Graphs and Charts for Business Data
Formatting a chart
Make a chart clear and attractive.
Click a chart and Chart Tools appear on the Ribbon, with three tabs. Remember them by their jobs:
- Design: the chart type, layout and style. Change Chart Type turns, say, a column chart into a pie (you can also right-click the chart and choose Change Chart Type). Switch Row/Column swaps what is on the X-axis, for example from products to quarters.
- Layout: inserts elements: pictures, chart and axis titles, data labels, legend, gridlines.
- Format: the look of each element.
To format one element, pick it in the Chart Elements box in the Current Selection group of the Format tab (or simply double-click it), then Format Selection opens its options. Shape Styles change the fill (a colour, a picture, a gradient or a texture), the outline (colour, weight, dashes, arrows) and effects.
Text in a chart is formatted with the Mini toolbar or the Font group on the Home tab, or with WordArt styles: text fill, outline, shadow and 3-D.
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