Chapter 7: Working with Charts

Overview

In this chapter you will learn to:

• Insert a chart.

• Modify the appearance of a chart.

• Import data into a chart.

When you want to compare numeric information, you can create a chart. Charts are graphics that use lines, bars, columns, “pie” slices, or other markers to represent numbers and other values. Adding a chart to a document creates visual interest and can effectively show trends, illustrate relationships, or demonstrate how information changes over time. For example, The Garden Company might want to use a chart to visually compare quarterly sales by department or the number of people who attended different types of workshops last year.

Microsoft Office Word 2003 and other Microsoft Office System 2003 programs include Microsoft Graph 2003, a program that enables you to insert a chart directly in a document. You plot the numbers, and Graph does the rest. After you have created a chart, you can modify and enhance it to best display your data.

In this chapter, you’ll start by creating a chart in a Word document. You’ll enter the necessary data and change the look of the chart. You will then import additional data from a Microsoft Office Excel 2003 worksheet into the existing chart.

See Also

Do you need only a quick refresher on the topics in this chapter? See the Quick Reference entries on pages xliv-xlv.

Important

On The CD Before you can use the practice files in this chapter, you need to install them from the book’s companion CD to their default location. See “Using the Book’s CD-ROM” on page xiii for more information.