Datasheet

Basic Steps for Creating a Chart
The previous version of Excel featured a Chart Wizard that guided the user through the
steps required in creating a chart. The Chart Wizard is not available in Excel 2007, but cre-
ating basic charts is still relatively simple. The following sections discuss how to create
and customize a basic chart in Excel 2007.
Creating the Chart
Follow these steps to create a chart in Excel 2007:
1. Select the data to be used in the chart.
Make sure that you select the column headers, if the data has them. Figure 1-8 shows
some data that’s appropriate for a chart. Another option is to select a single cell within a
range of data. Excel will then use the entire data range for the chart.
2. Click the Insert tab, and then click a Chart icon in the Charts group.
The icon expands into a gallery list that shows subtypes (see Figure 1-9).
3. Click the Chart subtype, and Excel creates the chart of the specified type.
Figure 1-10 shows a column chart created from the data.
Figure 1-8: This data would make a good chart.
TIP
To quickly create a default chart, select the data and press Alt+F1 to create an embed-
ded chart, or press F11 to create a chart on a chart sheet. You can also use these key-
strokes to duplicate a chart. If you select an embedded chart or chart sheet and press
F11, a new default chart sheet is created using the selected chart’s data. If you select an
embedded chart and press Alt+F1, a new blank chart is created. Alt+F1 has no apparent
effect on a chart sheet.
Chapter 1: Introducing Excel Charts
Part I
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