DEPENDING on the nature of the document you’re creating, it might be important to both show and tell readers the points you most want them to remember. You can illustrate your most important ideas—showcasing comparisons, depicting processes, and portraying important relationships among departments, vendors, sales data, and more. And in addition to the functional nature of the illustrations you can add in Word 2010, they just look nice; they add color, special effects, dimension, and more to your two-dimensional page.
In this chapter you learn about SmartArt, the diagramming tool that is included as part of Word 2010, and find out how to add and enhance charts in your Word document. What’s more, the charts you add interact easily with Excel 2010, so you can use simple worksheet sections or complex calculations as part of the charts you create.
The name SmartArt says much about the functionality of this feature, which was first made available in Word 2007. SmartArt enables you to diagram your ideas easily—in a wide variety of ways—and enhance those diagrams by adding special effects, such as shadows, 3-D effects, styles, color schemes, and more.
SmartArt simplifies the process of creating diagrams of all sorts. When you need to create any kind of diagram that illustrates a process, a workflow, a listing, or the way things work together, you can do it quickly with just a few clicks of the mouse using SmartArt.
SmartArt is an interactive diagramming tool that is a dramatic improvement over the diagram feature available in versions prior to Word 2007. With earlier tools, you were limited to six diagram types, and your formatting options were also limited. With SmartArt, you can choose from a large collection of diagram styles, customize them to your heart’s content, and include your own pictures within the body of the diagram. What’s more, you can apply a variety of design styles to add depth, shadow, shine, and perspective.
When you’re in the document, begin by positioning the cursor where you want the diagram to appear. Then on the Insert tab, in the Illustrations group, click SmartArt. The Choose A SmartArt Graphic dialog box appears, as shown in Figure 16-1.
The Choose A SmartArt Graphic dialog box presents several different types of diagrams from which you can choose, each designed to convey a specific type of information.
A list diagram displays a nonsequential series of items. You might use a list diagram to introduce a series of new products in your spring catalog.
A process diagram can show a step-by-step process. For example, you might use a process diagram to show a new trainee how to log on to your computer system.
A cycle diagram can show the workflow of a particular operation, typically something that is repeated in a cyclical process.
A hierarchy diagram shows levels, so it is a logical candidate for organization charts.
A relationship diagram shows how various items relate to each other. You might use a relationship diagram, for example, to show how different roles in a volunteer work group complement each other to provide specific services to the organization.
A matrix diagram is helpful when you want to compare four items in a format that is easy for viewers to understand. You might use a matrix diagram to explain the research focus for each quarter of the next fiscal year.
A pyramid diagram shows items in relationship that typically build from the bottom up. A good example of a pyramid diagram is a fundraising chart in which the bottom level represents the largest number of beginning level donors who contribute to the organization, and the top level represents the smaller percentage of major donors.
A picture diagram enables you to create a diagram in which the photos are the main point. You might use a picture diagram, for example, to show range of products in your product line and who manages the various divisions.
The Office.com selection provides you with additional SmartArt choices you can use in a number of different diagram styles.
Begin the process of creating your SmartArt diagram by choosing the diagram type you want from the left panel of the Choose A SmartArt Graphic dialog box. Notice that when you click a diagram type, styles for that particular diagram appear in the center of the dialog box. Click the style you like, and you’ll see an illustration and detailed description of the type of diagram you’ve selected displayed on the right (see Figure 16-2). Click OK to create the diagram.
Figure 16-2. The SmartArt graphic style you select is displayed and described in the right side of the dialog box.
The diagram appears at the cursor position. Figure 16-3 shows a picture diagram as it first appears. Notice that SmartArt Tools contextual tabs appear automatically in the Ribbon as soon as you create the diagram. You will use the tools on the SmartArt Tools Design tab to edit and enhance the diagram by adding text boxes and pictures, changing the diagrams colors, and applying styles. Use the tools in the SmartArt Tools Format tab to change the appearance of text and shapes in the diagram.
Adding text to your diagram is simple: just click in the first text box and type the text you want to display in the box. Press Tab to move to the next text box. Repeat as needed until the text boxes are filled. If you run out of text shapes and need to add a new one, click the Add Shape down arrow in the Create Graphics group on the SmartArt Tools Design tab and choose whether you want to add a shape after, before, above, or below the current shape.
If you prefer to enter all text at once rather than clicking individual shapes and typing text entries, you can display the SmartArt text pane. On the SmartArt Tools Design tab, click Text Pane in the Create Graphic group, then in the Text Pane, click in the item you want to change and type your text.
You can format the text in the diagram by highlighting the text and choosing the text options from the Mini Toolbar that appears above the selection. You can also apply text styles by highlighting the text, clicking the Format tab, and choosing the setting you want to apply in the WordArt Styles group. Text Effects is a new tool in Word 2010 with which you can apply special treatments—Shadow, Reflection, Glow, Bevel, 3-D Rotation, and Transform—to the text you select (see Figure 16-4).
You can apply special formats to give your diagrams a professional look while carrying over the design of your publication in terms of color scheme, fonts, and more. Similar to the chart options available with traditional charting in Word, SmartArt diagrams also offer you a variety of layouts and styles that you can apply directly to the diagrams in your documents. To change the layout of the diagram, click it and select the Design tab on the SmartArt Tools contextual tab. Then click the More button in the Layouts gallery to display the full range of layout possibilities. Depending on the type of diagram you’ve created, you will see a variety of layout options. Click the one that best fits the data concepts you’re trying to convey.
Like other objects in Word 2010, the available formatting settings that you can apply to your SmartArt are influenced by the theme selected for the document. You can change the colors in your SmartArt diagram by selecting a preset color palette with the Change Colors tool, which is available in the SmartArt Styles group on the SmartArt Tools Design tab. When you choose Change Colors, a palette of choices appears. The colors that correspond to the selected theme appear in the top portion of the palette. Point to the one you want to preview then click your final choice to apply it to the diagram in your document.
SmartArt Quick Styles offer you a gallery of ready-made styles (complete with 3-D settings, shadows, rotation, lighting, and more) that you can apply to your diagram with a click of the mouse. Click the More button to display all the choices and select the one you want (see Figure 16-5).
Note
You might start out with rectangles in a list diagram or circles in a relationship diagram, but that doesn’t mean you have to stick with those shapes. You can replace a traditional shape with a unique one of your choosing by selecting the traditional shape and clicking Change Shape in the Shapes group of the SmartArt Tools Format. Click the Change Shape down arrow and select a shape from the displayed list. The shape in your diagram is replaced with the new shape. This can be done for any part of the graphic that can be selected as a separate shape (for example, one rectangle in a list).
Charts can dramatically enhance the information you’re sharing with others in the documents you create. A chart can show a reader at a glance what percentage of sales a particular product comprises. A bar chart quickly shows which division is outselling all the others. An area chart can show the results of tracking over time. The charts you include in your documents give you a way to visually showcase important data that others will understand easily. You might use a chart to:
Announce a new sales competition for your staff.
Show the number of volunteers each of your regional sites has trained in the previous quarter using a pie chart.
Show the staff how the new construction on your building is coming along by placing a bar chart over a photo of the building as it’s being constructed.
Point out which sites are recruiting the greatest number of volunteers using textured columns.
Note
What’s the difference between a chart and a graph? Nothing, really. The terms are often used interchangeably to describe the graphical depiction of data—early on, the term charting referred to a type of mapmaking. Graphing, on the other hand, involved plotting data points and discerning trends and relationships. Today, the terms mean essentially the same thing; charts and graphs help you illustrate trends and relationships in your data. Diagramming usually refers to the process of using a specific model to generate flowcharts or diagrams.
Charts are often used to illustrate relationships—how one item relates to another, how an item this year relates to the same item last year, how a product is selling over time. Eleven different chart types are available:
Column. A column chart is used to show data comparisons. You might show, for example, how two data series “stack up” against each other for the first quarter.
Line. A line chart plots data points over time or by category. You might use a line chart to show a trend in product returns over a six-month period.
Pie. A pie chart shows the relationship of different data items to the whole. Each pie comprises 100 percent of the series being graphed, and each slice is shown as a percentage of the pie. You might use a pie chart to show the relative size of individual departments in the northeastern sales division of your company.
Bar. Word shows a bar chart as horizontal bars, graphing data items over time (or other categories). You might use a bar chart to compare the stages of different products in a production cycle.
Area. An area chart gives you the means to compare data two different ways: you can show the accumulated result of the data items, and you can show how the data (and their relationship to one another) change over time. For example, you might use an area chart to show how many students took each module of the exam at two different universities.
XY (Scatter). With an XY chart, you can plot pairs of data points over time. You might use an XY chart to contrast the test scores from a battery of exams given at two different universities.
Stock. A stock chart displays four values for a single item—open, high, low, close—and is designed to show the variance in a particular item within a specific period of time.
Surface. A surface chart is a great way to compare the change of three data items over time. Through the use of colored levels, a surface chart shows in three-dimension form where the data in a particular series leads (see Figure 16-6).
Doughnut. A doughnut chart is similar to a pie chart in that it shows the relationship between data items. Doughnut charts enable you to compare two sets of data and the way in which they relate to the whole and to each other. You might use a doughnut chart to portray two different sales campaigns. The sections of the doughnut could represent the different sales channels, and you could compare and contrast the different effects of each channel.
Bubble. With a bubble chart, you can plot three different data series. Each item is plotted at a particular point in time and shows the data value as a bubble. You can see, for example, which accounts had the highest charges during the second quarter.
Radar. A radar chart plots multiple data points and shows their relation to a center point. You might use a radar chart to show how each regional sales division fared in a recent sales competition.
The process of creating a chart in Word is simple. First click to position the cursor wherever you want the chart to appear (you can move the chart later if you choose) then follow these steps:
On the Insert tab (on the Ribbon), click Chart in the Illustrations group.
The Insert Chart dialog box appears, as shown in Figure 16-7.
Choose the chart type you want to create by clicking it in the left pane of the Insert Chart dialog box.
The gallery area on the right shows the various styles available for the chart type you selected. Click OK to create the chart.
The default chart in the type you selected appears in the document on the left side of the Word window; on the right side of the window, Excel displays a datasheet that includes placeholder data (see Figure 16-8). You can now modify the data so it is relevant to your document.
Click the close box to close the datasheet, and the chart in your document is updated accordingly.
That’s all there is to adding your first chart to a Word document. But now comes the fun part—enhancing the chart with the Word Chart Tools.
Note
The gallery area of the Insert Chart dialog box contains all the chart types available to you, so if you prefer, you can simply use the vertical scroll bar in the dialog box to view all the different chart styles. That way, if you really aren’t sure what the type of chart you want to create is called—but you know it when you see it—you can look over all the styles quickly and make your selection by double-clicking it.
Making sure you have the right chart for the data you’re displaying is an important part of communicating your concepts most effectively. Some charts, such as bar and column charts, are best for comparing data items—for example, tracking the sales of apples compared to oranges. Other charts, such as pie charts, are better for showing the relation of individual items to a whole—such as the fundraising totals of your two top volunteer groups as they compare to total fundraising dollars in August 2010.
Word makes it simple for you to select and change chart types. Start by creating a new chart or by displaying the chart you’ve already created. Click the chart (if necessary) so that the contextual Chart Tools are displayed on the Ribbon. On the Design tab, click Change Chart Type in the Type group (on the far left side of the Ribbon). The Change Chart Type dialog box (which you saw earlier as the Insert Chart dialog box) opens, offering you the range of chart types that were available to you when you initially created the chart. Simply click the chart type you want, click OK, and Word changes the display of the chart in your document and modifies the datasheet if needed.
Note
If you really like the chart type you’ve selected, you can make it the default chart that is used automatically whenever you create a new one. Simply click Set As Default Chart in the Insert Chart (or Change Chart Type) dialog box. Each time you create a new chart, the chart type you selected will be used by default.
Word offers so many ways to enhance the design of your charts that you might want to create your own templates so the charts you create are consistent in all of your documents. If you work for a company that standardizes its published materials, creating and using a custom template gives you the means to make your charts distinctive while keeping them professionally appealing and consistent with your overall brand.
After you’ve created, enhanced, and saved your chart (which you learn how to do in Entering Chart Data), you can save it as a template. It will then be available to you in the Templates folder that appears in the left pane of the Insert Chart dialog box.
To create a template based on an existing chart, simply select the chart and then select the Design tab in the contextual Chart Tools. In the Type group, click the Save As Template option. In the Save Chart Template dialog box, enter a name for the new chart and click Save (see Figure 16-9). Word saves the chart by default in the Templates folder, making it available to all your other Office applications as well. The next time you open the Insert Chart dialog box, the template you saved will be available in the Chart Templates folder.
Figure 16-9. Save a customized chart as a template so that you can use it in other documents you create.
Note
If you change the theme selected for your document, any charts you create using a chart template will not update to reflect the new theme. To update the format of your chart, click the edge of the chart frame to select it, and then click Reset To Match Style in the Current Selection group on the Format tab of the contextual Chart Tools.
As soon as you create a chart, Word displays the contextual Chart Tools, which offers you a collection of specialized tools you’ll use to design, enhance, format, and save the chart you create (see Figure 16-10).
Figure 16-10. The contextual Chart Tools enable you to change the design, layout, and format of your chart.
The contextual Chart Tools offer three tabs with different sets of tools for different types of tasks.
Design. With the Design tab, you can change the type of your chart, work with chart data, select a chart layout, and choose the style and color for the chart you want to create.
Layout. This tab lets you focus on specific chart elements. With the Layout tools, you can add pictures, shapes, and more; add and format labels; modify the axes in the chart; add color, pictures, or 3-D effects to the background; and insert elements like trend lines, markers, and more that help readers analyze the data they are reviewing.
Format. The Format tab includes tools that let you enhance the look of your chart by choosing the size of shapes on the chart; adding shadows, fills, and outlines; changing the size of the chart; and selecting text wrapping and positioning options.
Throughout the rest of this chapter, you’ll learn more about when to use each of the tabs in Chart Tools to change, enhance, and finalize the charts in your Word documents.
When you first create a new chart, Word inserts a default set of dummy data into the datasheet and displays the datasheet in Excel. You use the datasheet to enter, arrange, and select the data you want to include in your chart. Throughout the life of your Word document, you can add to and update the information in the datasheet as needed, ensuring that your chart always stays fresh and reflects your most current data.
Note
You can choose to link or embed chart data in a Word document. If you link a chart in your Word document to an external source, it will be updated whenever the source document changes. If you embed a chart in your document, you’ll be able to edit the chart as you would normally, by double-clicking it in the hosting document.
You will use the Data group (available on the Chart Tools Design tab) to work with your chart’s datasheet (see Figure 16-11). Here’s a quick look at the tools in that group:
Switch Row/Column. With this tool, you can swap rows and columns to create a different display of the data in your datasheet.
Select Data. Displays the Select Data Source dialog box, in which you can choose the data range you want to use for the chart. Additionally, you can choose the series and category items you want to include or hide from display.
Edit Data. Displays the datasheet so that you can change, add to, or delete information on the datasheet.
Figure 16-12 shows the datasheet that appears when you create a new pie chart in Word. As you can see, the series names (Series 1, Series 2, and Series 3) and the category names are all generic. The data in the datasheet doesn’t mean anything at this point—it simply provides the chart engine with something to display in the sample chart.
Note
If you close the datasheet by clicking the Excel close button, you can redisplay it while you edit the chart by clicking Edit Data in the Data group on the Design tab of the contextual Chart Tools.
The datasheet is actually an Excel worksheet, so the tools on the Ribbon might look familiar to you. Changing the data in the datasheet is a simple matter of clicking in the cell you want to change and typing the new information. You’ll find the following items on the datasheet.
Categories. The items in the columns are the categories placed along the horizontal axis of the chart. Categories might include months, quarters, stages of a project, or some other unit by which the value can be measured.
Data Series. The data series show the items that are being graphed, according to the categories selected.
Values. The data entered in the cells of the datasheet are scaled against the value axis, which is the vertical axis.
Note
By default, the datasheet includes data used to display the chart you add to your page. The first thing you will most likely do when you open the datasheet will be to delete the existing data so that you can enter your own. You can type the values directly into the cells or copy and paste the information into the datasheet from another source.
By default, the new Word chart displays the categories along the horizontal axis and the values along the vertical axis, but if you choose, you can flip that configuration to display your data differently.
To change the arrangement of the data in your chart, follow these steps:
Select the chart you want to change.
The Chart Tools tabs appear.
On the Design tab, in the Data group, click Switch Row/Column.
The chart is redrawn automatically.
Tip
Although you’re creating a chart for use in your Word document, you might want to use data from other programs to create the chart. Because the chart datasheet is actually an Excel worksheet, you can link to external data sources supported by Excel. To display your choices for using external data in your Excel datasheet, click the Data tab in the datasheet and choose the option in the Get External Data group that best reflects the type of data you want to use. For more about working with Excel 2010, see Microsoft Excel 2010 Inside Out, by Mark Dodge and Craig Stinson (Microsoft Press, 2010).
The chart that Word 2010 adds to your document will be fairly straightforward, without much formatting or color. After you create the basic chart, you can add to, edit, and enhance your chart in a number of different ways. Begin by clicking the chart you want to change; the contextual Chart Tools appears automatically along the top of the Ribbon. You use the Chart Tools, shown in Figure 16-13, to change the chart layout, choose a chart style (including colors and shadow effects), add titles and labels, change the look of the background and axes, and much more. The sections that follow show you how to add specific items to your charts to make them easier for readers to understand.
Note
Although many of the elements you’ll find on the Chart Tools tab relate to all the different chart types, some controls are disabled for certain charts. For example, the tools in the Axes group on the Layout tab are disabled when a pie chart is selected because they don’t apply to that type of chart.
If you spend some time working on a chart and just don’t feel it portrays what you want to convey, you can easily switch chart types by applying a new layout to the chart. A chart layout is like a template—complete with a legend style, data labels, and more—that you apply to the chart you’ve already created. You can choose a layout for your chart when you want to save yourself the time and trouble of choosing a number of chart options individually.
To apply a chart layout, click the chart to select it, and then on the Chart Tools Design tab, click the More button in the lower-right corner of the Chart Layouts gallery to display the whole collection of layouts (see Figure 16-14). Simply click the layout to apply it to your chart.
Word includes another design feature that makes creating a professional chart much easier. The Chart Style gallery includes dozens of visual styles that you can apply to a chart in your document. Chart Styles include:
Color selection
3-D effects
Shadow effects
Outline style and color
Background effects
To apply a chart style, select the chart, and then on the Chart Tools Design tab, click the More button in the lower-right corner of the Chart Styles gallery and then choose the style you want from the displayed collection (see Figure 16-15).
Figure 16-15. The Chart Styles gallery gives your chart a professional look with the click of a button.
Change Fonts with the Mini Toolbar
By now you’ve probably noticed that Word 2010 is all about context. Whatever project you’re working on, Word offers you just the tools you need to complete it. When you want to change the font used in a chart, simply highlight the text you want to change. The Mini Toolbar appears over the text with which you can easily choose a new font, change the size, make the font larger or smaller, change the color, and more. Simply click your choice and the text is changed. All things should be so simple.
Not all charts need titles, but a chart title can help readers understand the “big picture” you’re trying to communicate. To add a title to your chart, click Chart Title in the Labels group on the Layout tab of the contextual Chart Tools. In the gallery, choose whether you want the title to be centered on the chart or placed above the chart. (If you decide later that you want to move the title, you can simply drag it to the point on the chart where you want it to appear.) Centered Overlay Title enables the chart to be displayed at maximum size (which is important if you have a fairly complex chart), while Above Chart reduces the chart size slightly to make room for the title. Experiment with each choice to find the one that’s right for your chart.
Note
Chances are that you won’t have a lot of room in your document for lengthy chart titles. A good title pulls out key words that reflect what the chart portrays. If you’re comparing volunteer recruitment methods, “Recruitment Methods Comparison” works. Not exciting, but accurate. If you can think of something exciting too, all the better.
The axes of your chart are important in that they set up the structure for the way in which data is displayed. You can use two different tools in the contextual Chart Tools to work with axes. Both are found on the Layout tab.
If you want to instruct Word to display the title of an axis, click Axis Titles in the Labels group. To add an axis title to your chart, begin by clicking Axis Titles and pointing to the axis you want to change (Primary Horizontal Axis or Primary Vertical Axis). When you point to the Horizontal Axis selection, choose Show Title Below Axis to add the title text box to the chart. (You can click and drag the title box anywhere on the chart you’d like it to appear—but be sure to keep it close to the axis so your readers will understand what it refers to.) If you select Primary Vertical Axis, you will see three choices: Rotated Title, Vertical Title, and Horizontal Title. Select your display choice, and then simply click in the text box and type the text for your axis title.
If you want to change the way in which information is displayed along the axis, you can choose Axes in the Axes group. When you click the Axes tool, a list appears, offering Primary Horizontal Axis and Primary Vertical Axis as options. Choose the axis you want to change, and another set of choices appears (see Figure 16-16). For the horizontal axis, your choices involve whether the axis runs right to left (or vice versa) and where the data labels appear. For the vertical axis, you can choose the value increments you want to appear on the axis (thousands, millions, or billions).
If you want to further control the axes in your chart, you can choose More Primary Vertical Axis Options or More Primary Horizontal Axis Options at the bottom of each of the respective galleries. To further refine how your axes appear, you need to display the Format Axis dialog box, as shown in Figure 16-17. In this dialog box, you can choose the increments for the values on the vertical axis, set the tick mark type, and determine the placement of the chart floor. In the Format Axis dialog box for the horizontal axis, you can also set axis type and tick mark settings, and choose where the vertical axis crosses the horizontal axis. Additionally, in both dialog boxes, you can choose line color and fill, shadow, and 3-D effects for the axes.
Note
You will be able to choose settings for the chart floor only when you are working with a 3-D chart.
If you’re working with complicated charts that have multiple data series, gridlines can help clarify the comparisons and conclusions you want readers to draw from your chart. Select the Gridlines tool in the Axes group on the Chart Tools Layout tab. Then click either Primary Horizontal Gridlines or Primary Vertical Gridlines. Both choices give you the option of selecting major gridlines, minor gridlines, or major and minor gridlines.
Note
You can be creative with the gridlines in your chart if you want to shake things up a little bit. Word 2010 enables you to choose new gradients for your gridlines and add shadows and arrows. Simply right-click the gridline you want to change in the chart and select Format Gridlines. The dialog box that appears will be either Format Major Gridlines or Format Minor Gridlines, depending on which set of gridlines you selected.
Choose Line Color, Line Style, Shadow, or Glow and Soft Edges in the left panel and then select the options you want to apply to your chart. Click Close to save your settings and apply them to your chart.
Be forewarned, however: with gridlines, a little goes a long way, so be sure to add only what your reader needs to understand your data. Too many lines will clutter up your chart and make it more difficult for readers to decipher; they can even render the chart unreadable if there are too many too close together.
Word assumes that you want a legend for your chart when you first create it. If you don’t feel the legend is needed and want to have more space for your chart, you can remove the legend by clicking Legend in the Labels group on the Layout tab (available in the Chart Tools). When you choose None (the first option on the list), the legend is hidden. The chart is enlarged to fill the space the legend previously occupied.
You can also control where the legend is placed in the chart by clicking the Legend tool in the Labels group. A range of options appears from which you can choose, as shown in Figure 16-18.
Data labels are helpful when you need to give the reader further clues about which data items go with which series or category. Word gives you the ability to add several different kinds of data labels to your charts. You might want to add percentages to pie slices, for example, or category labels to stacked bars. Click Data Labels in the Labels group to display a list of placement choices for the data labels on your chart.
By default, Word displays data values in the pie slices or bars of your chart. You can change the type of information displayed and add special features such as color, shadows, outlines, and 3-D options by choosing Data Labels in the Labels group and clicking More Data Label Options. In the Format Data Labels dialog box (see Figure 16-19), you can choose the label contents you want to display (series name, category name, value, or percentage).
Figure 16-19. Display and enhance data labels on your chart using options in the Format Data Labels dialog box.
Note
You can choose to display more than one type of label. For example, you might want to display both percentages and category names on a pie chart. If you select more than one label type, use a separator to distinguish the labels. Click the Separator arrow to display a list of choices and then click the one you want to use.
One more way to ensure that readers get the connection between your data trends and the categories being plotted: you can use the Legend Key feature to add small legend tags to the left of each data label. Readers will be able to see at a glance which items relate to the categories in your chart legend.
Note
The data labels Word uses are taken directly from your datasheet. If you want to change a data label on the chart, it’s best to go back to the datasheet and make the change there. Otherwise, the label change might not “stick,” and you might see the same old label displayed the next time you view your chart.
Troubleshooting
I can’t see axis titles in my chart.
If you’re having trouble seeing the axis titles along the Category and Values axes on your chart, the chart area might be too small to display all the chart information successfully. Try enlarging the chart by clicking it and then dragging one of the resize handles outward. If that doesn’t do the trick, right-click the axis title while editing the chart and then choose a different font or font size on the Mini Toolbar.
Word gives you the ability to format all the different elements included in your chart. You might want to change the font of a title, resize the labels, change the background color, change the line thickness, apply a pattern, or perform any number of other tricks—including adding drop shadows, glow effects, or 3-D enhancements.
To choose the chart object you want to work with, click the chart, choose the Layout tab on the Chart Tools, and then click the Chart Elements arrow in the Current Selection group. A list of possible objects appears, as shown in Figure 16-20. When you click your choice, Word selects that item in the chart. You can then right-click the item to display a format choice—for example, right-clicking a legend displays a shortcut menu including the Format Legend command. When you select that command, a formatting dialog box appears in which you can select the colors, styles, and placement for the legend.
The formatting commands available vary depending on the type of chart you’re creating and the chart element you’ve selected. You’ll see a different set of options, for example, when you right-click a chart axis than you will when you right-click the legend.
Word includes a Ribbon full of formatting choices that enable you to add color and texture to the shapes of the elements in your chart. Additionally, you can use the Format options to apply special effects to your text by changing color, adding mirroring, shadowing, glow effects, and more. Here are a few possibilities to consider as you think about the ways you want to enhance your chart.
Do you want a border around your chart? If so, what kind? You make those choices on the Format tab of the Chart Tools.
Do you want to choose a different color or line thickness for the border of your chart? Look in the Shape Styles group on the Format tab for the choices you need.
Would you like to add a drop shadow to the chart? Click the Shape Effects down arrow, point to Shadow, and then choose the style you want.
Do you want to apply a special text effect to your title or axes titles? Choose a WordArt style that reflects the way you want the text in your chart to appear.
You can change each of these items by first selecting the chart you want to change and then by selecting the Format tab on the Chart Tools. Figure 16-21 shows the commands that are available when the Format tab is selected.
Word provides you with an almost unlimited number of ways to enhance charts in your documents. One way you can make a big visual difference is by applying formats to the shapes that make up the chart. For example, consider the chart title in Figure 16-22. The 3-D style applied to the title is one of many available in the Shape Styles gallery (on the Chart Tools Format tab).
Figure 16-22. You can add special styles to the shapes in your chart by using the Shape Styles gallery.
Begin by selecting the object in your chart that you want to change. Anything that you can click qualifies—you can change the title, the label area, the individual data series, the axes, and more. When you select an element, Word automatically updates the Shape Styles to show the styles available for that chart element. You can click the More button to see the entire gallery of styles available for the selected element. Click your selection to apply it to the chart.
You can make further changes to the shape you’ve selected using the additional choices in the Shape Styles group on the Format tab.
Shape Fill. This option displays a palette in which you can change the color, gradient, pattern, or texture of the selected shape.
Shape Outline. This choice includes color selections as well as line width and style choices that change the outline of the shape.
Shape Effects. Select Shape Effects to display a gallery of style choices with which you can add shadows, make the shape glow, soften the edges, rotate the shape in 3-D, and much more (see Figure 16-23).
This chapter showed you how the SmartArt and chart features in Word 2010 make it easy to create, modify, and enhance diagrams and charts in your Word documents. The next chapter continues this creative focus by showing you how to make the most of Word’s ability to add impact with pictures and objects. Additionally, you’ll find out how to arrange art objects on the page to help give your document that finished, professional look.