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| Microsoft Excel > Charts > Options | < Previous | Next > |
Step 1 - How to Display the Chart Options ? |
You can access the "Chart Options" dialog box in two ways: | ||
1) Using the Chart Menu. | ||
2) Using the Shortcut Menu (pressing the right mouse button). |
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Step 2 - Titles |
You can include a chart title as well as adding titles to all the axes. |
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Chart Title - This lets you add a title above the plot area. | ||
Category (X) axis - This lets you add a title below the x-axis. | ||
Value (Y) axis - This lets you add a title to the left of the y-axis. | ||
Second category (X) axis - This is only available if your chart has a secondary axis. | ||
Second value (Y) axis - This is only available if your chart has a secondary axis and is used to add an axis title. | ||
You can edit titles directly after they have been added to a chart by selecting the individual item with the left mouse button and editing the text. | ||
To deselect a title after editing move the mouse anywhere outside the text area and press the left mouse button. |
Step 4 - Axes |
You can decide if you want to display the x-axis as dates or as categories. |
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Category (X) axis - This is the horizontal axis at the bottom of the chart. The three different options are discussed later. | ||
Value (Y) axis - This is the vertical axis on the left of the chart. |
Step 5 - Gridlines |
You can decide if you want to display major and minor gridlines to both the axes. |
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Major Gridlines - Major tick marks are the ticks which have a value against them on the axis. | ||
Minor Gridlines - Minor tick marks are the ticks which are between the ticks that have a value against them. The number of minor ticks that will appear between each major tick can be changed by displaying the axis shortcut menu and selecting (Format Axis)(Scale tab). |
Step 6 - Legend |
You can decide if you want to display a legend to identify the different series. | ||
The legend is determined from either the first column of data or the first row of data depending on whether the series are horizontally or vertically. |
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Show Legend - This determines whether a legend is displayed on the active chart. | ||
Placement - This determines the exact position of the legend. The most common place to put the legend is either to the right or below the plot area. |
Step 7 - Data Labels |
You can decide if you want to display the actual values, percentages and other information. |
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Series Name - This displays the series name next to each point (North or South). | ||
Category Name - This displays the category axis name next to each point (Mon, Tue, Wed, Thu, Fri, Sat, Sun). | ||
Value - This displays the actual data point value next to each data point (0.65, 0.21, 0.86, 0.97, 0.05, 0.34, 0.74). | ||
Percentage - Only applicable to pie charts. | ||
Bubble Size - Only applicable to bubble charts. | ||
Separator - The character to use if you want to display more than one of the above. The character can be any of the following: space, comma, semicolon, full stop or displayed on a new line. | ||
Legend Key - This allows you to include a small legend key next to the item that is displayed. |
Step 8 - Data Table |
You can decide if you want to display a data table showing the actual values used for the chart. |
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Show Data Table - This displays a table at the bottom of your chart displaying the actual data used to create the chart | ||
Show Legend Keys - This allows you to include a small legend key within the first column of the data table. |
Step 9 - Things to Remember |
The chart options dialog box is a good place to experiment with the presentation of your chart. Pressing the Cancel will not save any of your changes. |
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