Excel 2010 Bible

Chapter 21: Creating Sparkline Graphics

511

FIGURE 21.9

Sparklines display the number of pages read per month.

FIGURE 21.10

Using Win/Loss Sparklines to display goal achievement.

I copied this formula to the other cells in B18:G25 range.

Using the transformed data, I created Win/Loss Sparklines to visualize the results. This approach is

better than the original, but it doesn’t convey any magnitude differences. For example, you cannot

tell whether the student missed the goal by 1 page or by 500 pages.

Figure 21.11 shows a better approach. Here, I transformed the original data by subtracting the goal

from the pages read. The formula in cell B31 is

=B6-$C$2

I copied this formula to the other cells in the B31:G38 range, and created a group of Line

Sparklines, with the axis turned on. I also enabled the Negative Points option so that negative val-

ues (failure to meet the goal) clearly stand out.