spreadsheet charts

1 *

ClassDescriptionThis is an introduction to using spreadsheets to create the most common types of charts (columns, bars, line, area,

scatter, bubble, pie, and doughnut), with a focus on Microsoft Excel and Google Drive Spreadsheets. It builds on the

Spreadsheet Basics class.

ClassLengthOne and one‐half (1½) hours

IntroductionAfter word processing, spreadsheets are probably the most important and widespread computer application. In fact, the

first two ‘killer applications’ (an application regarded as so necessary or desirable that it sells the larger product which it

uses) for personal computers were spreadsheet applications: VisiCalc for the Apple II and Lotus 1‐2‐3 for the IBM PC.

Originally designed to replace accountants’ columnar paper, spreadsheets have become the norm wherever tabular data

needs to be built, organized, and shared. Typically, spreadsheets now include the ability to create a wide range of charts

to aid in conveying information visually (‘a picture is worth a thousand words’).

This class is targeted at users with at least a basic knowledge of spreadsheets and is intended to provide an introduction

to creating and using charts effectively. The focus is on Microsoft Excel and Google Drive Spreadsheets, but the lessons

can be applied to other computer spreadsheet applications.

Objectives Learn the differences between the most common types of charts

Learn how to determine the most appropriate type of chart for a situation

Learn how to manipulate charts to better convey a message

Thismanualisahandoutforyoutokeep.Pleasefeelfreetouseitfortakingnotes.

BeforeWeBegin:Please open Microsoft Excel and, if you wish, open Google Drive (drive.google.com). If you don’t already have a Google

account, you can go to accounts.google.com/SignUp and register an existing e‐mail address (click on the I prefer to use

my current email address link) or create a free gmail.com address; or, if you prefer, ask for the User ID and password for

one of the genevalibraryclass(number)@gmail.com accounts — (please don’t change the password!).

If you want to do the exercises in just Google Drive Spreadsheets, that is fine; if you want to do the exercises in just

Microsoft Excel, that is also okay.

Spreadsheet Charts

2 *

BasicChartsandTheirUsesMicrosoftExcel

1. In cell A1, enter Month. (Optional: make it bold.)

2. In cell A2, enter January.

3. Use Auto‐Fill to add the rest of the months of the year (finishing in cell A13).

4. In cell B1, enter Days. (Optional: make it bold.)

5. In cells B2 through B13, enter the number of days each month has in a non‐

leap year.

6. In cell C1, enter Holidays. (Optional: make it bold.)

7. In cells C2 through C13, enter the number of holidays in each month (you can

use your judgement).

You should have something like this:

PieCharts1. Select cells A1 through B13 (we’ll use the Holidays column later).

2. Switch to the INSERT ribbon.

3. In the Charts group, click the Pie icon, then one of the choices.

Thirty days hath September, April, June, and November. All the rest have thirty-one, Except February alone, Which has twenty-eight, in fine, And each leap year twenty-nine.

3 *

You should get something like this:

Note that, when the chart is first created,

two new ribbons appear, under the label

Chart Tools: DESIGN and FORMAT.

These ribbons are present only when a

chart is selected.

DoughnutCharts1. Select cells A1 through C13. (You will be switched back to the HOME ribbon.)


3. In the Charts group, click the Other Charts icon, then Doughnut.

You should get something like this.

Pie Charts can show only one series of data and are used to show the contribution of each value to the total.

Doughnut Charts are similar to pie charts, but can show more than one series of data. However, many people find additional series in a doughnut chart more difficult to understand.

4 *

ColumnCharts1. Select cells A1 through C13.


3. In the Charts group, click the Column icon, then one of the choices.

You should get something like one of these:

Clustered

Stacked

100% Stacked

Column Charts (vertical bars) and Bar Charts (horizontal bars) are closely related. They are useful for showing changes over time and for illustrating comparisons among items. There are three categories, both of which are available in 2-D and 3-D: (1) Clustered – used for comparing values across categories, (2) Stacked – used for comparing categories with an emphasis on the total value and the values of each portion, and (3) 100% Stacked – also used for comparing values across categories with an emphasis on the percentage each portion contributes to the whole

5 *

BarCharts1. Select cells A1 through C13.


3. In the Charts group, click the Bar icon, then one

of the choices.

You should get something like one of these.

Since the Bar chart comes up with the months in reversed order, let’s use this opportunity to take a look at some of the

Chart Tools ribbons.

The initial ribbon is the CHART TOOLS – DESIGN, divided into Chart Layouts, Chart Styles, Data, Type, and Location. From

here, you can change the chart type, change the data being used, change the appearance, and move the chart to a

different or new worksheet.

The second ribbon is the CHART TOOLS – FORMAT, divided into Current Selection, Insert Shapes, Shape Styles, WordArt

Styles, Arrange, and Size. From here, you can choose which part of the chart you want to work with, add items, change

labels, and more. The Current Selection group is also in the next ribbon.

Stacked

Clustered

100% Stacked

6 *

In the Current Selection group, click on the selector (the initial selection is ‘Chart Area’).

In the drop‐down box, select the Vertical (Category) Axis.

This will open the Format Axis pane on the right:

Click on the Axis Options icon. The pane will change

Place a check mark in the

‘Categories in reverse order’ box.

As soon as you place a check in it, the months will be displayed with January at the top.

Shortcut – to quickly access the Format Axis pane, double-click on the axis you want to format.

7 *

LineCharts1. Select cells A1 through C13.


3. In the Charts group, click the Line icon, then one of the choices.

You should see something like

this:

Line Charts are used for showing trends over time or other form of regular progression. There is a 3-D line option plus three categories; each may be with or without markers (for a total of six options): (1) Line – used for continuous data over time at equal intervals, (2) Stacked Line – shows relationship of individual items to the whole; emphasizes total, and (3) 100% Stacked Line – shows relationship of individual items to the whole; emphasizes percentage each value contributes to total

8 *

The two series (Days and Holidays) have widely different value ranges. Let’s fix that, by going to the CHART TOOLS –

LAYOUT ribbon, the Current Selection group, and use the selector to choose Series “Holidays”.

Note how the series is selected. Each of the data points

(which are invisible, because a line chart

without markers was chosen) are selected.

On the Format Data Series

pane, click on ‘Secondary

Axis’.

You should see something like this:

This brings the lines of each series much closer together

and accentuates the differences between the values.

Instead of relatively flat lines for both series, they are

now quite jagged.

9 *

Select the Holidays series and press V. You should see something like this. Click on the Days in the Legend and press

V. You should see something like this.

Let’s format the Vertical Axis by selecting ‘Vertical (Value) Axis’

in the pane.

Select the Axis Options.

If the Axis Options group is closed like this:

Click on the arrow to expand to this:

Change the Minimum value to 28 and the Maximum to 31.

10 *

You should have something like this:

When we used these same values to create the Pie

chart (page 3), and when the axis’ range was from zero

to 35 (page 9), very little difference between the

months was seen. But by changing the axis’ range so it

is from 28 to 31, February appears way down from the

other months.

AreaCharts1. Select cells A1 through C13.


3. In the Charts group, click

the Area icon, then one of

the choices.


Much of what we did with the Line charts could be done with

Area charts with one important exception: a second vertical axis

cannot be used with 3‐D Area charts.

Area Charts are basically line charts with the space below the line filled in. They are used for showing trends over time or other form of regular progression. There are three categories; each may be 2-D or 3-D (for a total of six options): (1) Area – used for continuous data over time at equal intervals, (2) Stacked Area – shows relationship of individual items to the whole; emphasizes total, and (3) 100% Stacked Area – shows relationship of individual items to the whole; emphasizes percentage each value contributes to total

11 *

ScatterCharts(inExcel2013,akaXYCharts)1. Select cells A1 through C13.


3. In the Charts group, click the Scatter

or Bubble icon, then one of the

Scatter Chart choices.


When more than two series of data are selected, a scatter

chart is much like a line chart except the data points usually

have markers present and the lines between them are typically

not present.

But …

1. Select cells B2 through C13 (just the numbers).


3. In the Charts group, click the Scatter icon, then one of the choices.


Here, we can see there are both 30‐day and 31‐day months

with zero, one, and two holidays (e.g. March and August are

31‐day months with no holidays; they are represented by the

same data point).

Scatter Charts can be similar to Line charts (even to the point of being indistinguishable), especially when displaying more than two series of data. But they have the ability to use uneven intervals in both axes and can emphasize clusters of similar data points. They come in five types: (1) Scatter with only Markers (2) Scatter with Smooth Lines and Markers (smooth lines basically means curved) (3) Scatter with Smooth Lines (4) Scatter with Straight Lines and Markers, and (5) Scatter with Straight Lines

12 *

BubbleCharts1. Select cells A1 through C13.


3. In the Charts group, click the Scatter

or Bubble icon, then one of the Bubble

Chart choices.


Bubble Charts are similar to Scatter charts, but use a third value (the first two values are the horizontal and vertical axes) to determine the size of the data point (bubble). There are two types: flat and 3-D.

13 *

GoogleDriveSpreadsheets1. Select cells A1 through C13.

2. Copy them to your Clipboard.

3. Switch to Google Drive.

4. Click on the Create link to open the drop‐down menu.

5. Click on Spreadsheet to start a new spreadsheet.

6. Leaving cell A1 selected, paste what you copied.


14 *

Using either the menu (select Insert then Chart) or the Chart icon on the icon bar, open the Chart Editor.

The Chart Editor has three

tabs: Start, Charts, and

Customize. The left side

changes with the tab

selection and is where you

can make modifications to

the chart; the right side

provides a preview of what

those modifications will

produce.

The initial tab, Start, has a place for changing the data range in the upper area. The lower area shows ‘Recommended

charts’ which will vary depending on the data selected. The ‘More’ link switches to the Chart Editor’s second tab, Charts.

15 *

From the Charts tab, one can

choose from Line charts …

(look familiar?)

… Area charts …

… Column charts …

16 *

… Bar charts …

… Scatter charts (which

includes a Bubble chart) …

… Pie charts …

(Note: the Chart Editor

advises when the data

selected is unsuitable for a

type of chart.)

17 *

… Map charts …

… Trend charts …

… and more.

18 *

The third tab, Customize,

uses a scroll bar to provide

access to more than can fit in

the dialog box/window. For a

Line chart, the sections are

‘Chart’ …

… ‘Axis’ …

… ‘Lines’ …

19 *

(the rest of the ‘Lines’

section)

In the ‘Lines’ section, click to

change from the ‘Days’ data

series to the ‘Holidays’

series.

Then, click on the Axis

beneath it, to change it from

‘Left axis’ to ‘Right axis’. (We

are doing the same thing we

did with Microsoft Excel on

page 10.)

20 *

As soon as the change has

been made, the preview

section shows the results.

Click the Insert button to

close the Chart Editor and

place the chart in the

spreadsheet.

In the upper left corner of the chart are two icons. The one to the right, Quick edit mode, allows you to double‐click on

parts of the chart you wish to edit which brings up a menu with options appropriate to the element you have selected.

In the upper‐right corner is a down‐pointing triangle which, when clicked, opens a menu: Advanced edit reopens the

Chart Editor to the Customize tab; Delete chart (self‐explanatory); Save image which will offer to download an image

file of the chart; Publish chart which will provide a way to place the chart in a web page; and Move to own sheet (self‐

explanatory).

Note: the Undo and Redo functions work in the spreadsheet, but not for formatting of charts. (Be careful!)

21 *

FinalExercise1. Use a search engine and enter: us states by population density to find Wikipedia’s

LIST OF U.S. STATES BY POPULATION DENSITY (located at

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_U.S._states_by_population_density )

2. Scroll down to the table labelled Population density, population and land area of states, territories, divisions

and regions

3. (optional) Click on State/Territory/Division/Region to alphabetically sort the list.

4. Select the column headers/titles and the states (pale blue background) and copy to your clipboard.

5. Start a new spreadsheet (Google Drive Spreadsheets or Microsoft Excel, your

choice).

6. Paste the information from the clipboard into the spreadsheet. (If using

Microsoft Excel, you’ll want to right‐click on cell A1 and select ‘Match

Destination Formatting’ so you don’t get state flags — you’ll get a preview before

you click on it.)

Did you know? You can click or start your selection, release the mouse button, scroll so

you can see the opposite end of what you want to copy, press and hold H and click at

the end of what you want to copy (still holding the H) to expand the selection (no need to select and scroll simultaneously).

22 *

7. Delete the following columns: second (Rank), third (Pop. Dens. /sqmi.), fourth (Rank), sixth (Rank), and seventh

(Geog. Sort) – we won’t be using them and clean up the column headers/titles. (If using Microsoft Excel, resize

the columns; Google Drive Spreadsheets will have automatically resized when the data was pasted.)

You should see something like one of these:

8. (Optional) Sort the States/Territories alphabetically.

9. Create a chart from the data.

10. What type of chart did you choose? Why?

23 August 2017

Questions? Feel free to contact Ross Valentine at [email protected] or call the library at 630.232.0780

spreadsheet charts

Documents