Basics of Creating Graphs / Charts using Microsoft Excel

Learning Objectives
• At the end of the session, participants will be able to:
• create various types of in-built charts from data in Excel worksheets; and
• design and format chart elements as desired

Chart Basics in Excel…
• Excel allows users to produce a number of chart types from data in the worksheet,
including PivotTable data.
• These charts can then be formatted and designed as desired
• Having selected the data, to draw charts in Excel:
• Click on the Insert tab
• The Charts group on the Insert tab ribbon contains commands to view
recommended charts or select the specific type of chart one wants to create

• Pointing the mouse over a command will display a tool tip that
describes the type of chart that can be created by the command
• For example, pointing at the top left command to the right of
Recommended Charts shows that it will insert Column or Bar Charts
and clicking on it shows a list of the different types of column and bar
charts available,such as 2-D and 3-D bar or column charts
Insert Column or Bar Chart

• To view a list of all chart types, click on
the dialog launcher in the bottom
right of the Charts group
• The InsertChart dialog box is shown
• Click on the All Charts tab to see a
list of all chart types and sub-types for
each selected type
Dialog
launcher

• Suppose we had some monthly sales
data as in the image on the left.
• We can start by plotting a very basic
chart of the monthly unit sales for each
month
• Select the cell range A1:B13

• Click on the Insert tab
• In the Chart group,
click on the Insert
Column and Bar Chart
command
• Select the first sub-type
under 3-D column
• The 3-D column chart
is inserted in the
worksheet
Note that a chart is made up of different
elements, such as the Chart area (entire
area where chart is displayed), the Chart
Title, Plot area, the Horizontal and
Vertical axes, the Series (columns),
Legend, etc

When the chart is inserted,different designs can be applied to it using commands from
the Chart Design tab
Click on the Chart Design tab if it is not already selected by default
The Chart Design ribbon allows us to add or change different chart elements,apply different
layouts, change colours and chart styles.
One can also use commands on the ribbon to switch rows to columns,select another data
range in the worksheet, and change chart type and location

To change the colour theme used for the chart,click on the Change Colours command
and select another colour from the drop-down list
Similarly,select another style from the Chart Styles group displayed on the ribbon
The colour and style is changed in the
chart

To add an axis title element to the
chart,click on Add Chart Element
Select Axis Titles and click Primary
Vertical in the pop-out list
A vertical axis title box is added to the chart
Click in the axis title box in the chart and type
Naira in place of ‘Axis Title’

In general, the Add Chart
Element command is
used to add and edit
various elements in a
chart.
Several chart designs with
specific elements can also
be quickly selected using
the Quick Layout
command on the ribbon
Click on the Quick
Layout command and
select a Layout that
includes a chart title,
horizontal and vertical
axis titles and a legend
The chart is displayed with the elements
included in the Layout
You may click in the horizontal axis title
box and type ‘Month’ in place of ‘Axis
Title’

Suppose we wanted to also plot the
monthly Sales Values along with the
unit Sales, we would need to change
the data range used for our chart.
Click on Select Data in the Data Group
on the Design tab ribbon
The Select Data Source dialog box
pops up
Click on the Add button under Legend
Entries (Series)
The Edit Series dialog box is shown

The Edit Series dialog box is shown
Click in the Series name box and select
cell D1 in your worksheet
Click in the Series values box, delete
the existing entry and select the cell
range D2:D13 in the worksheet
Click the OK button to go back to the
Select Data Source dialog box
The Sales Value series has been added
under the Legend Entries (Series) box
However, because the range is non-
contiguous, the original Horizontal
(Category) Axis Labels have been lost
and now shows only numbers 1, 2, 3,
etc.

Click on the Edit button under the
Horizontal (Category) Axis Labels
area
The Axis Labels dialog is shown
Click in the box under Axis Label
range and select the range A2:A13 in
the worksheet
Click the OK button to return to the
Select Data Source dialog box
The month names should now be
displayed in the Horizontal (Category)
Axis Labels area
Click the OK button to update the chart

The Chart now shows two series – Unit
Sales and Sales Value
However, the Sales Values are much
higher than the Unit Sales Values, making
it difficult to properly see changes in the
Unit Sales values
To address this, we can change the chart
type to one that has 2 vertical axis
Click on Change Chart Type command in
the Type group of the Design tab ribbon

The Change Chart Type dialog box
opens
In the list of chart types on the left
under the All Charts tab, select Combo

The preview Combo chart is displayed on the
right with Unit Sales measured with a Clustered
Column and Sales Value measured with a Line
To make Unit Sales more visible by
measuring it on a second vertical axis,
click in the Secondary Axis box for Unit
Sales under Choose the chart type
and axis for your data series area
Click the OK button to make the
changes in the chart

The Chart is updated in the worksheet
with Unit Sales in columnsand measured
on the right vertical axis and Sales Value as
a line and measured on the left vertical
axis.
Other changes and elements can be
added to the chart,such as a Chart Title
and left and right vertical axis labels that
make clear what series is measured on
what axis

Apart from Design changes that allow chart types, chart elements and chart data to be edited
and changed through the Chart Design tab ribbon, chart elements can also be formatted
using commands on the Format tab ribbon
Click on the Format tab (note
Chart Elements can be selected directly on the chart by clicking on them, or by selecting it
from the drop-down box under the Current Selection group on the left of the Format tab
ribbon
After selecting a chart element, formats such as colour, font and size changes can be made to
it depending on the element type

To change the colour of the Sales value series, either click anywhere on the Sales value line in
the chart or use the drop=down box in the Current Selection group on the ribbon and select
Series “Sales Value” from the list (the Sales Value line should be highlighted on the Chart
after the selection)
Click on the Shape Outline drop-down box of the Shape Styles group on the ribbon
Select the blue colour

The chart is formatted with a blue colour for the Sales Value series

Basics of Creating Graphs / Charts using Microsoft Excel

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