Microsoft Office

Part III
Creating Charts and Graphics
The chart title is a text element that you can select and edit. Alternatively, you can link the chart title to a
cell so the title always displays the contents of a particular cell. To create a link to a cell, click the chart title,
type an equal sign (=), and click the cell. Excel displays the link in the Formula bar. In the example, the
contents of cell A1 is perfect for the chart title.
Experiment with the Chart Tools ➪ Layout tab to make other changes to the chart. For example, you can
remove the grid lines, add axis titles, relocate the legend, and so on. Making these changes is easy and
intuitive.
Trying another view of the data
The chart, at this point, shows six clusters (months) of three data points in each (age groups). Would the
data be easier to understand if we plotted the information in the opposite way?
Try it. Select the chart and then choose Chart Tools ➪ Design ➪ Data ➪ Switch Row/Column. Figure 19.6
shows the result of this change. I also selected a different layout, which provides more separation between
the three clusters.
The orientation of the data has a drastic effect on the look of your chart. Excel has its own
rules that it uses to determine the initial data orientation when you create a chart. If Excel’s
orientation doesn’t match your expectation, it’s easy enough to change.
NOTE
The chart, with this new orientation, reveals information that wasn’t so apparent in the original version. The