So, now you have a worksheet, with labels and values and formulas all in a table format. That's enough to have all the information you need to record, track, and analyze data. But there is more you can do to illustrate it, and to make the analysis easier. Using charts, you can create a variety graphical displays of your data. Depending on what you want to illustrate or emphasize, Excel offers many different chart options, such as pie charts, columns, bars, lines, or areas.

You can put a chart on a worksheet with the data it is charting, in which case it is called an embedded chart. Or you can put your chart on a separate chart sheet.

Let's say you have created a worksheet to keep track of your budget. You have all the information you need to see and compare how much you are spending on various items each semester. But it's just a long list of numbers that you have to make an effort to think about to get various comparisons. With a chart, you can quickly create graphics which can show you what you want to know in easy to grasp visual representations.

For example, suppose you want to compare the amount of your budget that you spent on various items during the Fall '98 semester. A pie chart would be just the thing. To create a pie chart, first you must select what information on your worksheet you want to be charted. You want the numbers in the Fall '98 column, and you want the labels so you know what the numbers mean. So, select all the relevant cells: click on cell A2 and drag to cell B6 (or, hold down the "Control" key and click on individual cells to select, or use any of the other methods of selecting a range of cells). Now, click on the Chart Wizard icon in the Standard toolbar to activate the Chart Wizard, which will take you through the steps of creating a chart. Note: if the Chart Wizard icon is not on the Standard toolbar, then click the down arrow at the far right end of the toolbar to find the Chart Wizard icon. From here, you can also add or remove buttons from the Standard toolbar.

The Chart Wizard takes you through four steps: Select a chart type. You want a pie chart, so click on "Pie" to get a choice of pie charts. Note that you can click "Press and hold to view sample" to preview what your chart will look like. When you find a type of chart you like, click "Next" to get Some "Data Range" options, such as selecting whether to reverse the default axes. The default axis is irrelevant in a pie chart, but in many others (such as a bar chart), it can make a big difference in how something is displayed, and thus in how it is interpreted when viewed. Then You can insert a title for your chart, and select from such options as whether and how to label the elements of the chart. The last step is to Select whether you want your chart to be embedded in the current worksheet or placed on a separate chart sheet. When you have finished making your specifications for your chart, click "Finish" to have it appear on your worksheet (or chart sheet).

Your chart will look something like this. At least, it will if you selected a flat pie chart, inserted "Expenses - Fall '05" as a title, and selected to "Show percent" in the Data Labels option. You can change the size, colors, locations, and fonts of various elements in the chart once you have completed it. Just click on any element to select it, then drag it elsewhere in the chart to move it, or drag an edge to resize it. If you double click on an element in the chart, you will bring up a Format menu to change the color, font, size, etc of the selected element. Or, right click on the chart to bring up a menu of general chart options.

Let's look at one more example of a chart derived from the worksheet above, to get an idea of the versatility and usefulness of the Chart Wizard options for helping you interpret the data in your worksheet. This chart was created by selecting the range of cells between A1 and D6 in the worksheet above (i.e. everything but the "totals" row and column). When these data are put in a bar graph, you can easily compare the amount spent on any of your categories in different semesters.

Do some experimenting with various types of charts to see the many ways you can render a worksheet of data, or any subset of the data, into easily interpreted visual representations.

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