Create charts from excel

Any information is easier to perceive when it’s represented in a visual form. It’s particularly relevant for numeric data that needs to be compared. In this case, charts are the optimal variant of representation. We will work in Excel.

Moreover, we will learn to create dynamic charts and graphs, which are updated automatically when you change the data. The link at the end of the article will allow you to download a sample template.



How to build a chart off a table in Excel?

1. Create a table with the data.



2. Select the range of values A1:B5 that need to be presented as a chart. Go to the «INSERT» tab and choose the type.



3. Click «Insert Column Chart» (as an example; you may choose a different type). Select one of the suggested bar charts.



4. After you choose your bar chart type, it will be generated automatically.
5. Such a variant isn’t exactly what we need, so let’s modify it. Double-click on the bar chart’s title and enter «Total Amounts».



6. Add the vertical axis title. Go to «CHART TOOLS» — «DESIGN» — «Add Element» — «Axis Titles» — «Primary Vertical». Select the vertical axis and its title type.



7. Enter «AMOUNT».
8. Change the color and style. Choose a different style number 9.



9. Specify the sums by giving titles to the bars. Go to the «DESIGN» tab, select «Data Labels» and the desired position.

Done!

As a result, we have a stylish presentation of the data in Excel.



How to add data in an Excel chart?

1. Add new values to the table – the «Plan» column.



2. Select the new range of values, including the heading. Copy it to the clipboard (by pressing Ctrl+C). Select the existing chart and paste the fragment (by pressing Ctrl+V).
3. As it’s not entirely clear where the figures in our bar chart come from, let’s create the legend. Go to «DESIGN» — «Legend» — «Right». This is the result:

There is a more complicated way of adding new data into the existing graph through the «DESIGN» «Select Data» menu (open it by right-clicking and selecting «Select Data»).

After you click «Add» (legend elements), there will open the row for selecting the range of values.

How to reverse axes in an Excel chart?

In the menu you’ve opened, click the «DESIGN»-«Switch/Column» button.

The values for rows and categories will swap around automatically.

How to lock controls in an Excel chart?

If you need to add new data in the bar chart very often, it’s not convenient to change the range every time. The optimal variant is to create a dynamic chart that will update automatically. To lock the controls, let’s transform the data range into a «Smart Table».

1. Select the range of values A1:C5 and click «Format as Table» on «HOME» tab.



2. Select any style in the drop-down menu. The program suggests you select the range for the table – agree with the suggested variant. The values for the graph will appear as follows:



3. As soon as you begin to enter new information in the table, the chart will also change. It has become dynamic:

We have learned how to create a «Smart Table» off the existing data. If the spreadsheet is blank, start off with entering the values in the table: «INSERT» — «Table».

How to build a percentage chart in Excel?

Pie charts are the best option for representing percentage information.

The input data for our sample chart:

1. Select the range A1:B8. «INSERT» — «Insert Pie or Doughnut Chart» — «3D-Pie».



2. Go to the tab «DESIGN» — «Styles». Among the suggested options, there are styles that include percentages. Choose the suitable 9.



3. The small percentage sectors are visible poorly. To highlight them, let’s create a secondary chart. Select the pie. Go to the tab «DESIGN» — «Change Chart Type». Select a pie with a secondary graph.



4. The automatically generated option does not fulfill the task. Right-click on any sector. The dots designating the boundaries will become visible. Click «Format Data Series». Enter the following row parameters:



5. We have obtained the desired variant:

Gantt chart in Excel

The Gantt chart is way of representing information in the form of bars to illustrate a multi-stage event. It’s a simple yet impressive trick.

1. We have a (dummy) table containing the deadlines for different reports.



2. To create a chart, insert a column containing the number of days (column C). Fill it in with the help of Excel formulas.
3. Select the range to contain the Gantt chart (E3:BF12). That is, the cells to be filled with a color between the beginning and end dates.
4. Open the «Conditional Formatting» menu (on the «HOME» tab). Select «New Rule» — «Use a formula to determine which cells to format».



5. Enter the formula of the following type: =AND(E$2>=$B3,E$2<=$D3). Excel uses the operator «И» to compare the date in the current cell with the beginning and end dates. Then, click «Format» and select the fill color.

When you need to build a presentable financial report, it’s better to use the graphical data representation tools.

A simple Gantt graph is ready. You can also download the template with a sample:

Download all examples

If the information is represented in a graphical way, it’s perceived visually much quicker and more efficiently than texts and numbers. It makes it easier to conduct an analytic analysis. It makes the situation clearer – both the whole picture and particular details.

Charts and graphs were specifically developed in Excel for fulfilling such tasks.

After you input your data and select the cell range, you’re ready to choose the chart type. In this example, we’ll create a clustered column chart from the data we used in the previous section.

Step 1: Select Chart Type

Once your data is highlighted in the Workbook, click the Insert tab on the top banner. About halfway across the toolbar is a section with several chart options. Excel provides Recommended Charts based on popularity, but you can click any of the dropdown menus to select a different template.

Step 2: Create Your Chart

1. From the Insert tab, click the column chart icon and select Clustered Column.

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1. Excel will automatically create a clustered chart column from your selected data. The chart will appear in the center of your workbook.
2. To name your chart, double click the Chart Title text in the chart and type a title. We’ll call this chart “Product Profit 2013 — 2017.”

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We’ll use this chart for the rest of the walkthrough. You can download this same chart to follow along.

Download Sample Column Chart Template

There are two tabs on the toolbar that you will use to make adjustments to your chart: Chart Design and Format. Excel automatically applies design, layout, and format presets to charts and graphs, but you can add customization by exploring the tabs. Next, we’ll walk you through all the available adjustments in Chart Design.

Step 3: Add Chart Elements

Adding chart elements to your chart or graph will enhance it by clarifying data or providing additional context. You can select a chart element by clicking on the Add Chart Element dropdown menu in the top left-hand corner (beneath the Home tab).

To Display or Hide Axes:

1. Select Axes. Excel will automatically pull the column and row headers from your selected cell range to display both horizontal and vertical axes on your chart (Under Axes, there is a check mark next to Primary Horizontal and Primary Vertical.)

   

2. Uncheck these options to remove the display axis on your chart. In this example, clicking Primary Horizontal will remove the year labels on the horizontal axis of your chart.

   

3. Click More Axis Options… from the Axes dropdown menu to open a window with additional formatting and text options such as adding tick marks, labels, or numbers, or to change text color and size.

   

    

To Add Axis Titles:

1. Click Add Chart Element and click Axis Titles from the dropdown menu. Excel will not automatically add axis titles to your chart; therefore, both Primary Horizontal and Primary Vertical will be unchecked.

   

2. To create axis titles, click Primary Horizontal or Primary Vertical and a text box will appear on the chart. We clicked both in this example. Type your axis titles. In this example, the we added the titles “Year” (horizontal) and “Profit” (vertical).

   

To Remove or Move Chart Title:

• Click Add Chart Element and click Chart Title. You will see four options: None, Above Chart, Centered Overlay, and More Title Options.

  

• Click None to remove chart title.
• Click Above Chart to place the title above the chart. If you create a chart title, Excel will automatically place it above the chart.
• Click Centered Overlay to place the title within the gridlines of the chart. Be careful with this option: you don’t want the title to cover any of your data or clutter your graph (as in the example below).

To Add Data Labels:

1. Click Add Chart Element and click Data Labels. There are six options for data labels: None (default), Center, Inside End, Inside Base, Outside End, and More Data Label Title Options.

   

2. The four placement options will add specific labels to each data point measured in your chart. Click the option you want. This customization can be helpful if you have a small amount of precise data, or if you have a lot of extra space in your chart. For a clustered column chart, however, adding data labels will likely look too cluttered. For example, here is what selecting Center data labels looks like:

   

To Add a Data Table: 

1. Click Add Chart Element and click Data Table. There are three pre-formatted options along with an extended menu that can be found by clicking More Data Table Options:

   

Note: If you choose to include a data table, you’ll probably want to make your chart larger to accommodate the table. Simply click the corner of your chart and use drag-and-drop to resize your chart.

To Add Error Bars:

1. Click Add Chart Element and click Error Bars. In addition to More Error Bars Options, there are four options: None (default), Standard Error, 5% (Percentage), and Standard Deviation. Adding error bars provide a visual representation of the potential error in the shown data, based on different standard equations for isolating error.

   

2. For example, when we click Standard Error from the options we get a chart that looks like the image below.

   

 To Add Gridlines:

1. Click Add Chart Element and click Gridlines. In addition to More Grid Line Options, there are four options: Primary Major Horizontal, Primary Major Vertical, Primary Minor Horizontal, and Primary Minor Vertical. For a column chart, Excel will add Primary Major Horizontal gridlines by default.

   

2. You can select as many different gridlines as you want by clicking the options. For example, here is what our chart looks like when we click all four gridline options.

To Add a Legend:  

1. Click Add Chart Element and click Legend. In addition to More Legend Options, there are five options for legend placement: None, Right, Top, Left, and Bottom.

   

2. Legend placement will depend on the style and format of your chart. Check the option that looks best on your chart. Here is our chart when we click the Right legend placement.

   

To Add Lines: Lines are not available for clustered column charts. However, in other chart types where you only compare two variables, you can add lines (e.g. target, average, reference, etc.) to your chart by checking the appropriate option.

To Add a Trendline:

1. Click Add Chart Element and click Trendline. In addition to More Trendline Options, there are five options: None (default), Linear, Exponential, Linear Forecast, and Moving Average. Check the appropriate option for your data set. In this example, we will click Linear.

   

2. Because we are comparing five different products over time, Excel creates a trendline for each individual product. To create a linear trendline for Product A, click Product A and click the blue OK button.

   

3. The chart will now display a dotted trendline to represent the linear progression of Product A. Note that Excel has also added Linear (Product A) to the legend.

   

4. To display the trendline equation on your chart, double click the trendline. A Format Trendline window will open on the right side of your screen. Click the box next to Display equation on chart at the bottom of the window. The equation now appears on your chart.

   

Note: You can create separate trendlines for as many variables in your chart as you like. For example, here is our chart with trendlines for Product A and Product C. 

To Add Up/Down Bars: Up/Down Bars are not available for a column chart, but you can use them in a line chart to show increases and decreases among data points.

Step 4: Adjust Quick Layout

1. The second dropdown menu on the toolbar is Quick Layout, which allows you to quickly change the layout of elements in your chart (titles, legend, clusters etc.).

   

2. There are 11 quick layout options. Hover your cursor over the different options for an explanation and click the one you want to apply.

   

Step 5: Change Colors

The next dropdown menu in the toolbar is Change Colors. Click the icon and choose the color palette that fits your needs (these needs could be aesthetic, or to match your brand’s colors and style).

Step 6: Change Style

For cluster column charts, there are 14 chart styles available. Excel will default to Style 1, but you can select any of the other styles to change the chart appearance. Use the arrow on the right of the image bar to view other options.

Step 7: Switch Row/Column

1. Click the Switch Row/Column on the toolbar to flip the axes. Note: It is not always intuitive to flip axes for every chart, for example, if you have more than two variables.

   

In this example, switching the row and column swaps the product and year (profit remains on the y-axis). The chart is now clustered by product (not year), and the color-coded legend refers to the year (not product). To avoid confusion here, click on the legend and change the titles from Series to Years.

Step 8: Select Data

1. Click the Select Data icon on the toolbar to change the range of your data.
2. A window will open. Type the cell range you want and click the OK button. The chart will automatically update to reflect this new data range.

   

Step 9: Change Chart Type

1. Click the Change Chart Type dropdown menu.

   

2. Here you can change your chart type to any of the nine chart categories that Excel offers. Of course, make sure that your data is appropriate for the chart type you choose.

   

3. You can also save your chart as a template by clicking Save as Template…

4. A dialogue box will open where you can name your template. Excel will automatically create a folder for your templates for easy organization. Click the blue Save button.

   

Step 10: Move Chart

1. Click the Move Chart icon on the far right of the toolbar.
2. A dialogue box appears where you can choose where to place your chart. You can either create a new sheet with this chart (New sheet) or place this chart as an object in another sheet (Object in). Click the blue OK button.

   

Step 11: Change Formatting

1. The Format tab allows you to change formatting of all elements and text in the chart, including colors, size, shape, fill, and alignment, and the ability to insert shapes. Click the Format tab and use the shortcuts available to create a chart that reflects your organization’s brand (colors, images, etc.).

   

2. Click the dropdown menu on the top left side of the toolbar and click the chart element you are editing.

   

Step 12: Delete a Chart 

To delete a chart, simply click on it and click the Delete key on your keyboard.