Creating and editing charts

Hello students, welcome to Kwickprep. A table of sixty numbers is hard to read, but one chart shows the story in a second. How do you make one? Today we will learn how to create a chart in a spreadsheet, and then how to edit it.

First, what exactly is a chart? A chart is a picture of numbers from your sheet, drawn as bars, lines or slices. It helps us see patterns quickly, like the highest value, the lowest value and the trend. A chart is linked to its data, so when a number changes, the chart changes too. You can make charts in Microsoft Excel, LibreOffice Calc or Google Sheets, and the steps are very similar.

We will use a school canteen's sales. The first column holds the month, and the first row holds the headings. In January, the canteen sold four hundred twenty cups of tea and three hundred ten samosas. In February, sales dropped a little. March was the best month. In April, exams started and sales fell.

Before creating a chart, choose the right type. A column chart uses upright bars to compare values. A bar chart uses sideways bars, which suit long labels. A line chart shows how a value changes over time. A pie chart shows how parts make up one whole, like a family budget. A scatter chart shows whether two values are related.

Creating a chart takes only a few steps. First, select the data, including the headings, from A1 to C5. Next, open the Insert tab in Excel, or the Insert menu in Calc. Then choose a chart type, such as a clustered column chart. The chart appears on the sheet, and you can drag it to a good place.

Here are some quick ways to create a chart. In Excel, select the data and press Alt+F1 to place a default chart on the same sheet. Pressing F11 instead puts the chart on a new sheet of its own, called a chart sheet. The Recommended Charts button suggests types that suit your data. In LibreOffice Calc, Insert, then Chart, opens a Chart Wizard that guides you step by step.

To edit a chart, you must know its parts. The chart title tells the reader what the chart is about. An axis is a line with labels or a scale, and a column chart has a horizontal axis and a vertical axis. The legend is a colour key that tells which colour is which item. A data series is one set of related values, like all the tea figures. A data label shows the exact number on a bar.

Editing starts with selecting the chart. Click once on the chart, and small squares called handles appear around its border. In Excel, two extra tabs appear, Chart Design and Format. In LibreOffice Calc, you double click the chart to enter edit mode. Drag a corner handle to resize the chart, and drag its border to move it.

Here are the edits you will use most often, all on the Chart Design tab in Excel. Change Chart Type turns a column chart into a line chart without starting again. Select Data lets you change the range, for example to add May. Switch Row or Column groups the bars by item instead of by month. Add Chart Element adds a title, data labels or a legend. Move Chart moves the chart to another sheet.

You can also edit the words and numbers. Click the chart title box and type a clear title, like Canteen Sales, January to April. If you change a heading cell in the sheet, the legend updates by itself. If you change a number in the sheet, the bar grows or shrinks at once. To remove any selected part, such as the gridlines, just press the Delete key.

Let us pause and predict. A column chart was made from cells A1 to C5. Now you change cell B4, the tea cups for March, from four hundred fifty to six hundred. What happens to the chart? The March tea bar grows taller at once, because the chart is linked to its data. You do not need to create the chart again.

Avoid these common mistakes. If you leave out the headings, the legend shows plain names like Series one. A pie chart can show only one data series, so it is wrong for comparing tea and samosas. Blank rows inside the data leave gaps in the chart. And a chart without a title leaves the reader guessing.

Let us revise what we learned today. A chart is a picture of data, and it stays linked to the sheet. To create one, select the data with headings, and insert a chart. Choose a type that suits the data, like column, bar, line, pie or scatter. Edit it with Change Chart Type and Select Data. Finally, add a title, a legend and data labels so anyone can read it. Try making a chart of your own marks in every subject.