Drawing Your Own Pictures from Scratch

If you don't have a drawing program, or you don't want to use it to create a separate illustration, you can use Excel's Drawing toolbar to create a simple illustration or to add lines, arrows, and basic shapes to a chart or worksheet. To turn on the Drawing toolbar, right-click any toolbar or Excel's menu bar and click Drawing .

To draw an object, you select the tool for the line or shape you want to use and then drag the shape on the screen. Following is the step-by-step procedure:

  1. Take one of the following steps:

    Click the button for the desired line, arrow, or shape on the Drawing toolbar. Your mouse pointer changes into a crosshair pointer.

    Click AutoShapes on the Drawing toolbar, point to the desired shape category, and click the desired shape. Your mouse pointer changes into a crosshair pointer.

  2. Move the crosshair pointer to the point where you want one corner or one end of the object to appear.

  3. Hold down the mouse button and drag the pointer away from the starting point in the desired direction until the object is the size and shape you want, as shown in Figure 9.10.

    Figure 9.10. You can drag a line, arrow, or shape into existence.

    graphics/09fig10.jpg

  4. Release the mouse button.

To save yourself some time and reduce the frustration when drawing objects, read through the following list of drawing tips:

  • To draw several objects of the same shape, double-click the desired button and then use the mouse to create as many of those shapes as you like.

  • To draw a uniform object (a perfect circle or square), hold down the Shift key while dragging.

  • To draw the object out from an imaginary center point, hold down the Ctrl key while dragging. Without the Ctrl key, you drag the object out from its corner or starting point.

  • To draw the object out from its center point and create a uniform shape, hold down Ctrl+Shift while dragging.

  • To select an object, click it.

  • To delete an object, select it and press Delete key.

  • To move an object, select it and drag one of its lines.

  • To resize or reshape an object, select it and drag one of its handles. (If you used the Free-form tool to draw an irregularly shaped object, you must open the Draw menu and click Edit Points to reshape the object.)

  • To copy an object, hold down the Ctrl key while dragging it.

  • To quickly change the appearance of an object, right-click it and select the desired option from the shortcut menu.

Tip

graphics/tman.gif

You can add some interesting special effects to a document by combining text with AutoShapes. In sales brochures or announcements, for example, you might consider placing small bits of text inside a starburst. Just lay a text box on top of the starburst, and format the text box to give it a transparent background and no border.


After you have an object on the page, you can use some of the other buttons in the Drawing toolbar to change qualities of the object, such as its fill color and the color and width of the line that defines it. First, select the shape whose qualities you want to change. Then use the buttons listed in Table 9.3 to change the object's qualities.

Table 9.3. Drawing Toolbar Buttons for Altering a Drawn Object

Button

Name

Function

graphics/draw.gif

Draw

Provides options for turning on a grid (for more precise positioning), changing the order of layered objects (as explained in the following section, "Working with Layers of Objects"), grouping objects, flipping objects, and wrapping text.

graphics/draw.gif

Select Objects

Turns the mouse pointer into a selection tool, so you can use it to select objects rather than draw them.

graphics/fill_colour.gif

Fill Color

Colors inside the lines (as you would in a coloring book). Click the button to fill the object with the color shown. To change the fill color, click the arrow next to this button, and select the color from the menu.

graphics/line_colour.gif

Line Color

Changes the color of the line that defines the shape. Click the button to use the color shown. To change the color, click the arrow next to this button, and select the color from the menu.

graphics/font_colour.gif

Font Color

Works for text boxes only. Drag over the text inside the box, open the Font Color list, and select the desired color.

graphics/line_style_a.gif

Line Style

Displays a menu from which you can choose the line thickness and style you want to use for the line that defines the shape.

graphics/dash_style.gif

Dash Style

Enables you to use dashed lines rather than solid lines.

graphics/arrow_style.gif

Arrow Style

Works only for arrows you have drawn. Select the arrow, and then use this menu to select the type of arrow you want to use or to change the end on which the arrowhead appears.

graphics/shadow_style.gif

Shadow style

Works only for ovals, rectangles, AutoShapes, and other two-dimensional objects (including text boxes). This menu ontains various drop-shadow styles you can apply to objects.

graphics/3d_style.gif

3-D Style

Works for ovals, rectangles, AutoShapes, and text boxes. It turns rectangles into blocks and ovals into cylinders .



Absolute Beginner's Guide to Microsoft Office Excel 2003
Absolute Beginners Guide to Microsoft Office Excel 2003
ISBN: 0789729415
EAN: 2147483647
Year: 2002
Pages: 189

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