8.6 INSERTING CHARTS

In Excel, numerical data can be easily converted into a chart for graphical presentation of the data. Charts provide more visual clarity than tables of data and, therefore, have more impact. Several types of chart are possible in Microsoft Excel and each type has a number of variations. The chart types include pie charts, bar charts, line charts, etc. Whatever the type, all charts are linked to the worksheet data. This means that data values can be amended even after the chart has been created and the chart will automatically be updated.

Microsoft Excel allows a chart to be placed in two ways, as an embedded chart or chart sheet. Embedded charts appear as objects on worksheets and can be resized and positioned to appear along side tabular information or other charts and objects, whereas chart sheet exists as a separate sheet in a workbook. Chart sheets are, perhaps, a little easier to manipulate but when printed, they appear alone on the page. It is, therefore, possible to adjust the page orientation, headers, footers and other page attributes for the chart without affecting other worksheets.