Contents
The Excel 2007 Interface
Keyboard Shortcuts in Excel 2007
How to Create New Spreadsheets and Open Existing Spreadsheets
How to Save and Close an Excel Spreadsheet
How to Navigate an Excel 2007 Spreadsheet
Basic Cell Operations in Excel
Excel Formulas and Functions
How to Use Excel’s Fill Feature
How to Sort Data in Excel
How to Format Cells in Excel
How to Format Excel Spreadsheets
How to Add Charts or Graphics to Excel Spreadsheets
How to Print Excel Spreadsheets
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How to Add Charts or Graphics to Excel Spreadsheets
In addition to presenting data numerically, Excel makes it easy to display data visually with charts and graphics.
How to Create Charts in Excel
To create a chart in Excel 2007, follow these steps:
- Select the cells you want to turn into a chart. Make sure to select both the text (used as labels) and numbers (used as data points).
- Go to Insert > Charts on the Ribbon.
- Select the type of chart you’d like—column, line, pie, bar, area, scatter, or other. Clicking the launcher on the group will pop up a menu that lets you look at all of your options in more detail.
- Whichever type you choose, a drop-down menu will appear, offering you specific style options for that type of chart. Select the style you prefer.
When you make your selection, the chart will immediately appear in your spreadsheet (it may appear over your data, which isn’t a problem since you can easily move the chart).
How to Move or Resize a Chart
- To move a chart: Click and hold in the center of the chart, then drag the chart where you want it to go on the spreadsheet.
- To resize a chart: Click the chart, then bring the mouse pointer above one of the little squares, called selection handles, located at the chart’s corners. Click and drag the selection handles to resize the chart.
How to Edit or Format a Chart
When you click on a chart, a contextual tab, called Chart Tools, appears on the Ribbon. This tab has three subtabs—Design, Layout, and Format—that contain commands that help you make the look chart exactly how you want it.
- Design: The Design tab provides tools that let you adjust the data range used to create the chart, change the chart type you’ve selected, change the style of the chart you’ve selected, or move the chart to another spreadsheet.
- Layout: The Layout tab lets you edit the particular elements of a chart, such as its title, axes, legend, and background.
- Format: The Format tab lets you change the look of the different elements in the table. Select the particular element by clicking it, then click the button you’d like to use in the Format tab.
How to Insert Graphics in Excel
In addition to charts, Excel allows you to insert a variety of other graphical elements into a spreadsheet by using the Insert > Illustrations group. The four main types of graphical elements that you can insert are:
- Picture: Digital images or scanned photos
- Clip art: More than 15,000 clip art illustrations
- Shapes: A gallery of predrawn shapes, from lines to solids to arrows and beyond
- SmartArt: Predesigned combinations of words and art that allow you to create more complex graphical elements, such as flowcharts or org charts
Clicking any of these icons pops up an associated dialog box that you can use to select and insert the graphical element of your choice.
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