Overview Transcript

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In this video, see how to create pie, bar, and line charts, depending on what type of data you start with.

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Create a chart from start to finish

We created a clustered column chart in the previous video.

In this video, we are going to create pie, bar, and line charts.

Each type of chart highlights data differently.

And some charts can't be used with some types of data.

We'll go over this shortly.

To create a pie chart, select the cells you want to chart.

Click Quick Analysis and click CHARTS.

Excel displays recommended options based on the data in the cells you select, so the options won't always be the same.

I'll show you how to create a chart that isn't a Quick Analysis option, shortly.

Click the Pie option, and your chart is created.

You can chart only one data series with a pie chart.

In this example, those are the Sales figures in cells B2 through B5.

I am going to move and resize the chart, so it displays without having to scroll, which will also make it easier to customize (something we'll look at in the next video.)

I click the chart; hold down the left mouse button, and drag to move it.

I scroll down a little, click the bottom right-hand corner of the chart, and drag it up and to the left to make it smaller.

Different data displays better in different types of charts.

If you try to graph too much data in a pie chart it looks like this, not very useful.

Now, I am creating a bar chart using the same data we used to create the pie chart.

Charting the same data different ways can provide you with a different perspective that may help you discover different insights in the data.

We are creating some of the more common chart types, but there are many more options.

To create charts that aren't Quick Analysis options, select the cells you want to chart, click the INSERT tab.

In the Charts group, we have a lot of options.

Click Recommended Charts to see the charts that will work best with the data you have selected; click All Charts for even more options.

These are all of the different types of charts you can create.

As I mentioned earlier, a pie chart is not a recommended option for the data we selected, because it can only display one data series.

We could make a Pie chart, but it would only show the first data series, the Average Precipitation for New York, and not the second data series, the Average Precipitation for Seattle.

Instead, let's make a Line with Markers chart.

Click Line, click Line with Marker, point to an option and you get a preview of the chart.

Click OK, and we have created our line chart.

Up next, Customize charts.