Microsoft Office

Part III
Creating Charts and Graphics
Grouping objects
Excel lets you combine two or more Shape objects into a single object. This feature is known as grouping.
For example, if you create a design that uses four separate Shapes, you can combine them into a group.
Then you can manipulate this group as a single object (move it, resize it, and so on).
To group two or more objects, press Ctrl while you click the objects to be included in the group. Then
right-click and choose Group ➪ Group from the shortcut menu.
When objects are grouped, you can still work with an individual object in the group. Click once to select
the group; then click again to select the object.
To ungroup a group, right-click the group object and choose Group ➪ Ungroup from the shortcut menu.
This command breaks the object into its original components.
Aligning and spacing objects
When you have several objects on a worksheet, you may want to align and evenly space these objects. You
can, of course, drag the objects with your mouse (which isn’t very precise). Or, you can use the keyboard
arrow keys to move a selected object one pixel at a time. The fastest way to align and space objects is to let
Excel do it for you.
To align multiple objects, start by selecting them (press Ctrl and click the objects). Then use the tools in the
Drawing Tools ➪ Format ➪ Arrange ➪ Align drop-down control.
Unfortunately, you can’t specify which object is used as the basis for the alignment. When
you’re aligning objects to the left (or right), they’re always aligned with the leftmost (or rightmost)
object that’s selected. When you’re aligning objects to the top (or bottom), they’re always aligned with
the topmost (or bottommost) object. Aligning the centers (or middles) of objects will align them along an
axis halfway between the left and right (or top and bottom) extremes of the selected shapes.
NOTE
You can instruct Excel to distribute three or more objects so that they’re equally spaced horizontally or vertically.
Use the Drawing Tools ➪ Format ➪ Arrange ➪ Align drop-down control and select Distribute
Horizontally or Distribute Vertically.
Reshaping Shapes
Excel has many Shapes to choose from, but sometimes the Shape you need isn’t in the gallery. In such a
case, you may be able to modify one of the existing shapes using one of these techniques:
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Rotate the Shape: When you select a Shape, it displays a small green dot. Click and drag this dot
to rotate the Shape.
Group multiple Shapes: You may be able to create the Shape you need by combining two or
more Shapes and then grouping them (see “Grouping objects,” earlier in this chapter).
Reconfigure the Shape: Many of the Shapes display one or more small yellow diamonds when
the Shape is selected. You can click and drag this diamond to change the Shape’s outline. The
exact behavior varies with the AutoShape, so you should experiment and see what happens.
Figure 22.4 shows an up-down arrow, before and after changing its shape (this particular shape
has two yellow diamonds).
Create a Freeform Shape: Select the Freeform Shape (in the Lines category of the Shapes gallery)
to create custom Shape. Figure 22.5 shows a Freeform Shape, with eyes and a mouth added. I
applied the Perspective effect to create the shadow.
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