Part III: Creating Charts and Other Visualizations
When you insert a picture on a worksheet, you can modify the picture in a number of ways
from the Picture Tools ➪ Format contextual tab, which becomes available when you select a
picture object. For example, you can adjust the color, contrast, and brightness. In addition,
you can add borders, shadows, reflections, and so on—similar to the operations available
for shapes.
In addition, you can right-click and choose Format Picture to use the controls in the Format
Picture task pane.
An interesting feature is Artistic Effects. This command can apply a number of Photoshop-
like effects to an image. To access this feature, select an image and choose Picture Tools ➪
Format ➪ Adjust ➪ Artistic Effects. Each effect is somewhat customizable, so if you’re not
happy with the default effect, try adjusting some options.
You might be surprised by some of the image enhancements that are available, including
the ability to remove the background from photos. The best way to learn about these fea-
tures is to dig in and experiment. Even if you have no need for image enhancement, you
might find that it’s a fun diversion when you need a break from working with numbers.
Inserting screenshots
Excel can also capture and insert a screenshot of any program currently running on your
computer (including another Excel window). To use the screenshot feature, follow these
steps:
- Make sure the window you want to use displays the content you want.
- Choose Insert ➪ Illustrations ➪ Screenshot. You’ll see a gallery that contains
thumbnails of all windows open on your computer (except the current Excel
window).
- Click the image you want. Excel inserts it into your worksheet.
You can use any of the normal picture tools to work with screenshots.
If you don’t want to capture a complete window, choose Screen Clipping in step 2. Then
click and drag your mouse to select the area of the screen to capture.
Displaying a worksheet background image
If you want to use a graphics image for a worksheet’s background (similar to wallpaper on
the Windows Desktop), choose Page Layout ➪ Page Setup ➪ Background and select a graph-
ics file. The selected graphics file is tiled on the worksheet.
Unfortunately, worksheet background images are for on-screen display only. These images
do not appear when the worksheet is printed.
