# Overview

> What Calc is, who it is for, and how its two modes fit together.

Calc is the GIMLabs **Excel add-in**. It adds a **Calc tab** to the Excel
ribbon that signs you in, loads your projects and templates from the cloud, and
pulls structured project data straight into your workbook - ready to calculate,
chart and report on.

It is built for users who do their analysis in Excel and want live project
data in the tool they already use, without exporting, rekeying or copying
between files.

<Callout type="note" title="Runs in desktop Excel">
  Calc is a Windows add-in for **desktop Microsoft Excel**, so you will need
  both to use it. See [Install and sign in](/calc/install-and-sign-in) to get
  set up.
</Callout>

## Two ways to work

Calc has two modes, and the ribbon changes to match the one you are in.

<Cards>
  <Card title="Collecting data" href="/calc/collecting-data">
    Open a template and Collect live project data into structured sheets, with
    charts that fill in automatically. This is the everyday Use mode.
  </Card>
  <Card title="Building templates" href="/calc/building-templates">
    Design the templates everyone else collects against - choose tables,
    columns, filters, charts and project constants. This is Design mode.
  </Card>
</Cards>

## How a template becomes a report

<Steps>
  <Step title="Sign in">
    Log in with your GIMLabs account from the Calc ribbon.
  </Step>
  <Step title="Pick a project">
    Choose the project you are working on. Everything that follows is scoped to
    it.
  </Step>
  <Step title="Open a template">
    Open one of the project's templates - either to collect data (Use mode) or
    to edit it (Design mode).
  </Step>
  <Step title="Collect">
    Click Collect. Calc pulls the matching data into the workbook, applies any
    filters, and binds your charts to it.
  </Step>
</Steps>

## How it fits with the platform

Calc reads the same project data as the rest of GIMLabs. The locations, samples
and test results you collect in Excel are the same records captured in
[Log](https://www.gimlabs.io/platform/log), validated in [Manage](https://www.gimlabs.io/platform/manage), and shared
through [Connect](https://www.gimlabs.io/platform/connect). There is one source of truth - Calc just
brings it into Excel.

## Next

<Cards>
  <Card title="Install and sign in" href="/calc/install-and-sign-in">
    Get Calc running in Excel and log in for the first time.
  </Card>
  <Card title="Core concepts" href="/calc/concepts">
    Projects, templates, tables, filters and constants explained.
  </Card>
</Cards>