Excel 2010 Bible

Part III: Creating Charts and Graphics

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Modifying the Plot Area

The Plot Area is the part of the chart that contains the actual chart. More specifically, the Plot Area

is a container for the chart series.

Tip
If you set the Shape Fill property to No Fill, the Plot Area will be transparent. Therefore, the fill color applied
to the Chart Area will show through. n

You can move and resize the Plot Area. Select the Plot Area and then drag a border to move it. To

change the size of the Plot Area, drag one of the corner handles.

Different chart types vary in how they respond to changes in the Plot Area dimensions. For exam-

ple, you can’t change the relative dimensions of the Plot Area of a pie chart or a radar chart. The

Plot Area of these charts is always square. With other chart types, though, you can change the

aspect ratio of the Plot Area by changing either the height or the width.

Figure 19.5 shows a chart in which the Plot Area was resized to make room for a Shape that con-

tains text.

FIGURE 19.5

Reducing the size of the Plot Area makes room for the Shape.

In some cases, the size of the Plot Area changes automatically when you adjust other elements of

your chart. For example, if you add a legend to a chart, the size of the Plot Area may be reduced to

accommodate the legend.