Drawing Register / Issue Sheet in Excel

[de-co1]

We use an Excel spreadsheet for our combined drawing register and drawing issue sheet - as do many architectural firms. I have recently given ours a complete overhaul, and moved away from MS Word (using tables), as the Word documents were cumbersome, and user un-friendly, generating too many errors in the office.

The problem with the transfer is that we now have a comprehensive worksheet, that can be added to easily without having to copy entire pages, lists can be sorted quickly and easily, and the file sizes are half what the Word document sizes were.

Only problem is that the number of printed pages for a worksheet end up being considerably more through Excel, than it is for Word, simply because we are adding on horizontally for each new revision issued.

I would like to create an Excel spreadsheet that allows us to have a complete drawing register that doubles as an issue sheet, but that can be kept to as few printed pages as possible. I do not know VBA, and we're using LT 2006 / LT 2007.

I have considered a simple issue sheet, but we need to issue the entire register each time to ensure everyone can see the entire drawing issue list at all times (printed out as PDF when issued). The spreadsheet should require as little user input as possible.

I would like to ask what form your Excel based drawing register / issue sheets take.

Examples will be most welcome!

TIA

[Opie]

I don't use one, but probably should. That would mean the rest of the office needs to be organized as well.

Can you post some examples of what you have and the problems as well. Maybe some fellow Excel gurus can help solve your problem.

[de-co1]

Thanks for your request Opie.

I have attached the .XLS file as well as a PDF to show what it is meant to look like. This same issue sheet, in Word, takes up only four pages, but that is because each page is a separate entity. The problem with that though is that the distribution list of contacts needs to be copied to every additional page, as must the rest of the table. This causes errors, and if users have to issue drawings on different pages, then they have to add the date for each page, and ensure the distribution is the same. Inevitable, mistakes are made.

This Excel spreadsheet removes this possibility, but increases the amount of printed pages.

Ideally, I would like a complete register, and all that is required, is that the user only needs to 'tick' off the drawings being issued, and to whom they will be issued, and the sheet generates the necessary issue sheet with contacts, drawing names, numbers, scale, size, and revision, but this is too complicated for the recipient's as they would not be able to see past issues (most are too lazy to refer to a separate drawing register, but if this could be created to print over as few pages as possible, it could be added to the issue sheet... If that makes any sense!

[Opie]

Are you looking for it to print only the drawings that are being issued?

Could this be rotated to landscape?

Can you post an example of the Word document as well?

I'm just trying to figure out all of your parameters that need to be met.

[de-co1]

I don't mind if only the drawings being issued are printed out, for instance, on a separate drawing issue sheet. I would actually like to be able to set up the drawing register, and then have the user simply place an X into a box on the drawing register, and then that drawing's information is automatically added to the drawing issue sheet.

That starts becoming rather complicated though, and quite a bit beyond my knowledge in setting it up so that the cell in one worksheet (Issue Sheet) reads the information from a cell in another worksheet (Register), which is all set up by simply marking the drawings for issue.

Saying that though, and the way it currently works, is that the recipients need to be able to see the full register.

I have considered landscape, and set to A3 landscape suits me perfectly. It doesn't however suit the office standard, and the preferred option of the design teams, which, unfortunately, is portrait.

I have attached the Word document version of our current register / issue sheet.

[H-Angus]

Wow David that's some use of excel!

We use word, when the issue sheet is full it gets archived and another fresh one is started, you mention word being not user friendly, which I agree with to a certain degree but I've had quite good results by putting the table in a text box, see attached.

I'm not too hot on excel I don't think I'd even know where to start in order to produce what you have done.