Introduction to MS Excel Charts

7/27/2019 Introduction to MS Excel Charts

1/16

Simon Fraser University

Faculty of Business Administration

FORMATTING AND CHARTING

Objectives:

1. Formatting

setting up worksheets

copy and fill options

examples of cell format options

linking two worksheets

2. Creating Charts with the Chart Wizard

selecting chart contents

chart types chart options

editing chart options

adding data to an existing chart

1. Formatting

An example (Uncle Eddys HotDawg Emporium) will be used to illustrate the different

formatting techniques available in Excel. In the example, Uncle Eddy is interested in making

some predictions about the revenue his hot-dog stand will be making over the next four months.

A) Sett ing up work sheets

You begin by defining the cells that you want to use to display your revenue estimates. These

are provided below and were placed in a worksheet entitled Revenues:


2/16

Excel 5.0 Introduction - Formatting and Charting

Andrew Gemino 2

The results of the revenue estimates will depend on the assumptions that Uncle Eddy makes

regarding the number of items sold per month, the growth rate of sales per month, and the price

charged for the item. This information is captured in a separateworksheet labeled

Assumptions. This worksheet is shown below:

Note that the items are in the same order and the orientation of the itemes in both sheets are the

same. The careful and thoughtful planning of data throughout the sheets can significantly reduce

your work as you build more functionality into your workbook. Think about the final product

before you start placing items in worksheets.

B) Copy and Fil l Techniques

One way of preserving the order of the items across the sheets is to copy the list of items from

one sheet to another sheet. This is done using the Copy option. Three steps are required for

copying an item: 1. Highlight what you want to copy with the mouse, 2. Select the Copyoption from the Edit menu item, and 3. Paste the copy into the new area in the workbook.

The Copy procedure is pictured below:

1. Select Cells to Copy

Select what you

want to copy by

clicking on the first

cell and dragging the

mouse while holding

down the rightmouse button

When you have selected what

you want to copy, let go ofthe mouse button. The area

should still appear highlighted.


3/16


Andrew Gemino 3

2. Select the Copy from the Edit Menu

3. Select the new location for data and select Paste

Excel 5.0 also has some interesting Fill features that reduce the amount of work required to

develop and design your worksheets. One of the more convenient techniques is the Fill option

that can be used to fill formulas or series of data. For example, the Fill option can be used in

the Revenue worksheet to automatically fill in the months associated with the revenue

estimates. To fill in the months use the following procedure:

1. Start off by entering two months (example Mar and Apr).

The Copy

command creates a

new copy of the

selected data

The Cut

command will

move the selecteddata to a new

This side of the menu

suggests shortcutkeys for the

operations. Instead

of selecting Copy

from the Edit

menu, you could

simply press the

CTRL and c

simultaneously.

These shortcuts

make editin faster.

To complete the

copy, select the first

cell where you want

to place the copy and

then select Paste

from the Edit Menu

(or hit Ctrl and v)


4/16


Andrew Gemino 4

2. Select the two months you entered

Select March and April using the click and drag technique with the mouse. Make sure to let go

of the mouse button after the selection.

3. Extend the Selection

Grab the bottom right hand corner of the selection (notice how the cursor changes shape) and

drag out the required number of months.

C) Cell Formatting Optio ns

Excel 5.0 has a variety of options available for formatting the contents of a cell. If you are doing

a large amount of formatting, it is a good idea to open up the Format toolbar provided by

Excel. To open this toolbar, select the Toolbar option from the View menu. Selecting the

Toolbar option provides you with the following box:

To extend the

selection, click in

this corner after

cursor changes

Voila!

A quick way to create

a series. You can do

the same with numbers


5/16


Andrew Gemino 5

Selecting the Formatting toolbar will give you easier access to the following options:

Some formatting options are not available directly from the formatting toolbar. Furtherformatting options are available in the Cells option in the Format Menu. An example of one

of these options is Word Wrap. Word Wrap allows text to wrap around a cell width creating

several lines of text in a single cell. To format a cell for Word Wrap, first select the cell, then

select Cell from the Format menu. This will give you the following options box:

To select a

toolbar, click the

box so that an X

appears next to

the toolbar you

want. Then press

the OK button

Use this button

to choose font

type

Font Size

Bold, Italics,

and Underline

Centerin

Percentage or

currency

formats

Cell Border

Options Cell color

options

Select the format

options by

clicking on the

tabs.

Word Wrap

is enable by

placing an X in

this box.


6/16


Andrew Gemino 6

As you can see, many other options for cell formats also exist - too many to go through in this

introduction. The best way to discover how these formatting options work is to try them

yourself . The only thing to remember is to select the cells you want to format, before you apply

the options.

D) Linking Spreadsheets Through Formulas

Our example currently has 2 worksheets; one set up to display revenue predictions, and a

second to hold the assumptions behind the predictions. The question is, How can these two

sheets be hooked together to create the required predictions. Fortunately, the answer is simple.

We link the two worksheets through formulas. As a reminder, the two worksheets are providedbelow (with a little more formatting):

The Revenues Worksheet


7/16


Andrew Gemino 7

The Assumptions Worksheet

To link these two worksheets together we create a formula in the Revenues worksheet that

utilizes the assumptions Uncle Eddy has made about sales. For March, the total revenuegenerated by Big Dawgs is equal to the initial demand multiplied by the price. This formula is

shown below:

Note that the formula now includes not only the cell references, but also the worksheet

reference. Formulas can therefore extend through several Excel worksheets.

The formula for April is somewhat different due to the growth rate in demand. The formula for

April is (note the absolute cell addressing for cell C5 in the assumptions worksheet. Why is this

necessary?):

Using the Fill option in the Edit menu, the rest of the formulas are filled in without having to

type. The result is the following Revenues worksheet:


8/16


Andrew Gemino 8


9/16


Andrew Gemino 9

2. Creating Graphs using the Graph Wizard

Creating graphs has been simplified in Excel 5.0 with the introduction of the Graph Wizard.

The Graph Wizard provides an easy step by step set of instructions for creating a graph.

Well use our example to show how graphs can be created.

A) Selecting graph data

The first step is to select the data that you want to grab. We will start easy and just graph a

single month from our example. To select the data for graphing, use the same procedures you

learned for copying and pasting. It is a good idea to include both the headings for the data

along with the data itself when creating a graph using the wizard. The selection for the

month of March is shown below:

Once you have selected the data for graphing, you then select the Chart Wizard icon. It islocated on the standard toolbar and looks like this:

After pressing the Chart Wizard icon, your arrow cursor will change its shape to something

similar to the Chart Wizard icon shown above. This change in shape of the cursor is indicating

that the Chart Wizard wants to know where you want to place the chart you are about to

create. Its a good idea to keep your data and charts separate, so a good suggestion is to place

the chart in a new worksheet.

To select a new worksheet, move your cursor to the bottom left-hand corner of your display

and click on one of the unused worksheet tabs. This will give you a fresh worksheet to work

from. Now, move your cursor back into the worksheet area and then click, hold and drag out a

rectangle with the chart wizard wand. Your chart will be placed in this rectangle. When you are

happy with the size of the rectangle, let go of the mouse button and the wizard will display the

following box:


10/16


Andrew Gemino 10

This box indicates the data that will be used in the chart. If the data is incorrect, just hit the

Cancel button and start again. If everything is OK then hit the Next button. Hitting the

next button produces the second step in the process.

The second step asks for the type of graph you want. There are many types, but for our data a

column graph will do nicely. Clicking on the graph you want and then pressing the next button

moves you to the third step, where you select the type of column chart that you want.

After selecting the type of chart, click the Next button and the following box appears:


11/16


Andrew Gemino 11

This step shows you an example of the chart and gives you the opportunity to rearrange the axis

and choose the columns and rows that indicate the headings for your data. We can move on to

the final step by pressing the Next button:

This box provides the ability to add Chart and Axis titles, gives you the choice of a Legend and

displays an example of the finished graph so you can judge the results of your work. When you

are satisfied with the chart, press the Finish button and the chart will be drawn in the

rectangular box you created for it previously.

B) Editing the Chart

All of the features in the chart can be edited. To edit the chart you must first select it for editing

by double clicking on the chart itself. After you have double clicked on the chart, the chart

border will change to a hatched design (see diagram below) and all of the chart features

including axes, colors, titles, and legends can be edited.


12/16


Andrew Gemino 12

Most of the editing options are straightforward and are left to the inquisitive to explore.

C) Ad ding Data to a Chart

The chart shown above could be altered to include more than just a single month of data. There

are two ways to accomplish this. The first way is to redraw the chart starting with a larger

selection (2 or more months of data) and using the wizard as described above. Since we have

already seen the wizard, we will choose the second method: adding data to an existing graph.

Fortunately, Excel 5.0 makes it easy to add additional data. To add other months of data to an

existing graph, select the data you wish to add. The example below selects the next two months

of additional data.

Note thatched

border. This

indicates chart

options can be

Note, after

double click

on the graph

the Format

and Insert

menus have

changed to

reflect Char

Options.


13/16


Andrew Gemino 13

To add the selected data to the previous chart you simply copy the new data into the chart.

This can be done using Copy and Paste procedure. While the data is selected, just select

Copy from the Edit menu as shown below:

After selecting Copy, the new data is pasted into the existing chart by first selecting the chart

(use a single click) and then selecting the Paste Special option from the Edit Menu as shown

below:

After selecting the Paste Special option, the following box will appear:


14/16


Andrew Gemino 14

When you are satisfied with the options for the paste, press the OK button. The new graph

will then be displayed with the additional information as shown below:

:

Selecting Non-adjacent Cells for Graphing

Up to this point, we have chosen to select data that were adjacent to each other. This may not

always be possible. For instance, what if I wanted to graph the data for the month of July

ONLY, but I wanted to include the item titles in the first column. These non-adjacent cells are

shown below:

Indicates the

selected data

are to be

added to the

Indicates that

first row

contains themonth

heading.


15/16


Andrew Gemino 15

Selecting two non-adjacent columns in the same selection can be accomplished using the click

and drag mouse selection in conjunction with the Ctrl key. Holding down the Ctrl key

enables any previous selections to be maintained, and allows new selections to be made.

The process is simple. First, start a selection using the same techniques (click and drag) as used

previously. For example, select the first column of item names:

Now, before selecting the July column, HOLD DOWN the Ctrl key and then click and drag

the mouse in the July column. Next, let go of the mouse button and Ctrl key. Your selection

should look like this:

You can now press of the Graph Wizard icon and impress your friends by producing a graph

displaying only July data (like the one shown below).

How can you

select only these

two columns at

the same time?


16/16


Andrew Gemino 16

Documents

Introduction to MS Excel Charts