In the old days we used paper with green horizontal bars, so that one
line of text was printed on a green background and the next on a white
background. The bars guided the eyes on plain text files. I look for a
windows freebee that simulates this. Of course grey and white bars
will do.
Simulate Greenbar Paper in a Sheet
Data printed on greenbar computer paper can be much easier to read than
rows and rows of data printed on plain white paper. If you don't have
access to special paper, you can reproduce the effect in your
worksheets. The first step is to color the first row or rows. Then,
select those rows plus an equal number of blank rows and click Format
Painter (the button with a paintbrush on it). Next, select the remaining
rows in your sheet area. Excel will copy the colored and blank rows to
fill the rest of the sheet area. Generally, it's best if you apply this
format to a sheet before adding data. Now, let's look at a quick
example. In a blank sheet, select row 1, then select any color from the
Fill Color palette on the Formatting toolbar. (Generally speaking, a
lighter color is better.) Now, select rows 1 and 2 and click Format
Painter on the Standard toolbar. Select rows 3 through 20, and Excel
will alternate the color and blank rows accordingly.
