Creating and Customizing Charts in Microsoft Excel

Overview

This tutorial teaches how to launch Microsoft Excel, prepare tabular data, and create custom charts. Demonstrating with Excel 2013 on Windows 10, the instructor outlines how to set up monthly visitor logs categorized by Male, Female, and Children, and explains why data entry must precede visualization.

Opening Microsoft Excel and Preparing the Worksheet

00:13

To start creating a chart, launch Microsoft Excel either from the Windows Start menu under All Apps or by searching for 'Excel' directly in the search bar. Open a blank workbook. Before any chart can be generated, the underlying dataset must exist in the spreadsheet. In this tutorial, the dataset tracks visitor statistics broken down across twelve months (January through December) and categorized into three groups: Male, Female, and Children.

• Excel can be launched from the Start menu or the taskbar search box.
• A chart cannot be generated without underlying source data already entered in the sheet.
• Zoom controls in the bottom-right corner help adjust workspace visibility.

Inserting an Empty Chart Container

04:08

Navigate to the 'Insert' tab on the Excel ribbon. Within the Charts group, select a chart format such as a 2-D Bar chart. Clicking a blank chart option inserts an empty chart canvas onto the sheet. This canvas can be repositioned and resized as desired.

• Go to the Insert tab on the ribbon to view chart categories.
• Inserting a chart without selecting cells first places a blank chart container on the sheet.
• Chart styles and background colors can be toggled via the Design tab.

Configuring Series Data and Category Labels

05:17

Right-click within the empty chart canvas and choose 'Select Data' from the context menu. Under Legend Entries (Series), click 'Add'. In the Edit Series dialog, define the Series name (e.g., Male) and clear the default '={1}' entry in the Series values field before selecting the numerical data range for that series. Repeat this process for the Female and Children series. Next, in the Horizontal (Category) Axis Labels box, click 'Edit' and select the column containing the month names (January through December) so that each data point is properly labeled.

• Right-click the chart area and click 'Select Data' to map data ranges manually.
• Always clear the default '={1}' value before highlighting your data column.
• Add series sequentially for multi-category datasets.
• Edit Horizontal Axis Labels to replace default numerical indices (1, 2, 3...) with descriptive category names like months.

Customizing and Converting Chart Types

07:35

Once the chart is populated, you can modify its visual presentation using Chart Styles, color palettes, or layout templates located in the Design tab. Furthermore, by clicking 'Change Chart Type', you can convert the existing bar chart into a Line Graph, Pie Chart, or other supported visualization without needing to re-enter or re-link the data series.

• Use the Design tab to adjust color schemes, chart styles, and layouts.
• The 'Change Chart Type' button converts existing mapped data into line graphs, pie charts, or other formats seamlessly.
• Ensure the chosen chart type logically represents multi-series comparative data.