Editing and Enhancing Chart Information

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Creating your chart is only half the fun. Once you decide on the basic style you want, you can add to, edit, and enhance your chart by using chart options to add titles and labels, and you can make other modifications as well. You use the Chart Options dialog box, shown in Figure 14-8, to add titles, axis controls, gridlines, legends, labels, and more.

Figure 14-8: You add titles, labels, and other chart elements in the Chart Options dialog box.

Note 

Although most of the elements you'll find in the Chart Options dialog box apply to all the different chart types, some controls are disabled for certain charts. For example, the Series (Y) Axis check box is disabled in a default column chart. And the only tabs available for a pie chart are Titles, Legend, and Data Labels.

To display the Chart Options dialog box, double-click the chart in your document, and then choose Chart, Chart Options. Then use the following items as a guide to help you set the options for your chart:

• Title the chart. The Titles tab appears by default. Click in the Chart Title box, type your title, and then click Tab. The preview window is automatically updated to reflect your change.

  Tip 

  Choose chart titles that work  Chances are that you won't have a lot of room in your document for lengthy chart titles. Try to choose a title that pulls out key words reflecting what the chart's portraying. If you're comparing product sales, "Product Sales Comparison" works. If you're comparing your private school's test results with the local public school system, "Test Score Comparison" would be accurate. Not exciting, but accurate. If you can think of something exciting too, all the better.

• Name the axes. The process of naming the axes is similar to naming the chart: simply click in the appropriate box, and then type your title. The Category (X) Axis is the horizontal axis; the Value (Z) Axis is the vertical axis. Remember that each title you enter takes up space around your chart and that you run the risk of giving the readers too much to read—so make sure your axes' titles, if you use them, truly add to the information you're trying to convey.

• Hide axis tick marks. To suppress the display of the tick marks used along the axes, click the Axes tab, as shown in Figure 14-9. The Axes tab gives you the choice to display or hide the marks and labels along the Category (X) axis and the Value (Z) axis. If your chart has a Series (Y) axis, this option will be enabled as well. By default, all labels and marks are displayed. To suppress the display, clear the check box beside each axis item you want to hide.

  
  Figure 14-9: If you're pressed for space in your document, you can suppress the display of axis labels and tick marks.

• Add gridlines. If you're working with complicated charts that have multiple data series, gridlines can help clarify the comparisons and conclusions you want readers to draw from your chart. Select the Gridlines tab in the Chart Options dialog box, and then click either Category Axis Gridlines or Value Axis Gridlines. Alternatively, you can click in the chart and click either the Category Axis Gridlines button or Value Axis Gridlines button on the Standard toolbar.

  Tip 

  By default, Graph adds gridlines at each major category or value mark in your chart. But you can add additional gridlines in smaller increments, if you find that your data warrants it. With the chart selected, choose Chart, Chart Options to display the Chart Options dialog box, and then click the Gridlines tab. You'll find a series of options that enable you to select both Major and Minor gridlines for your chart.

  Be forewarned, however: with gridlines, a little goes a long way. Be sure to add only what your reader needs in order to understand your data—too many lines will clutter up your chart and make it more difficult for readers to decipher.

  Tip 

  Get the particulars right  If you want more control over where gridlines are placed and how tick marks appear, select the axis you want to change, and then right-click and choose Format Axis from the shortcut menu. In the Format Axis dialog box, click the Scale tab, and then enter the settings you want for the display and number of tick marks used.

• Work with a legend. Graph assumes that you want a legend for your chart when you first create it. You can have Graph remove the legend by clicking Legend on the Standard toolbar. This hides the legend and causes your chart to be enlarged to fill the space the legend previously occupied.

• Control legend placement. You can control where the legend is placed in the chart by selecting the chart in Graph, and then choosing Chart, Chart Options to display the Chart Options dialog box. Click the Legend tab and you'll see a number of options that enable you to hide the legend (simply clear the Show Legend check box) or, in the Placement section, position the legend by clicking Bottom, Corner, Top, Right, or Left. Graph repositions or hides the legend after you click OK.

• Enter data labels. Data labels are helpful when you need to give the reader further clues about which data items go with which series or category. Graph gives you the ability to add several different kinds of data labels to your charts. You might want to add percentages to pie slices, for example, or category labels to stacked bars. Click the Data Labels tab, and then choose the type of labels you want to use, as shown in Figure 14-10.

  
  Figure 14-10: Data labels can add a bit of extra description to the data series in your chart.

  Tip 

  Choose multiple labels  You can choose to display more than one type of label if you choose. For example, you might want to display both percentages and category names on a pie chart. If you select more than one label type, use a separator to separate the labels. Click the Separator arrow to display a list of choices, and then click the separator you want to use.

  One more way to make sure that readers get the connection between your data trends and the categories being plotted: you can use the Legend Key feature to add small legend tags to the left of each data label. Readers will be able to see at a glance which items relate to the categories in your chart legend.

  Tip 

  Change labels in the datasheet  The data labels Graph uses are taken right from your datasheet. If you want to change a data label on the chart, it's best to go back to the datasheet and make the change. Otherwise, the label change might not "stick" and you might see the same old label displayed the next time you display your chart.

• Create a data table. A data table can give readers another way to understand the data being graphed. Click the Data Table tab, and then click the Show Data Table check box. When you click OK, the data table is added to your document. Alternatively, you can click in the chart and then click the Data Table button on the Standard toolbar.

Troubleshooting: I can't see axis titles in my chart

If you're having trouble seeing the axis titles along the Category and Values axes on your chart, the chart area might be too small to display all the chart information successfully. Try resizing the chart by clicking it, and then dragging one of the resize handles outward, enlarging the chart. If that doesn't do the trick, click the axis title while editing the chart, and then choose a smaller Font Size on the Formatting toolbar.

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