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You have completed Data Visualization with Excel!
You have completed Data Visualization with Excel!
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Overview of what the Chart Area and Plot Area are in an Excel chart.
Example Excel Spreadsheet
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[SOUND] Now that we know why
data visualization is important,
0:00
and are aware of some of the different
charts we can use in Excel,
0:04
we're gonna cover the formatting and
layout of charts.
0:10
As well as chart elements in Excel.
0:14
We'll talk to the different
components of charts in Excel and
0:17
show you what they mean and
how to use them.
0:20
I've broken up the content in this section
so that it's easy for you to go back and
0:23
reference different videos for
a refresher in the future.
0:27
Note, that not all chart elements
are available for every chart type.
0:31
For example, you can't add
a trend line to a column chart.
0:35
We'll cover trend lines more later.
0:39
For now, let's get started by
covering chart area versus plot area.
0:41
The simple distinction
between chart area and
0:46
plot area is that the plot area
is inside of the chart area.
0:50
In other words, the chart area
is the entire area of the chart,
0:55
and the plot area is where the data
is actually displayed or plotted.
1:00
So going back to our
gym membership example,
1:06
if I click on the chart,
you see these two lines.
1:10
The outer line is
bordering the chart area.
1:14
The inner line is bordering the plot area.
1:19
So I can scroll over that,
you see Plot Area.
1:21
I scroll over this, it says Chart Area.
1:23
Let me change the border of the plot
area to make this very explicit.
1:28
So I'm gonna make it a solid line,
I'm gonna make it red and
1:34
I wanna make it size two.
1:37
So I'm gonna deselect all that and
1:42
you can see the plot area has been
bordered by that thick red line.
1:43
Everything in your chart, including
the plot area, is the chart area.
1:49
You can change the color of the chart and
plot areas, not just the border, but
1:54
also the background.
1:58
So I'm going to go here and
format the chart area.
2:01
I'm going to, not change the border,
I wanna change the fill.
2:05
So I'll do a solid blue.
2:09
Okay, that's kinda weird.
2:13
Make it a light gray.
2:15
That's also kind of odd.
2:16
I don't typically like filling in my plot
or chart areas but there are certain
2:17
examples where having different background
colors could be very good, aesthetically.
2:24
So, again, sometimes you're gonna
have to use your own judgment.
2:29
Now, another thing to highlight, and you
might have noticed it when I was showing
2:34
you the example earlier,
is that you can have no fill.
2:38
I also wanna do that on the chart area,
so no fill again.
2:42
Why would you do that?
2:45
Well, you might wanna do this if you're
copying your charts into a presentation.
2:47
That way the formatting
of your presentation will
2:51
not be disturbed by
the chart that you insert.
2:54
So let's take a look at this.
2:57
So I'm gonna copy this.
2:58
And then, I'm gonna go over here to this
hypothetical presentation about gyms,
3:01
and I'm going to paste.
3:08
And you can see the background is
the same as the slide background.
3:09
But, if I go back to Excel and
I change it so
3:14
there is a solid fill, and
then I copy this again,
3:18
then I go back to the power point
to delete the first chart I added.
3:23
Now, the background color is grey and
it looks kind of off,
3:31
not to mention the fact that that red
box around the plot area is pretty ugly.
3:35
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