Make spreadsheet data come aliveCreating charts in Microsoft Office Excel 2007Turning spreadsheet data into visually compelling graphics is easy with new tools in Microsoft Office Excel 2007. In this example you'll see how raw sales data can be quickly converted into a simple comparison chart. To get started: 1. Open your Excel worksheet and select the data that you want to chart (Figure 1), including column titles and row labels. 
Figure 1 Click the Insert tab, and in the Charts group, click Column. You'll see a number of column chart types to choose from (Figure 2). 
Figure 2 3. Click Clustered Column, the first column chart in the 2D Column list. 4. To add a title and descriptive information to the chart, click inside the chart to select and edit the text boxes. 5. Go to the Chart Layouts group on the Design tab and scroll through the layouts to select the one that works best. For this example we chose Layout 9, which adds placeholders for our chart title (Northwind Traders Tea) and our axes titles (Cases Sold and First Quarter Sales). Simply type the titles directly into the chart. 
Here are two quick ways to alter your chart: | • | Change colours or fonts. You can select a theme for your project, with colours, fonts and styles that will be applied to both your worksheet and your chart. Under Page Layout, select the menu under Themes to see your options. Or, under Design, use the Chart Styles menu to view choices, including colour palettes and 3D options. (Figure 4) |
Figure 3 | • | Compare data another way. The original chart (Figure 3) shows how each salesperson compares against the others. For a view of how each salesperson performed month to month, click in the chart to select it, and then click Design. Click Switch Row/Column. |
The new charting tools in Excel 2007 help you quickly create charts with a polished, up-to-date look using treatments like 3D, transparency, and soft shadows not available in previous versions of Excel.
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