Faster Smarter Microsoft Office System -- 2003 Edition

Once you click Finish, and the completed chart is placed on your worksheet, it is treated just like any other inserted graphic or picture. This means that when you click the chart, handles appear, and you can drag the mouse to resize, move, or rearrange the chart as you would any object. Here are additional chart editing techniques you may want to try:

• Right-click any element in the chart to see a shortcut menu of editing options for that item. For example, when you right-click a data marker, options appear that enable you to change any of the settings you entered in the Chart Wizard. You can also add a trend line or clear the element you selected.

Excel gives you a handy Chart toolbar to use as you work on your charts . The toolbar is not displayed automatically, however; you ll need to look for it. To display the Chart toolbar, choose Toolbars from the View menu, and then select Chart. The Chart toolbar then pops up on your work area and you can dock it along with other toolbars or leave it floating over your workspace while you work.

• If you really don t like the chart and want to start again, simply click the chart and press Delete. Be sure to click outside the main chart area and away from the legend; if you don t, instead of deleting the chart, you will simply select one of the chart elements for editing.

• Change the background color of your chart by double-clicking the chart background. In the Area section of the Format Walls dialog box, click the color you want to apply to the background, and then click OK.

• Remove the border of your chart by right-clicking the chart, choosing Format Chart Area, clicking None in the Border area of the Patterns tab, and clicking OK.

• Change the placement of the legend of your chart by right-clicking it and choosing Format Legend. Click the Placement tab, and choose the position you want; then click OK.

If your chart labels overlap, fix the problem this way: Double-click the scrunched text. In the Format Axis dialog box, click the Font tab. Choose a smaller size for the text (8 points often works well) or click the Alignment tab and, in the Orientation area, click the small red marker in the rotation diagram and drag the marker to angle the text labels. This places the labels at an angle in your chart so that the labels can be seen in their entirety.