Excel Skills Page: EX-114 A picture is worth a thousand words; use Excel to create charts that make your data more easily understood. Also in this chapter, learn to use more advanced Excel tools for data analysis.
Excel Skill 4.1 Inserting a Column Chart Pages: EX-115 and EX-116 Chart Tools contextual tabs provide design, layout, and formatting options to customize the chart.
Excel Skill 4.1 Inserting a Column Chart Pages: EX-115 and EX-116; Figure EX 4.1 try this - You can also insert a chart from the Insert Chart dialog box: On the Insert tab, in the Charts group, click the Chart dialog box launcher. In the Insert Chart dialog box, click a chart type category to display that category in the right pane. Click a chart type in the right pane to select it. Click OK to add the chart to the worksheet.
Excel Skill 4.1 Inserting a Column Chart Pages: EX-115 and EX-116; Figure EX 4.2 (glossary, p. 23) Excel automatically inserts the chart into your active worksheet.
Excel Skill 4.1 Inserting a Column Chart Page: EX-116; Figures EX 4.2 and EX 4.3
Excel Skill 4.2 Working with Pie Charts Page: EX-117
Excel Skill 4.2 Working with Pie Charts Page: EX-117; Figure EX 4.4 try this - You can also insert a pie chart from the Insert Chart dialog box: Click the Chart dialog box launcher in the Charts group on the Insert tab. In the Insert Chart dialog box, click Pie in the category list to display that category in the right pane. Click a pie chart type in the right pane to select it. Click OK to add the chart to the worksheet.
Excel Skill 4.3 Working with Line Charts Page: EX-118; Figure EX 4.5
Excel Skill 4.3 Working with Line Charts Pages: EX-118 and EX-119; Figure EX 4.5 try this - You can also insert a line chart from the Insert Chart dialog box.
Excel Skill 4.3 Working with Line Charts Page: EX-118 and EX-119; Figures EX 4.6, EX 4.7, and EX 4.8
Excel Skill 4.4 Changing the Chart Design Page: EX-120 Changing the layout and style of a chart can make a dramatic impact. When you insert a chart, Excel displays the Chart Tools contextual tabs.
Excel Skill 4.4 Changing the Chart Design Page: EX-120; Figure EX 4.9
Excel Skill 4.5 Changing the Chart Layout Page: EX-121 Once you apply a Quick Layout to your chart, you may need to further modify layout elements such as the placement of titles, labels, and the chart legend. You can also specify whether or not the data table appears as part of the chart.
Excel Skill 4.5 Changing the Chart Layout Pages: EX-121 and EX-122; Figures EX 4.10, EX 4.11, and EX 4.12 tell me more - The changes you make from the Chart Tools Layout tab apply only to the part of the chart you have selected. You can verify your selection (or change it) from the Chart Elements drop-down list at the top of the Current Selection group. try this - You can add data labels to the chart by right-clicking the data and selecting Add Data Labels from the menu.
Excel Skill 4.6 Changing the Chart Type Pages: EX-123 and EX-124; Figures EX 4.13, EX 4.14, and EX 4.15. Often, when you insert a chart, your data do not appear exactly as you intended. After inserting a chart, you can quickly change the chart type from the Chart Tools Design tab. By changing the chart type to a stacked cylinder, you can compare each personās contribution to the total sales. Now, each column represents the total sales for the month, and individual sales for each person are represented by a piece of that column. tips & tricks - If you typically use one type of chart, you can set that chart type as the default. In the Change Chart Type dialog box, select the chart type you want to set as the default. Next, click the Set as Default Chart button. Now when you create a new chart through the Insert Chart dialog, that chart type will automatically be selected and you wonāt need to search through the different chart types to find the one you want to use. try this - To change the chart type, you can also right-click in the Chart Area of the chart and select Change Chart Type . . .
Excel Skill 4.7 Moving a Chart Page: EX-125
Excel Skill 4.7 Moving a Chart Page: EX-125 Note: If you position your mouse over an area on the chart it will display a text identifying the area, such as Chart Area or Plot Area or a text identifying the series.
Excel Skill 4.7 Moving a Chart Page: EX-125; Figure EX 4.16 tips & tricks - If you move the chart to a new sheet, Excel automatically names the sheet Chart1 (or Chart2, Chart3, etc., if you have multiple chart sheets in your workbook). If you want to use a different name for the new sheet, type the sheet name in the text box to the right of the New sheet radio button. try this - Right-click in the Chart Area and select Move Chart . . . from the shortcut menu to open the Move Chart dialog box.
Excel Skill 4.8 Converting Data into Tables Page: EX-126 When you define data as a table, Excel provides a robust tool set for formatting and analyzing the data. tips & tricks - You cannot create a table in a shared workbook. If your workbook contains a table, you will need to convert the table to a named range before sharing the workbook.
Excel Skill 4.8 Converting Data into Tables Page: EX-126; Figure EX 4.17 try this - To insert a table without specifying the table formatting: Select the data for your table. Click the Insert tab. Click the Table button. Excel will automatically populate the Insert Table dialog box with the selected data range. Be sure to check the My table has headers check box if appropriate. Click OK to create the table. Excel will format the table with the most recent table style used.
Excel Skill 4.8 Converting Data into Tables Page: EX-126
Excel Skill 4.9 Adding Total Rows to Tables Page: EX-127 A Total Row will display the sum of the values only if the column contains numbers. tips & tricks - The Count option can be useful when filtering records in a table. Count tells you how many records are included in the filtered table. The Count option from the Total row actually uses the COUNTA function.
Excel Skill 4.9 Adding Total Rows to Tables Page: EX-127; Figure EX 4.18 try this - To add the Total row to the table, right-click any cell in the table, point to Table, and click Total Row.
Excel Skill 4.10 Sorting Data Page: EX-128 try this - If your columns are formatted as a table, you can click the arrow at the top of the column you want to sort by and then click the sort option you want. You can also right-click any cell in the column you want to sort by. Point to Sort, and select the sorting option you want. The sorting tools are also available from the Sort & Filter group on the Data tab. The button sorts alphabetically from A to Z, or by date from oldest to newest, or by value from smallest to largest. The button sorts alphabetically from Z to A, or by date from newest to oldest, or by value from largest to smallest.
Excel Skill 4.10 Sorting Data Page: EX-128; Figure EX 4.19
Excel Skill 4.10 Sorting Data Page: EX-128 tell me more ā With recent versions of Excel, the sorting and filtering options have been expanded to work with Excelās data visualization tools. If you have any of Excelās conditional formatting or cells styles applied to data in a table, you can sort and filter by color. If you want to organize the column so that a certain cell color or cell icon appears at the top and another appears at the bottom, click the Custom Sort . . . option at the bottom of the Sort by Color menu. In the Sort dialog box, you can add sorting levels. For Cell Color or Cell Icon, the Order options are On Top or On Bottom.
Excel Skill 4.11 Using AutoFilter Page: EX-129 try this - To enable filtering: Click the Data tab. In the Sort & Filter group, click the Filter button.
Excel Skill 4.11 Using AutoFilter Page: EX-129; Figure EX 4.20
Excel Skill 4.11 Using AutoFilter Page: EX-129 try this - To clear the filter, you can: On the Home tab, in the Sorting & Filtering group, click the Sort & Filter button, and then click the Clear Filter button. Click the Data tab. In the Sort & Filter group, click the Clear button.
Excel Skill 4.12 Working with Sparklines Page: EX-130
Excel Skill 4.12 Working with Sparklines Page: EX-130; Figure EX 4.21
Excel Skill 4.12 Working with Sparklines Pages: EX-130 and EX-131; Figure EX 4.22 In this example, the Sparklines show the trend for each personās sales over the selected three-month period.
Excel Skill 4.12 Working with Sparklines Page: EX-131; Figure EX 4.23
Excel Skill 4.13 Analyzing Data with Goal Seek Page: EX-132
Excel Skill 4.13 Analyzing Data with Goal Seek Page: EX-132; Figure EX 4.24
Excel Skill 4.13 Analyzing Data with Goal Seek Page: EX-132; Figure EX 4.25
Excel Skill 4.14 Analyzing Data with Data Tables Page: EX-133
Excel Skill 4.14 Analyzing Data with Data Tables Page: EX-133; Figure EX 4.26
Excel Skill 4.14 Analyzing Data with Data Tables Page: EX-133; Figure EX 4.27
Excel Skill 4.15 Applying Conditional Formatting with Highlight Cells Rules Page: EX-134 You should resist the temptation to overuse conditional formatting. Conditional formatting should be used to highlight important data or data trends, not colorize the entire worksheet. Highlighting cells with duplicate values can be especially helpful when you are analyzing data.
Excel Skill 4.15 Applying Conditional Formatting with Highlight Cells Rules Page: EX-134; Figure EX 4.28
Excel Skill 4.15 Applying Conditional Formatting with Highlight Cells Rules Page: EX-135; Figure EX 4.29
Excel Skill 4.18 Creating PivotTables Page: EX-138; Figure EX 4.33
Excel Skill 4.18 Creating PivotTables Pages: EX-138 and EX-139; Figure EX 4.33 tips & tricks - You can click and drag fields in the Row Labels and Values boxes to reorder them. try this - You can also create a PivotTable from a table by clicking the Table Tools Design tab. In the Tools group, click the Summarize with PivotTable button. To open the Value Field Settings dialog box, you can also click the arrow next to the field name in the Values box, and then select Value Field Settings . . .
Excel Skill 4.18 Creating PivotTables Page: EX-139; Figure EX 4.34 By default, PivotTables calculate totals using the SUM function.
Excel Skill 4.19 Creating PivotCharts Page: EX-140; Figure EX 4.35 try this - You can also create a PivotChart without creating the PivotTable first. Begin with any cell in a table selected or select the range you want to use in your PivotChart. Click the Insert tab. In the Tables group, click the PivotTable button arrow, and click PivotChart. The Create PivotTable with PivotChart dialog box opens. Click OK to create both the PivotTable and accompanying PivotChart in a new worksheet. The empty PivotTable layout appears with an empty PivotChart next to it. As you add fields to the PivotTable, the PivotChart builds automatically.