Adding and Editing Charts

Quick reference

• 00:03 This is one of two videos where we look at inserting and working with charts in PowerPoint, specifically, inserting the chart, the chart types,
• 00:11 and working with some data and a little bit of formatting. So let’s begin by going to slide 2. Inserting a chart is as simple as the insert tab
• 00:21 and the chart button is available on the illustrations group, or within this particular content placeholder, I click the insert chart icon
• 00:30 and there is our insert chart dialog box. Now we’ve got various chart types along here, chart variants as well as a preview of the particular
• 00:40 chart that’s selected. So let’s have a look at the chart types. A column chart is very good when there is a relationship between the categories,
• 00:48 or a line chart, it’s very good when there is time series that is continuous such as temperature or even stock market fluctuations. A pie chart is
• 00:58 where the data in the series adds up to 100% so it’s the comparison that’s important, not so much the individual series. In a bar chart, this is
• 01:11 quite often confused with a column chart and it’s where there is no direct relationship between the categories. An area chart is where the sum of
• 01:20 the plotted values are important to compare, and an xy scatter chart is something that we use frequently in science and its where there is data
• 01:29 on both axes such as, say humidity compared to temperature. So let’s go to a column type and the variants are such as a clustered column,
• 01:39 where the columns are side by side in a cluster, or a stacked column, where the data in the series is actually added together within each
• 01:48 category. So let’s go for a clustered column. I click ok and Microsoft Excel loads in the background; that chart is now placed within that
• 01:58 content placeholder and we have an Excel data sheet, even though it’s a little bit simplified, to work with our data. Now it’s very important that
• 02:08 this is dummy data so you need to edit is so let’s do some editing, Brisbane, Canberra, and we enter the data directly in the data sheet, very
• 02:24 much like excel or because it is excel you can click in there and fix up spelling mistakes, then we can go humidity with a full stop because it’s
• 02:33 an abbreviated one, temp and something like solar radiation. And so we start editing the data here. We can also edit in the full excel
• 02:45 application if we wish. We can edit formulas in here and do all kinds of things. Now notice these coloured bounding boxes. These allow us
• 02:54 to grab the handle and drag with a mouse so that we can delete a category, notice that the chart updates while I do that, or I can drag
• 03:01 across and delete a series as well. So I’m going to grab that very carefully with the mouse and that will be the data in our data sheet. Notice
• 03:11 that we can switch the row and column or select data, edit the data; if I close that down then the switch row column becomes unavailable
• 03:20 because the data sheet is not available. So within this chart selected we can either right click and go edit data, either within that data
• 03:29 sheet or within excel itself or simply click the button. Notice also that in terms of editing we can insert or delete, I’ll click ESC on the
• 03:39 keyboard, and remove rows and columns or indeed add them. So that’s very good. Let’s have a look at some very simple formatting and
• 03:49 design. So, with the design tab enabled and the chart selected we can add various chart elements and that’s really the subject of another
• 03:57 video. These quick layouts are pre-stylised layouts and we can see how the charts updates as we move out mouse over the thumbnails. We
• 04:07 can change the colours for the series and the categories and we also have these chart styles, which are both chart elements as well as a little
• 04:16 bit of formatting all in the one package and that works out very well. So we go the format tab and the format tab is not so much about the chart
• 04:22 elements but actually formatting various objects, so, for example, I could select that series and change the shape fill to something else, and it’s
• 04:31 very important that as you do that the chart elements actually match visually, but also click again and I can select an individual series and
• 04:41 highlight that by changing the fill colour of that as well. And it’s very important that if you do that you would need to explain why you’ve done
• 04:48 that in a slide show or in some sort of reference on the slide so that people know exactly why you’ve done that. Let’s very briefly have a look at
• 04:56 a special type of chart that we haven’t covered and that is actually a 3 dimensional chat. If I right click on this and go edit data, we can see
• 05:06 that the data is exactly the same as it was in the 2 dimensional chart; now a 3 dimensional chart has x data, y data, and z data gives it
• 05:18 depth, but there is no z data in this and so this is inappropriate chart for the type of data that we’ve got and it’s not suitable to use 3
• 05:26 dimensional charts just to perspective and some sort of visual element if the data does not support that. So inserting charts is very simple,
• 05:35 either on the insert tab and the chart button, or within a particular content placeholder. With the chart selected you can work on the design in
• 05:45 terms of working with the data, the quick layouts, the colours, the various chart styles as well as formatting them. It’s very important that
• 05:54 you get to learn and practice with various chart types so that the chart is appropriate and please only use 3 dimensional charts if your data in fact
• 06:02 supports that.

Lesson notes are only available for subscribers.