ChartsGraphs, Drawn Objects | ICDL Exam Cram 2

[ LiB ]

Charts /Graphs, Drawn Objects

Another way to dress up your slides is to include charts or drawings in them. (The term graph is also used by some presentation applications, but PowerPoint uses chart .) In this section of the chapter, we review PowerPoint's offerings in this area.

Using Charts/Graphs

When you have numeric data to present on a slide, consider a chart. You should know how to create and edit charts to pass the exam.

Creating Charts

Input data to create, modify different kinds of built-in charts/graphs in a slide: column, bar, line, pie.

To display a chart, you first need to get a blank chart into a slide. If you create a slide based on a slide ty pe with a chart, it has an area captioned "Double click to add chart." So double-click there to add the chart. Otherwise, you can select Chart from the Insert menu or click the Insert Chart toolbar button on the standard toolbar to insert a chart.

Either way, PowerPoint displays a chart containing sample data. The chart is divided into two parts . First, there's the chart proper, the graphical representation of the data. Beneath the chart, you'll find the chart's datasheet, which contains the data to display. The datasheet only appears when you are editing the chart.

To input data for the chart, simply type over the data already on the datasheet. Figure 7.16 shows some data and the corresponding chart displayed on a slide.

Figure 7.16. Creating a chart on a PowerPoint slide.

By default, PowerPoint creates a column chart. To see the other choices, right-click in the chart area and select Chart Type. This action opens the Chart Type dialog box, shown in Figure 7.17. You can choose bar charts, line charts, pie charts, and many others.

Figure 7.17. Selecting a chart type.

Editing Charts

Change the background color in the chart/graph.

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

Change the chart/graph type.

PowerPoint gives you the flexibility to change almost any aspect of a chart. Here are some examples of the things that you can do:

To change the background color of a chart, right-click in the chart and select Format Chart Area. Select a color from the Area section of the Format Chart Area dialog box and click OK.
To change the color of a chart component, such as a column, bar, or line, right-click the component on the chart and select Format Data Series. Select a color from the Area section of the Patterns tab in the Format Data Series dialog box and click OK.
To change the color of a pie slice, right-click the slice and select Format Data Point. Select a color and click OK.
To change the type of the chart, right-click in the chart area and select Chart Type. Choose a new chart type from the Chart Type dialog box and click OK.

Organization Charts

PowerPoint also contains specialized tools for working with organization charts.

Creating an Organization Chart

Create an organization chart with a labeled hierarchy. (Use a built-in organization chart feature.)

To create an organization chart, you first need to get a blank organization chart into a slide. If you create a slide based on a slide type with an organization chart, it has an area captioned "Double click to add org chart." So double-click there to add the organization chart. Otherwise, you can select Organization Chart from the Picture submenu of the Insert menu to insert an organization chart.

Double-clicking the organization chart area launches the Microsoft Organization Chart application shown in Figure 7.18. Type your own organization's information in the indicated areas, and then select Close and Return from the File menu to place the organization chart on your slide.

Figure 7.18. Creating an organization chart.

Modifying an Organization Chart

Change the hierarchical structure of an organization chart.

Add, remove managers, co-workers , subordinates in an organization chart.

The Microsoft Organization Chart application makes it simple to modify an organization chart. To see how it works, double-click an existing organization chart on a slide to open it in the external editing application.

To rearrange the hierarchy of the chart, grab any box with the mouse and drag and drop it over another box. If you drop it on the bottom edge of the other box, it becomes a subordinate to that box; if you drop it on the side, it becomes a co-worker.

To add a manager, co-worker, subordinate, or assistant, click the corresponding title on the editor toolbar, and then click on the box where you want to add the new box. To remove a box, click on the box and then press the Delete key.

When you're finished editing, close the Microsoft Organization Chart application. If you have unsaved changes, it prompts you to save the changes back to the slide.

Drawn Objects

PowerPoint also provides tools for you to add your own drawings to your slides.

Adding Drawn Objects

Add different types of drawn object to a slide: line, free drawn line, arrow, rectangle, square, circle, text box, other available shapes .

The Drawing toolbar contains a set of tools for adding drawn objects to your slides, as shown in Figure 7.19.

Figure 7.19. Drawing tools for PowerPoint.

To add one of these objects to your slide, click on the appropriate tool and then click and drag on the slide. For example, to add an arrow, click on the arrow tool, click where you want the arrow to start, hold the mouse, and drag to the spot where you want the arrow to end. PowerPoint draws the arrow when you release the mouse button.

The shapes you can add include

Line The line tool inserts a straight line from the point where you start drawing to the point where you release the mouse button.
Free drawn line The free drawn line tool inserts a line that follows the cursor from the point where you start drawing to the point where you release the mouse button.
Arrow The arrow tools insert a single- or double-headed arrow from the point where you start drawing to the point where you release the mouse button.
Rectangle The rectangle tool inserts a rectangle whose corners are at the start and end of the mouse movement.
Square To insert a square, hold down the Shift key while you draw a rectangle.
Circle To insert a circle, hold down the Shift key while you draw an oval.
Text box The text box tool inserts a rectangle where you can type text.

In addition to the simple shapes on the toolbar, the AutoShapes toolbar button provides access to an extensive palette of custom shapes: starbursts, speech balloons, arrows, lightning bolts, and many more.

Editing Drawn Objects

Change drawn object background color, line color, line weight, line style.

To edit a drawn object, right-click on the object and select Format AutoShape. This action opens the Format AutoShape dialog box, shown in Figure 7.20.

Figure 7.20. Formatting a drawn object.

You can change almost any aspect of the drawn object from this dialog box:

To change the background color of an object, select the new color from the Color drop-down control in the Fill section of the Colors and Lines tab.
To change the line color of an object, select the new color from the Color drop-down control in the Line section of the Colors and Lines tab.
To change the line weight of an object, select the new line weight from the Line Weight drop-down control in the Line section of the Colors and Lines tab.
To change the line style of an object, select the new line style from the Line Style drop-down control in the Line section of the Colors and Lines tab.

Click OK when you're done reformatting the object to see your changes.

The Drawing toolbar also offers toolbar buttons to perform individual operations, including changing the fill color, changing the line color, changing the line weight, changing the line style, and changing arrow styles. These buttons might be more convenient than the Format AutoShape dialog box if you need to make only a single change.

Editing Arrow Styles

Change arrow start style, arrow finish style.

You can also change the style used to draw the ends of an arrowfor example, to produce an arrow with two heads or one that ends with a circle rather than an arrowhead . To do so, right-click on the arrow and select Format AutoShape. You'll find drop-down controls for the beginning and ending arrow style in the Arrows section of the Colors and Lines tab.

Adding Shadows

Apply a shadow to a drawn object.

To add a shadow to a drawn object, first select the object on the slide by clicking on it. Then, click the Shadow toolbar button on the drawing toolbar to display a menu of shadow styles. Click on a shadow style to apply it to the object.

Rotating, Flipping, and Aligning Drawn Objects

Rotate, flip a drawn object.

Align a drawn object: left, center, right, top, bottom of a slide.

You can also make changes to drawn objects after you draw them. To rotate an object, click on the object to select it. Then, click on the Draw button on the Drawing toolbar. Select Rotate or Flip, Free Rotate from the menu that pops up. Drag any of the round handles that appear on the object with the mouse to rotate it.

To flip an object, first select the object by clicking on it. Then, click the Draw button on the Drawing toolbar, which reveals a menu of drawing operations. Select Flip Horizontal or Flip Vertical from the Rotate or Flip submenu to perform the flip operation.

To align a drawn object to an edge of the slide, grab the object with the mouse and drag it towards the appropriate edge of the slide. When it gets close to the edge, it will "snap" to exactly the edge of the slide. For more precise alignment, right-click on the object and select Format AutoShape to open the Format AutoShape dialog box. You can use the Position tab to specify exactly the distance that the object should have from either the top-left corner or the center of the slide, both horizontally and vertically.

Resizing Drawn Objects and Charts

Resize drawn object, chart within the presentation.

You can quickly resize a drawn object or a chart by clicking on the object to select it. Then, grab a sizing handle (any of the squares that appear on the edge of the object) with the mouse and drag the handle to resize the object.

Changing the Order of Drawn Objects

Bring an object to the front, back.

When you place multiple drawn objects on a chart, they can overlap each other. The object in front blocks your view of the objects in back. You can reorder objects if you like. To bring an object to the front so that it overlaps other objects, right-click on the object and select Bring to Front from the Order submenu. To send an object to the back so that it is overlapped by other objects, right-click on the object and select Send to Back from the Order submenu.

Duplicate, Move, Delete

Just like text and images, charts and drawn objects can be duplicated , moved, or deleted.

Duplicating Charts or Drawn Objects

Duplicate a chart/graph, drawn object within the presentation, between open presentations.

To duplicate a chart or drawn object, you can use PowerPoint's copy and paste tools. Follow these steps:

Select the element that you want to duplicate by clicking on it.
Select Copy from the Edit menu, press Ctrl+C, right-click the selected element and select Copy, or click the Copy toolbar button on the Standard toolbar.
Select a destination for the data. It can be the slide you're already on, a slide elsewhere in the presentation, or a slide in another presentation entirely.
Select Paste from the Edit menu, press Ctrl+V, right-click the destination cell and select Paste, or click the Paste button on the Standard toolbar.

Moving Charts or Drawn Objects

Move a chart/graph, drawn object within the presentation, between open presentations.

To move a chart or drawn image, you can use PowerPoint's cut and paste tools. Follow these steps:

Select the element that you want to move by clicking on it.
Select Cut from the Edit menu, press Ctrl+X, right-click the selected element and select Cut, or click the Cut toolbar button on the Standard toolbar.
Select a destination for the data. It can be the slide you're already on, a slide elsewhere in the presentation, or a slide in another presentation entirely.
Select Paste from the Edit menu, press Ctrl+V, right-click the destination cell and select Paste, or click the Paste button on the Standard toolbar.

Deleting Charts or Drawn Objects

Delete a chart/graph, drawn object.

To delete any element from a PowerPoint slide, select the element and then press the Delete key.

Be prepared to duplicate, move, and delete all slide elements, such as text, pictures, images, and charts, for the exam.

[ LiB ]