Adding a Chart
The fastest way to add a chart to your PowerPoint presentation is to select one of the AutoLayouts from the New Slide dialog box, such as Chart, Text & Chart, and Chart & Text. To access this dialog box, shown in Figure 9.4, select the New Slide button from the Standard toolbar or choose Common Tasks, New Slide from the Formatting toolbar.
→ To learn more about how slide layouts affect your presentation, see "Understanding Slide Layouts,"
Tip
If you use the AutoContent Wizard to create your presentation, it may already have a slide that contains a chart.
→ For details on automating presentation creation with this wizard, see "Using the AutoContent Wizard,"
Figure 9.5 shows a sample chart slide with a chart placeholder.
Figure 9.5. You can start adding a chart by double-clicking the placeholder.
Double-click the chart placeholder to activate the chart in Microsoft Graph, as shown in Figure 9.6.
Figure 9.6. PowerPoint displays a chart with sample data.
Tip
You can also insert a chart into an existing slide by clicking the Insert Chart button on the Standard toolbar or by selecting Insert, Chart.
A sample 3D clustered column chart displays by default and the related datasheet opens. The menu bar and toolbars are also customized for Microsoft Graph. The menu bar now includes Data and Chart menu items, and the toolbar includes several new selections including:
Chart Objects Enables you to select the chart object you want to format or work with such as plot area, chart area, legend, axis, or series.
Format Opens a Format dialog box tailored to the selected chart object.
→ To learn more about object-formatting options in PowerPoint, see "Using the Format Dialog Box,"
Import File Opens the Import File dialog box from which you can import another file into your chart, such as an Excel worksheet.
View Datasheet Displays the datasheet if it's no longer in view; otherwise, closes it.
Caution
You must double-click the chart in PowerPoint to view the Chart menu and chart toolbar options.
You can create a basic chart very quickly in PowerPoint or you can make numerous enhancements and formatting changes. After you activate Microsoft Graph to create a chart, it's easiest to proceed in the following order:
Enter a title for the chart slide.
Change the chart type if you don't want to use the default (a 3D column chart).
Edit the datasheet data (the text and numbers for your chart).
Modify and format chart objects as needed.
Tip
Before creating an actual chart, you should be sure you understand chart object terminology and know the types of charts you can create in PowerPoint. Sometimes, designing a paper sketch of the chart you want to create can help as well.