Part III: Creating Charts and Other Visualizations
FIGURE 21.18
Excel determines the way to display category axis labels.
Don’t Be Afraid to Experiment (But on a Copy)
We’ll let you in on a secret: the key to mastering charts in Excel is experimentation, otherwise known
as trial and error. Excel’s charting options can be overwhelming, even to experienced users. This book
doesn’t even pretend to cover all of the charting features and options. Your job, as a potential chart-
ing master, is to dig deep and try the various options in your charts. With a bit of creativity, you can
create original-looking charts.
After you create a basic chart, make a copy of the chart for your experimentation. That way, if you mess
it up, you can always revert to the original and start again. To make a copy of an embedded chart, click
the chart and press Ctrl+C. Then activate a cell and press Ctrl+V. To make a copy of a chart sheet, press
Ctrl while you click the sheet tab and then drag it to a new location among the other tabs.
