2018-04-02
Category Archives: Charts
Naming Charts in Excel
Two techniques
You may have noticed that Excel gives every chart a unique number when it creates the chart. It is displayed in the Name Box in the left corner above the grid. You have the ability to change that name and make it more descriptive.
Stop Charts Resizing
Works with other graphic objects like text boxes
We’ve all been there, our charts are looking just right and then some one inserts a column or changes the column width and throws out all our perfectly proportioned charts.
Hide and Seek with Excel Charts
Hiding rows and columns
Charts have a behaviour that many people don’t realise. That behaviour can also be turned off. If you hide a row or column in the data range used by a chart, the values will also be hidden on the chart.
Cole Nussbaumer Knaflic
2017-10-30
2017-10-30
A nice example of how a chart changes as you develop the story and message behind it.
Note the additional change at the bottom of the post.
Katherine S. Rowell, M.S., M.H.A.
2017-08-29
2017-08-29
If you are ever tempted to start a column (bar) chart at a point other than zero, please read this post.
It also has suggestions for alternative chart types to handle comparisons.
Filtering Tip
Make your headings bold.
This tip applies to tables and to the structures you use for charts.
Excel looks for the bold format when it reviews tables and layouts to figure out if your table has a headings row.
You can use Ctrl + Shift + L to add or remove the filter icons to a data table. There is also an icon on Data ribbon tab.
This will work more reliably if the headings are bold.
I use the following keyboard combination on the top left corner of the table.
Ctrl + Shift + right arrow (this selects all the headings)
Ctrl + b (this applies bold to the headings)
Ctrl + Shift + L (to turn on filters)
This combination can be done very quickly.
You can just use Ctrl + Shift + L within the table, but sometimes this applies the filter to the wrong row.
An Avo Chart
I wonder if we can get one of these on Power BI?
Saw this on the website below and liked it – I also like Avocados.
Avocado article on the ABC site
2017-03-22
When using charts/graphs in your presentations make sure you communicate the point of the chart/graph. Don’t assume the reader will get the point.
http://www.storytellingwithdata.com/blog/2017/3/22/so-what
The above blog post explains and demonstrates the issue well.
Some informative charts showing how the world has change in the last 200 years.
Worth a look – some good trends there.
Pasting Charts in Word and PowerPoint
When you paste Excel charts into Word or PowerPoint you may also be pasting all the underlying data that created the chart.
To get around that problem, you can use the Copy as Picture option.
This option is on a drop down on the Copy button on the Home ribbon – see image below.
You have a few options to choose from on what and how to copy.
This treats the chart as a graphic, which breaks any links to the underlying data. It also makes it much easier to re-size the chart when you paste it in the destination document.
It is not dynamic at all – it is a point in time capture.
Chart Suggestions
When less is more
Just because you can, doesn’t mean you should. This applies to many thing in Excel and especially to charts. With charts the “less is more” philosophy works well. Have a look at the four charts in the image below.
Power BI – Just starting out
The start of my journey
OK I have bitten the bullet and decided to get stuck in to Power BI. I am going to start playing around with Power BI Desktop – it is free after all. I thought I would blog about the experience and share my journey. I have created a Power BI category. I now have a button on my website that will list Power BI posts.
Show Horizontal Axis Entries Below the Chart
Great for displaying negatives in a line or column chart
I learned about a chart Axis option in Excel during a recent webinar – thanks to one of the attendees. You can show the Axis entries below the chart – this is handy for column charts that display negatives.
When a Bar Chart is Better
Before and after charts
I was reading a magazine last week and a chart caught my eye. I thought I could improve it. I recreated it in Excel – its close to the original – see below – I didn’t quite match the column colour.
This is a great video on data visualisation in general.
It includes two great tips, with examples, to improve your visualisations.
Cole has a great website as well.
Excel Variance Analysis
An alternative charting technique
It is common in accounting to compare numbers. Either Actuals vs Budget or this year vs last year. There are different charts that people use for this comparison. How about plotting the variance instead?
28 May 2014
Charts – 10 ideas and examples on what to do, and what not to do.
This site allows discussion on Data Visualisation topics.
You can post examples of good and bad visualisations for comment.
Seth Godin
May 5th 2015
May 5th 2015
Some good insights from Seth Godin about how to display a message and get your important point(s) across.
Jon Peltier is a legend when it comes to charts in Excel – check out his post on Gannt charts in Excel.
Gannt charts are a project management tool that help you visualise and understand the relationships between tasks and how the project time line is progressing.