Scribd
Upload
638 views25 pages

Types of Charts

The document discusses the different types of charts available in Word, how to insert and modify charts, and how to change chart elements, layouts, styles, and data. It provides instructions on inserting charts, editing data, switching between chart types and layouts, and modifying elements like titles and legends. Examples are given to demonstrate how to perform tasks like changing a chart's type, switching row and column data, and applying new styles.

Uploaded by

Claudia Bomediano
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
638 views25 pages

Types of Charts

The document discusses the different types of charts available in Word, how to insert and modify charts, and how to change chart elements, layouts, styles, and data. It provides instructions on inserting charts, editing data, switching between chart types and layouts, and modifying elements like titles and legends. Examples are given to demonstrate how to perform tasks like changing a chart's type, switching row and column data, and applying new styles.

Uploaded by

Claudia Bomediano
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
You are on page 1/ 25

Types of charts

Word has several types of charts, allowing you to choose the one that best fits
your data. In order to use charts effectively, you'll need to understand how
different charts are used.

Click the arrows in the slideshow below to learn more about the types of charts
in Word.

Word has a variety of chart types, each with its own advantages. Click the arrows to see
some of the different types of charts available in Word.






 1
 2
 3
 4
 5
 6
 7
 8

Identifying the parts of a chart


Click the buttons in the interactive below to learn about the different parts of a
chart.
Legend

The legend identifies which data series each color on the chart represents. In
this example, the legend identifies the different months in the chart.

Inserting charts
Word uses a spreadsheet as a placeholder for entering chart data, much
like Excel. The process of entering data is fairly simple, but if you are
unfamiliar with Excel you might want to review our Excel 2013 Cell
Basics lesson.

To insert a chart:
1. Select the Insert tab, then click the Chart command in
the Illustrations group.
2. A dialog box will appear. Select a category from the left pane, and
review the charts that appear in the right pane.
3. Select the desired chart, then click OK.
4. A chart and a spreadsheet will appear. The data that appears in the
spreadsheet is placeholder source data that you will replace with
your own information. The source data is used to create the Word
chart.
5. Enter your data into the worksheet.

6. If necessary, click and drag the lower-right corner of the blue


line to increase or decrease the data range for rows and columns.
Only the data enclosed by the blue lines will appear in the chart.
7. When you're done, click the X to close the spreadsheet.

8. The chart will be completed.

You can edit the chart data at any time by selecting your chart and clicking
the Edit Data command on the Design tab.
Creating charts with existing Excel data
If you already have data in an existing Excel file that you would like to use for a
Word chart, you can transfer the data by copying and pasting it. Just open the
spreadsheet in Excel, select and copy the desired data, and paste it into the
source data area for your Word chart.

You can also embed an existing Excel chart into your Word document. This can
be useful when you know you'll need to update the data in your Excel file and
would like the Word chart to automatically update whenever the Excel data is
changed.

Read our guide on Embedding an Excel Chart for more information.

Modifying charts with chart tools


There are many ways to customize and organize your charts. For example,
Word allows you to change the chart type, rearrange a chart's data, and even
change the layout and style.

To change the chart type:


If you find that your data isn't well suited to a certain chart, it's easy to switch to
a new chart type. In our example, we'll change our chart from a line chart to
a column chart.
1. Select the chart you want to change. The Design tab will appear on
the right side of the Ribbon.

2. From the Design tab, click the Change Chart Type command.
3. A dialog box will appear. Select the desired chart type, then
click OK.

4. The chart will change in the document.


To switch row and column data:
Sometimes you may want to change the way charts group your data. For
example, in the chart below the book sales data is grouped by genre, with
columns for each year. However, we could switch the rows and columns so the
chart will group the data by year, with columns for each genre. In both cases,
the chart contains the same data; it's just organized differently.
1. Select the chart you want to modify. The Design tab will appear.
2. From the Design tab, select the Edit Data command in
the Data group.

3. Click the chart again, then select the Switch


Row/Column command in the Data group.
4. The rows and columns will be switched. In our example, the data is
now grouped by year, with columns for each genre.

We've noticed that when numeric data has been entered in the first column of
the spreadsheet, switching rows and columns may cause unexpected results.
One solution is to type an apostrophe before each number, which tells the
spreadsheet to format it as text (instead of a numeric value). For example, the
year 2013 would be entered as '2013.
To change the chart layout:
Word's predefined chart layouts allow you to modify chart elements—
including chart titles, legends, and data labels—to make your chart easier to
read.

1. Select the chart you want to modify. The Design tab will appear.
2. From the Design tab, click the Quick Layout command.

3. Select the desired predefined layout from the menu that appears.
4. The chart will update to reflect the new layout.

To change a chart element (such as the chart title), click the element and begin
typing.
To change the chart style:
Chart styles allow you to quickly modify the look and feel of your chart.

1. Select the chart you want to modify. The Design tab will appear.
2. From the Design tab, click the More drop-down arrow in
the Chart Styles group.

3. A drop-down menu of styles will appear. Select the style you want
to use.

4. The chart will appear in the selected style.


You can also use the chart formatting shortcut buttons to quickly add chart
elements, change the chart style, and filter the chart data.

Challenge!
1. Open an existing Word document. If you want, you can use
our practice document.
2. Insert a new chart. If you're using the example, edit the data for the
chart by deleting the data from October through December.
3. Try changing the chart type and layout.
4. Switch the row and column data.
5. Apply a chart style. If the new style includes a chart title or
any labels, edit them.

You might also like