Microsoft Office Tutorials and References
In Depth Information
Chapter 3: Working with Chart Series
Or, if the Chart toolbar is displayed, you can simply click the By Row or By Value
button to quickly change the chart’s data orientation.
Your choice of orientation will determine how many series the chart has, and it
will affect the appearance and (possibly) the legibility of your chart. Figure 3-1
shows two charts for the same data. The chart on the left uses three series, arranged
in columns. The chart on the right uses four series, arranged in rows.
In the majority of cases, using the Chart Wizard to create a chart works perfectly
well. In other situations, however, you may find it necessary to modify the ranges
used by the chart. Specifically, you may want to
Add a new series to the chart
Delete a series from the chart
Extend the range used by a series (show more data)
Contract the range used by a series (show less data)
Add or modify the series names
All these topics are covered in the following sections.
Figure 3-1: Your choice of data orientation (by row or by column)
determines the number of series in the chart.
Chart types vary in the number of series that they can use. All charts are
limited to a maximum of 255 series. Other charts require a minimum number of
series. For example, a high-low-close stock chart requires three series. A pie
chart can use only one series.