Chapter 19: Learning Advanced Charting

Note

When a single data point is selected, the Chart Element control will display the name of the selected element even though it’s not actually available for selection from the drop-down list. n

Tip

If you do a lot of work with charts, you may want to add the Chart Element control to your Quick Access toolbar. That way, it will always be visible regardless of which Ribbon tab is showing. To add the control to your Quick Access toolbar, right-click the down arrow in the control and choose Add to Quick Access Toolbar. n

User Interface Choices for Modifying Chart Elements

You have three main ways of working with chart elements: the Format dialog box, the Ribbon, and the Mini toolbar.

Using the Format dialog box

When a chart element is selected, use the element’s Format dialog box to format or set options for the element. Each chart element has a unique Format dialog box that contains controls specific to the element (although many Format dialog boxes have controls in common). To access the Format dialog box, use any of these methods:

•Double-click the chart element.

•Right-click the chart element and then choose Format xxxx from the shortcut menu (where xxxx is the name of the element).

•Select a chart element and then choose Chart Tools Format Current Selection Format Selection.

•Select a chart element and press Ctrl+1.

Any of these actions displays a tabbed Format dialog box from which you can make many changes to the selected chart element. For example, Figure 19.3 shows the dialog box that appears when a chart’s legend is selected.

Tip

The Format dialog box is a modeless dialog box, so you can leave it open while you’re working on a chart. If you select a different chart element, the Format dialog box changes to display the options appropriate for the new element. n

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Part III: Creating Charts and Graphics

FIGURE 19.3

Use the Format dialog box to set the properties of a selected chart element — in this case, the chart’s legend.

Using the Ribbon

When a chart element is selected, you can also use the commands on the Ribbon to change some aspects of its formatting. For example, to change the color of the bars in a column chart, use the commands from the Chart Tools Format Shape Styles group. For some types of chart element formatting, you need to leave the Chart Tools tab. For example, to adjust font-related properties, use the commands from the Home Font Group.

The Ribbon controls do not comprise a comprehensive set of tools for chart elements. The Format dialog box usually presents options that aren’t available on the Ribbon.

Using the Mini toolbar

When you right-click an element in a chart, Excel displays a shortcut menu and the Mini toolbar. The Mini toolbar contains commonly used formatting commands, plus a copy of the Chart Elements control (which you can use to select another chart element).

Commands that are inappropriate for the selected chart element are disabled in the Mini toolbar. For example, if you select an element that doesn’t contain text, the text-related tools are disabled.

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Chapter 19: Learning Advanced Charting

Modifying the Chart Area

The Chart Area is an object that contains all other elements in the chart. You can think of it as a chart’s master background or container.

The only modifications that you can make to the Chart Area are cosmetic. You can change its fill color; outline; or effects, such as shadow and soft edges.

Note that if you set the Chart Area of an embedded chart to use No Fill, the underlying cells are visible. Figure 19.4 shows a chart that uses No Fill and No Outline in its Chart Area. The Plot Area, Legend, and Chart Title do use a fill color. Adding a shadow to these other elements make them appear to be floating on the worksheet.

The Chart Area element also controls all the fonts used in the chart. For example, if you want to change every font in the chart, you don’t need to format each text element separately. Just select the Chart Area and then make the change from options of the Home Font group or by using the Mini toolbar.

FIGURE 19.4

The Chart Area element uses No Fill, so the underlying cells are visible.

Resetting Chart Element Formatting

If you go overboard formatting a chart element, you can always reset it to its original state. Just select the element and choose Chart Tools Format Current Selection Reset to Match Style. Or, rightclick the chart element and choose Reset to Match Style from the shortcut menu.

To reset all formatting changes in the entire chart, select the Chart Area before you issue the Reset to Match Style command.

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Modifying the Plot Area

The Plot Area is the part of the chart that contains the actual chart. More specifically, the Plot Area is a container for the chart series.

Tip

If you set the Shape Fill property to No Fill, the Plot Area will be transparent. Therefore, the fill color applied to the Chart Area will show through. n

You can move and resize the Plot Area. Select the Plot Area and then drag a border to move it. To change the size of the Plot Area, drag one of the corner handles.

Different chart types vary in how they respond to changes in the Plot Area dimensions. For example, you can’t change the relative dimensions of the Plot Area of a pie chart or a radar chart. The Plot Area of these charts is always square. With other chart types, though, you can change the aspect ratio of the Plot Area by changing either the height or the width.

Figure 19.5 shows a chart in which the Plot Area was resized to make room for a Shape that contains text.

FIGURE 19.5

Reducing the size of the Plot Area makes room for the Shape.

In some cases, the size of the Plot Area changes automatically when you adjust other elements of your chart. For example, if you add a legend to a chart, the size of the Plot Area may be reduced to accommodate the legend.

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