Gobe Productive User's Guide - Working with Charts

- Working in the spreadsheet environment
- Formatting cells
- Row & column sizes
- Number formats
- Insert, Delete, Move & Go to Cells
- Locking cells
- Filling cells
- Sorting cells
- Calculating cells & Dependent cells
- Formulas & functions
- Function reference
- Creating a chart
- Working with charts
- Styles
- Named selections
- Display options
- Spell checking
- Writing tools
- Views & layers
- Working with spreadsheet frames

# Working with Charts

Understanding Charts | Change the Axis of a Chart | Change the Chart Type | Change the Color of a Data Series
Add or Change Legend Symbols | Change the Color of Symbols | Change How a Data Series is Displayed | Enhancing Charts

Once a chart is created, there are many formatting options available to change the look, orientation, and layout of the charted data. This topic describes how to format an existing chart frame. See the previous section, Creating a Chart for instructions on how to make a new chart.

## Understanding Charts

A chart is composed of elements inside a frame. The diagram below demonstrates these elements.

### Charting Terms

> Y-Axis: The vertical range of a chart.

> X-Axis: The horizontal range of a chart

> Title: Title of the chart. This is picked up from the first cell in the data range.

> Data Points: The individual points within a series where a value is graphed. For a bar chart, this would be a single bar, for a pie chart this would be a single pie slice.

> Data Series: A complete series of data. For bar charts this would represent one complete set of bars, for line charts it represents one complete line of data, and for pie charts it represents one pie slice.

> Legend: Indicates how each data series is displayed on the chart. Each color represents a different data series.

> Range: The scale for each axis.

## To Change the Axis of a Chart

1. Right click anywhere in the chart and select Axis from the pop-up menu. Or select Axis from the Chart menu. The Axis Options dialog box is displayed.
2. Select which axis you want to change: vertical or horizontal.
3. Check whether you want the chart to show gridlines. If you unselect this option, then the chart shows no gridlines in the chosen direction.
4. Enter the Minimum and Maximum number for the axis. Enter the Step or increment for the axis ticks.
5. Click OK when finished. The chart is changed to display the new axis options.

## To Change the Chart Type

There are three basic chart types available. These can be changed at anytime. However, some data series are not suitable for certain chart types. For example, a pie chart is intended to graphically represent the percentages of a whole. Thus a data series with multiple series, and multiple data points does not create a meaningful pie chart. Likewise, a chart with only one data series, and few data points does not make a good line chart.

1. Right click anywhere in the chart and select Chart Type from the pop-up menu. Or select Chart Type from the Chart menu. The Chart dialog box is displayed.

2. Use the Major Chart Type list to select the basic type of chart you want.
3. Select the style of the chart type you want by using the Minor Chart Type buttons. A sample of each chart type is displayed in the Sample box.
4. Click OK when finished. The chart is changed to the new type.

## To Change the Color of a Data Series

1. In the chart legend, right click on the data series you want to change. A pop up menu is displayed (shown below). Select Data Color from the popup menu.
2. A palette of colors is displayed. Select the color you wish to use for the data series. The menu item displays the current ink set active for the document. See the topic Customizing Ink Sets in the Graphics section for more information about customizing color sets.

## To Add or Change Legend Symbols

1. In the chart legend, right click on the data series you want to change. A pop up menu is displayed (shown above). Select Legend Symbols from the popup menu.
2. A palette of shapes is displayed. Select the shape you wish to use for the data series. Select None to remove any existing shapes. The shape is added to the chart.

## To Change the Color of Symbols

1. In the chart legend, right click on the data series you want to change. A pop up menu is displayed (shown above). Select Symbol Color from the popup menu.
2. A palette of colors is displayed. Select the color you wish to use for the symbol (this can be different then the data series color). The menu item displays the current ink set active for the document. See the topic Customizing Ink Sets in the Graphics section for more information about customizing color sets.

## To Change How a Data Series is Displayed

You can change how a data series is graphed in a chart. For example, you can set one series to display as a bar graph while three other series display as lines. You can mix bar, line, and area graphs in any combination. Pie charts cannot be mixed with any other display options.

1. In the chart legend, right click on the data series you want to change. A pop up menu is displayed (shown above). Select Displays as from the popup menu.
2. Select the type of display for the data series.

> #### Bar Chart Example

> #### Line Chart Example

> #### Area Chart Example

> #### XY Chart Example

## Enhancing Charts

A chart is basically a specialized graphic item. Like any other graphic item, it can be stacked, filled, rotated, and grouped. Moreover, you can add text frames and other graphic items to the chart frame to enhance the look of the chart.

One of the best ways to display, print, or work with charts is to place a chart in a graphic document or sheet. Since the graphics environment is well suited to working with graphics, it is easy to add and enhance the look of a graph.

Using the various tools of the graphics environment (or any environment for that matter) you can add callouts, graphics, and colors to enhance a chart. You can also place the finished graphics and chart into a presentation sheet.

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