INTERMEDIATE MICROSOFT EXCEL

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MODULE 3 NOTES

Creating Microsoft Excel charts

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Intermediate Microsoft Excel

CONTENTS
1. Introduction 3
2. Excel charts 3
3. Formatting chart design 8
4. Wrap-up 14

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1. INTRODUCTION
By the end of this module, you should be able to:
• Create and read charts in an Excel spreadsheet
• Format chart design
• Edit Excel chart label
• Move and resize charts

2. EXCEL CHARTS
Charts in Excel allow you to visually and graphically summarise your data. Charts make it easy to understand
extensive spreadsheet data, for example, you can spot trends in the stock market, compare sales, track weight
fluctuations and examine population diversity at a glance. Once, you have entered your data in a spreadsheet,
you can add a chart with easy automatic Excel functions.

Types of charts
Excel has many different types of charts for many different functions. Let’s look at the different chart types.

Line charts are used to show multiple trends over time. Each line represents specific data, for example, the
amount of money spent on books in the last four months. Whilst bar charts are displayed as horizontal bars and
are useful to compare large number series. The column chart displays vertical bars for each row of data and
pie charts are circular charts used to show data in slices or sections, i.e. slices of a pie. Bubble and scatterplot
charts are used for a set of points plotted with a horizontal and vertical axe, more like floating dots and bubbles.

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Excel has numerous available charts in the Insert tab.

You can also easily find ready-to-use charts in Excel templates. See example:

To add a table to an Excel spreadsheet, you need to:

• Highlight or select all the cells you wish to have inside the table
• Select the Insert tab
• Select Table

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Reading a chart
Charts have labels, headings, x-axis and y-axis. The x-axis runs horizontally across a chart and the y-axis runs
vertically on a chart. As you see in the Bubbles Laundromat chart below, the y-axis displays the expenses and
it is colour coded differently for each month. The amount spent is displayed on the y-axis and has column lines
in the chart area to indicate the actual amount.

Creating a chart
We will be using the Bubbles Laundromat expenses spreadsheet to create a chart. To add a chart to an Excel
spreadsheet, you need to:
• Highlight the data that you want to display on a chart. In this case, it will be from cell A2 to G10. We are
omitting the heading, maximum, minimum, average and totals
• Select Insert tab
• Select the bar chart tab

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Select a bar chart from the drop-down menu. There are many options.

Notice that once you’ve created the chart, it is displayed on the spreadsheet and a special Design tab appears
in the Ribbon.

Well done! You’ve created an Excel chart for your data in a few easy steps but there are still many features to
explore with your chart.

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The Recommended Charts command offers several different chart suggestions based on the
data. This is useful when you are unsure of which chart to use and you don’t want to create
the chart yourself.

Task:Now, you try it. Create two different charts for the Bubbles Laundromat income sheet.
Also, try the recommended Chart command.

Moving a chart
When the chart is created, it will be displayed directly onto the spreadsheet with its source data. You may need
to move the chart to another place in the spreadsheet to make the sheet easier to read or to a new sheet if
needed. Firstly, you can click on the chart to move around within the same sheet. To move it to a new sheet,
you can:
• Create a new sheet in the workbook
• Click on the chart
• Select the Design tab
• Select Move Chart
• Notice a new window pops up, select Sheet1 or another sheet from the drop-down menu
• Select OK

The chart has been moved to the new sheet. You can click on the chart and drag it to move around in the
sheet.

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Resizing a chart
You can change the size of the chart for better readability in the spreadsheet. To resize the chart, drag the
sizing handles on any corner of the chart to make the chart larger or smaller. The sizing handle is a double-
arrow when you move the cursor over the corner of the chart.

Task: Now, you try it. Move the chart that you created from the Bubbles Laundromat income
spreadsheet to a place below the data and then to a new sheet. Resize the chart to make it
larger.

3. FORMATTING CHART DESIGN

Excel offers several chart design options. Once you’ve created your chart, you can format the chart using the
Chart Tools and Design tab in the Ribbon. With Design, you can add different colour themes, layouts, chart
elements, various styles, including change the chart type. Let’s use some of them to format the chart. We are
working on the Bubbles Laundromat expense chart in this section.
Using chart designs
Click on your chart to reveal the Design tab below.

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The first tab is Add Chart Elements; this feature allows you to edit or add in chart titles, axis labels, legends,
gridlines, etc. We are going to edit the legend (the key which is a description of the data for easy chart
readability) to the right side of the chart for a different view.
• Select Add Chart Element on the Design tab
• Choose Legend from the drop-down menu
• Select Right and the legend will move to the right.
There are options to move it to the left, top or bottom as well.

Quick Layout is a command under the Design tab that allows you to change the overall chart layout. Each
layout has a different style for the title, legend, axis label and so on. Select this command and move over to the
layout examples. As you do this, Excel shows you a brief display of what your chart will look like. Let’s try it:
• Click on the Quick Layout command
• You will notice the different layout options. Select Layout 5

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Next to the Quick Layout command is the Change Colors command. You can change the colour theme of the
chart with this feature.

Chart styles allow you to change the background and look of the chart. This is what Style 8 looks like
(Screenshot 17).

You will find more useful information on the Design tab in this link.

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Editing chart labels

Every chart has a Chart Title – the box on the top of the chart. You should add a suitable name to this box.
Here’s how:
• Click on Chart Title to highlight the text in the box
• Type in Bubbles Laundromat expenses

When you click on the chart, there are three formatting icons to the right, i.e. a plus symbol, a paintbrush and a
filter icon. These are quick access commands that help you edit your chart easily. Let’s use this to add and edit
the axis titles.

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• Click on the chart and the quick access chart icons appear
• Select the + icon
• Select Axis Titles

Now, you will notice two Axis title boxes on the chart.

• Select X-Axis title box (horizontal axis)

• Enter the text EXPENSES
• Select the Y-Axis title box (vertical axis)
• Enter the text AMOUNT

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This is what the edited title will look like:

Task: Now, it’s your turn to experiment with the Design options. Select the Chart tab and try
the different designs, layouts, colours until you decide on something suitable. Add and edit the
Chart Title and Axis Titles too.

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4. WRAP-UP

In this module, you’ve learnt how to create Excel charts to graphically illustrate your data in a spreadsheet.
We’ve explained the various chart types in Excel and shown you how to read them. You’ve also practised using
the chart design feature to format and change the chart. Finally, you’ve learnt to move, resize and edit the
chart. Hopefully, you found some of the tips useful.

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