一段时间以来，Excel中的图表数据不仅变得简单而且自动化，您可以轻松地从表格电子表格转换为综合区域、条形图、折线图或饼图，只需几个经过深思熟虑的鼠标点击。然后，当您编辑电子表格中的数据时，Excel会自动对您的图表和图形进行相应的更改。
不过，这并不是该程序图表魔术的结束。例如，您可以随时更改图表或图形类型(chart or graph type)，以及编辑配色(edit color)
方案、透视（2D、3D 等）、交换轴等等。
但是，当然，这一切都始于电子表格。
布置您的数据(Laying Out
Your Data)
虽然Excel
允许您以多种方式排列电子表格，但在绘制数据图表时，您将获得最佳结果，以便每一行代表一条记录，每列包含特定行的元素或与特定行相关的元素。
嗯(Huh)？以下面的电子表格为例。
最左列包含激光打印机列表。除了包含列标签或标题的第 1 行(Row 1)之外，每一行都代表一个特定的打印机，并且每个后续单元格都包含有关该特定机器的数据。
在这种情况下，每个单元格都保存打印速度数据： B 列，打印打印作业(print job)的第一页需要多长时间；C 列(Column C)，打印所有页面（包括第一页）需要多长时间；列 D(Column D)，搅动整个文档需要多长时间，没有第一页。
虽然这是一个基本的电子表格，但无论您的数据多么复杂，坚持这种标准格式都有助于简化流程。正如您将看到的那样，您可以将单元格映射到电子表格的一小部分或绘制整个文档或工作表的图表。
典型的 Excel 图表由几个不同的部分组成，如下图所示。
绘制数据图表(Charting Your
Data)
如果您以前没有这样做过，您可能会对Excel
使您的电子表格绘制图表变得如此简单感到惊讶。如前所述，您可以映射整个工作表，也可以选择一组列和行(columns and rows)来绘制图表。
例如，假设(Say)在上一节中我们正在处理的工作表中，您只想绘制前两列数据（B 列和 C 列(columns B and C)），而忽略 D 列。这需要一个简单的两步过程：
- 选择要绘制图表的数据，包括左侧列中的标签和要包含在图表中的列中的标题，如下所示。(column and headers)
或者，要绘制整个电子表格，请按照以下步骤操作。
- 选择(Select)电子表格中的所有数据，如下上图所示(image below)。不要(Do not )选择整个工作表，如下面的第二张图片所示 -(image below—select)仅选择包含数据的单元格。
Excel 在为您的数据选择合适的图表类型(chart type)方面做得很好，但如果您更喜欢不同类型的图表，例如水平条，或者可能是不同的配色方案(color scheme)，甚至可能是带有渐变填充和背景的 3D 布局，该程序使所有这些效果更容易实现。
更改图表类型(Changing Chart
Type)
与Excel中的所有其他内容一样，有几种方法可以修改图表类型。然而，最简单的方法是。
- 选择图表。
- 在菜单栏上，单击图表设计( Chart Design)。
- 在图表设计功能区上，选择更改图表类型( Change Chart Type)。
这将打开
更改图表类型对话框(Change Chart Type dialog)，如下所示。
如您所见，有多种图表类型，单击其中一种会在对话框(dialog box)顶部显示多种变体。
除了从图表设计功能区(Chart Design ribbon)更改图表类型外，您还可以进行其他一些修改，例如配色方案、布局或应用程序的许多预先设计的图表样式之一。当然，图表(Chart)样式类似于Microsoft Word中的段落样式。与在MS Word中一样，您可以按原样应用众多样式中的一种、编辑现有样式或创建自己的样式。
添加和删除图表元素(Adding And Removing Chart Elements)
图表元素当然是构成图表的各种组件，例如标题、图例、X 轴和 Y 轴(X and Y axis)等。您可以通过在选择图表时单击图表右侧显示的加号来添加和删除这些元素。
弹出的图表元素(Chart Elements)下方是弹出的图表样式(Chart Styles)，当您单击图表右侧的画笔图标时会显示该样式。(paintbrush icon)
在图表样式下方，您会找到图表过滤器( Chart Filters)，它可以让您打开和关闭（或过滤）图表的各种组件，如下所示：
如果这些还不够修改选项，工作表右侧的格式图表区域(Format Chart Area)中还有许多其他选项，可让您更改图表的所有方面，从填充和背景到网格线，再到 3D 条形图、饼图，阴影——我可以继续，继续。但我相信你明白什么是可用的。
例如，当您单击文本选项( Text Options)时，您会获得另一连串效果，您可以将其应用于图表中的文本。选项几乎是无限的，以至于在没有任何限制的情况下，您最终可能会创建一些看起来很花哨的图表和图形 -(graphs –)甚至不费吹灰之力，这让我想到了一个重要的设计指南(design guideline)。
仅仅因为您拥有所有这些出色的设计工具供您使用并不(disposal doesn)意味着(t mean)您必须使用它们……或者，嗯，不需要同时使用这么多。这个想法是使您的图形足够吸引人以吸引观众的注意力，但不要太忙以至于设计本身会影响您试图传达的信息。毕竟，重要的是信息，而不是您的设计能力或图形(design prowess)设计软件(design software)的强大功能。
一个好的经验法则是，如果它看起来太忙和分散注意力，它可能是；把它弄糊涂一些。如果有的话，不要使用太多的装饰字体，因为它们不容易阅读。使用面向业务的图表和图形时，请专注于您(what)要表达的内容，而不是过多的表达方式(how)。
同时，制图表格数据比一列又一列的文本和数字(text and numbers)更容易理解和友好得多。
Charting Your Excel Data
For ѕome time now, charting data in Excel has become not only simple but also automated to the extent that you can easily go from a tabular spreadsheet to a comprehensive area, bar, line, or pie chart in no time with a few well-contemplated mouse clicks. Then as you edit the data in your spreadsheet, Excel automatically makes corresponding changes to your charts and graphs.
That’s not the
end of the program’s charting magic, though. You can, for example,
change the chart or graph type at any point, as well as edit color
schemes, the perspective (2D, 3D, and so on), swap axis, and much,
much more.
But, of course,
it all starts with the spreadsheet.
Laying Out
Your Data
While Excel
allows you to arrange your spreadsheets in many ways, when charting
data, you’ll get the best results laying it out so that each row
represents a record and each column contains elements of or
pertaining to specific rows.
Huh? Take the
following spreadsheet, for example.
The far-left column contains a list of laser printers. Except for Row 1, which holds the column labels, or headers, each row represents a specific printer, and each subsequent cell holds data about that particular machine.
In this case, each cell holds print speed data: Column B , how long it took to print the first page of a print job; Column C, how long it took to print all pages, including the first page; Column D, how long it took to churn the entire document, sans the first page out.
While this is a
somewhat basic spreadsheet, no matter how complex your data, sticking
to this standard format helps streamline the process. As you’ll see
coming up, you can map the cells in a small part of your spreadsheet
or chart the entire document, or worksheet.
The typical Excel
chart consists of several distinct parts, as shown in the image
below.
Charting Your
Data
If you haven’t
done this before, you’ll probably be surprised at how easy Excel
makes charting your spreadsheets. As mentioned, you can map the
entire worksheet, or you can select a group of columns and rows to
chart.
Say, for example, that in the worksheet we were working on in the previous section that you wanted to chart only the first two columns of data (columns B and C), leaving out column D. This entails a simple two-step procedure:
- Select the data you want to chart, including the labels in the left column and headers in the columns you wish to include in your chart, as shown below.
Or, to chart the
entire spreadsheet, follow these steps.
- Select all the data in the spreadsheet, as shown in the top image below. Do not select the entire sheet, as shown in the second image below—select only the cells containing data.
Excel does a
great job of choosing the appropriate chart type for your data, but
if you prefer a different type of chart, such as, say, horizontal
bars, or perhaps a different color scheme, maybe even a 3D layout
with gradient fills and backgrounds, the program makes all these
effects and more easy to achieve.
Changing Chart
Type
As with
everything else in Excel, there are several ways to modify your chart
type. The easiest is, however, to.
- Select the chart.
- On the menu bar, click Chart Design.
- On the Chart Design ribbon, choose Change Chart Type.
This opens the
Change Chart Type dialog box, shown here.
As you can see,
there are numerous chart types, and clicking one of them displays
several variations across the top of the dialog box.
In addition to changing chart types from the Chart Design ribbon, you can also make several other modifications, such as color schemes, layout, or applying one of the program’s many pre-designed chart styles. Chart styles are, of course, similar to paragraph styles in Microsoft Word. As in MS Word, you can apply one of the numerous styles as-is, edit existing styles, or create your own.
Adding And Removing Chart Elements
Chart elements
are, of course, the various components, such as the title, the
legend, the X and Y axis, and so on that make up your chart. You can
add and remove these elements by clicking the plus symbol that
appears on the right side of the chart when you select it.
Beneath the Chart Elements fly out is the Chart Styles fly out, which displays when you click the paintbrush icon to the right of the chart.
Beneath Chart Styles you’ll find Chart Filters, which lets you turn on and off (or filter) various components of your chart, as shown here:
If those aren’t enough modification options, there are a slew of others in the Format Chart Area to the right of the worksheet that lets you change all aspects of your chart, from fills and backgrounds to gridlines, to 3D bars, pie slices, drop shadows – I can go on, and on. But I’m sure you get the point as to what’s available.
When you click Text Options, for example, you get another barrage of effects you can apply to the text in your charts. The options are almost unlimited, to the extent that without some restraint, you could wind up creating some garish-looking charts and graphs – without even trying all that hard, which brings me to an important design guideline.
Just because you have all these fantastic design tools at your disposal doesn’t mean you have to use them….or, well, not so many of them at the same time. The idea is to make your graphics attractive enough to catch your audience’s attention, but not so busy that the design itself detracts from the message you’re trying to convey. It is, after all, the message that’s important, not your design prowess or the brute power of your graphics design software.
A good rule of
thumb is that, if it looks too busy and distracting, it probably is;
dumb it down some. Don’t use too many decorative fonts, if any, as
they’re not easy to read. When using business-oriented charts and
graphs, concentrate on what you’re trying to say and not so
much on how you say it.
Meanwhile,
charting tabular data can render it much easier to understand and
much friendlier than column after column of text and numbers.
