Chapter 18: Getting Started Making Charts
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Adding chart elements
To add new elements to a chart (such as a title, legend, data labels, or gridlines), use the controls
on the Chart Tools ➪ Layout tab. These controls are arranged into logical groups, and they all dis-
play a drop-down list of options.Moving and deleting chart elements
Some elements within a chart can be moved: titles, legend, and data labels. To move a chart ele-
ment, simply click it to select it. Then drag its border.The easiest way to delete a chart element is to select it and then press Delete. You can also use the
controls on the Chart Tools ➪ Layout tab to turn off the display of a particular chart element. For
example, to delete data labels, choose Chart Tools ➪ Layout ➪ Labels ➪ Data Labels ➪ None.Note
A few chart elements consist of multiple objects. For example, the data labels element consists of one label for
each data point. To move or delete one data label, click once to select the entire element and then click a sec-
ond time to select the specific data label. You can then move or delete the single data label. n
Formatting chart elements
Many users are content to stick with the predefined chart layouts and chart styles. For more pre-
cise customizations, Excel allows you to work with individual chart elements and apply additional
formatting. You can use the Ribbon commands for some modifications, but the easiest way to for-
mat chart elements is to right-click the element and choose Format from the shortcut menu. The
exact command depends on the element you select. For example, if you right-click the chart’s title,
the shortcut menu command is Format Chart Title.The Format command displays a stay-on-top tabbed dialog box with options for the selected ele-
ment. Changes that you make are displayed immediately, but in some cases you need to deactivate
the control by pressing tab to move to the next control. You can keep this dialog box displayed
while you work on the chart. When you select a new chart element, the dialog box changes to dis-
play the properties for the newly selected element.New Feature
In Excel 2007, the designers removed the ability to double-click a chart element to display the corresponding
Format dialog box. In response to user complaints, double-clicking a chart element has been reinstated in
Excel 2010. n
Figure 18.10 shows the Format Axis dialog box, which is displayed by right-clicking the vertical
axis and selecting Format Axis from the shortcut menu — or by simply double-clicking the
vertical axis.