Selecting Data for Graphs and Charts
- Highlight cells that are next to each other in a row or column by clicking and dragging your mouse across the cells
- For cells that are not next to each other in a row or column, hold the ‘Ctrl’ key (or ‘Cmd’ on Mac) and click the individual cells or ranges
- Specified data ranges can be selected by clicking the first cell in the range, holding ‘Shift’, and clicking the last cell
Selecting the Graph or Chart Type
- Choose the appropriate chart type based on the data to be visualised
- Bar graphs and pie charts work well for categorical data, while line graphs and scatter plots are suitable for numerical data
Labelling Graphs and Charts
- Always include a chart title that summarises what the graph or chart is about
- A legend identifies the different data series in your chart
- Sector labels, sector values, and percentages help interpret pie charts
- Category axis title, value axis title, category axis labels, value axis labels, and data value labels are essential in making your graph or chart understandable
Adding a Second Data Series
- To add a second data series, select the new data and click on ‘Add Data’ in the chart menu
- This is useful when comparing two sets of related data
Adding a Second Axis
- Adding a second axis allows you to plot two different data sets with different scales
- Click on ‘Add Axis’ in the chart menu and select the data series to plot on the new axis
Formatting Numerical Values
- Format numerical values to a specified number of decimal places by selecting the cells and choosing ‘Format Cells’ from the right-click menu
- To display currency symbols, choose ‘Currency’ in the ‘Number’ tab of the ‘Format Cells’ dialog box
Adjusting Axis Scale
- Adjust the maximum and minimum values of an axis scale by right-clicking on the axis and selecting ‘Format Axis’
- Set incremental values to change the scale of your graph
Enhancing Graph Appearance
- Extracting a pie chart sector emphasises a particular part of the data
- Change the colour scheme or fill patterns to make your graph visually appealing
Example
| Month | Sales (£) | Expenses (£) |
| Jan | 5000 | 2000 |
| Feb | 6000 | 2500 |
| Mar | 5500 | 2200 |
- The above data can be used to create a Line Graph to illustrate the sales and expenses over three months
