topic Re: adding excel with colored cells into layout in Cartography and Maps Questions

adding excel with colored cells into layout

GailMorrison2 — Mon, 05 Feb 2018 15:55:24 GMT

When I open excel, add information into the cell, color (fill the cell with color), then insert the Excel spreadsheet into an MXD as an object or copy/paste, the XLS colored cells look great. When I export the map, the color goes away - as though they were never colored / filled. How do I get the colored cells to maintain their color when I export the map to a PDF?

Re: adding excel with colored cells into layout

AdrianWelsh — Mon, 05 Feb 2018 17:50:15 GMT

Gail, what about when you export to something else, like a jpg. Does the color still go away? I supposed you could just make that excel table into a graphic and export it that way (and lose the excel functionality but it may be worth it).

Re: adding excel with colored cells into layout

GailMorrison2 — Mon, 05 Feb 2018 18:16:30 GMT

Hi Adrian,

I tried this. The cell fill color drops out. JPG, PDF … A few of my coworkers can export just fine. Copy / paste an xls or xlsx or csv into an MXD / layout. A few of us cannot. Any suggestions?

Once I get the xls issue worked out, I need to make the xls a dynamic table. I have a SOP on this, tho.

Kind Regards,

Gail

Gail Morrison

Gail.Morrison@fema.dhs.gov<mailto:Gail.Morrison@fema.dhs.gov>

FEMA - GIS Specialist

Incident Complex – Puerto Rico

FEMA-4339-DR/FEMA-3391-EM

( 202) 709.0658 Mobile

Re: adding excel with colored cells into layout

AdrianWelsh — Tue, 06 Feb 2018 16:31:47 GMT

Gail,

That's odd that it works for some and not for others. What are the differences between yours and your coworkers setups? Same version of GIS? Same license for each user?

Re: adding excel with colored cells into layout

GailMorrison2 — Tue, 06 Feb 2018 17:11:11 GMT

Yes to all your questions. It’s very frustrating!

Kind Regards,

Gail

Gail Morrison

Gail.Morrison@fema.dhs.gov<mailto:Gail.Morrison@fema.dhs.gov>

FEMA - GIS Specialist

Incident Complex – Puerto Rico

FEMA-4339-DR/FEMA-3391-EM

( 202) 709.0658 Mobile

Re: adding excel with colored cells into layout

GailMorrison2 — Tue, 06 Feb 2018 17:14:47 GMT

Also, I used the exact same export settings as one of my coworkers.

Kind Regards,

Gail

Gail Morrison

Gail.Morrison@fema.dhs.gov<mailto:Gail.Morrison@fema.dhs.gov>

FEMA - GIS Specialist

Incident Complex – Puerto Rico

FEMA-4339-DR/FEMA-3391-EM

( 202) 709.0658 Mobile

Re: adding excel with colored cells into layout

AdrianWelsh — Tue, 06 Feb 2018 17:40:21 GMT

Then it must be related to a graphics setting on the individual PCs, I would think.

Or, what version of ArcMap are you running? Are you using an xls or an xlsx file (and what version of that - like 2016, etc.)?

Can the working PC export a map package and then have you try it on your non-working PC to see if there is a difference in the settings somewhere?

Do you have the original excel file closed when making the export?

There are some helpful hints in this article that might help (it's about charts but it's the same idea):

How To: Insert an Excel chart into ArcMap

Re: adding excel with colored cells into layout

GailMorrison2 — Tue, 06 Feb 2018 17:45:23 GMT

I ended rebuilding the MXD. The original size was Architectural D. When I recreated the MXD at 8.5 x 11 … it exported just fine. It has to be the settings in how my ArcMap exports the files. Some sort of internal setting?

Kind Regards,

Gail

Gail Morrison

Gail.Morrison@fema.dhs.gov<mailto:Gail.Morrison@fema.dhs.gov>

FEMA - GIS Specialist

Incident Complex – Puerto Rico

FEMA-4339-DR/FEMA-3391-EM

( 202) 709.0658 Mobile

Re: adding excel with colored cells into layout

AdrianWelsh — Tue, 06 Feb 2018 18:26:51 GMT

MXDs are weird and sometimes, when used a ton and saved a ton, they start getting bloated. The best bet is to re-save an MXD as a new copy every so often. What you will see is that it will significantly reduce the file size and give you better performance (like you have seen). I imagine that if you were to use this newly created MXD and switch back to the original paper size you wanted, it should work like expected (I'd hope at least).