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Variable Data - How to enter in Excel

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Our variable data feature is just another reason why our boards are the first choice among medical professionals all over the world.  We save our clients time and effort by pre-printing repetitive data such as room numbers, phone numbers or ward names on each of our custom printed dry erase boards.

We use state-of-the-art software to ensure that our printing is a 100% accurate reflection of the data provided to us by our customers.  However, this requires our customers to provide us that data in a format our software can easily interpret.

Read on to learn about how to format your spreadsheet correctly for use by our software.

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The Basic Rules are:

One ROW for every Board
One COLUMN for each data item

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CORRECT

INCORRECT

 

In the following example, each board has its own row, containing three pieces of data (Ward, Room# and Phone#).  The columns are labeled at the bottom of the spreadsheet, along with the specific font and font size required for each data piece.  Finally, there is a confirmation of the total number of individual boards.  This is PERFECT.

 

 

In the table below, columns are separated according to wards, there are design notes, and at least two boards are represented on each row.  This table would be rejected by our quality control process, and the customer would need to provide a correctly formatted version before printing could begin.

ICU 214 562-3214
ICU 215 562-3215
ICU 216 562-3216
ICU 217 562-3217
ICU 218 562-3218
ICU 219 562-3219
ICU 220 562-3220
ICU 221 562-3221
ICU 222 562-3222
SNU 301 562-3301
SNU 302 562-3302
SNU 303 562-3303
SNU 304 562-3304
SNU 305 562-3305
SNU 306 562-3306
SNU 307 562-3307
SNU 308 562-3308
SNU 309 562-3309
ACU 223 562-3223
ACU 224 562-3224
ACU 225 562-3225
ACU 226 562-3226
ACU 227 562-3227
ACU 228 562-3228
ACU 229 562-3229
ACU 230 562-3230
ACU 231 562-3231
ACU 232 562-3232
ACU 233 562-3233
ACU 234 562-3234
ACU 235 562-3235
ACU 236 562-3236
ACU 237 562-3237
ACU 238 562-3238
ACU 239 562-3239
   
Ward Room # Phone #
   
Font:  Myriad Roman 80pts Font:  Myriad Roman 80pts Font:  Myriad Roman 80pts
   
35 boards    
   
Room #   Phone # Room #   Phone #
ICU   ICU SNU   SNU
214   562-3214 301   562-3301
215   562-3215 302   562-3302
216   562-3216 303   562-3303
217   562-3217 304   562-3304
218   562-3218 305   562-3305
219   562-3219 306   562-3306
220   562-3220 307   562-3307
221   562-3221 308   562-3308
222   562-3222 309   562-3309
ACU ACU Different Design (wording)
223 562-3223 OB OB
224 562-3224 205 562-3205
225 562-3225 206 562-3206
226 562-3226 207 562-3207
227 562-3227 208 562-3208
228 562-3228 209 562-3209
229 562-3229 210 562-3210
230 562-3230 211 562-3211
231 562-3231 212 562-3212
232 562-3232
233 562-3233
In this example, the variable data consists of a room number and a phone number.  Each room has Bed A and Bed B.  Nonetheless, each board has its own individual row.

 

126A   933-9126
126B   933-9926
127A   933-9127
127B   933-9927
128A   933-9128
128B   933-9928
129A   933-9129
129B   933-9929

 

If we used the table format below, every second board we printed would be missing the room number... a big problem!  Plus, we'd need to include a "BED" section on the board.

 

ROOM NUMBER BED PHONE NUMBER
126 A 933-9126
  B 933-9926
127 A 933-9127
  B 933-9927
128 A 933-9128
  B 933-9928
129 A 933-9129
  B 933-9929
130 A 933-9130
  B 933-9930

Notice, also, that the room/bed number is entered as

126A

This is EXACTLY how it would print on the board.  There would be no space between "126" and "A".

Alternatively, you could have the same number appear in a variety of different formats:

126 A

126-A

126 - A

126 a

Be sure you enter your data on the spreadsheet EXACTLY how you want it to print!  Consider elements such as spaces, hyphens, parentheses and brackets.

For example... do you want your phone numbers to include area codes?  Should those area codes appear within parentheses?  Do you want your room and bed numbers separated by a hyphen or a space?

Feel free to ask us for advice!

 

It may be tempting to take shortcuts when formatting your spreadsheet.  Just remember, our formatting requirements are very rigid because our quality control standards are very high.  We require consistent formatting of every spreadsheet to ensure that your variable data is printed accurately on each and every board.

We're picky about our formatting because we know that quality and accuracy are important to you, our customer.

About Our Boards and US!
Indoff CT is a master at producing quality custom printed dry erase boards. 

Remember Pricing on web is List and does not include resale and volume discounts   11/10/10