Chart Customization

Excel 2007 makes creating a basic chart easier than ever. Select your data, choose a chart type, and you’re finished. You may take a few extra seconds and select one of the pre-built Chart Layouts, and maybe even select one of the Chart Styles. But if your goal is to create the most effective chart possible, you probably want to take advantage of the additional customization techniques available in Excel.

Customizing a chart involves changing its appearance, as well as possibly adding new elements to it. These changes can be purely cosmetic (such as changing colors modifying line widths, or adding a shadow) or quite substantial (such as changing the axis scales or adding a second Value Axis). Chart elements that you might add include such features as a data table, a trend line, or error bars.