Get Started, Get Charted: Excel's Chart Wizard (beginner)

A picture is worth a thousand calculations and that's why charting (also known as graphing) is so important for displaying financial and other numerical information. If you get good at making charts in Excel, your intellectual net worth will be "off the chart." So let's get visual and start creating beautiful charts of your data using Excel’s Chart Wizard. In just four easy steps, you can have a chart depicting your data in one of many possible ways.

To begin, just get your data into view in Excel and, if possible, highlight the block of cells that you want to chart. Now click on the Chart Wizard button in the toolbar (see figure) or select Insert-Chart from the menus. The chart wizard process begins with Step 1 of 4.

Step 1: Specify The Chart Type
The first step of the charting procedure is to choose the type of chart you want to create. Excel provides two pages of possibilities in the ChartWizard: Standard Types and Custom Types. Standard Types are the main categories of charts. Custom Types are just standard charts that have been formatted, altered, and enhanced in some way, using Excel’s advanced charting features. You can use these features later to add effects to your charts and customize results.

Click on any of the chart types in the list and Excel will provide a few sub-type choices from which to choose. Most of these are easy to understand, but if you want a more detailed example, then click on the desired sub-type and then click the Press and Hold to View Sample button (see figure).

After selecting the desired type and sub-type, click Next.

Step 2: Identifying the Chart’s “Source Data”
If you highlighted the chart data before starting the chart wizard, your data will already be entered into Step 2 of the Chart Wizard procedure. Even if you didn’t highlight your data first, you can do so now by clicking on the worksheet behind the Chart Wizard box and dragging to identify the desired data.

When highlighting your data range, be sure to include any row and column labels that are appropriate. Do not include any main chart titles (see figure).

Choose Series in Rows if you want the chart series (the bars on a bar chart, for example) to represent the data in the rows of the data range. Choose Series in Columns if you want the series to represent the data in the columns. When in doubt, consult the sample chart in the Chart Wizard dialog box after clicking the different options. Here’s the different using the example worksheet:

Series in Rows: Display income by product category over four quarters.
Series in Columns: Display income by quarter over the different product categories.

NOTE: The Series tab in Step2 of the Chart Wizard is used only when your data range is not standard – that is, if your chart data is spread out over the worksheet.


Step 3: Setting the Chart Options
You can set some basic features for your charts in Chart Options. Excel provides six pages within this dialog box, each page containing various setup options for different parts of the chart. Here is a summary of these options:

Chart Titles: Type a name for the chart and for the X and Y axes.
Axes: Add or remove the X and Y axes.
Gridlines: Add or remove scale lines (or gridlines).
Legend: Set the position of the legend or remove it.
Data Labels: Display a label for each bar in the chart.
Data Table: Include the numeric chart data along with the chart.

You can experiment with any of these choices by clicking on it and observing the sample chart. You can alter your choices at any time.

Step 4: Specifying the Chart Location
The final step is to tell Excel where to put the finished chart. You can add it to the worksheet as its own sheet, or place it on an existing sheet as an object. As with all chart settings, you can change your mind at any time.

Step 5: Adjusting the Chart
When the Chart Wizard procedure is over, you can still go back to any of the steps to change your settings. Each step of the Chart Wizard process is accessible through the Chart Pop-Up menu. Just right-click on the chart to see these options (see figure).

Some things to remember:

You can move the chart around the page by simply clicking on it and dragging it into place.

You can change the size and shape of the chart by dragging on the sizing boxes that appear in the corners of the chart object when you click on the chart.

You can format the chart area to add colors and background images to the chart or to change the font used throughout the chart. To see the formatting options, right-click on the chart, then choose Format Chart Area from the pop-up menu. Choose the Properties tab and select Don’t move or size with cells to prevent the chart from expanding and contracting when you adjust cells in the worksheet.

You can re-position the legend, chart title and certain other pieces of text inside the chart. Just click on the desired text and drag it within the chart.

Moving Around In Excel (beginner)

If you're like me, you get tired of tapping the arrow keys to move around inside Windows applications and getting around in Excel is no exception. So I've posted a quick review of the various shortcuts for moving around in Excel and they are especially handy when you need to move long distances within a worksheet. Included is a list of my favorite keyboard commands, sure to get cheers from those proficient at typing. So here are some excellent ways to cut corners, jump fences, and even teleport to your desired locations quickly and easily.

Moving around with the mouse: To select an individual cell with the mouse, simply click on the desired cell. Use the scroll bar arrows on the right side and bottom of the workbook to view more of the worksheet before clicking on the desired cell. The selected cell's contents are shown in the formula bar at the top of the screen.

To move to another worksheet with in the workbook, simply click on the desired tab at the bottom of the screen.

Moving around with the keyboard: You might prefer using some of these handy keyboard commands for speedy movement around your worksheets.

Ctrl-Arrow key--To the beginning of the next range of data in the direction of the arrow
Enter--Down one cell
Shift-Enter--Up one Cell
PgUp--One screen up
PgDn--One screen down
Home--To the first cell of the current row
Ctrl-Home--To cell A1
Ctr-End--To the last used cell in the worksheet

Note: Remember to turn Num Lock Off to use these keys.

Moving with Goto: You can make large jumps around the worksheet using the Goto command in the Edit menu. Just select Edit-Goto, then enter the desired cell reference in the space provided. When you click OK, you will be moved directly to the specified cell. Excel remembers the last few jumps you make and presents them for your easy selection in the Goto dialog box. Just double-click on the one you want to repeat the jump.

Moving with Find: A final way to move to a specific location in an Excel worksheet is to have Excel find specific information. Just choose the Edit-Find command and type the information you want Excel to locate. This information should be data inside the spreadsheet, not cell references.

SUM-thing Important: The SUM Function (beginner)

SUM is probably the most commonly used function in Excel or any spreadsheet program. It provides a simple way of adding a set of numbers, especially when those numbers are located in adjacent cells (a row or column of numbers, for example). The SUM function uses the following syntax:

SUM(values)

The values placeholder can be a list of values, a list of cell references, or a range of cells. Use a range reference if the values are grouped together in a row or column. Use a list of values if they are not adjacent; these values should be separated by commas. Here are some examples:

SUM(C5,C8,D10) adds the sum of these three cells
SUM(C5:C10) adds the sum of the range C5 through C10

Remember to begin all formulas in Excel by typing an equals sign. To enter the above function as a formula in Excel, type =SUM(C5:5C10).

Indicating a column to be added in the SUM function.

Indicating specific cells to be added in the SUM function.