Chapter 19: Learning Advanced Charting
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Tip
Changing the size and position of the Plot Area can have a dramatic effect on the overall look of your chart.
When you’re fine-tuning a chart, you’ll probably want to experiment with various sizes and positions for the
Plot Area. n
Working with Chart Titles
A chart can have several different types of titles:l Chart titlel (^) Category (X) axis title
l Value (Y) axis title
l (^) Second category (X) axis title
l Second value (Y) axis title
l (^) Depth axis title (for true 3-D charts)
The number of titles that you can use depends on the chart type. For example, a pie chart supports
only a chart title because it has no axes.
To add a chart title, activate the chart and choose Chart Tools ➪ Layout ➪ Labels ➪ Chart Title.
To add a title to one or more of the axes, choose Chart Tools ➪ Layout ➪ Labels ➪ Axis Titles.
These controls are drop-down lists, and each has several options.
After you add a title, you can replace the default text and drag the titles to a different position.
However, you can’t change the size of a title by dragging. The only way to change the size of a title
is to change the font size.
Text in a chart is not limited to titles. In fact, you can add free-floating text anywhere you want. To do
so, activate the chart and choose Chart Tools ➪ Layout ➪ Insert ➪ Text Box. Click in the chart to create
the text box and enter the text. You can resize the text box, move it, change its formatting, and so on.
You can also add a Shape to the chart and then add text to the Shape (if the Shape is one that accepts
text).
Many people prefer to use a text box in place of a chart’s “official” title elements. Resizing a title is not
possible (except by changing its font size). If you use a text box, though, you can resize it by dragging
its corners, change the text alignment, and even rotate it.
Adding Free-Floating Text to a Chart