Chapter 23: Visualizing with Custom Number Formats and Shapes
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Shapes are organized into categories, and the category at the top displays the shapes
that you’ve used most recently. To insert a shape into a worksheet, you can do one of the
following:
■ Click the shape in the Shapes gallery and then click in the worksheet.
A default-sized shape is added to your worksheet.
■ Click the shape and then drag in the worksheet. This allows you to create a
larger or a smaller shape or a shape with different proportions than the default.Here are a few tips to keep in mind when creating shapes:
■ (^) Every shape has a name. Some have generic names like Shape 1 and Shape 2, but
others are given more descriptive names (for example, Rectangle 1). To change the
name of a shape, select it, type a new name in the Name box, and press Enter.
■ To select a specific shape on a worksheet, just click it.
■ (^) When you create a shape by dragging, hold down the Shift key to maintain the
object’s default proportions.
■ (^) You can control the way objects appear on-screen in the Advanced tab of the Excel
Options dialog box. (Choose File ➪ Options.) This setting appears in the Display
Options for This Workbook section. Normally, the All option is selected under For
Objects Show. You can hide all objects by choosing Nothing (Hide Objects). Hiding
objects may speed things up if your worksheet contains complex objects that take a
long time to redraw.
Inserting SVG icon graphics
Excel 2019 includes a new icon library that offers free Scalable Vector Graphics (SVG) icons.
SVG graphics can be sized and formatted without losing image quality. These icon graphics
are essentially a modern set of graphic files that can be used to add visual elements to your
Excel dashboards, infographics, and reporting solutions.
To add an icon to your worksheet, select Insert ➪ Icons from the Illustrations group.
This activates the Insert Icons dialog box (see Figure 23.12). Here you can browse by cat-
egory and then double-click the graphic you want to use. Excel will insert it into your
workbook.