Part III: Creating Charts and Graphics
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Tip
You can substitute range names for the range references. If you do so, Excel changes the reference in the
Series formula to include the workbook name. For example if you use a range named MyData (in a work-
book named budget.xlsx), the Series formula looks like this:
=SERIES(Sheet1!$B$1,,budget.xlsx!MyData,1)Displaying data labels in a chart
Sometimes, you may want your chart to display the actual numerical values for each data point.
You specify data labels by choosing Chart Tools ➪ Layout ➪ Labels ➪ Data Labels. This drop-
down control contains several data label positioning options.Figure 19.22 shows three minimalist charts with data labels.FIGURE 19.22
These charts use data labels.To change the type of information that appears in data labels, select the data labels in the chart and
press Ctrl+F1. Then use the Label Options tab of the Format Data Labels dialog box to customize
the data labels. For example, you can include the series name and the category name along with
the value.The data labels are linked to the worksheet, so if your data changes, the labels also change. If you
want to override the data label with other text, select the label and enter the new text.