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Books | Book Excerpts
Chapter 11: Working with Charts
Page 1 of 4
by Patrice-Anne Rutledge and Jim Grey - Read
Patrice's interview here...
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This book extract from Special
Edition Using Microsoft Office PowerPoint 2003 is
an Indezine exclusive with permission from Pearson
Education.
The book itself is probably the most detailed volume
on PowerPoint you'll find anywhere - in addition it
also looks beyond PowerPoint to design sense, presentation
and speaking skills. The book has been completely updated
for PowerPoint 2003 and includes a free CD that contains
software that you can use.
I wish to thank Patrice-Anne Rutledge and Amy
Sorokas for facilitating the permission to extract.
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Exploring Chart Possibilities
Understanding Charts in PowerPoint
Adding a Chart
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Exploring Chart Possibilities
PowerPoint charts can be as simple or as complex as you
like. You can create a basic chart right inside PowerPoint using
Microsoft Graph, or you can create a full-featured chart using
Microsoft Excel and insert it into your presentation. You can choose
from common chart types such as column, bar, line, and pie charts;
try something out of the ordinary such as a doughnut or radar chart;
or create a chart type of your own. PowerPoint charts are preformatted
based on the attached design template, but you can also change
nearly every aspect of a chart—its color, text, labels, and
more.
A chart, also referred to as a graph, can be a useful tool
for communicating numeric information in a concise format. You
could create a chart illustrating sales revenue per region or the
percentage of sales allocated to each of your products, for example.
As you begin to work with charts, you'll discover a multitude
of uses for them.
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Understanding Charts in PowerPoint
You can use Microsoft Graph to create charts in your presentation,
or you can insert charts created in another application, such as
Excel. Using Microsoft Graph inside PowerPoint is the easiest way
to create a graph, but doesn't offer any calculation or formula
capabilities for your chart data. If you've already created
a chart in Excel or you need to analyze complex data, it's
best to insert an Excel chart.
Note - For the sake of consistency, we use the
term chart throughout this chapter to match PowerPoint's
interface—even though the application you use to create
charts is called Microsoft Graph. Essentially, chart and graph are
synonyms for any kind of graphical representation of numeric
information.
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Before you start creating a chart using Microsoft Graph from within
PowerPoint, you should become familiar with chart terminology.
Table 11.1 lists these terms and their definitions.
Table 11.1 Chart Object Terminology
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Term
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Definition
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Axis
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A line that frames one side of the plot area. The two most
common axes are the value axis and the category axis.
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Datasheet
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A grid that resembles a spreadsheet, in which you can enter
data for your chart.
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Data label
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Text that describes a specific data marker or series of
data markers. This can be a numeric value, text, a percent,
or a combination of these items.
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Data marker
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A value that represents a single cell or data point in a
datasheet.
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Data series
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The main categories of information in a chart—usually
reflected in a chart's legend and in the first cell
of each datasheet row or column.
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Data table
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A grid in the chart that lists the exact data in the datasheet.
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Gridlines
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Lines that display across the category or value axes to
make a chart easier to read. By default, major gridlines
are in increments of 10 and minor gridlines in increments
of 2.
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Legend
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A box that lists and color-codes all data series.
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Trendline
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A line that forecasts future values based on current data.
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Figure 11.1 shows some of these chart objects.
Figure 11.1
Learn the basic objects of a chart before you create one.
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Adding a Chart
The fastest way to add a chart to your presentation is to add
a slide and apply a layout that contains a chart. To do so, click
the New Slide button on the Formatting toolbar and then choose
a layout from the Slide Layout task pane. The next step varies
depending on the slide layout you choose.
If you choose any of the layouts in the Content Layouts or Text
and Content Layouts sections, you need to click the Insert Chart
button on the content palette that displays (see Figure 11.2)
to activate the chart and Microsoft Graph.
Figure 11.2
Click the Insert Chart button to start creating a chart.
If you choose one of the layouts containing a chart in the Other
Layouts section, you need to double-click the chart placeholder
to activate the chart and Microsoft Graph. Figure 11.3 shows
a sample chart slide with a chart placeholder.
Figure 11.3
You can start adding a chart by double-clicking the placeholder.
Tip - If you want to create a slide with a single
chart and no other content, choose the Title and Chart
slide layout.
To learn more about how slide layouts affect your presentation, see "Understanding
Slide Layouts" in Chapter 2, "Creating a Basic
Presentation," p. 43.
Note - If you use the AutoContent Wizard to create
your presentation, it might already have a slide that
contains a chart.
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You can also insert a chart into an existing slide by clicking
the Insert Chart button on the Standard toolbar or by selecting
Insert, Chart.
Figure 11.4 shows what you see after you click the Insert
Chart button on a content palette or double-click a chart placeholder.
A sample 3D clustered column chart appears, and the related datasheet
opens. The menu bar and toolbars are also customized for Microsoft
Graph. The menu bar now includes Data and Chart menu items, and
the Standard toolbar includes several new options, explained in
Table 11.2.
Figure 11.4
PowerPoint displays a chart with sample data.
Table 11.2 Standard Toolbar Chart Options
| Button |
Name |
Description |
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Chart Objects |
Lets you select a chart object such as a plot area, a chart
area, a legend, an axis, or a series. |
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Format |
Opens a Format dialog box tailored to the selected chart
object. |
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Import File |
Opens the Import File dialog box from which you can import
chart data from another file, such as an Excel worksheet, into
your chart. |
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View Datasheet |
Displays the chart's datasheet. |
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By Row |
Displays datasheet row data as the data series (the default). |
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By Column |
Displays datasheet column data as the data series. |
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Data Table |
Displays a table with all the datasheet data in your chart. |
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Chart Type |
Lets you apply a new chart type from a palette that appears. |
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Category Axis Gridlines |
Displays category axis gridlines. |
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Value Axis Gridlines |
Displays value axis gridlines. |
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Legend |
Displays a legend on your chart. |
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Drawing |
Displays the Drawing toolbar. |
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Fill Color |
Lets you apply fill color and fill effects to selected objects. |
To learn more about object-formatting options in PowerPoint, see "Using
the Format Dialog Box" in Chapter 14, "Creating
and Formatting Objects," p. 296.
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If you don't see these menu and toolbar options, Microsoft
Graph isn't active. To activate it, double-click the chart
in PowerPoint and you'll then be able to view the Data and
Chart menus and chart toolbar options.
Note - Many of these toolbar buttons act as a toggle.
For example, clicking the View Datasheet button displays
the datasheet if it's closed, but closes it if the
datasheet already displays.
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To determine what each object is in a chart
you've created,
place the mouse on that object or part of the chart and a chart
tip displays its name. Figure 11.5 shows an example of a
chart tip with the name and numeric value for a data series.
Figure 11.5
This chart tip lets you know the name of the chart object
as well as its value.
If the chart tip doesn't display, activate
Microsoft Graph by double-clicking the chart, choose Tools, Options,
and then verify
that the Show Names and Show Values check boxes are selected on
the Chart tab of the Graph Options dialog box (see Figure 11.6).
Figure 11.6
PowerPoint displays names and values in chart tips by default.
Modifying Your Chart
You can quickly create a basic chart, and you can make numerous
enhancements and formatting changes. After you activate Microsoft
Graph to create a chart, it's easiest to proceed in this order:
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If you don't want a 3D column chart, change the chart
type.
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Type the text and numbers for your chart in the datasheet.
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Type a title for the chart slide.
- Modify and format chart objects as needed.
Tip - Before creating an actual chart, design a
paper sketch of the chart you want to create. This can
help you understand which chart type is right for your
specific chart.
Note - For help in using Microsoft Graph, choose
Help, Microsoft Graph Help. This opens the help file specific
to this application.
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