ChartsGraphs

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Charts /Graphs

Numbers are fine for presenting data, but sometimes a large array of numbers can be difficult to understand. That's when Excel's charting and graphing capabilities come in handy.

Using Charts/Graphs

For ease of understanding, Excel makes it possible to create charts (sometimes called graphs) of your data. The exam will test your ability to create and edit charts.

In Excel, chart and graph both mean the same thing.

Creating Charts and Graphs

Create different types of charts/graphs from spreadsheet data: column chart, bar chart, line chart, pie chart.

To see how creating charts works, you need some sample data. Enter the data shown in Figure 5.24 in cells A1 through B4 of a new worksheet.

Figure 5.24. Sample data for creating charts.

Now follow these steps to create a simple column chart of the data:

Select the entire region from A1 through B4.
Click the Chart Wizard toolbar button on the Standard toolbar, or select Chart from the Insert menu.
In Step 1 of the Chart Wizard, you can select the type of chart to create. Accept the default clustered column chart, and click Next.
In Step 2, you can select the data to be charted. Because you selected the range before launching the wizard, the correct range already appears here. Click Next.
In Step 3, you can add a chart title or specify titles for the axes of the chart. Click Next.
In Step 4, select the option to place the chart as an object in the current worksheet. Click Finish.
Excel creates the new chart and displays it together with the Chart toolbar, as shown in Figure 5.25.

Figure 5.25. A new column chart.

To create a different type of chart, simply select the chart type in Step 1 of the Chart Wizard. Figure 5.26 shows the same data on a bar chart, a line chart, and a pie chart.

Figure 5.26. Bar, line, and pie charts.

Text on Charts

Add a title, label to the chart/graph. Remove a title, label from the chart/graph.

When you create a new chart, it's immediately ready to be edited. You can tell that a chart is in editing mode because the Chart toolbar is visible and the chart has a series of square selection handles at each corner and in the middle of each side. (You can use the mouse to resize the chart by grabbing one of these selection handles and dragging it.)

What can you do when a chart is in editing mode? For starters, you can add a title or a label. To do so, right-click on the chart and select Chart Options. Enter any text you would like for the chart title and the labels for the X and Y axes of the chart, as shown in Figure 5.27, and then click OK. Excel adds your text to the chart.

Figure 5.27. Adding a chart title and axis labels.

You can also add labels to the individual bars or slices on your chart. To do so, right-click one of the data points and select Format Data Series. Select the Data Labels tab and then choose an appropriate option (such as Show Value) to add labels to the data.

To remove a title or label from a chart, right-click on the text that you'd like to remove and select Clear.

Customizing Colors

Change the background color in a chart/graph.

Change the column, bar, line, pie slice colors in a chart/graph.

You can also change the color of any part of a chart.

To change the background color of a chart, click on the chart background (away from any lines or objects) and select Format Chart Area from the shortcut menu. Click on the Patterns tab in the Format Chart Area dialog box, select the new color, and click OK.

To change the color of an object such as a column, bar, line, or pie slice, first click on any of the bars, columns , or slices to select the entire data series. Then click on the particular bar, column, line, or slice to select it. Right-click the selected object and select Format Data Point. Click on the Patterns tab in the Format Data Point dialog box, select the new color, and click OK.

Changing Chart Types

Change the chart/graph type.

If you've added a pie chart to your worksheet but later decide it should have been a line chartno problem! Make sure the chart is in editing mode, right-click anywhere on the chart, and select Chart Type. This action opens the Chart Type dialog box, which lets you convert the chart to any other type that Excel supports.

Working with Charts and Graphs

Duplicate, move charts/graphs within a worksheet, between open spreadsheets.

Resize, delete charts/graphs.

You should also know the basics of manipulating charts:

To duplicate a chart, click on the chart to select it and press Ctrl+C. Then click anywhere on the worksheet, on another worksheet in the same spreadsheet, or in any other open spreadsheet and press Ctrl+V.
To move a chart to a different position in the same worksheet, click on the chart and hold the mouse button down. Drag the chart to its new position and release the mouse button.
To move a chart to another worksheet or spreadsheet, click on the chart to select it and press Ctrl+X. Then click anywhere on the worksheet, on another worksheet in the same spreadsheet, or in any other open spreadsheet and press Ctrl+V.
To resize a chart, click on the chart to select it. Then drag any of the selection handles to expand or contract the chart.
To delete a chart, click on the chart to select it. Then press the Del key.