditor control.  Now it’s time for you to get that same control over your taxes.

Introducing Able2Extract’s MS Excel Conversion Parameters

On top of the custom PDF to Excel conversion features you already know about, you can take advantage of conversion parameters to ensure that the converted PDF data falls in line with your tax spreadsheet analysis right from the start. The following options are located under View > Options…

PDF to Excel Conversion Parameters

Reposition The Minus Sign

In certain financial documents or reports, the minus sign symbol trails to the right of the number that it is associated with (e.g. “4,560-“ instead of “- 4,560”). Converting negative numbers where the minus sign trails to the right of the number can cause the resulting conversion to Excel to place these numbers as text, rather than numbers.  Move those trailing minus signs to the beginning of the number by selecting the Trailing Minus Sign Treatment. This will prevent it from being converted to textual items in Excel.

Keep The Dollar Sign Separate

Certain financial documents may contain dollar signs. Unfortunately, sometimes the dollar sign ($) creates a challenge in the way the program interprets column structure. Thus, the default is to meld the dollar sign into the same column as the number next to it.

PDF to Excel - Retaining the Dollar Sign

But if you wish to retain the dollar sign in its own separate column, check the Retain Dollar Sign as Separate Symbol option before converting.  Excel will treat the sign in the column as text.

Work With European Numeric Formatting

There are cases where some countries use European number formatting (1.234.567,89 vs. the North American equivalent written out as 1 234 567.89). However, PDF data in this format may be incompatible with your auditing tools or with some region specific versions of Excel.

You can change this easily with Able2Extract 8.  By selecting the European Continental Settings option, you can convert documents that adopt the decimal comma and “period” thousand separators to Excel formatted numbers correctly.

Display Your Data Differently

Sometimes you may need tabular data displayed differently to focus on specific areas.  For example, you may want to interpret data in terms of weekly revenue rather than by product.

PDF to Excel - Enable Table Unfolding

To transpose the data and move the data in columns to rows and the data in rows to columns, use the Enable Table Unfolding option. When selected, Able2Extract will generate output from a PDF in column structure to Excel in row structure or vice versa.

Enable Table Unfolding

Rotate Text into Excel

With pesky PDFs you may come across text in a table that has been rotated in a certain direction which would pose a problem for existing formatted Excel spreadsheets. Checking the Rotate Text into Excel box in the options menu will convert the rotated text into Excel upon conversion.

Just keeping a few of these options in mind can greatly lower the amount of stress you’re already going through with tax season. After all, it’s the simplest adjustments that can mean the difference between getting severely audited and getting a healthy tax return.

Exploring Able2Extract 8’s New PDF To Excel Custom Conversion Panel

We all know that when it comes to converting PDF tables, nothing comes out right.  Regular conversions aren’t enough.  Transferring digital banking statements or invoices into your tracking or budget spreadsheets becomes difficult when that information comes in tables of different shapes and sizes.

Sometimes the best way you can ensure an accurate PDF to Excel conversion is to literally move the columns and rows yourself before the conversion takes place. And this is where Able2Extract comes in.

With this latest version, the PDF to Excel custom conversion panel received a facelift.  And did it ever!  This new interface is now more intuitive and user-friendly than ever.  Functions and features are now at your fingertips.

To help get yourself familiar with the new conversion panel, here’s a basic FYI overview of what you can do with each feature. 

PDF to Excel

1. Page Range

With this section, you can designate a page range for applying and customizing the file’s table structure.  Add additional pages with the Expand… option or use the Exclude functionality to eliminate a page within your selected range.

2. Tables

Using the tables section, Able2Extract allows you to Add and Delete tables to a page by left clicking on it. Select the Replot functionality and Able2Extract will recalculate the column structure for the page range.

3.Columns

With your tables set, you can then edit their structure. Select either the Add Columns or Erase Column Line to start customizing your tables.   You can then click on your spreadsheet to insert where you want your column lines or click on the ones you want to delete. This is perfect for correcting column misalignments that will affect Excel calculations.

PDF to Excel Add Columns

4.Rows

Like columns, the rows can also be customized. By clicking on Show Rows, you can see where the default rows in your file will appear.  Click on the Manual Row Editing box to activate the Add Rows and Erase Row Line functionalities, and you can start manually adding or erasing rows by left clicking.

PDF to Excel Add Rows

5. Header and Footer 

If your PDF file is a multi-page report that contains headers and footers, you can easily adjust them.  Click on either Edit Header or Edit Footer.  Adjust them by left clicking and holding the button down while moving the mouse up or down. You can also choose to enable or disable them, if needed, with the Header/Footer Options button.

PDF to Excel Headers and Footers

6. Show Preview

You can then preview the conversion output by checking the Show Preview box.  If you only need to preview page you’re working with, check the Only current page box. Your results will show up in the pane at the bottom.

 PDF to Excel Preview Pane

When converting your own banking statements or financial data, start exploring some of these features out.

Visit our Able2Extract support page for a detailed online version.

The Ultimate Excel Cheatsheet At Your Fingertips

Excel has got to be one of the most complex software applications on the market.From keyboard shortcuts to functions and code snippets, the right Excel tricks are difficult to master, let alone find.

If you’ve ever had troubles getting around Excel or finding that perfect calculation tip, check out our latest article, The Ultimate Excel Cheatsheet.

It’s exactly what it says it is. You’ll find a number of printable PDF cheatsheets and links that reference keyboard shortcuts, functions, command line switches, formulas and VBA code snippets.

Just simply print, save or click and you’ll be able to perform some of the most complex Excel functions around.

Enjoy!

How To Convert XPS Documents

XPS LogoWhile Adobe AIR was being released to the public a week ago, Microsoft was also busy with the BRM (Ballot Resolution Meeting) for OOXML. Nothing official was published or decided as the BRM concluded in controversy.

However, with OOXML in the spotlight, XPS is still in the wings.

The XPS format, submitted to ecma International in 2007, is still in review for its own standardization. The format is based on the same Open Packaging Conventions as the Office 2007 OOXML formats–OOXML formats users are currently trying to deal with.

Now, while you might have the .docx and .doc compatibility issue covered by now, are you prepared to handle .xps compatibility issues as well?

XPS documents are like the PDF–in order to work with XPS content, you need to convert it.

If you already have Able2Extract, you have both an XPS viewer and converter in one. To convert your XPS document, follow these steps:

1) Open your XPS file in Able2Extract, or Able2Extract Pro for scanned XPS files

2) Select and highlight the content you need to convert

3) In the toolbar, click on the format icon you need to convert to (Word, Excel, Powerpoint, HTML, TXT, etc.)

4) Save your file in the Save As dialogue box

Luckily, converting from XPS to other formats isn’t so different from converting regular PDF files. You can check out more on XPS conversion at our XPS Central homepage.