A table is better presented and understood when it is represented in graphic form. Excel is a software that translates a table into a graph in two clicks. Are Excel graphs essential for summarizing tables? Why create a graph? How to use Excel to create a graph? These are all questions that will be answered in this article.
Why a graph?
A graph serves to simplify a large amount of quantitative or qualitative data. It allows you to highlight at a glance the trends of a data series, to compare, confront, and proportion them. A large mass of data can be better analyzed and interpreted when summarized in one of the wonderful graphs that Excel offers. This spreadsheet software provides a variety of graphs including:
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- 2D and 3D histograms, cylinders, cones, and pyramids;
- 2D and 3D curves;
- 2D and 3D sectors;
- 2D and 3D Bars, cylinders, cones, and pyramids;
- 2D and 3D Areas;
- scatter plots and their regression lines.
In terms of Excel graphs, it is a highly recommended tool for the diversity and usability it offers to its users.
How to use Excel to create a graph?
To create a graph with Excel, you need to start by entering the data in rows and columns without leaving any empty cells except for the first cell. Then select the data block starting from the first row and columns. If it contains text, this will serve as a legend for the x-axis. Next, in the insert menu, drop down the graph option and select the type of graph you wish to represent. In the Excel graph wizard, fill in the fields in the next windows of the wizard. Then confirm with “next”. Your graph will display, and you can then adjust the scale and add titles for the different axes. You can choose to hide or show the information of the different axes of the graph. You can also choose to hide or not the gridlines. Finally, display the legend.
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