The document serves as a tutorial for enhancing workbooks in Microsoft Excel 2010 with charts and graphs, detailing the creation and formatting of various chart types including pie, column, and line charts. It explains the use of chart tools, customizing chart elements, and visual best practices for effective communication of data. Additionally, it covers advanced features such as creating sparklines and data bars to represent data visually within limited space.

1. Tutorial 4:
Enhancing a Workbook
with Charts and Graphs
Microsoft Excel 2010
® ®

2. Visual Overview XP
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3. Chart Elements XP
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4. Creating an Excel Chart XP
• Charts show trends or relationships in data
that are difficult to show with numbers
• Select a range to use as chart’s data source
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5. Creating an Excel Chart XP
• Select chart type that best represents the data
– Use one of 73 built-in charts organized into 11
categories, or…
– Create custom chart types based on built-ins
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6. Creating an Excel Chart XP
• Three Chart Tools tabs appear on the Ribbon:
Design, Layout, and Format
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7. Moving a Chart to a Different XP
Worksheet
• Move Chart dialog box provides options for
moving charts
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8. Moving and Resizing Charts XP
• Selecting the chart displays a selection box (used to
move or resize the object)
– To move the chart, drag selection box to new
location in worksheet
– To resize the chart, drag a sizing handle
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9. Designing a Pie Chart XP
• Charts include individual elements that can be
formatted (chart area, chart title, plot area,
data markers, legend)
• Make changes using a built-in style that
formats the entire chart or by selecting and
formatting an individual element
• Use a chart style to apply several formats to
the chart at one time
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10. Designing a Pie Chart XP
• Choose location of the legend, and format it
using tools on Chart Tools Layout tab
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11. Formatting Data Labels on a Pie Chart
XP
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12. Changing Pie Slice Colors XP
• Use distinct colors to avoid confusion,
especially for adjacent slides
• Format each slice rather than entire data
series (each slice represents a different value
in the series)
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13. Designing a Pie Chart XP
• Exploded pie charts
– Move one slice away from the others
– Useful for emphasizing one category above
all of the others
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14. Creating a Column Chart XP
• Column chart
– Displays values in different categories as
columns
– Height of each column is based on its value
• Bar chart
– Column chart turned on its side
– Length of each bar is based on its value
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15. Column/Bar Charts vs Pie Charts XP
• Column/bar charts are superior to pie charts
– For large number of categories or categories close
in value
– Easier to compare height or length than area
– Can be applied to wider range of data
– Can include several data series (pie charts usually
show only one data series)
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16. Inserting a Column Chart XP
• Select data source
• Select type of chart to create
• Move and resize the chart
• Change chart’s design, layout, and format by:
– Selecting one of the chart styles, or
– Formatting individual chart elements
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17. Inserting a Column Chart XP
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18. Editing the Axis Scale and Text XP
• Range of values (scale) of an axis is based on
values in data source
• Vertical (value) axis: range of series values
• Horizontal (category) axis: category values
• Primary and secondary axes can use different
scales and labels
• Add descriptive axis titles if axis labels are not
self-explanatory (default is no titles)
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19. Editing the Axis Scale and Text XP
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20. Editing the Axis Scale and Text XP
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21. Formatting the Chart Columns XP
• Columns usually
have a common
format –
distinguished by
height, not color
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22. Communicating Effectively with XP
Charts
• Keep it simple
• Focus on the message
• Limit the number of data series
• Use gridlines in moderation
• Choose colors carefully
• Limit chart to a few text styles
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23. Visual Overview XP
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24. Charts, Sparklines, and Data Bars XP
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25. Creating a Line Chart XP
• Use when data consists of values drawn from
categories that follow a sequential order at
evenly spaced intervals
• Displays data values using a connected line
rather than columns or bars
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26. Formatting Date Labels XP
• Set minimum and
maximum dates to
use in the scale’s
range
• Set major and minor
units as days,
months, or years to
use for the scale’s
interval
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27. Formatting Date Labels XP
• Custom date formats
use combinations of
“m”, “d”, and “y” for
months, days, and
years
• Number of letters
controls how Excel
displays the date
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28. Setting Label Units XP
• Simplify a chart’s appearance by displaying
units of measure appropriate to data values
– Useful when space is at a premium
– Example: Display the value 20 to represent
20,000 or 20,000,000
• Apply custom formats to numbers, including
adding text
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29. Overlaying a Chart Legend XP
• Makes more space for the plot area
• An overlaid chart element floats in the chart
area and is not fixed to a particular position;
can be dragged to a new location
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30. Creating a Line Chart XP
• Adding gridlines
• Adding an axis title
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31. Editing and Revising Chart Data XP
• Modify the data range that the chart is based
on (do not directly modify data in the chart)
• If values/labels in data source are changed,
chart automatically updates to show new
content
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32. Adding a Data Series to an Existing XP
Chart
• New data series appears in the chart with a
different set of data markers
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33. Adding a Data Series to an Existing XP
Chart
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34. Adding a Data Series to an Existing XP
Chart
• Understanding the SERIES function
• Can be edited within the formula bar to make
quick changes to the chart, but the function is
tied to an existing chart; it cannot be used
within a worksheet cell or referenced from
another Excel formula
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35. Creating a Combination Chart XP
• Select a data series in an existing chart
• Apply a new chart type to that series, leaving
the other data series in its original format
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36. Choosing the Right Chart XP
Chart When to Use
Pie charts Small number of categories; easy to
distinguish relative sizes of slices
Column or Several categories
bar chart
Line charts Categories follow a sequential order
XY scatter To plot two numeric values against one
charts another
Custom chart Available charts don’t meet your needs
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37. Creating a 3-D Chart XP
• Provide illusion of
depth and distance
• Adds three spatial
dimensions:
– The x-axis (length)
– The y-axis (height)
– The z-axis (depth)
• Chart’s perspective
controls how fast the
chart appears to recede
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38. Creating a 3-D Chart XP
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39. Adding Sparklines and Data Bars XP
• Both convey graphical information about
worksheet data without occupying a lot of
space
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40. Creating Sparklines XP
• A mini chart displayed within a worksheet cell
• Compact in size; doesn’t include chart
elements
• Goal is to convey maximum amount of
graphical information in a very small space
• Can be grouped or ungrouped
– Grouped sparklines share a common format
– Ungrouped sparklines can be formatted
individually
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41. Types of Sparklines XP
• Line sparkline
– Highlights trends
• Column sparkline
– For column charts
• Win/Loss sparkline
– Highlights positive
and negative values
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42. Creating Sparklines XP
• Select a data range containing data to graph
• Select a location range where you want
sparklines to appear
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43. Creating Sparklines XP
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44. Adding and Formatting Sparkline XP
Markers
• Can specify only line color and marker color
• Can create line markers for highest value,
lowest value, all negative values, first value,
and last value
• Can create markers for all data points
regardless of value or position in data source
• Can add an axis to a sparkline – horizontal line
that separates positive and negative values
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45. Adding and Formatting Sparkline XP
Markers
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46. Creating Data Bars XP
• Conditional format that adds a horizontal bar to
background of a cell containing a numeric value
– Length based on value of each cell in selected range
• Dynamic
– Lengths of data bars automatically update if cell’s
value changes
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47. Modifying a Data Bar Rule XP
• Alter rules of the conditional format
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48. Modifying a Data Bar Rule XP
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49. Creating a Chart Sheet XP
• For detailed charts that need more space to
be seen clearly or to show a chart without any
worksheet text or data
• Do not contain worksheet cells for calculating
numeric values
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50. Creating a Chart Sheet XP
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