How To Make A Chart In Excel: Step-By-Step Guide

Struggling to make a chart in Excel? You’re not alone. But, there’s no need to worry. This step-by-step guide will teach you how to create an accurate chart in Excel quickly and easily.

How to Prepare Data for Creating a Chart in Excel

I get it. As a data analyst, visually communicating complex information is essential. Charts are the easy way to do it, showing data in a clear and simple way. But, before creating a chart, the data must be ready. In this guide on making an Excel chart, we’ll explore ways to collect data using trusty methods, how to create a worksheet, and how to put the data in. This will make sure the data is in the right form for the chart.

Data Collection Techniques

Before collecting data, it’s important to determine the purpose of your chart. This helps to focus on relevant data, and exclude irrelevant info.

Collect the necessary data. You can do this manually, or use automated tools. These tools collect data from databases, websites, and spreadsheets.

Organize the data in a meaningful way. Use sorting and filtering to get a clear representation.

Primary techniques include online surveys, questionnaires, and interviews. Secondary techniques include books and online research platforms.

Good communication within the team builds trust and cooperation. This reflects positively in the quality of data collected for making charts.

My colleague shared an experience. He was making Excel charts but used wrong data. This led to inaccurate conclusions using conflicting styles. Understand Statistical analysis before defining the chart purpose.

Now that we know how to Collect Data correctly, let’s create worksheets for Chart preparation.

Creating a New Worksheet for Data

Creating a chart in Excel? Easy! Just create a new worksheet for data. Here’s how:

1. Open Excel and click “File” in the menu bar. Then click “New” to open the templates menu.
2. Select “Blank Workbook” from the list. Or, if you want to customize it, pick something else that suits your needs.
3. Click “Create” to generate the new workbook.

Now it’s time to enter data into the worksheet. Be sure to format it correctly and organize it logically. After that, you can analyze and visualize the data with charts and graphs.

Be careful when entering data. A mistake could lead to faulty analysis or wrong conclusions.

Creating a new worksheet is the foundation for chart-making. So, if any mistakes are made here, it’ll affect future efforts. In the next section, we’ll show you how to effectively enter data into an Excel sheet.

Entering Data into Excel Sheet

Data entry into an Excel sheet is the opening move to creating a chart. Follow these three steps to get started:

1. Open a new or existing file and go to the worksheet where you want to add data.
2. Input data into the cells, making sure each piece of information is in the correct cell according to your chosen order.
3. Save your data, giving it an appropriate name.

Data entry into an Excel sheet is key to organizing and preparing data for charting. Knowing how to organize data in an Excel sheet lets you generate charts quickly, with proper preparation.

Be cautious when entering text-based information, not numerical data. Formatting text can lead to errors or miscalculations. Also, verify all formulas before entering them into the sheet, as one mistake can affect the dataset’s integrity.

Pro Tip: To save time in future projects, try using pre-made templates provided by Microsoft Excel or download third-party options online. These templates already have formatted tables and labels.

Now we’ll discuss the different types of charts available in Excel and give tips on which chart is best for displaying data.

Types of Chart in Excel – How to Choose the Best?

No single chart type applies to all Excel projects. For the best results, you must consider your data and which elements you want to emphasize. In this guide, you’ll explore the various types of Excel charts. Learn how to select the most suitable one for your goals. Additionally, you’ll understand their strengths and weaknesses, as well as tips for customizing them. This info is useful for both novices and experienced Excel users.

Chart Type Selection Techniques

Choose the best type of chart for your data in Excel? Consider various techniques. Categorize your data as quantitative or qualitative for bar or pie charts. And understand relations between variables for scatter and line plots.

Check out this table for key techniques:

Data Type	Chart Type
Quantitative	Bar, Column, Line
Qualitative	Pie, Doughnut, Radar
Comparison	Stacked Column, Clustered Column
Distribution	Histogram, Box & Whisker

These are just guidelines. Visualize data before making conclusions. If you’re unsure, create multiple charts and compare side-by-side. This can help you see which one displays your data best.

Now: Customizing Chart Types.

Customizing Chart Type

Table: Customizing Chart Type

Types of Charts	Explanation
Column, line, pie, bar, area, scatter and radar charts	Excel offers various chart types. Each has its own unique way of representing data. The kind of chart you choose depends on the data and how you want to show it.
Purpose of Charts	Charts make complex data easier to understand. Different charts can be used for different purposes, e.g. comparing values or showing trends over time. It is important to choose the right type of chart for your data, so that it can be interpreted accurately.
Customization Options	Excel has plenty of customization options for charts. You can change the color scheme, font style, add titles and labels, or modify chart elements like axis labels or legends. These options give you greater flexibility to personalize your charts.

Customizing Chart Type is about changing various aspects of the chart based on needs. This could include changing the type of chart used or customizing colors and fonts.

When deciding on a chart type, think about the data you need to represent and the message you want to share. For instance, a Pie Chart is great for categorical data and a Line or Column chart to show changes over time.

When customizing a chart, Excel offers plenty of options. You can add titles and axis labels, change colors and fonts. This makes charts visually appealing and more professional.

To ensure your audience understands your chart properly, it is recommended to use simple design layouts for presenting single sets of data, and to label all axes clearly.

In the next section, we will discuss in detail the various options available to personalize your Excel charts.

How to Customize Your Excel Chart?

Do you have an Excel chart but it doesn’t look quite as cool? Don’t fret! There are many ways to customize it. Here, we’ll focus on 3 techniques:

1. Adding titles to make it easier to understand.
2. Customizing the appearance to make it more attractive.
3. Adding a legend with extra info.

With these tips, you’ll make a perfect custom Excel chart in no time!

Adding Titles to Your Chart

Titles are key for making your chart more informative and organized. Without them, viewers may be confused. Here’s how to add them:

1. Choose the chart.
2. Go to Chart Tools Design tab in the ribbon.
3. Click on Chart.
4. Enter your title.
5. Adjust font, size, color, or alignment.

Make the main chart title noticeable and succinctly show the message. Axis titles should be short and explain what the axis is representing. For data series titles, differentiate one set of data from another.

Lastly, customize the chart for visual appeal!

Customizing Appearance of Your Chart

First, customizing your chart is easy! Just click on it with your mouse. Next, head to the Chart Design tab in the Ribbon. Here, you can change the chart type, layout, or style. For colors and fonts, go to Format tab and select from there. If you want to adjust elements or add something new, choose an element from Chart Elements.

Customizing appearance of charts is important for presentations. Visuals help people absorb information quickly. I once had a presentation with my coworkers and higher-ups. It was a big moment for me. I spent hours trying to make the visuals perfect. I ended up with a colorful yet clean look.

To make reading easier, use Legend to identify datasets.

Including Legend to Your Chart

To add a legend to your chart:

1. Click once on the chart.
2. Click on the plus sign beside the chart area and select ‘Chart Elements’.
3. From the drop-down menu, select ‘Legend’.
4. Pick the option that works for you.

You have the option to customize the legend’s look. Change font size, color, position, and format. Moving the legends around and deciding whether to show them are also possible.

Adding Legends in Charts makes the data easier to understand. It is simpler to know what each item in the graph represents.

Datawrapper’s survey found that 80% of 600 charts had included some kind of legend. Adding Legends is essential for Data Visualization best practices.

The next topic we will cover is how to Insert a Chart into Your Excel Workbook.

How to Insert a Chart into Your Excel Workbook?

Charts and graphs are a great way to organize data. Excel is one of the most popular programs for this task. This guide will show you how to insert a chart into your Excel workbook.

Three sub-sections explain the process:

1. Inserting a chart into an existing worksheet
2. Inserting a chart into a new worksheet
3. Inserting a chart into a Word document

No matter your Excel skills, this guide will make you a chart-making pro!

Inserting Chart into an Existing Worksheet

1. Step 1 – Highlight Data Range. Select cells with data you want to include in chart. Click and drag over these cells.
2. Step 2 – Go to Insert. Find this tab on Excel’s Ribbon at the top of your screen.
3. Step 3 – Choose a Chart Type. Hover over each chart type for more info. Or, select “All Charts” for even more options.
4. Step 4 – Personalize Your Chart. Excel will create chart with selected data. Change colors, fonts, labels or insert new data series.

When inserting a chart, consider which type of data is good for visual representation. Also, think which chart type would be best for communicating data to others.

In my experience, I struggled to communicate sales figures in monthly report. So, I inserted a pie-chart into Excel’s worksheet. This showed our best sellers and gained positive feedback during meetings.

Now let’s look at ‘Inserting Chart into a New Worksheet’. We can learn about creating charts without disrupting existing ones.

Inserting Chart into a New Worksheet

To insert a chart into a new worksheet in Excel, you must first select the data range. Follow these five steps:

1. Click on the “Insert” tab at the top of the workbook.
2. Click “Recommended Charts” or “Charts”.
3. Select the desired chart type.
4. Customize design, layout, and style.
5. Click “Finish” to insert.

Data analysis and visualization require charts, which are dynamic elements. They can be edited and updated when data sets change.

If unable to insert a chart, it may be difficult to communicate complex information in an easy-to-understand way.

The next section covers how to insert charts into Word documents.

Inserting Chart into a Word Document

Click the right chart type for your objectives. Copy it and Paste it in Microsoft Word with Ctrl+V or right-click + ‘Paste’. Your chart will appear in the Word file. Make sure both Excel and Word are open.

Benefits of this approach include editing and enhancing the chart. You can adjust font styles, color themes etc. in Word. So you control how the document looks.

If you want to use visuals during presentations or reports, learn how to insert a chart into Word. It helps to communicate complex ideas with visuals, even for those unfamiliar with technical terms.

Don’t forget about final touches like Fine Tuning Your Chart – The Final Steps. That will make sure your Chart looks great!

Fine Tuning Your Chart – The Final Steps

We’ve made a chart from raw data in Excel! Now, it’s time to tweak and personalize it. This is where our data can really stand out and show our message. We’ll cover the last steps of chart-making.

To start, we’ll learn how to resize the chart so it’s the right size for our audience. Next, we’ll figure out how to copy or move our chart to other programs. Lastly, we’ll discuss how to print our chart so we can have a physical version.

Resizing Your Chart in Excel

Resizing your chart in Excel is a piece of cake! Follow these four steps:

1. Click the chart you want to resize.
2. Grab one of the corner handles.
3. Drag towards the center to reduce size, or out to enlarge.
4. Release the mouse button when you’re satisfied.

But why should we resize our charts? It can help when planning to present them in printed materials like reports and flyers, as smaller sizes are more readable and save space. Be aware that data labels inside the chart could be buried in the smaller version- make sure all info is visible! Plus, scale it proportionally so the aspect ratio (height-to-width ratio) looks good and prints well.

In conclusion, resizing your chart in Excel is easy and can help make it more presentable. And once you understand how charts work, copying or moving them around will be the next step!

Copying or Moving Your Chart in Excel

Go to the top of your Excel window & click the chart you want to copy.

Right-click & choose “Copy” from the pop-up menu.

Right-click on a blank space & select “Paste” to place the copied chart. The size of the new chart will match the original.

You can choose to keep it or resize & position it using the resize handles at its corners. To move the chart, click & drag it using your mouse. Making backups of data charts is essential as losing them could mean starting all over. Also, one may need to share reports with different departments – copying & moving such charts is vital.

People have been doing this for years now. However, executives have failed due to not taking backup copies of sheets visually exhibiting metrics over time.

Printing Your Chart in Excel

Printing your chart in Excel is a breeze! Here’s what to do:

1. Click on the chart you want to print.
2. Select the “File” tab and then click on “Print“.
3. Choose the printer from the available list.
4. Put the number of copies in the “Copies” field.
5. Use the “Print Options” to decide which pages, colors, and images you want.
6. Click “Print” and you’re done!

Before you print, make sure your printer is set up and connected. Make sure the chart fits onto one page for better visibility. It’s also a good idea to preview the chart by selecting “Print“, then “Preview” under the “File” tab. This will show you the chart without actually printing it. With these tips, you can create professional looking charts that look great when shared with others.

FAQs about How To Make A Chart In Excel: Step-By-Step Guide

What is a Step-by-Step Guide for Making Charts in Excel?

A Step-by-Step Guide for Making Charts in Excel is a tutorial that walks you through the process of creating a chart in Excel, from selecting the data you want to use to formatting the chart.

What Types of Charts Can You Create in Excel?

You can create many types of charts in Excel, including line charts, column charts, pie charts, bar charts, area charts, scatter charts, and more. The type of chart you choose depends on the type of data you’re working with and the insights you want to gain from that data.

What Steps Should You Follow to Create a Chart in Excel?

To create a chart in Excel, follow these steps:

1. Select the cells containing the data you want to use for the chart.
2. Click the Insert tab on the ribbon.
3. Select the type of chart you want to use from the Charts group.
4. The chart will be created on the same worksheet as the data by default.
5. Format the chart by selecting it and using the Chart Tools tabs on the ribbon.

Can You Customize the Look of a Chart in Excel?

Yes, you can customize the look of a chart in Excel to fit your needs. You can change the chart type, change the color scheme, add or remove chart elements, and more. To customize the chart, select it and use the Chart Tools tabs on the ribbon.

How Can You Add Data Labels to a Chart in Excel?

To add data labels to a chart in Excel, select the chart and click on the Chart Elements button on the ribbon. Check the box next to Data Labels to add them to the chart. You can customize the appearance and position of the data labels using the options in the Format Data Labels pane.

Can You Create a Chart from Multiple Worksheets in Excel?

Yes, you can create a chart from multiple worksheets in Excel. To do this, select the data from each worksheet and create a named range for each one. Then, create a new chart and select each named range as the data source for the chart.