Hour 10. Charting with Excel 2003

A picture is worth a thousand words ”and worth even more numbers! Your worksheet data might contain a ton of numbers , but many times you can present data better with a chart. The actual raw data supplied by a worksheet is accurate and vital information for analysis, but for trends and overall patterns, charts demonstrate the data's nature quickly and effectively. After you create and format your worksheets, use Excel's Chart Wizard to produce colorful charts (also known as graphs). The graphs that the Chart Wizard generates look great, and Excel does all the drawing work for you. After the Chart Wizard creates your charts, you then can customize them to look exactly the way you want.

The highlights of this hour include the following:

How to use the Chart Wizard to produce graphs that show data trends and comparisons
When to choose one chart type over another
How to modify your charts so that they look the way you want them to
Why an instant chart can come in handy
How to add graphics to your chart's background area to improve the chart's presentation