Section 95. Insert a Chart into a Presentation


95. Insert a Chart into a Presentation

BEFORE YOU BEGIN

94 Change a Presentation's Background


SEE ALSO

96 Insert Graphics into a Presentation


A chart can summarize your presentation, and audiences often glean information from charts that they might not otherwise get from long lists of data or from you listing scores of numbers for them. So often you'll want to use charts in your presentations to make your data more available to your audience.

Impress (as does Writer) includes its own Calc-like charting capability. Impress accomplishes this by supporting the use of a mini-version of Calc right inside Impress. In other words, when you want to place a chart on an Impress slide, you can build the chart from within Impress, entering data into a spreadsheet as though Calc were inside Impress, ready to build your charts.

TIP

68 Add a Chart to a Spreadsheet , although a Calc-based lesson, describes charts and terminology related to them. If you are unfamiliar with OpenOffice.org charts, take a few minutes to review this task.


95. Insert a Chart into a Presentation


1.
Request a Chart

You can insert a chart in any slide. If the slide contains a chart placeholder (a small icon of a chart), double-click the placeholder to add the chart. If the slide doesn't contain a placeholder, choose Chart from the Insert menu. Impress places a sample chart directly in the center of your slide and closes the Slide and Task panes (if they are open ) to give you more room to work with the chart. You now must position the chart where you want it and change the data values used in the chart to match the data you want to portray in the presentation. In addition, you can change the chart type as well as all its labels.

NOTE

Remember, Impress generates a sample chart for you, and you must change the chart's data and labels to suit your purpose.

2.
Move the Chart and Adjust the Size

The chart that Impress places on your slide appears in the center of the slide. Move the chart to where you want it to go. Even though this sample chart is not the chart you want to present, you can go ahead and position as well as resize the chart to make it easier to see later, along with the rest of your slide's contents. You now must enter data and edit the chart so it reflects the information you need in the slide.

3.
Select What You Want to Change

Right-click the chart to display a menu showing all the chart-related elements you can now change. You'll certainly want to modify the chart data because you don't want to use the chart's sample data for your presentation. In addition, you'll always want to modify the title so that your chart is labeled on your slide as well as on any printed handouts you might make from your presentation. Generally, the legend and the axis labels need to be changed. Finally, the chart type might very well need to be changed to reflect your data's intent.

TIP

68 Add a Chart to a Spreadsheet describes each chart type and the best use for each one.

4.
Modify the Data in Spreadsheet Form

When you select Chart Data from the right-click menu, a small spreadsheet appears in the center of your slide. This is a Calc-like spreadsheet add-in program. Although all of Calc's features aren't represented in Impress's spreadsheet, you can easily enter the data needed to create your chart in the rows and columns there.

Replace the sample row and column labels with your own data's label information. Replace the data inside the spreadsheet's body with your own data. You can add or delete rows or columns, simply by selecting a row or column that precedes the one you want to add or by selecting a row or column to delete. You may sort by rows or columns, as you might do if you wanted data to appear alphabetically in the chart.

5.
Update the Chart Using AutoLayout

After editing the spreadsheet, click the Apply to Chart button to update the chart on your slide and close the Chart Data window. Once you update the chart, you must double-click the chart to display the editing options again. This is because as soon as you update your chart with your data, Impress converts the chart to an OLE object . You must tell Impress that you want to edit that object when you want to make additional changes, such as changing the title or legend rather than simply moving or resizing it.

KEY TERM

OLE object Abbreviation for Object Linking and Embedding . This term refers to an object that can be placed inside documents of different types, such as a Writer word processing document and an Impress presentation. You can place charts in Impress and Calc because OpenOffice.org converts the charts to OLE objects that both programs accept.


Once you've entered your specific data into the chart, the AutoFormat dialog box is the simplest place to update all the chart's details, such as titles and legends. After double-clicking the chart, select AutoFormat from the right-click menu to modify the other chart features, including changing the chart's type, such as from a bar chart to a pie chart.



OpenOffice.org 2, Firefox, and Thunderbird for Windows All in One
Sams Teach Yourself OpenOffice.org 2, Firefox and Thunderbird for Windows All in One
ISBN: 0672328089
EAN: 2147483647
Year: 2005
Pages: 232
Authors: Greg Perry

flylib.com © 2008-2017.
If you may any questions please contact us: flylib@qtcs.net