Hello all. Several people have requested that I explain how I produce computer-generated Standard Celeration Charts for ORL's publications. I produce these charts using a combination of two programs: Adobe's Photoshop Elements software and Microsoft's Excel. I use the SCC Excel templates that Owen White, Scott Born, and Stu Harder have developed and then paste the data onto a scanned SCC background in Photoshop Elements.

Because I thought that showing you how I do this would be easier (and hopefully more effective!) than just explaining the process in text, I have used some desktop capturing software that will show you what I am doing in each step of the process and also allows me to narrate the steps as I'm doing them. I captured and narrated all of the steps that I go through to prepare an SCC for publication and have produced QuickTime videos showing each step. You'll find those videos below.

In addition to a graphics program like Photoshop Elements or some other similar bit of software and Excel, you'll also need the SCC Excel template and a background image of the SCC. You may download the template and the background image from the links below. To download them, simply right click the file name and select "Save As". Then, simply indicate where you would like the file saved.

Enjoy and I hope you find this helpful!

Michael

 

Files You'll Need:

The SCC Excel Template (a link to Scott Born's website)

The SCC background (an image file)--JPEG file, 6.4MB

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The QuickTime videos showing each step in the chart preparation process:

Step 1: Preparing the data in Excel 2:09, 3.34MB

Step 2: Copying the data from Excel 1:12, 1.81MB

Step 3: Opening the SCC background and getting ready to paste the data 1:15, 5.59MB

Step 4: Pasting the Excel data onto the SCC background :26, 736KB

Step 5: Resizing the pasted data 1:06, 1.87MB

Step 6: Clearing the data's background, part 1 :30, 736KB

Step 7: Clearing the data's background, part 2 :24, 928KB

Step 8: Resizing the data, part 1 1:13, 2.43MB

Step 9: Resizing the data, part 2 1:02, 1.87MB

Step 10: Resizing the data, part 3 :27, 672KB

Step 11: Deleting unneeded information from the Excel data 2:04, 4.43MB

Step 12: Final adjustment of the data position 1:03, 2.06MB

Step 13: Filling in the bottom of the SCC, part 11:19, 2.34MB

Step 14: Filling in the bottom of the SCC, part 2 :51, 1.53MB

Step 15: Organizing information using layer sets 1:39, 3.12MB

Step 16: Remembering to save the file :08, 256KB

Step 17: Completing the calendar synchronization dates 2:20, 4.0MB

Step 18: Copying layers to complete the calendar synchronization dates 1:23, 2.34MB

Step 19: Organizing the dates into layer sets and saving the file :28, 896KB

Step 20: Adding phase lines to the SCC, part 1 :43,1.31MB

Step 21: Adding phase lines to the SCC, part 2 :48, 1.37MB

Step 22: Adding phase change lines to the SCC, part 3 :35,1.03MB

Step 23: Copying and placing phase change lines 1:38, 2.93MB

Step 24: Editing phase change lines 1:29, 2.65MB

Step 25: More on reproducing phase lines 1:26,2.75MB

Step 26: Adding the rest of the phase change lines :18, 544KB

Step 27: Adding phase change labels 3:04, 5.43MB

Step 28: Adding more phase labels 1:33, 2.81MB

Step 29: Adding Aim stars to the SCC 2:18, 4.12MB

Step 30: Adding legends to the SCC 2:46, 4.81MB

Step 31: Saving the SCC in multiple image formats for publication 1:25,2.34MB