Working with Data Labels

As you saw in Chapter 19, you can add data labels (annotations positioned on or near chart markers that indicate the value of data points) by clicking the Layout tab and then clicking Data Labels in the Labels group. The ensuing drop-down lists provide options about where to put the labels-inside or outside column markers, for example. The positioning options vary according to chart type, and in all cases you can adjust a label's position by selecting it individually and then dragging its bounding rectangle.

Additional options concern the content of the data labels. These too vary by chart type (with pie charts, for example, you have the option of putting percentages in the data labels). To see what's available for a chart, right-click its data labels, and click Format Data Labels. Note that content options are not mutually exclusive. You can pack a series name, category name, and value all into the same label, for example.

Labeling Individual Data Points

You don't have to label an entire series at once. To label a single data point, select the series to which it belongs. Pause, and then click the individual data point. With the selection thus refined, right-click, and then click Add Data Labels. You can use a similar method to remove individual data labels. Click a label once to select a set of labels; then pause and click again to refine the selection, and then press Delete.

Labeling with Ad Hoc Text

The standard content options are not your only content options. To put some other text on a data label, create the label in the usual way, select it (click twice to make a single-point selection), and then edit the label the same way you might edit a chart title. To generate a label from the text in a worksheet cell, select the label. Then create a sheet-qualified formula-for example, Sheet2!A2.