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This introduction presents an overview of the key concepts discussed in the subsequent chapters of the book. The book shows how to build nearly 30 of the “non-standard” graphs in Excel, graphs that are sometimes more complex than those in the standard drop-down menus and that can sometimes show data in better or more engaging ways. It focuses on how to extend and combine the basic graphs in the Excel charting engine; how to use Excel formulas to make the graphs and data more responsive and flexible; and how one can be more productive and efficient when working with the tool. Learning the steps to create graphs in Excel is just one part of the process. Understanding the basic principles of data visualization design is central to visually communicating the message.

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To demonstrate how to prepare the data for graphing, some of the tutorials include formulas or other data manipulations. The end of each chapter includes a “Quick Instructions” list, an abbreviated set instructions to build each graph. Visualizations that are used to compare categories or different values—the classic case is a bar chart. Visualizations that are used to show the spread of data, like a histogram or box-and-whisker plot. To demonstrate how to prepare the data for graphing, some of the tutorials include formulas or other data manipulations. This field lists the formulas used in the tutorial. The second file contains the data for each graph and the final graph shown in the tutorial, fully formatted.

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Microsoft Excel, with its more than 750 million users worldwide, continues to be the standard for desktop data analysis. Excel’s data visualization library has significantly expanded since it was introduced in 1985, but at its core, it’s still a drag-and-drop tool. Before diving into our Excel tutorials, it’s worth understanding the world of data visualization tools. The tools on the left, which everyone can use to create a graph, are more limited in what they can be used to create. The other tradeoff is how reproducible the visualizations are in each tool. To teach someone how to make a graph in Excel or Google Sheets, we need to show them each step in the process.

Pages: 27

This chapter introduces some basic parts of Excel for users who may have never opened the tool or made a graph. The spreadsheet itself—called “worksheets” in Excel parlance—takes up the main area of the view and consists of rows and columns, with the intersections called cells. Rows are numbered in Excel, and their default height depends on the computer’s monitor and resolution—rows on my Windows Surface Pro have a default height of 38 pixels, while rows on my MacBook Pro have a default height of 16 pixels. The drop-down menu on the far left in the Current Selection area lists all of the elements in our chart, including axes, gridlines, and the data. The button with the grid is the Borders area of the tab, which allows us to add borders around cells. The color and thickness of the border can be controlled at the bottom of that menu.

Pages: 20

Throughout the tutorials in this book, you’ll see the heavy use of formulas to arrange and organize the data for your graphs. I will often read in my full dataset to Excel before pulling the specific data points or series I need for the graph, but the full dataset remains for me to update, reference later on, pull additional data points or series, or make other changes.

Pages: 10

Choosing and implementing color palettes is a challenging task when visualizing data. Color can highlight and draw attention, but it can also make a graphic look confusing or ugly. As computer scientist Maureen Stone once wrote, “Color used poorly will obscure, muddle, and confuse”. Building a custom color palette is no easy task and demands an understanding of design, contrast, accessibility, and how different color models work. A full exploration of how to make your graphs and other visual content accessible to people with vision, physical, intellectual, or other impairments. The XML file follows a basic template, elements of which we can modify for our own needs. To create the file, open a text editor and write the code shown on the next page.

Pages: 240

No chapter abstract available.

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Level: Beginner

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Heatmaps are similar to a table, but instead of showing the actual numbers, the heatmap shows colors. They are typically used to show high-frequency data in a compact format. The basic data for this example consists of the total number of singles, doubles, triples, and home runs hit by every Major League Baseball team during the 2021 baseball season. Repeat the process with new colors for the remaining columns. Keep in mind that there may be cases where we want to use shades and tints of a single color for the entire table. Arizona and Boston hit a lot of doubles, and Toronto hit a lot of home runs. But in the version on the right, we can see that singles were by far the most common type of hit for every team.

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We close this part of the book by taking a brief look at tables in Excel. Yes, tables are a form of data visualization. A table may be a better way to convey your message than a chart when you need to show your user specific values. And just like a chart, a table has a lot of parts, each of which we can modify and style (Figure 29.1).

Pages: 24

No chapter abstract available.

Pages: 6

Excel does not have a built-in image-exporting feature, so preparing a high-resolution Excel chart for sharing as an image file or posting to the web requires a separate process. In my experience, many people export their graphs using screenshots, which often ends up looking blurry and pixelated, especially compared with the surrounding text. Screenshots are less consistent because the quality depends on the monitor (Figure 30.1).

Pages: 14

By this point, your Excel skills have hopefully advanced at least one rung, if not several, on the Excel skills ladder. You’ve learned numerous graphs using a variety of methods, formulas, and formatting options. As you further develop your abilities in Excel, you’ll find more places where you can improve your productivity and use the tool to create even better data visualizations.

Pages: 2

It’s possible you never opened Excel before reading this book. Or maybe you’ve made countless graphs, charts, and tables in the tool. Wherever you fall in that spectrum of experience and expertise, I hope you have learned ways to improve how you create data visualizations in Excel. Whether it’s using basic formulas like IF, COUNT, and VLOOKUP to format your data, combining different chart types, or inserting and aligning labels and markers, I hope you feel you have moved up a level in your Excel knowledge.