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Three Parts:PreparationCreate the Onscreen Tartan PatternCreate the Shape-Filled Pattern

You will learn to make an image consisting of a heart, filled with a colorful Scottish tartan of your choice, or any woven fabric that is a simple over and under weave.

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EditPart 1 of 3: Preparation

  1. 1
    br> Open a new Excel worksheet by opening the Excel application from the dock or Applications folder.
    • Set Preferences: In General - Set Use R1C1 reference style to checked or On.
    • Set column 1 to Format Column Width .5" and Format Row Height .25"
    • Select Rows 2:200 and set Format Row Height to .06" (but see Tips).
    • Select Columns 2:512 and set Format Column Width to .03" (but see Tips).
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  2. 2
    Obtain the actual tartan and, probably with the aid of a magnifying glass, write down the color and number of the threads across in columns and do the same down in rows. Be exact as you possibly can be, it's important in achieving the exact effect of really replicating the tartan, precisely. Here's a picture of a tartan closeup which had its threads counted.

EditPart 2 of 3: Create the Onscreen Tartan Pattern

  1. 1
    Begin in column 2. Select the column. Make the color match the tartan's beginning thread color. Use the Color Wheel. Format Cells Fill the column (or to a designated row# stopping point) with the color.
  2. 2
    Then do row 2, selecting the row, and make the color match as closely as possible to the tartan's actual thread color. Use the Color Wheel. Format Cells Fill the row (or to a designated column# stopping point) with the color.
  3. 3
    Then do column 3, then row 3, then column 4, then row 4, etc., etc. continuing over and under this way until you've filled the screen with the full image of the tartan! Be patient with yourself and do the job right, although it may take you hours, or even days to finish. But you have perhaps 200+512 to do in all, and each one takes 5 seconds so 712*5/60 = about 60 minutes total!

EditPart 3 of 3: Create the Shape-Filled Pattern

  1. 1
    Use the Grab application or do Copy Picture by using the Shift Key with Edit Copy and then do Paste Picture to a new worksheet by using the Shift Key again. Then, whether you used the Grab app, or Paste Picture, do Command+v, copy.
  2. 2
    Open the application Preview and do File, New from Clipboard.
  3. 3
    Export the file to the Desktop or into a new "Tartans XL Work" folder as a JPG file or PNG file format file and name the file "My XL Tartan Picture".
  4. 4
    Quit Preview.
  5. 5
    Click on Excel to activate it as the active application and choose the Media Tools icon along the very top of all the Tool Bars -- it has two tied piano notes in front and to the right of some images as its icon.
  6. 6
    Select from within the Media Tools window, Shapes, and select the Heart Shape, or whatever shape you'd like your tartan to be within.
  7. 7
    Click on a blank portion of the Excel worksheet, and a small heart (or the shape you've chosen) will appear.
  8. 8
    Re-size it as you prefer -- about 3" by 3" on the screen is probably about right.
  9. 9
    Do Format Shape Fill Picture and then choose the file, My XL Tartan Picture.jpg, to use as fill.
  10. 10
    Your image should resemble this one:
  11. 11
    Done! Well worth it, eh?
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EditTips

  • To make the input of the threads a bit easier, you can start with your columns and rows a little wider than the finished dimensions of .03" and .06", respectively, just so long as you remember to shrink them back down again when you finish. It is much easier to fill the cells with a column width of 1.5" and a row height of .25" using the paint bucket alternatively, after doing a given row or column range as a solid first. This way, the process proceeds much quicker and more easily!
  • In weaving the woof (sometimes weft) is the term for the thread or yarn which is drawn through the warp yarns to create cloth. Warp is the lengthwise or longitudinal thread in a roll, while weft is the transverse thread. A single thread of the weft, crossing the warp, is called a pick. So the weft goes from "weft to wight" and the warp is vertical or columnar to it. If you have chosen to put in all the warp threads first, then you would alternatively (every other cell) add the weft threads using the paint bucket to RE-FILL the cells that you had already filled quickly doing the warp. Or, you may proceed by doing the rows left to right first in full for a range of say 512 cells in a pattern of say 8-12-8-4-8-4-8-12-8 threads where each number is the number of threads of a color (this applies to the warp as well, but may vary, say to 16-32-16-8-4-8-16-32-16 or whatever), then repaint the warp in alternatively (every other cell). Either way, the end result should be the same.
  • You may want to write a macro to make the work go a lot quicker. Here is a helper file with a line of code to the right which colors cell A2 in the color shown, according to the RGB listing.

    Colors with Macro Line
  • And here is a short iMac macro which colors the cell A2 after selecting the object "_TopLeft", a Defined Named Variable, which refers to cell A1. It then selects the "every-other" cell to the right of the just-colored cell, but one down from the object cell first selected, so one row down and then 2 columns over to the right (whereas (-1,-5) would mean 1 row up and 5 columns to the left) ... and colors that cell the same color as the first cell it colored. You'll see that LOOPING would be very handy because you would tell it to move to the cell two columns over and paint it for like 512/2 times instead of copying the lines of code that many times for one thread(!!), but that's beyond the scope of this article. You would have colored the columns in already completely. And next row, you'd alternate the cells you'd fill with color from the previous row; that would be the next loop. But if it's the same color as the last color, you'd want to repeat the last loop again, just in the lower row. You can look up "Excel Looping in Macros" by just googling it.
    • For example, with the Defined Named Variable TopLeft referring to cell A1 and comments preceded by a single apostrophe:

      Sub Macro13()

      ' Macro13 Macro
      ' Color 2 cells hot pink; 2nd cell is down 0 rows and to the right 2 columns, so it's cell C2
      '
      ' Keyboard Shortcut: Option+Cmd+u
        Application.Goto Reference:="_TopLeft"
        Range("A2").Interior.Color = RGB(255, 20, 147)
        ActiveCell.Offset(0, 2).Select
        Selection.Interior.Color = RGB(255, 20, 147)
      End Sub
  • The macro key u was added under 'Options' in the Macros menu where it shows all your macros; editing it in this code as above alone will not make it functional. It is suggested you select an object first before attempting to use the line which colors a cell; it need not be the cell you are coloring, however.

EditWarnings

  • What appears on screen may not be perfect as this is a highly complex image for a computer to resolve. But printouts should be accurate on a good printer. Strive for exactitude -- being sloppy will not be worth your while, one can only promise you.

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Article Info

Categories: Microsoft Excel Imagery | Spreadsheets

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