Excel 97/2000: Charts Windows 98/2000 So You Want to Create a Chart . . . You've probably heard the adage, “a picture is worth a thousand words.”  Sometimes a chart or a graph can say more than a thousand numbers; Excel has the ability to create these visual aids.  Before you start a chart, you must first input the data from which the chart will be drawn.  Do this just as you would for creating any Excel worksheet.  To create the chart, Excel will plot sets of data from your worksheet called data series.  In the worksheet example to the right, the columns for median house prices for the U.S. and for Chapel Hill are two data series which could be plotted in a chart.  In this example, the data in the first column, the years between 1985 and 1993, will be category labels  in your chart. What Type of Chart Should You Use? Excel 97 has 16 types of charts that you can select and use.  The selection of chart type is usually driven by the data, although there are no hard and fast rules for determining the chart type you should use.  Experiment!  It is extremely easy to change your chart type selection.  Then use the one which displays your data and conveys your message in the simplest way possible.  Below is a brief description of chart types and their general use: Area Good for depicting magnitude of change over time. Bar Shows the value of two or more items at the same point in time.  Good for depicting dramatic difference between positive and negative values. Column Shows two or more values side by side. Line Illustrates trends over time. Pie Represents your data as a percentage of the total. Doughnut The appearance of a pie, but displaying more than one series. Radar Depicts frequency and change relative to a central point. Scatter Depicts two values and tries to show relationships, usually independent of time. Combination Allows you to layer one type of chart over another. 3-D Dramatic use of some of the above charts, but be careful as they can be hard to read and distort the perspective of your data. Surface A 3D surface shows trends in values across 2 dimensions in a continuous curve. Stock Requires 3 series of values in the order of high-low-close. Bubble Compares three sets of values.  It is similar to a scatter plot chart with the 3rd value displayed as a size of a bubble. Cylinder/Cone / Pyramid Creates a column chart with a cylindrical, conical, or pyramidal shape.