Changing the sub-type of a “Chart”

We have already seen how we can choose the “Chart Type” as “Bar Chart” but now, we will look at how we can

adapt the “Chart sub-type”.

To do this we first select our “Chart Wizard”‘ from the toolbar.

Next we select “Chart Type”.

“In the “Chart Type” dialog box we see that we can choose both the “Chart” as well as the “Chart sub-type”.

We choose “Chart type” and “Chart sub-type”, and click OK.

Changing the “Range”

For changing the “Range” of our data in the “Chart”, we first select our “Chart”.

Then click the “Chart” button in the menu bar and select “Source Data”.

This opens the “Source Data” dialog.

This is actually the same as the second step of the “Chart Wizard”:

Click the button to the right of the “Data Range:” field.

Click and drag over the “Range” in the “Worksheet”.

Again click on the button to the right of the “Data Range:” field.

And click OK.

We can also remove certain information from our “Chart”.
Click on the tab “Series”.

In the “Series” tab, you’ll see links below to the entire list of “Series” that are currently listed in the “Chart”.

Choose the “Series” you want to delete and click “Remove”.

After you removed all the “Series” you wished to remove, click OK

We now wish to add a “Series” so we click the “Add” button.

Choose our “Range” for “Name” and a “Range” for “Value”.
And click OK.

Change of titles

We can still “Add” or change titles.

For this we first select the “Chart”, and then we click on “Chart” from the menu bar, select “Chart Options ..”

This opens the “Chart Options” dialog.

This is actually the same as the third step of the “Chart Wizard”.

Here we can enter a “Chart title”, and labels for the horizontal “Category (X axis)” and vertical “Value (Y axis)” Just type in the titles.

Re-positioning of the “Legend”

Select “Chart” from the menu bar and select “Chart Options … “.
Click the “Legend” tab
You can show or hide the “Legend” of the “Chart” by checking or unchecking the “Show” checkbox.

Then you determine the location of the legend by choosing a radio button to opt for the “Placement” section.

Click OK when you are satisfied.

Adding “Data Labels”

“Data Labels” add a description to the data “Series” which we show in our “Chart”.

We can add “Data Labels” again by clicking on “Chart” from the menu bar and selecting “Chart Options”.

Then choose the “Data Labels” tab.

Then select the checkbox or checkboxes for the label you want.
And click OK.

Add “Independent text”

“Independent text” is the text that we can add to our “Chart”.

To do this, we first select our “Chart”.

We type the text that we want to add in the “Formula bar”, and click OK.

The text appears in our “Chart”.

We can move it by clicking and dragging the edges of the text frame.

We can “Format” the whole text or a part of the text by selecting the text and clicking the “Formatting toolbar” in Excel menubar.

The mapping of time-scale data

When we are mapping data in Excel that has a date, Excel will automatically sort by date.

To avoid this, we first select our “Chart”, click “Chart” from the menu bar and select “Chart Options … ”

In the “Chart Options” dialog, we select the “Axes” tab.

And select the “Category” option button under “Category (X) axis” box.

This will automatically turn off sort by date.

Formatting of “Series” from the “Chart “

We can see the layout of each of the “Series” in our “Chart” by selecting and right clicking the “Series” and choosing

“Format Data Series” from the popup menu.

The “Format Data Series” dialog box appears:

We use the different tabs of the dialog box to set the layout of our “Series”.

Here we find so many different formatting options, which is a bit too much for me to mention all of this.

Try them all by yourself but gradually.

Adjusting the perspective of a “3D Chart”

You can the change the perspective of your “3D Chart” by selecting it and clicking on “Chart” from the menu bar and selecting “3D View”

The dialog box appears:

We click the up and down arrows or rotate buttons to change the perspective, we can also directly enter a number in the “Elevation” (tilt) box and the “Rotation” (turn) box.

Every change we make is immediately displayed in the preview window.

When you’re satisfied, click OK.

We may even change the perspective of the “Chart” by simply clicking and dragging our mouse pointer.

When we choose the “Corners” option in the dropdown menu that appears when we click on “Chart Objects”, we see

that the corners of the “Chart” are highlighted by black squares.

When we click and drag a black square, we can rotate the “Chart”.

“Standard Chart”

Once you have formatted a “Chart” the way you wish, you can save it as a “Sandard Chart”.

This gives you the possibility of reusing this “Chart” with its particular style.

To create a chart with your own “Format”, we first select our first “Chart”, then click “Chart” from the menu bar and select “Chart Type … ”

In the “Chart Type” dialog we choose the “Custom Types” tab

In the dialog we see different types of “Standard Chart”(s), which are installed when we installed Excel.

“Standard Chart”(s) which we have designed is not shown in this list.

To see the “Charts” which we have designed, we click the “User defined” option.

As this is the first time that we created our own a “Chart” design, so we still see nothing in the list of course.
Click the “Add” button.

The “Add Custom Chart Type” dialog opens.

Enter a name and description for your “Chart” and click OK.

Now, it should appear in the “Chart type” list.

In the future if we create “Charts” with the “Chart Wizard”, we can still “Format” the “Charts” and customize them .
We choose the “Custom Types” tab in step 1 and click the box “User defined” option.

You see, our “Chart type” is included in the list.

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