I’ve been on a weird kick lately making images using Excel. [Here’s one post. I hope to post more soon.] If you add a background color to

Make a “Magic Eye” image using Excel

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2024-12-01 07:00:03

I’ve been on a weird kick lately making images using Excel. [Here’s one post. I hope to post more soon.] If you add a background color to each cell in a spreadsheet and resize the cell widths to make each one square, then you can zoom out so that each cell acts like a pixel in an image.

In this post, I show how you can create your own “Magic Eye” image using Excel. (I also give you an Excel spreadsheet to get you started.) Technically these images are called autostereograms. These are two-dimensional images that appear three-dimensional when viewed correctly with your two eyes. Here are some tips for viewing these images.

Here’s one example I made. You shoud see a flat background with one large copy of the letter π floating a little above the background (closer to you). I have several other examples at the end of this post. (These all work better on a larger screen—not on a phone screen.)

I’ll now share how I made these images and give you enough details to make your own. If you want to make your own, download this Excel file, which has my sample code in it.