ExcelCharting

Chart Tools

Size & Position

Macabacus makes it easy to conform a collection of charts to the same size, turning what would normally be a tedious, manual resizing process into a trivial exercise.

Chart and Plot Size Dialog

For precise control over chart sizing and positioning, use the Chart and Plot Size dialog. Here, you can apply Standard Sizes, manually adjust the dimensions of the chart and plot areas, fine-tune positioning of the plot area within the chart (which cannot be done with precision natively), and memorize/apply chart sizes. This tool is accessible from the Macabacus > Charts menu.

Memorize/Apply

Click the Macabacus > Charts > Memorize Chart button to remember the selected chart's size, plot area size, and plot area position within the chart, and then apply these properties to other selected charts using buttons on the Macabacus > Charts > Apply Memorized menu. This is a fast way to conform the appearance of multiple charts simultaneously.

Resize To

Conform the selected chart to the dimensions of a Standard Size, the dimensions of a shape selected in PowerPoint or Word, or the selected range in Excel from the Macabacus > Charts > Resize To menu.

When you resize a chart to a selected range of cells, Macabacus prompts you for the range address, showing the address of cells that were selected prior to selecting the chart as the default option. You can optionally reposition the chart to the top left coordinates of the range, "fitting" the chart within the specified range.

Stack Charts

Stack selected charts relative to the first selected chart, and resize them to the dimensions of the first selected chart. This could come in handy when creating a dashboard, for example. Access this tool using the Macabacus > Charts > Stack Charts button.

Data Labels

Move Data Labels

Use the Move Data Labels dialog at Macabacus > Charts > Move Data Labels to adjust the position of data labels on a chart. You can adjust all data labels for a series, or individual data labels. This allows you to adjust data label positions with precision for pixel-perfect positioning. In contrast, Excel natively provides no means of adjusting data label position precisely or easily, requiring you to position data labels individually using imprecise mouse movements.

Replace Missing Labels

Replace missing chart data labels and/or axis labels at Macabacus > Charts > Replace Missing Labels. In X-Y (scatter) and bubble charts, specifically, Excel does not automatically attach labels to data points. Macabacus can add text labels to both of these chart types, provided that the source data is properly formatted.

Label Points

Add a data label to the last, first, maxmimum, and/or minimum data point of each series in a line graph or clustered column or bar chart by clicking the Macabacus > Charts > Label Points button. Macabacus automatically removes the legend, if present, when you set the label text to the series name, since the legend would be redundant.

X-Y Scatter Labels

When creating scatter charts and bubble charts, Excel does not automatically attach the correct labels to data points. This tool adds the correct data labels to both these chart types, provided that the chart data is structured as follows:

• Column 1 — Data labels
• Column 2 — X-axis values
• Column 3 — Series 1 y-axis values
• Column 4 — Series 2 y-axis values (optional)

Add additional columns as needed for more than two series. For bubble charts, specifically, the bubble size column must be the last column in the chart data. Access this tool at Macabacus > Charts > X-Y Scatter Labels.

Link Number Formats

Match the number format of data labels to the number formats of source data by clicking the Macabacus > Charts > Link Number Formats button.

Recolor

Access the following tools from the Macabacus > Charts > Recolor Chart menu.

Recolor Series to Defaults

Recolor series in selected charts to your default series colors customized in the Excel > Format > Colors section of Macabacus' Settings dialog. This is a quick way to apply your preferred color scheme, without having to deal with Office's more cumbersome chart templates. If you have six default chart series colors and a chart with eight series, for example, Macabacus applies the Series 1 color to Series 7 and the Series 2 color to Series 8.

Recolor Points to Source

Recolor data points in selected charts to the cell fill color of charts' source data. Cells with no fill color are ignored. Note that legends are not affected by this tool. This is because this tool recolors points, not series, and legends show series colors. If you need to recolor entire series, use Macabacus' other coloring tools or native functionality instead.

Recolor Labels to Points

Recolor Recolor data label fonts to match their data point or marker colors. This is particularly useful for line and scatter charts. If a single series or data labels collection is selected, only that series' data labels will be recolored. If a single data label is selected, only that data label will be recolored. Otherwise, all data labels in selected charts will be recolored.

Other Charting Tools

Y-Axis Max Format

Apply number formatting to the maximum value on the selected chart's y-axis, only. Choose from dollars, euros, pounds, percentages, and multiples on the Macabacus > Charts > Y-Axis Max Format menu. This turns off y-axis autoscaling, which could result in undesirable chart formatting if the chart's underlying data later changes. If the chart data does change, you can click Macabacus > Charts > Y-Axis Max Format > Re-scale Axis to automatically re-scale the chart appropriately.

Save Chart as Picture

Save the selected charts as pictures—specifically, PNG images. If no chart is selected, all charts on the active worksheet will be saved as pictures. When you save multiple charts as pictures, the file name you specify is the "base" name to which Macabacus will append an index. For example, if you save two charts as pictures and specify the file name "Chart.png," Macabacus will name your images "Chart_001.png" and "Chart_002.png." Access this tool using the Macabacus > Charts > Save Chart as Picture button, or from the Save as Picture button on chart context menus.

Chart Color Cycle

See our discussion of this tool here.

This documentation refers to Macabacus version 9.4.1. Some features and descriptions of these features may not
apply to older versions of Macabacus. Update your Macabacus software to take advantage of the latest features.