Excel 2010 Bible

Chapter 19: Learning Advanced Charting

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Modifying the Chart Area

The Chart Area is an object that contains all other elements in the chart. You can think of it as a

chart’s master background or container.

The only modifications that you can make to the Chart Area are cosmetic. You can change its fill

color; outline; or effects, such as shadow and soft edges.

Note that if you set the Chart Area of an embedded chart to use No Fill, the underlying cells are

visible. Figure 19.4 shows a chart that uses No Fill and No Outline in its Chart Area. The Plot

Area, Legend, and Chart Title do use a fill color. Adding a shadow to these other elements make

them appear to be floating on the worksheet.

The Chart Area element also controls all the fonts used in the chart. For example, if you want to

change every font in the chart, you don’t need to format each text element separately. Just select

the Chart Area and then make the change from options of the Home ➪ Font group or by using the

Mini toolbar.

FIGURE 19.4

The Chart Area element uses No Fill, so the underlying cells are visible.

If you go overboard formatting a chart element, you can always reset it to its original state. Just select

the element and choose Chart Tools ➪ Format ➪ Current Selection ➪ Reset to Match Style. Or, right-

click the chart element and choose Reset to Match Style from the shortcut menu.

To reset all formatting changes in the entire chart, select the Chart Area before you issue the Reset to

Match Style command.

Resetting Chart Element Formatting