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Make charts more compelling by adding pictures

 
Applies to
Microsoft Office Excel 2003
Microsoft Excel 97, 2000, and 2002

Do you want to impress your audience with more colorful presentations and draw attention to important data in your charts? In Excel, you can easily enhance charts by inserting pictures in any of the following areas:

For example, you may want to add a picture that relates to your business in the plot area of a chart, as depicted in the following chart.

Chart that uses a picture of an airplane in the plot area.

In a 2-D line, scatter, or unfilled radar chart, pictures can also serve as data markers. For example, you could use a picture of a house as a data marker to represent the data point for average home sales per region, as depicted in the following chart.

Chart that uses pictures of houses as data markers.

Use a picture in a chart

ShowUse a picture for most charts or chart items

  1. Click the data markers in column, bar, area, bubble, 3-D line, and filled radar charts; the chart area, plot area, or legend in 2-D and 3-D charts; or the 3-D walls or floor that you want to use a picture for.
  2. On the Formatting toolbar, click the arrow next to Fill Color, click Fill Effects, and then click the Picture tab.
  3. To specify a picture, click Select Picture.
  4. In the Look in box, click the drive, folder, or Internet location that contains the picture, and then double-click the picture you want.
  5. On the Picture tab, select the options you want.

ShowUse a picture for 2-D line, scatter, or unfilled radar chart data markers

  1. Select a picture that you've already inserted on the worksheet or chart sheet, or select a picture from within a graphics program.
  2. On the Edit menu, click Copy or Cut.
  3. In your chart, click the data series (data series: Related data points that are plotted in a chart. Each data series in a chart has a unique color or pattern and is represented in the chart legend. You can plot one or more data series in a chart. Pie charts have only one data series.), and then click Paste on the Edit menu.

ShowUse the Clip Organizer to find a picture

You can use the Clip Organizer to find clip art and download it to your computer or insert it directly into Excel. To open the Clip Organizer and find clip art:

  1. On the Insert menu, point to Picture, and then click Clip Art.
  2. In Excel 2002 or 2003, use the Clip Art task pane to search for the clip you want to use.

In Excel 97 or 2000, use the Clip Gallery to find the clip you want to use.

 
 

See Also