Excel 2010 Bible

Chapter 19: Learning Advanced Charting

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FIGURE 19.32

This combination chart includes a data table that displays the values of the data points.

Tip
Using a data table is probably best suited for charts on chart sheets. If you need to show the data used in an
embedded chart, you can do so using data in cells, which provide you with a lot more flexibility in terms of
formatting. n

Creating Chart Templates

This section describes how to create custom chart templates. A template includes customized chart

formatting and settings. When you create a new chart, you can choose to use your template rather

than a built-in chart type.

If you find that you are continually customizing your charts in the same way, you can probably

save some time by creating a template. Or, if you create lots of combination charts, you can create

a combination chart template and avoid making the manual adjustments required for a combina-

tion chart.

To create a chart template

1. Create a chart to serve as the basis for your template. The data you use for this chart
   is not critical, but for best results, it should be typical of the data that you’ll eventually be
   plotting with your custom chart type.


2. Apply any formatting and customizations that you like. This step determines how the
   appearance of the charts created from the template.