Datasheet

Part I: Chart Basics

In Microsoft Office 2007, the charting feature has undergone some major changes. If

you’ve used the charting feature in a previous version of Excel, this sidebar provides a

summary of what’s new and what’s changed.

The Office 2007 charting engine is compatible with other Office 2007 apps such as

Word and PowerPoint. In most (but not all) cases, charts created in a previous version

can render without a problem in Office 2007. Excel 2007 offers the following charting

changes:

• A chart is a shape: In Office 2007, an embedded chart’s container is a shape

object. Although you can’t change the type of shape, you can format the shape

using most of the new shape-formatting options.

• Built-in chart layouts: Each chart type has a number of different predefined lay-

outs that you can apply with a single mouse click.

• Built-in chart styles: Each chart type has a number of different predefined styles

that you can apply with a single mouse click.

• More colors: The old 56-color limitation has been lifted, and a chart can now use

any number of colors. And the default color choices are much more pleasing to the

eye than the gaudy colors in previous versions.

• Enhanced formatting: Office 2007 provides many significant enhancements in for-

matting chart elements, including quite a few interesting graphic effects.

• Chart Wizard: In previous versions, most users invoked the Chart Wizard to assist

with creating a chart. The Chart Wizard is no longer available.

• Size with Window: In previous versions, charts located on a chart sheet had a Size

with Window command that would automatically resize the chart when the window

size was changed. This feature has been removed.

• Create a series by dragging: You can no longer create a new chart series by

selecting cells and dragging the selection into a chart. However, you can accom-

plish the same effect by copying and pasting.

• Direct manipulation of data points: In the past, you could select a data point in a

chart and move it — which also changed the underlying data. This rarely used

action no longer works.

• Keyboard shortcut: Office 2007 supports a new shortcut key combination (Alt+F1)

to create an embedded chart (of the default type) from the current range selection.

Pressing F11 still creates a chart sheet from the current range selection.

What’s new in Excel 2007?

05_044001 ch01.qxp 8/24/07 8:48 PM Page 14