You make formatting changes to charts by clicking the Format Chart button in the Chart Properties sheet. The tabs that are displayed on Format Chart depends on the type of chart you select from the Chart Properties property sheet. For example, if you select a pie chart, the dialog box includes a Pie Options tab but not a Bar Options tab.
Depending on the type of chart you are using, certain controls on the Format Chart dialog box may be disabled. |
Table 19 describes the Format Chart dialog box tabs.
Table 19. Format Chart Dialog Box Tabs
You use the Appearance tab to specify a title for the chart, a chart border, font, gridlines, gridline style, gridline color, and grid background color for all chart types. You can indicate a depth for the chart grid. The Appearance tab also provides a preview of your chart. | |
You use the Legend tab to specify legend properties for all chart types. You can specify the location of the legend on the chart and define the legend title. You can set the font, font style, font size, and text effects for the legend title. The default setting for suppress repeating labels is off, but you can enable the option to inherit settings from the grid. For more information, see Defining a Chart Legend Title. | |
You use the Axes tab to specify axis properties, including metadata, primary, and secondary axis titles and the axis labels. You can indicate primary and secondary axis labels and specify font options for both. You can also specify data labels for the primary and secondary axis using a default or custom range of values. You can specify font options, such as font, font style, font size, and text effects. You can provide a secondary axis title label when working with bar, combo, and line charts. These titles and labels display a value between zero and 100, representing a percentage. If you are working with combo charts, you can show data labels for the secondary axis using a default or custom range of values. You can show metadata labels and specify a font angle for display of the labels. You can also modify other font options for metadata labels. For more information, see Defining Chart Axis Titles. | |
You use the Element Style tab to specify attributes such as bar and pie fill, line style, line marker style, marker size, and line width for data sets, depending on the chart type. For example, you specify pie fill only for a pie chart. You can specify a bar shape for bar and combo charts. You select each data set and specify a pattern, style, color, and shape to apply to it. You can specify up to two colors to use with each pattern or fill specification. You can toggle between the two different colors when applying color to the bars in a chart. | |
When formatting a line chart, you use the options on the Line Options tab to specify the type of line (rows, percent, or stacked-label display). You can also show point values to display the values in your chart and set font options for these values. The Line Options tab provides a preview of your line chart as you modify the formatting. | |
When formatting a bar chart, you use the Bar Options tab to specify the type of bar (group, stack, or rows) and the orientation (vertical or horizontal) of the bar chart. You can specify a bar width (zero to 100) for the bars in the chart. You can select a bar border style and width (zero to 20). You can show point values to display the data values in your chart and set font options for these values. The Bar Options tab provides a preview of your bar chart as you modify the formatting. | |
When formatting a combo chart, the Format Chart dialog box includes a Line Options tab and a Bar Options tab. Consult the Line Options tab and Bar Options tab descriptions in this table for information about the tabs. | |
You use the Pie Options tab to specify formatting options for a pie chart. You can modify the angle of the pie chart, specify a separation distance (which applies to the first slice of the pie chart only), and select slice values (percent, data, or label) to display in the pie chart. You can also format the font options for these values. You can indicate the position (exterior or radial) for the slice values. You can specify a slice border style (solid, dotted, dashed, or dotdashed) and a border width (zero to 20) for the slice. The Pie Options tab provides a preview of your pie chart as you modify the formatting options. |