How to Draw Graphs in Microsoft Excel

Drawing a graph in Excel is a fairly easy thing to do these days. First let me clarify that charts and graphs in Excel are the same thing. There is no actual drawing to do it is a matter of a few simple clicks, that is what makes Microsoft Office so uncomplicated to use. I am including a little exercise for you to follow to create a line graph just to see how it works. You can create a make-believe Spreadsheet and enter fake data for this exercise or use an existing file if you have one.

Follow these simple steps.

• Enter your data without leaving blank rows or columns between data. When setting up your spreadsheet describe the data in one column and enter the data to the right of that. If there is more than one data Place a title for each data sequence then add its unique information in columns. Then the Graph Data will need to be selected.

• Using your mouse drag and highlight the cells with the information in them you wish to graph.

1. On the ribbon in Microsoft Excel 2007 Click insert

2. Click Chart category and click the graph type of your choice to select it

Choosing the right kind of chart for your data:

Generally speaking pie charts are only used when the categories' are small in number so the relative size of the different slices can be easily determined. For several categories' use a column chart. For data that must follow a sequential order use a line chart. Remember that a line chart will alter data that occurs at irregular time intervals. When you want to plot two numeric values ​​against one another use XY Scatter Charts; furthermore, they are also good for recording data with irregular time intervals. When you can not seem to find a chart that fits your needs; you can create a custom chart based on the built-in chart types. You can also create a combination chart by combining two or more types in a single graph.

Some things to keep in mind when designing your graph are bulleted below:

• Line graphs should have no more than three or four data series
• Gridlines should be used to provide only approximate values ​​use them sparingly
• When formatting choose colors that will be distinct on the printed copy
• Be conservative with text styles so as not to confuse data

Now you have learned how easy creating a graph can be; in addition, about the different types of graphs such for better design, choose the appropriate type in Excel. You can play with changing fonts and colors to format your graph to your liking.

By Dorolis Day-Morris