Tip #4203 - Graphs That Grab Attention
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Graphs
That Grab Attention
Ever find yourself bored
with the same old graphs in MS Excel?
Looking for a
new way to "jazz" them up and get your reader's attention?
I'm sure you've
tried all the standard stuff with color changes and by now, I'd bet
you're wondering about some other options. Am I right?
Well, though I'm
positive there are more ideas out there than I could possibly imagine,
I've got a suggestion that actually leads to multiple ideas!
Today, I'd like
to take a look at the Fill Effects Excel offers.
But let's not
get ahead of ourselves. Obviously, the first step would be to create
the graph.
Once you've got
your graph, you need to select the data display items
(the bars, pie pieces, etc.) you're looking to change.
If you want all
the pieces to be the same, you can simply double click on
any piece and the Format Data Series window will open.
If you want to
individually change appearances of each piece, you need to select
a single data item. You can do that by first clicking just once on
the piece (this selects all of them). Then pause and click once again
to select just the one piece. (Be sure not to double click too fast.
Remember, it's a click, a pause and
a click).
With just
the one piece selected, double click on it to open the Format
Data Point window.
Now, it's time
for the fun!
In the Format
Data Series window, you'll immediately notice all the color choices
on the right. But, we're tired of the same old things, so what we're
looking for today is the Fill Effects button below
the color palette.
The Fill Effects
window will open where you'll notice four different tabs: Gradient,
Texture, Pattern and Picture.
Each tab has something
different to offer when it comes to changing the appearance of the
data pieces on your graph.
Take some time
to cruise through them and you'll find they're pretty easy to figure
out once you know that they exist.
With your selection
made, click the OK button twice and you'll be returned
back to your new and improved graph. Yes!
~ April
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