INTRODUCTION

Excel has drawing tools that you can use to draw on a worksheet or chart sheet (that is, a worksheet that contains only a chart). In this task, you'll learn about the advantages of using Excel's drawing tools to help point out information on a worksheet.

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Color and style

Click the Line Color and Line Style buttons in the Drawing toolbar to change the color and style of the lines used to draw objects.

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Text boxes

A text box is an object that contains text. You can move a text box, resize it, and even add formatting options.

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Using AutoShapes

The Drawing toolbar includes tools for drawing common shapes, such as lines, circles, squares, and so on. If you aren't much of an artist or if you want to try some prefab symbols, insert an AutoShape. You can select from several lines, connectors, basic shapes, arrows, flowchart symbols, stars, callouts, banners, and more.

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Modifying drawing objects

A drawn object is just like a picture—you can resize, move, and delete it as needed. To resize a drawn object, click on the object to see its sizing handles, drag the sizing handles to the size you want, and release the mouse button. To move the object, click on the object and drag it to the desired location in the worksheet. To delete an object, click on the object and press the Delete key on the keyboard.

INTRODUCTION

Clip art adds visual interest to your Excel worksheets. With Microsoft clip art, you can choose from numerous professionally prepared images, sounds, and movie clips. After you have added graphics, you can move them around in the worksheet and even assign text wrapping. (Be aware that the first time you try to use Microsoft's clip art, you might be asked to set up your collections and organize your clips. Make sure you do this.)

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Using the Picture toolbar

When you insert a piece of clip art, the Picture toolbar appears; it contains tools you can use to crop the picture, add a border to it, or adjust its brightness and contrast.

INTRODUCTION

With digital cameras and sharing pictures online becoming more popular, there will certainly be times when you want to insert a picture file into a worksheet. You can insert all types of graphics files: Windows Metafiles, JPEG files, PNGs, Macintosh PICT files, Kodak Photo CD files, and many more.

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Inserting other things

You can insert clip art by opening the Insert menu, choosing Picture, and selecting Clip Art, and then searching through the Clip Art task pane to find the image you want. You can also choose Insert, Picture, Organization Chart to insert an organization chart ready for you to input information. When you insert a picture, the Picture toolbar appears; it contains tools you can use to crop the picture, add a border to it, or adjust its brightness and contrast.

INTRODUCTION

Excel lets you insert an organization chart directly into your worksheet. You can insert the chart and then add the appropriate information, in a manner very similar to inserting a table and adding data in Word or PowerPoint.

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Placing new chart boxes

When adding a subordinate, co-worker, or assistant chart box, click the chart box with which the new chart box should be associated before choosing the desired option from the Insert Shape drop-down list. For example, if you're adding an assistant, start by clicking the chart box for the person to whom that assistant will report. If you make a mistake, click the new chart box and drag it to the correct chart position.

INTRODUCTION

There are numerous predesigned shapes, called AutoShapes, that Excel allows you to add to your worksheets. For example, you can insert any one of the following AutoShapes into your worksheet: Lines, Connectors, Basic Shapes, Block Arrows, Flowchart, Stars and Banners, Callouts, and more.

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Resizing and moving objects

Move the mouse over an object border; the pointer becomes a four-headed arrow and you can move it (see the "Moving Objects" task); a two-headed arrow allows you to resize it (see the "Resizing Objects" task).

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Formatting AutoShapes

To format your AutoShape, right-click the object and select Format AutoShape from the shortcut menu. Click the Colors and Lines tab and choose from the various colors, line types and arrows.

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WordArt is a text-based object that Microsoft provides to apply special effects to text. You don't have to add these text effects manually; the different styles of WordArt are indeed the text effects themselves.

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Formatting WordArt

Once your WordArt is inserted into your worksheet, the WordArt toolbar appears (while the WordArt object is selected). You can use the various buttons on the toolbar to edit the text, alter the style, format the text, and add more WordArt.

INTRODUCTION

Excel lets you insert diagrams directly into your worksheets. You can insert the diagram and then add the appropriate information, in a manner very similar to inserting an organization chart and adding the data.

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Inserting an organization chart

You can choose to insert an organization chart from the Diagram Gallery or open the Insert menu, choose Picture, and select Organization Chart to insert an organization chart ready for you to input information.

INTRODUCTION

In addition to inserting all the different types of graphic objects that you've learned about in this part, you can also insert objects that aren't as commonly added to Excel worksheets. For example, you can insert a media clip, a PowerPoint slide, a Microsoft Works chart, a video clip, and much more.

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Inserting clip art

You can insert clip art by opening the Insert menu, choosing Picture, and selecting Clip Art. Search through the Clip Art task pane; when you find a piece of art you like, click it to insert it.

INTRODUCTION

As you have seen, you can add charts to a worksheet, draw objects, insert pictures, and more. Each of these items exists on a separate layer on top of the worksheet and is generically called an object. As you will discover in the next several tasks, you can format, move, resize, and delete objects; first, however, you must select the object you want to modify.

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Selecting multiple objects

To select multiple objects, click the first object, press and hold down the Shift key, and click on the second object. Continue until all the objects you want are selected.

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Reselect

If you select a cell instead of an object by accident, try again—this time, making sure to put the pointer right on the edge of the object. Alternatively, click the Select Objects button on the Drawing toolbar and then click the object.

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You can format objects just as easily as you format text, data, and worksheets. Depending on the object, the standard formatting options you can change are as follows: font (text changes in the object), alignment (where text aligns in the object), colors and lines (whether lines are filled or colored or have arrows), size (the height, width, and scale of the object), protection (whether others can alter your object), properties (how you position the object and whether you can print it), and Web (text to display while the object loads online).

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Formatting

You can also double-click directly on the object to automatically open the Format dialog box associated with it.

INTRODUCTION

When you draw an object on or add an object to a worksheet, you might not like its placement. Perhaps the object obscures the worksheet data, or maybe it needs to be moved a little closer to (or farther away from) the data. Fortunately, you can easily move an object.

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Copying objects

To copy an object, press and hold down the Ctrl key on your keyboard as you drag; a copy of the original object will be moved, with the original remaining intact where it is.

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Moving an object to another worksheet

Select the object, and then open the Edit menu and choose Cut. Move to the new sheet or workbook, click in the spot where you want the object to appear, and then open the Edit menu and choose Paste.

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If an object is too big (or too small), change the size. You can modify any type of object, including a picture you have added, a chart, or a drawn object. In addition, you can continue to resize the object over and over until it is the size you want.

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Corners versus sides

Dragging the sides increases or decreases the height or width of an object, while dragging the corners increases or decreases the height and width of an object at the same time.

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Resizing proportionally

If you hold the Shift key down while dragging a corner, the image enlarges or decreases in proportion.

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As you experiment with charts, drawings, and pictures, you may go overboard, or you might make a mistake and want to start over. In any case, if you add an object and no longer want to include it, you can delete it, as described here.

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Undoing a deletion

If you delete an object by accident, click the Undo button on the Standard toolbar to undo the deletion.