The following is the list of queries addressed in this article:
- How to customize the formatting options in the chart?
- How to save the chart as a template and re-use it in any other Excel file?
- How to increase or decrease the number of series?
How to customize the formatting options in the chart?
How to save the chart as a template and re-use it in any other Excel file?
Before getting into the steps for saving the chart as a template, please click anywhere on the chart and use the "+" icon to remove the data labels.
Now, follow the steps below:
1. Right-click on the chart and select "Save as Template"
This opens a dialog box, assign a name to your chart template, and click "Save". This saves the chart in a .crtx format
2. From our Instant Chart Maker file, Copy the data table (CTRL+C) and paste it (CTRL+V) into your chosen Excel file.
3. Enter your information in the data table. Add or remove rows as needed. Please note that green-colored columns are calculated columns - do not enter any data, they are automatically calculated based on the input columns (Blue colored)
4. Select the columns required to build the chart, for this one, choose all columns along with headers
5. Go to Insert and choose to see All Recommended Charts
This opens up a dialog box, go to All Charts and click on the Templates folder. Here, you'll find all the charts you have saved in step 1, choose the one that is relevant to the data and click "OK".
6. That's it, your chart gets populated with the data from your Excel file and is fully independent of the Instant Chart Maker template file.
- Chart title and Axis titles: Using a saved template to build your chart does not usually bring the Chart title and axis titles. Read this article to add these elements to your chart.
How to add the data labels correctly?
A. Click on the chart, and use the "+" icon to add data labels.
B. Click on the chart and press CTRL+1 to open the formatting pane. Here, choose the "Total Data Labels" series
C. Under label options, position the labels"Above"
E. Modify the label size, color, etc using the formatting options in the home ribbon
With this, your chart is ready for analysis!
How to increase or decrease the number of series?
1. Right-click on any cell inside the Total column, go to Insert, then click "Table columns to the left" as shown. (Repeat for as many columns as needed).
2. This will add a new column, enter your data.
3. Now, the total column formula needs to be adjusted to include the newly added columns as well. Click on the first cell in the Total column, go to the formula bar, and add the newly inserted series's value (do this for the first row only)
3. Right-click on the chart and go to Change Chart Type.
Here, change the new "Central" series to a Stacked column type
4. Click on the newly added series, use the "+" to add data labels.
To remove any series,
To remove series from the data,
1. The Total column contains the sum of all the series involved. So before deleting a particular series, ensure to remove the corresponding values from the formula.
2. Say, you do not want to display the "North" series anymore. The original Total column formula is:
=[@East]+[@West]+[@North]+[@South]+[@Central]
Modify this to:
=[@East]+[@West]+[@South]+[@Central]
3. Now right-click on any cell inside the "North" series and go to delete, Table Column
4. Right-click on the chart, and go to Change chart type, here in Combo, ensure all series are Stacked column and Total is Line
5. Click on chart,press CTRL+1. In format pane, choose "Total" series
6. In fill & line, choose No Line
7. Similarly, choose "Total" Data Labels from drop-down and from label options position them above.
That's it your chart is ready!
