Section C.8. Chart Menu

C.8. Chart Menu

The Chart menu appears only when you select a chart inside your Excel workbook. The menu gives you several options for modifying the chart, and many of these options give you a chance to change the choices you made when you initially created the chart. For a detailed tour of Excel's charting features, see Chapter 16 and Chapter 17.

C.8.1. Chart Type

The Chart Type dialog box (Chart Chart Type) lets you change the chart type. For example, you can use this command to change a pie chart into a column chart or to make a chart three-dimensional. For an overview of every chart type on Planet Excel, see Section 16.4 (Chapter 16).

C.8.2. Source Data

The Source Data dialog box (Chart Source Data) lets you select the range of cells used to create a chart. The dialog box has two tabs. Use the Data Range tab if you want to specify the whole range of cells that Excel should use for the chart (replacing whatever data range you previously used), and use the Series tab if you just want to add another series with more data to your existing chart.

C.8.3. Chart Options

The Chart Options dialog box (Chart Chart Options) provides multiple tabs of settings where you can tweak titles, scale, gridlines, and the legend. See Chapter 17 for a detailed description of the different chart options.

C.8.4. Location

The Chart Location dialog box (Chart Location) lets you choose whether Excel places a chart in an existing worksheet (as a floating box) or in a worksheet of its own.

C.8.5. Add Data

This command lets you select a new data point or series to add to your chart. Usually, it's easier to use the Chart Source Data menu command because the Chart Add Data command won't show the range that's used for the current chart data, and it won't stop you from adding the same data twice.

C.8.6. Add Trendline

The Add Trendline dialog box (Chart Add Trendline) lets you choose a type of trendline for certain types of charts. Trendlines emphasize movement in column charts and show patterns in XY scatter charts . For more information about types of trendlines, see Chapter 17.

C.8.7. 3-D View

This command is available only for 3-D charts. It opens the 3-D View dialog box, where you can use handy arrows to tilt, rotate, and otherwise change your view of the chart.