This tutorial shows you how to generate a Microsoft Excel document using one of our supplied document templates.

The Excel format for documentation is a good starting point for building detailed specifications that can be provided to developers.

 

Note: The Balsamiq Mockups application must be closed for the images to be generated and included in the document properly.  A future version of Balsamiq will allow images to be generated even if Balsamiq is already running.

The path to the Balsamiq executable must be specified in the Looksie settings, details here.

 

Click the Run Document link in the Navigator to display the Document View.  There will be a small delay before the Document View is displayed for the first time as the DocumentTemplates directory is scanned and discovered  templates are loaded.

 

To load the mockups you want to include in your document click the Open File... button.   A file browser dialog is displayed.
Browse to the SamplePrototypes directory located where you installed Looksie (usually under C:\Program Files\XemWare\Looksie).
 
Select the following files:

 

Click OK to load the selected mockups into Looksie.

There is no defined limit on the number of mockups you can load into Looksie (except for operating system limits e.g. memory).

 

You will now see that all the loaded files appear in the Loaded Files list, as well as within the File Explorer.

 

 

Ensure that all the mockups you want to include in the document are checked in the Loaded Files list.  Then double click the Balsamiq_Complex.xls item in the Discovered Document Templates list.

You will now be prompted to specify an output file - XLS and XLSX formats are supported.

Click OK to confirm the output file path and to generate the document.

A Please Wait dialog will be displayed while the document is being generated.

 

You may see a Balsamiq window quickly pop up and then close - this happens each time Balsamiq is called to generate a mockup image.  Generated images are cached by Looksie, and images are only regenerated when the mockup is reloaded.

 

Refer to the Settings section for guidance on when mockups are reloaded by Looksie.

 

After the document has been generated you may be prompted to view the generated document (once again dependent on Looksie Settings).

 

You have now generated your first Excel document.

 

Don’t like our standard layouts?

You can easily edit the supplied templates yourself. Check out the links below for more detail.

 

Copright (C) 2010 XemWare