Excel is capable of understanding patterns. Because we typed “January” in the first cell, it recognizes that this is the first month of the year and it expects that the following cells in the column will contain the rest of the months. To get Excel to fill in the rest of the months, hover the curser in the bottom right corner of the cell. The curser should transform into a black cross shape. Click and drag downward until cells A1 through A12 are selected. Then release. The remaining months should be filled in.
If the months do not fill in on their own, then type each month in the cells as shown above. We now need to format this line graph for a presentation. We need to title the axes, make a meaningful legend, and also title the chart. To change the title, click on the textbox that says “Chart Title.” Then click again. This will place a curser in that cell, allowing you to type.
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Highlight the text by clicking and dragging across it and hit the delete button. This will remove the default text (“Chart Title”). Come up with a meaningful title and type it in the box (e.g., Average Temperatures in West Lafayette, Indiana. Now we will make a meaningful legend that will allow us to identify what each line on the chart corresponds to.
When Excel puts in a legend, it marks the first column as “Series 1” and the second column as “Series 2,” as can be seen at the bottom of the chart. The first column contains the average high temperatures, so we need to replace “Series 1” with “Average High.” To do this, click on the legend. Then click on “Series 1.” This will put a box around it. Right click “Series 1” and click “Select Data.” This will open a new window.
If you have some data to chart, by all means use it as you go through these examples. Typing in the data was the hard part. Now for the easy part: making the chart! Select a cell in the data range. On the Ribbon’s Charts tab, go to the Insert Chart group and then choose a chart type. A palette displays, showing various subtypes of charts.
Tip: If you don’t see a chart you like, click All Charts to see all available chart types. When you find the chart you like, click it OK. Use the Chart Elements, Chart Styles, and Chart Filters buttons next to the upper-right corner of the chart to add chart elements like or, or change the data that’s shown in the chart. To access additional design and formatting features, click anywhere in the chart to add the Chart Tools to the ribbon, and then click the options you want on the Design and Format tabs.