Level 2 · Guide 10
Create and verify Excel, PowerPoint, Word, and PDF files
Give Claude the file format, sheet or slide structure, formulas, source data, and acceptance criteria together. Open the result in Excel, PowerPoint, Word, or a PDF viewer and directly inspect formulas, layout, links, fonts, and numbers.
Product features may change. Check the last verified date and official sources.
Core concepts to know first
Focus on the decisions these terms support in real work rather than memorizing them.
Core concepts
1. Specify the native file contract
Successful generation is not the same as a valid file. Structural integrity, formulas, pagination, font substitution, links, and source traceability must be checked where the file will actually be used. In this guide, the first observable move is to define file format, structure, formulas, and source fields.
2. Keep one verified source dataset
Generate from synthetic data and open the native application. Preserve the approved input and the evidence behind the result so a reviewer can distinguish what the source says from what Claude inferred. This directly controls the risk that a valid download can contain broken formulas.
3. Test formulas and structure in the native app
Check calculations, layout, links, fonts, and export behavior. Record the decision and the remaining uncertainty instead of hiding it in polished prose. The review must explicitly test whether fonts and page breaks can change after export.
4. Review the exported or printed result
Treat the possibility that copied numbers can lose source context as a required test case. The intended result is a generated office file with a native-application review record, not an unreviewed answer that merely looks complete.
Synthetic work scenario
How this applies at work
This scenario was written for learning and is not a real customer case.
A fictional Korean training team creates a synthetic attendance workbook and a three-slide internal briefing. It opens both in the target applications, recalculates totals, inspects page breaks, and records corrections.
The scenario is newly written for this guide and is neither a customer case nor a performance claim. Its specific deliverable is a generated office file with a native-application review record. A reviewer can reproduce the work from the synthetic inputs without access to customer, employee, health, contract, or confidential company data.
Try it yourself
Choose one small task and follow the steps. Confirm organizational policy and data boundaries before using sensitive materials.
Step 1. Define file format, structure, formulas, and source fields
Define file format, structure, formulas, and source fields. Use only approved synthetic material and record both the evidence and any remaining uncertainty.
Verify: Confirm that another reviewer can reproduce the input, result, evidence, and stop point.
Step 2. Generate from synthetic data and open the native application
Generate from synthetic data and open the native application. Use only approved synthetic material and record both the evidence and any remaining uncertainty.
Verify: Confirm that another reviewer can reproduce the input, result, evidence, and stop point.
Step 3. Check calculations, layout, links, fonts, and export behavior
Check calculations, layout, links, fonts, and export behavior. Use only approved synthetic material and record both the evidence and any remaining uncertainty.
Verify: Confirm that another reviewer can reproduce the input, result, evidence, and stop point.
Completion checklist
Check only what you verified yourself. Every item must be checked before saving completion.
Some items are still unchecked. Review the result again.
What could go wrong?
Plausible language does not guarantee accuracy. Compare the result with originals, calculations, permissions, and current information.
- A valid download can contain broken formulas
- Fonts and page breaks can change after export
- Copied numbers can lose source context
Boundaries that require human review
Academy practice stops at draft, preview, or approval pending. Actions with real impact require separate owner approval outside Academy.
What AI can do
- Step 1. Define file format, structure, formulas, and source fields
- Step 2. Generate from synthetic data and open the native application
- Step 3. Check calculations, layout, links, fonts, and export behavior
What a person must approve
- Applicable law, contract, organizational security policy, and explicit approval boundaries take priority. Stop and ask the responsible owner when they conflict.
- Academy exercises never send, publish, purchase, delete, execute contracts, or change permissions. A responsible person performs any real action through a separate process.
This guide is educational and does not replace legal, security, or privacy judgment for your organization.
Questions about this guide
- When is this guide complete?
- It is complete when the stated outcome is ready and another reviewer can retrace the inputs, evidence, boundaries, and decision. The target outcome is “A generated office file with a native-application review record.”
- May I practice with real company data?
- No. Use synthetic material in the Academy. Real data requires a separate review of policy, legal basis, contracts, minimization, retention, deletion, and the approved environment.
- What if the product screen differs from this guide?
- Product behavior can change. Check the verification date and official sources, then retest the current account and plan with a small, low-risk example.
Official sources and further reading
Recheck the current product and policy status in these primary sources.
Authorship and review
Save progress
Completion and checklist items are saved only in this browser. They do not sync to other devices or browsers.
Academy does not collect or store work materials, prompts, or outputs. It runs no separate analytics scripts beyond basic server access logs.