Excel 2019 Bible

445

C H A P T E R

20

Getting Started with Excel

Charts

IN THIS CHAPTER

How Excel handles charts

The parts of a chart

The basic steps for creating a chart

Working with charts

Looking at examples of chart types

C

harts offer a visual representation of numeric values; they are at-a-glance views that allow

you to specify relationships between data values, point out differences, and observe business

trends. Few mechanisms allow you to absorb data faster than a chart, which can be a key

component in your dashboard.

While most people think of a spreadsheet product such as Excel, they think of crunching rows and

columns of numbers. But Excel is no slouch when it comes to presenting data visually in the form of

a chart. In this chapter, we present an overview of Excel’s charting capabilities and show you how

to create and customize your own charts using Excel.

Most of the examples in this chapter are available on this book’s website at http://www.wiley.com/go/

excel2019bible. The filename is Intro to Charts.xlsx.

What Is a Chart?

Let’s start with the basics. A chart is a visual representation of numeric values. Charts (also known

as graphs) have been an integral part of spreadsheets since the early days of Lotus 1-2-3. Charts

generated by early spreadsheet products were extremely crude by today’s standards. Over the years,

however, the quality and flexibility have improved significantly. You’ll find that Excel provides you

with the tools to create a wide variety of highly customizable charts that can help you effectively

communicate your message.

Displaying data in a well-conceived chart can make your numbers more understandable. Because

a chart presents a picture, charts are particularly useful for summarizing a series of numbers and

Excel® 2019 Bible, First Edition. Michael Alexander, Dick Kusleika and John Walkenbach.
© 2019 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. Published 2019 by John Wiley & Sons, Inc.