Hello people, welcome to this video! Let's see all you need to know to
create good graphs and charts with Microsoft Excel 2016!
Leave feedback to help us improving our next videos!
First of all, let's suppose to have a filled table on the workspace.
You can download this table and a sample chart in the video description.
To make charts in the correct way, you have to fill rows and columns
correctly. Use the columns to specify the kind of data you want to
plot. For example, a column for the year, another for the concentration,
and so on. Use the first row to describe such data. Use all other rows
to collect all data for each column. Make sure that all columns
interested have the same number of rows filled, or you may lose points
in your future chart.
Then, to create your chart, select the columns you want to include by
holding CTRL down and go to Insert above, on Recommended Charts. You can
select one from the Recommended Charts section or go to All Charts for
the full list.
Basically, you have two main kinds of charts.
There are several charts that do compare the envelope of all selected
data columns (called Series) versus a single selected column, called
Main Column. All Series points will be represented inside the chart
following the scale on the vertical axis (or Y axis), and distributed
according to the Main Column, which is used as the horizontal axis (or
X axis). By default the column used as X axis is the selected column
which is on the extreme left of your workspace.
Then, there is also a second group of charts that do show all columns
selected inside the chart without using one as X axis. In this case, it
is the number of total rows filled (or, the total number of data) that
do compose the X axis.
To understand how to manage a chart, let's for example take a chart that
uses a column as X axis, like the simple Line chart. Select it and just
go to OK.
The chart just created is a simple object inside your Excel workspace.
Click on it to select it. Excel will show, on your workspace, all
columns that are actually taken and shown inside your chart.
You can also edit your data from the columns: the chart will be
automatically updated live.
You can click and drag to move your chart anywhere, and scale it by
using the white nodes in the corners.
Let's now see how to manage your chart in Design and Format. Those
sections can be found under Chart Tools above, that appears when you
have your chart selected.
Under Design, use Chart Styles or Change Chart Type to change the kind
of chart. Under Select Data, you can also adjust the way to show all
data inside your chart.
This dialog box shows how all data is shown. On the left, you have all
columns taken and used on the same Y axis. You can check and uncheck
them to show or hide a particular column.
If you want to remove a column from the chart, select the series, and
use the Remove button.
To add another column, simply use Add. Under Series name, type the
column name used to describe it. Use Series values to insert all data
related to the column to be added. Just click on the icon on the right,
and select all interested rows directly from your workspace.
Then just go to OK.
On the right, you can decide which is the column to use as X axis.
Remember that you can use just one column as X axis, so you can't add
or remove any column as seen for the Series. But, if the column taken
as X axis is wrong, just click on Edit above, and select the column you
want to use from the workspace.
By default, all Series do share the same Y axis. This may be wrong
sometimes. For example, when Series have numerical values that are too
much different, or they simply have a different measurement unit. To add
a second Y axis, simply double-click on the chart. This will
show a dialog box on the right, that we will see shortly. Then, click on
the black arrow, and choose the Series column that you want to have with
its own Y axis. Then go to Series Options and select Secondary Axis. This
will right appear on the right of the chart, related to the
chosen Series.
Let's now see how to fully customize your chart. This is composed by
several main Elements: the Axes, the Titles, the Labels, the Legend,
and the Chart itself. You can hide, show or even edit the style of any
of those, just go to Add Chart Element in the top left corner.
The Axes are used to locate all your data points. You usually have the
X Axis below, the Primary Y Axis on the left, and a Secondary Y Axis on
the right, if you have it. If you click on one axis, you can use the
Format Axis panel on the right to edit it.
Use Fill & Line to change stroke and filling color. Go to Effects to
change Glow and Shadow. Go to Size & Properties to change the text
direction. Go to Axis Options to adjust the step and the numeric range
to show data, and the format to use. If you need to adjust all regarding
font, size and style, switch to the Text Options.
Inside the chart you have the Titles, used to describe the chart content,
through the Chart Titles, and the axes, through the Axes Titles.
As seen before, click on the titles to edit them through the panel on
the right. So, use Fill & Line and Effects to adjust the shape
appearance, Size & Properties to adjust the text direction, and Text
Options to adjust font and style.
You can also move the title inside the chart where you like. Just
click and drag. You can do this also with other Chart Elements.
The Legend is used to describe your series. This can be edited just
like Axes and Titles. In addition, you can use Legend Options, to fast
adjust the Legend position.
Labels are used to show the Y value of each single point.
Then you have the Gridlines and the Lines. These are used to help people
read precisely and correctly the chart data on the Y and the X axes. You
add those and choose their type from Add Chart Element. Click on the
Lines and the Gridlines to edit their style and appearance through the
right panel.
Let's now edit the chart appearance.
This chart is composed by two parts: the Chart Area and the Chart Series,
one for each column represented. If you click on the inner part of the
chart, you can edit the Plot Area, which is the area on which all
Series lay.
To edit a Series, instead, just click on it and go on the right. Use
Fill & Line to edit both the continuous line, under Line, or even all
the single data points, under Marker, deciding filling, stroke, and the
shape itself. You can even click and select on a single point to edit it
apart. Just mind to define the shape of the point first, before editing
its color and style below.
When finishing your chart, you can export it easily. For example, to
move it to another Office document, you can simply copy and paste it.
To save it as a .pdf document, in case you want to print it, just go to
File and then to Save As...
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