How can I create my own laminated cheat sheets?

October 22, 2011 3:34 PM

Is there a template or software to help create my own laminated cheat sheets for subjects I use commonly at work?

I am thinking something along the lines of this:
http://www.amazon.com/Criminal-Law-BarCharts-Inc/dp/142321496X/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1319322678&sr=8-2

I know that I could just use tables, but I would like something that is more professional and easier to work with. Are there blanks of these?

posted by denverco to Computers & Internet (5 answers total)

Instead of using tables, try using columns. You can set up Word to automatically balance the text between the columns by immediately inserting a continuous section break (Page Layout → Breaks → Continuous in Word 2007). This will provide a more polished look than trying to fight with tables, and will require a great deal less effort. It's not going to look professional, by any means, but it's a lot less work than LaTeX and a lot less expensive than InDesign.
posted by sonic meat machine at 3:43 PM on October 22, 2011

I just google'd for Cheat Sheet Template, and apparently at least one person uses Visio. As a half ass solution you might try Inkscape. Lemme tell you though, it's very hard to find tutorials on making cheat sheets in a given product, instead of cheat sheets for a given product. About the best think I can come up with is finding some open source cheat sheets and liberating them.
posted by pwnguin at 3:47 PM on October 22, 2011

i'm quite fond of the 8-page book from a single sheet of paper...pocket-sized! figuring out which way to print the different pages just requires making a blank one first and numbering, then unfolding...
posted by sexyrobot at 4:05 PM on October 22, 2011

These kinds of displays are easy to create in the Windows version of Microsoft Word 2007 and 2010. You can create text boxes of various shapes and set up links between them. The pre-designed text box styles that come with Word look very similar to the ones linked to on the Amazon page.
posted by Jasper Friendly Bear at 4:08 PM on October 22, 2011

Response by poster: Awesome, great ideas. Appreciate it.
posted by denverco at 9:12 PM on October 22, 2011