Creating a Chart Sheet
Chart is a table, diagram or a graphical presentation of a data. Charts often make worksheet data clearer and easier to understand. Excel enables you to create a charts on chart sheets, which are separate sheets of a workbook file that contain only charts. Excel also enables you to create embedded charts, which are displayed on the same sheet as the worksheet. To create a chart on a chart sheet, you can either use the Chart Wizard or press the F11 key. The Chart Wizard feature leads you through a step-by-step process to create a chart. When you use the F11 key to create a chart, Excel applies the default chart format to the new chart. E.g. Input data in cells A4 to E9, click on cell A5. While pressing the Shift key, click on cell E9. Choose Insert, Chart. Click on Next> three times. The default chart format is a column chart with a legend displayed and some formatting applied. Click As New Sheet. Click on Finish.
When you create a chart, values from worksheet cells, called data points, create data markers that can be displayed as bars, columns, lines, pie slices, or other shapes. A data marker is a chart symbol that represents a single data point. All of the data points on t he worksheet combine on the chart to create data series. These are displayed on the chart as a group of data markers distinguished by the same color or pattern. A sample of each series’ marker color and pattern is displayed in the legend along with the series name. the legend identifies the series on the chart so that you can compare the chart easily with the worksheet data. The value axis is typically the vertical axis on the chart. It is also known as the y-axis. Values for data points are plotted against this axis. The category axis is typically the horizontal axis on a chart. It is also known as the x-axis. Category labels are plotted along the x-axis, and data markers for all series are grouped into these categories. Gridlines are lines that are drawn in the plot area, typically for the value axis, so that data markers can be compared easily with an axis value. You can also create a chart from non-adjacent data. To do so, you select the first range of data, and then press the Ctrl key while you select the second range of data. You can press F11 to create the chart from the selected ranges. E.g. select the Chart Data sheet tab. Click on cell A5. Press the Shift key and click on cell B9 to select the range A5:b9.
Another example, selecting the range for the fourth quarter and create a char. while pressing the Ctrl key, select cell E5 press the Shift key and click on cell E9. Choose Insert, Chart. Click on Next> three times. (putting the chart on its own sheet, too) select As New Sheet. Click on Finish. A second sheet has been added.
NB: Excel automatically names all chart sheets in numeric sequence, starting with ‘Chart1”. You can rename it by Double-clicking on the Chart 2 sheet tab.
Embedded Charts
When you use the Chart Wizard feature, Excel draws the chart according to the selections you make in the Chart Wizard dialog boxes, and embeds that chart as an object on the worksheet. Embedding a chart enables you to work with it directly on the worksheet. Example. Select cell A5. While pressing the Shift key, click on cell A9. While pressing the Ctrl key, click on cell F5. While pressing the Shift key, click on F9. Click on the Chart Wizard button. The Chart Wizard provides a series of steps that guide you through the process of creating a chart. In the Chart Type list box, select Pie. Click on Next> the second step, Chart Source Data, is displayed. The range that you selected before you clicked on the chart Wizard button is entered in the Data Range text box as an absolute reference. Click Next> The Chart Options step contains options for the titles, legends, and data labels. Select the Data Labels tab. Under Data Labels, select Show Label And Percent. Click on Next>. Click on Finish.
As Embedded Chart an object on the worksheet, you can move it from one location to another by dragging it. You can size an embedded chart by using its selection handles. When you place the mouse pointer on one of the selection handles, the pointer changes to a two-headed arrow. You can then drag in the direction of either arrow to enlarge or reduce the size of the chart. When you size embedded chart, its dimensions remain proportional, but you might inadvertently truncate chart data.
You can delete any chart item that you can select by selecting it and pressing the Delete key. If you change your mind after you’ve deleted a chart item, you can click on the Undo button to reverse your action.
When you create a chart fro worksheet data, Excel creates an active link between the worksheet values and the chart data points. When you change a worksheet value, the chart data point changes automatically. The link to the worksheet data is the same whether a chart is embedded or is stored on a chart sheet.
You can use page setup options to control how the chart prints. Creating a chart on a separate sheet can be useful when you want to use the chart in a presentation. Embedded charts enable you to print a chart and its association data on the same page. Embedded charts can be useful in reports, when you want to present the chart and the actual worksheet data close together.
Regards,
Bem T. Celestine
Social Plugin