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SPREADSHEETS
Introduction
- Analyzing data is one of the most demanding tasks. This is the reason why human beings have been
struggling to come up with better tools for handling figures.
- This started with the abacus but today we have electronic calculators and spreadsheets.
- A spreadsheet is made up of sheets of papers divided into rows and columns on which various
numerical data is entered manually.
- For long time, manual spreadsheets have been used in accounting for book keeping. However these
spreadsheets are being replaced by specialized packages and electronic spreadsheets.
.
Electronic spreadsheets
- An electronic spreadsheet referred to as a spreadsheet, is application software used to calculate,
organize and analyze numerical data. It consists of rows and columns similar to the ones of the manual
spreadsheet.
- Examples of electronic spreadsheets are: Microsoft Excel, Open Office Calc, Lotus 1-2-3 and Corel
Quattro Pro.

Advantages of electronic spreadsheets

- The following are some of the advantages of electronic spreadsheets.
1. Utilizes the powerful aspect of the computer like speed, accuracy and efficiency to enable the user to
quickly accomplish his/her tasks.
2. Offers a larger virtual sheet for data entry and manipulation.
3. Utilizes the large storage space on the computer storage devices to save and retrieve data.
4. Enables the user to produce neat work because the traditional pencil, rubber and calculator are put aside.
All the work is edited on the screen and a final clean copy is printed.
5. Have better document formatting capabilities.
6. Have inbuilt formulae called functions that enable the user to quickly manipulate mathematical data.
7. Automatically adjusts the result of a formula if the values in the worksheet are changed. This is called
automatic recalculation feature.

Components of a spreadsheet
- A spreadsheet has three main components namely;
 worksheet,
 database and
 charts.

Worksheet
- A worksheet is the work area made up of rows and columns where data is entered.
- Each row is labeled using a number while each column is labeled using a letter.
- The intersection between a row and a column is called a cell. In an electronic spreadsheet, horizontal
arrangements of cells constitute a column. Each cell is referenced using the column label followed by
row label.

Database
- A database is a collection of related data items organized so as to provide a consistent and controlled
access to items.
- In spreadsheets, a worksheet may contain related data, organized into rows that can be manipulated
using database functions that enable the user to perform functions such as sorting, filtering, validation,
subtotaling, pivot tables and consolidation.

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Graphs
- A graph is a pictorial representation of the base data on a worksheet. Most spreadsheets refer to graphs
as charts. A chart enables the user to present complex data elements from a worksheet in a simple and
easy to understand format. Examples of charts are:
1. pie,
2. line, and
3. bar charts.

Application areas of spreadsheets

Statistical analysis
- Spreadsheets provide a set of data analysis tools that can be used to perform simple analysis such as
computing mean, mode, and standard deviation as well as complex statistical analysis.

Accounting
- Accountants find electronic spreadsheets useful tools for Analyzing financial transactions such as
computing totals, consolidating financial records, as well as predicting future business trends.

Mathematical and scientific

- Spreadsheets are used to solve mathematical and scientific problems such as arithmetic and
trigonometric.

Forecasting
- A feature known ‘what if’ analysis, is used to make future predictions. For example, a sales manager in
a company may want to find out whether raising the cost of an item would result to increased or
reduced profits.

Creating workbooks in Microsoft Excel

- Most electronic spreadsheets have common features. For consistency, we shall use Microsoft Excel
2003 simply referred to as Excel. Microsoft Excel is a member of Microsoft Office Suite. Other
versions of Excel are:
1. Excel 97,
2. Excel 2000,
3. Excel XP and
4. Excel 2007.

Starting Microsoft Excel

- There are a number of ways you can start Microsoft Excel. To launch Excel 2003 from the start menu,
proceed as follows:
1. Click on the start menu and point to programs/all programs.
2. Point to Microsoft Office 2003, and then click Microsoft Office Excel 2003.Excel Application
window opens.
- Apart from the title bar, menu bar, standard toolbar and status bar, Excel has the following other
features:

*Draw excel window on page 53 comp studies bk 2*

Formula bar
- Formula bar is where a cell entry or formula is displayed before being entered into the selected cell.

Worksheet
- A worksheet is the work area made up of rows and columns where data is entered. The intersection of
rows and columns forms cells.

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Cells
- A cell is an intersection between a row and a column. A column is a vertical arrangement of cells
labeled A, B, C… while a row is the horizontal arrangement labeled 1, 2, 3….

Active cell pointer

- A cell pointer indicates the current active cell.

Cell address
- The cell address is the combination of a column header and a row header that indicate the location of a
specific cell.

Worksheet tabs
- Worksheet tabs are located at the bottom of a spreadsheet. They show the number of worksheets in a
workbook. A workbook is a spreadsheet file that consists of one or more worksheets. One worksheet
may consist of one or several pages.

Navigating the Excel screen

1. Click cell D5. Notice that the cell pointer immediately moves to the cell and name box
reads D5. Typing on the keyboard now inserts entries in cell D5 as long the pointer is still
there.
2. Click letter A that heads the first column. Notice that the whole column is highlighted.
3. Double click cell D10.Notice that the insertion pointer blinks in the cell and you can start
typing characters inside the cell.
4. Click the down arrow on the vertical scroll bar. The worksheet moves upwards on the
screen. The opposite happens when you click the up arrow on the vertical scroll bar.
5. Click the right button on the horizontal scroll bar. The worksheet moves to the left. The
opposite happens when you click the left button on the horizontal scroll bar.
6. Press the right arrow key on the keyboard. Notice that the cell pointer moves one column to
the right on the same row. This can also be done by pressing the tab key once.
7. Press the left arrow key on the keyboard. Notice that the cell pointer moves one column to
the left on the same row. Pressing the shift+tab gives the same results.
8. Press the up arrow key on the keyboard notice that the cell pointer moves one row up on the
same column.
9. Press the down arrow key on the keyboard. Notice that the cell pointer moves one row on
the same column.
10. Press the end key. The status bar will display the message ‘END’. If you press the right
arrow key, the cell pointer will move right to the last cell on the row. If the left, up or down
keys were to be pressed instead, the cell pointer would move to the last cell to the left, top
or bottom respectively.
11. Pressing Ctrl+Home moves the cell pointer to the first cell of the worksheet.

Creating worksheets
- At its simplest level, creating a worksheet consists of starting the spreadsheet program and entering
data in the cells of the current worksheet. However, a person can decide to create a worksheet either
using the general format or from a specially preformatted spreadsheet called a template.

Using blank template

- When a spreadsheet program is launched, it presents the user with a new blank template. If you wish to
create another workbook while application is still running:
1. On the file menu, click New.
2. On the General tab, double click Blank on the workbook icon.
Using a template
- To create a workbook based on predefined template:
1. On the File menu click New.

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2. On the task pane under templates, click on My computer.

3. In the templates dialog box click Spreadsheets Solution tab.
4. On the spreadsheets solutions tab, double click the template that you wish to create.
5. Replace the general data with your own data.
NB: If the template is already installed, it will be displayed as a new worksheet with all the preformatted
features present allowing the user to enter some data. However some templates may require the original
installation disk if they are to be usable because they may not have been copied to the hard disk during
program installation.

Entering data into a worksheet

- As you type an entry, it is displayed in the formula bar. To place the content into the active cell press
Enter key, an arrow key or click into another cell.

Cell data entries

- Entries into a worksheet can be classified into four categories.
1. Labels
2. Values
3. Formulae
4. Functions
Labels
- Any text or alphanumeric characters entered in a cell are viewed as labels by the spreadsheet program.
Labels are used as row or column headings usually to describe the contents of the row or column. For
example, if the column has names of people, the column header can be NAMES.

Values
- These are numbers that can be manipulated mathematically. They may include currency, numbers (0-
9), special symbols or text that can be manipulated mathematically by the spread sheet.

Formulae
- Formulae are mathematical expressions that create a relationship between cells to return a new value.
- In excel, a formula must start with an equal sign. For example =B3+D4 adds the contents of B3 and
D4 and returns the sum value in the current cell. Excel formulae use cell addresses and arithmetical
operators; addition (+), subtraction (-), multiplication (*) and division (/).
- Using cell addresses, also called referencing, enables Microsoft excel to keep calculations accurate
and automatically recalculates results of a formula in case the value in a referenced cell is changed.
This is called automatic recalculation.

Functions
- These are inbuilt predefined formulae that the user can quickly use instead of having to create a new
one each time a calculation has to be carried out. Microsoft Excel has many of these formulas that
cover the most common types of calculations performed by spreadsheet. For example to add the
contents of cells say B3 to E3 type =sum(B3:E3).

Saving a workbook
- The procedure for saving a workbook is similar to that of saving a word document.
- To save a workbook:
1. Click file menu option, then select save as command. Alternatively, click the save
command on the standard toolbar. The save as dialog box is displayed
2. Select the location in which your workbook will be saved in the save in box, then type a
unique name for the workbook in the file name box. Make sure that the option Microsoft
excel workbook is selected under the save as type box.
3. Click the save button to save.

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Retrieving a workbook
- To retrieve an existing workbook:
1. On file menu or standard toolbar, click open.
2. Click the Look in drop down list arrow and select the drive or folder where the workbook was
saved.
3. Double click the workbook icon that you want and the worksheet.

Close a workbook and exit

- On the file menu click close. This closes the current workbook that does not close the application. To
exit from excel, on the file menu, click exit or press alt+f4.

Using basic formula and functions

- A formula is a mathematical expression used to solve mathematical problems while a function is an
inbuilt formula used to perform calculations. In excel formula or function must start with equal sign.
( =)

Block operations
- A block of selected cells in a worksheet is referred to as a range. A range is specified by the address of
its top left and bottom right cells or using a name. to a range of continuous cells:
1. Click on the top left cell of the range to be selected.
2. Hold down the shift key.
3. Click the bottom right cell of the range; the range will be highlighted.
- To select a range of non continuous cells:
1. Click the top left cell of the range to be selected.
2. Hold down the control key.
3. Click the bottom right cell of the range.
- To create a named range proceed as follows:
1. Select the range to be named.
2. Click inside the name box. Delete the cell reference and type a name for the range.
3. Press enter key to apply.

Arithmetic operators
- Arithmetic operators mostly follow the rule similar to mathematical concept of BODMAS. This means
that whatever is in parenthesis is evaluated first. Multiplication and division are evaluated from the left
to right while addition and subtraction are evaluated last. Table 2.1 shows a summary of operators used
to create formulae.

Symbol Description Example

/ Division =A2/B2
* Multiplication =A2*B2
+ Addition =A2+B2
- Subtraction =B2-A2
Table 2.1
Relational operators
- A relational operator returns either true or false depending on the magnitude of the value being
evaluated. Table 2.2 is a summary of a relational operator.

= Equal to =A2=B2
> Greater than =A2>B2
< Less than =A2<B2
<> Not equal to =A2<>B2
<= Less than or equal to =A2<=B2
>= Greater than or equal to =A2>=B2

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Operator precedence
- If several operators are used in single formula, Microsoft excel performs the operations in order shown
in table 2.3.
- A formula with operators that are same precedence i.e. if a formula contains both multiplication and
division; operators are evaluated from left to right. Enclosing part of the formula to be calculated in
parenthesis or brackets makes that part to be calculated first.

Operator Name Precedence

1. – Negation as in -1 1
2. % Percent 2
3. ^ Exponentiation 3
4. * and / Multiplication and division 4
5. + and – Addition and subtraction 5
6. =,<>,>,<,<=,>= Relational 6
Table 2.3

Cell referencing(Cell Addresses)

- There are three types of cell referencing used when creating formulae and manipulating cell contents.

Relative referencing
- When you copy a formula that contains cell references, say A3, the references adjust to their new
location. For example if C1 containing a formula =A1+B2 is copied to C2 the reference changes to
A2+B2.

Absolute referencing
- The reference is made to a specific address and does not change even if the formula is copied to
another cell. In excel an absolute cell reference is made by placing a dollar sign before the reference
e.g. $A$2. For example if the result in C1 is 170, if absolute reference is used, 170 will be copied to
C2.

Mixed cell referencing

- This is a combination of relative and absolute reference, e.g. $A3 or A$3. in the first case the column
reference is absolute while the row is relative, in the second case the column reference is relative while
the row reference is absolute.
Using in-built functions
- A function must start with an (=) sign followed by the function name and arguments. Arguments are
numeric, logical values or text enclosed in a parenthesis. For example, in =SUM (A3:F3), SUM is the
function that adds the range A3 to F3 which is the argument.
- In Microsoft excel, functions are categorized according to the nature of problems they work on. We
shall look at the following categories of inbuilt functions:
1. mathematical
2. statistical
3. logical
4. date and time
- To use a function from any category:
1. On the insert menu click function. Alternatively, click the fx button on the standard toolbar.
2. In the function dialog box displayed, select the category.
3. In the function list box, select a function.
4. Specify the function argument then click OK

Mathematical functions

- Some commonly used mathematical functions are:

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 SUM () adds all the value in the selected range of cells. For example if A3, B3 and C3
contains 20, 50 and 80 respectively, =SUM (A3:C3) returns 150.
 ROUND () ROUNDS a number to a specified number of decimal places. Zero rounds off
the number to the nearest integer. For example, =ROUND (49.769, 1) returns 49.8. While
=ROUND (49.769,1) returns 50.
 SUMIF () conditionally adds the specified cells according to the set criteria. =SUMIF
(A3:A10, “<=1000”) returns a value if, and only if the sum is greater than or equal to 1000.
 PRODUCT () Multiplies all the values in the argument. For example, =PRODUCT (40, 3,
2) returns 240.

Statistical functions
- Some commonly used statistical functions are:
 AVERAGE () Returns the arithmetic mean of its arguments. For example, if A3, B3 and C3
contains 20, 50 and 80 respectively, = AVERAGE (A3:C3) returns 75.
 COUNT () Counts the number of cells that contain numbers within a range. For example
=COUNT (A3:C3) returns 3.
 COUNTIF () Conditionally counts the number of cells within a range that meets a given
condition. For example if A3, B3, C3, D3 and E3 contains 20, 50, 80, 60 and 45 respectively
then =COUNTIF (A3:E3, “>50”) returns 2.
 MAX () –Returns the largest value in a set of values within a range. For example, =MAX
(A3:E3) for the values above returns 80.
 MIN () – Returns the largest value in a set of values within a range. For example = MIN
(A3:E3) or the values above returns 20.
 RANK () Return the position of rank of a number from a list of values. For example, = RANK
(A2$A$3:$A$8,1) returns the position of A2 as if the list was stored in ascending order.

Logical functions.
- Some commonly used logical functions include:
 IF () –Returns a value or label if a condition you specify is evaluated to TRUE and another is
evaluated to FALSE. For example if, A3, B3, C3, D3 and E3 contained a set of marks 35, 50,
80, 60 and 45, grades are awarded as follows:
80 to 100 A
60 to 79 B
40 to 59 C
Below 40 Fail.
To assign a grade use,
=IF (A3>=80, “A”, IF (A3>=60, “B”, IF (A3>=40, “C”, “FAIL”)))
 AND () Returns true if all its arguments are true or false and if any argument is false. For
example, =AND (3+2=5, 2+2=4) returns true.
 OR () Returns true if any of the arguments is true or false if both the arguments are false. For
example =OR (3+2=7, 2+2=4) returns true.
 NOT () Negates the unary operand. For example, =NOT (3+2=5) returns false.

Date and time functions

- Some date and time functions include:
 TODAY () Returns a number that represents today’s date. The function takes no argument. For
example by the time of writing this pumplet, =TODAY () Returned 26/10/2010.
 NOW () Returns the current date and time formatted as the date and time. It takes no argument.
For example =NOW ().
 DATE () Function returns a serial number that represents a date. Ms Excel uses year 1900 serial
number. For example, =DATE (107, 1, 4) returns January 4, 2007.
 HOUR (), MINUTE () or SECOND () Function returns the current hour as number 0 to 23,
minute from 0 to 59 and seconds from 0 to 59 respectively.

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Editing and formatting worksheets

- Editing refers to making necessary modification and proofreading a worksheet or a workbook.
- Formatting refers to enhancing the appearance of the worksheet to make it more readable and
appealing to the reader.

Editing a worksheet
- Editing a worksheet involves deleting entries, copying, moving, finding and replace as well as spell
checking.

Editing cell entries

- There are two methods of editing a cell entry.
 Using the Formula bar- click the cell to display its contents on the formula bar. Delete or insert
the required word or text.
 Double click the cell to place the insertion pointer in it and then type or modify the entry.

Deleting worksheet range

- To delete worksheet range:
1. Select the cell or range of cells.
2. Press the Delete key. Alternatively select Clear on the Edit menu.

Copying and moving cell contents

- To copy cell content:
1. Select the range of cells.
2. On the Edit menu or standard toolbar select Copy.
3. Click the cell where the you want the content to be copied.
4. On the Edit menu click Paste.
- To move cell contents:
1. Select the range of cells.
2. On the Edit menu or standard toolbar select Cut.
3. Click the cell from where you want the content to be moved.
4. On the Edit menu click Paste
NB: Use shortcut keys Ctrl+C to copy, Ctrl+X to cut and Ctrl+V to paste.

Inserting and deleting rows/ columns

- To insert a new row or column:
1. Position the pointer where the new row or column will appear.
2. On the Insert menu, click Rows or Columns.
- To delete a column or a row:
1. Select the row or column to be deleted.
2. On the Edit menu, click Delete.

Inserting and deleting worksheets

- To insert more worksheets:
 On the insert menu; click Worksheet. A new worksheet is added to your workbook.

- To delete a worksheet:
1. Click on the Worksheet tab.
2. On the Edit menu, click Delete Sheet.

Find and replace

- Ms Excel provides capability to find and replace data in a worksheet.
- To search and replace a specified range:
1. On the Edit menu, click Find, type the text to search for,

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2. To replace, choose Replace from the dialog box.

3. In the Find What dialog box, type the word or phrase to find.
4. Click the Replace tab and in the Replace With, type the word or phrase to replace the found word.

Correcting spelling mistakes

- To spell check worksheet content:
1. Specify the worksheet range you want to spell check.
2. On the Tools menu, click Spelling or press F7.
3. On spelling dialog box Replace or Ignore the misspelled words.

Formatting worksheets
- Worksheet formatting refers to enhancing the appearance of the worksheet to make it more attractive
and appealing to the reader. Appropriate formatting should be used to lay emphasis, attract attention
and bring out the hidden details of the worksheet.
- The golden rule of formatting is to use simple clear formats. It essentially consists of changing text
colour, type face, size, style and alignment. In Ms excel, format the cells whether empty or not and
their contents will acquire the set format automatically.

Formatting labels
1. Highlight the cells that have the text to be formatted.
2. Click Format menu, then Cells command.
3. Select the font tab by clicking it.
4. Select the font type e.g. Times New Roman. Other formatting features can also be selected.
5. Click OK button to apply.

NB: Alternatively use the formatting toolbar.

Formatting numbers
1. Highlight the cells that have numbers to be formatted.
2. Click Format menu then Cells command. The dialog box in fig 2.7 will appear.
3. Select the numbers tab.
4. You can now choose the number formats as explained below.

Number Meaning
General General Format cells have no specific number format.
Number Used for general display of numbers e.g. 2345.23.
Currency For displaying monetary values e.g. $100, Ksh. 10.
Accounting Lines up the currency symbols and decimal points.
Date Displays date in chosen format.
Time Displays time in chosen format.
Percentage Multiplies the value in a cell with 100 and displays it as %.
Text Formats cells to be treated as text even when numbers are entered.
Custom For a number format no predefined in Microsoft Excel, select custom then
define the pattern.

Formatting borders
- You may need to put a printable border around your worksheet or in a range of cells to make it more
appealing. To put a border.
1. Highlight the range you wish to insert borders. From the format menu, click cells command.
2. Click borders and specify the border option for left, right, top and bottom.
3. From the styles options, select the type of line thickness and style. Also select the preset option.
4. Click the OK button. The selected range will have a border around it.

Formatting rows and columns

- Sometimes, the information entered in the spreadsheet may not fit neatly in the cells set with the
default height and width. It therefore becomes necessary to adjust the height of a row or the width of a

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column. The standard width of a column in Microsoft Excel is 8.43 characters but can be adjusted to
any value between 0 and 255. To change the column width:
1. Move the mouse pointer to the right hand side line that separates the column header for instance, the line
between A and B.
2. Notice that the mouse pointer changes from a cross to a double arrow.
3. Click the mouse button and hold it down so that you can now resize the width of the column by dragging
it to the size you wish. After dragging to the required point release the mouse button. The column will
have a new size.

- To resize a column using the Format menu:

1. On Format menu, point to Column then click Width.
2. Type a width in the column width dialog box (Fig 2.8) and then click OK button to apply.

- To change row height

1. Point to the line that separates two row numbers.
2. Drags the line until the height of the row is as required then stop and release the mouse button.

Inserting rows and columns

1. Click cell A5 to make it the current active cell.
2. Click Insert menu then click on Rows command to insert a new row above cell A5 and shift all the other
rows downwards. Alternatively click Insert then Columns to insert a column to the left of column A and
shift all the others to the right.

Global worksheet formatting

- The word global In this case refers to the entire worksheet. In order to format the whole worksheet
globally, it must be selected as a whole. Two methods can be used to select the entire worksheet.
1. Clicking at the insertion of the column and row.
2. Pressing Ctrl+A on the keyboard.
- Notice that the whole worksheet becomes highlighted. It can now be formatted as one big block using
the format cells command.

Using autoformat
- It allows the user to apply one of sixteen sets of formatting to a selected range on the worksheet. This
quickly creates tables that are easy to read and are attractive to look at.
1. Select a range .e.g. B1:G7to make it active.
2. Click Format then select the Auto format command on the menu that appears. Select a format from the
auto format dialog box as shown in fig 2.9.
3. Click OK button to apply the format on the selected range.

Worksheet data management

- As we mentioned earlier a worksheet may contain a list of data items that are related. Data
management features available in spreadsheets help a user manage large amount of related data. Some
database operations that can be performed on a worksheet list include: data entry using forms,
sorting, filtering, subtotaling and input validation

Data entry using forms

- A data forms lets the user to easily display and enter records into a worksheet database.
- To display a data form:
1. Position the cell pointer in any cell containing data
2. On Data menu, click Form. A form is displayed
3. Navigate through, add new, delete or find records
Sorting
- To carry out sorting proceed as follows:
1. Highlight the range that you wish to sort by clicking its column header letter.
2. Click Data then Sort to display the dialog box. Notice that the sort by field is already reading the
field that you selected. This field is called the criteria field.

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3. Select the field to be used as the key for sorting and the sort order as descending or ascending,
then click OK button to apply.

Filtering data
- Filtering is a quick and efficient method of finding and working with a subset of data in a list. A
filtered list will only display the arrows that meet the condition or criteria you specify. Microsoft Excel
has two commands for filtering list:
1. The autofilter :it uses a simple criteria and includes filter by selection
2. Advanced filter: It uses more complex criteria

Autofiltering a list
- Autofiltering can be applied to only one list on a worksheet at a time.
- To autofilter a list:
1. Click a cell in the list that is to be filtered; usually the list is in a column.
2. On the Data menu, point to filter, and then click AutoFilter
3. To display only the rows that contain a specific value, click the arrow in the column that contains
the data you want to display
4. Click the value that is to be displayed by the filter from the drop down list.

Subtotals and grandtotals

- Subtotals function is used to summarize a worksheet list to display grouped subtotals and a grand total.
The list is grouped using a preferred field. In Microsoft Excel to insert subtotals, you first sort the list
so that the rows you want to subtotal are grouped together.

To generate subtotals:
1. Sort the data in ascending or descending order
2. Click a cell in the list, then from data menu click Subtotals
3. In the At each change in box, select the field to use for grouping
4. In the Use function box, select a function you want to use
5. In the Add subtotal to box, check the columns that contain values you want to subtotal.
6. Click OK. Microsoft Excel automatically summarizes the list by calculating subtotal and grand
total values of the list.

Input validation
- To ensure that a user does not enter invalid data, set the validation criteria. An error message is
displayed when data that violates this rule is entered.

To set data validation

1. Highlight the range of cells to validate.
2. On the Data menu, click Validation dialog box is displayed
3. Click the Setting tab and select a validation criteria
4. To display an input message, click the Input Massage tab, type the message to be displayed and
check “Show input message when cell is selected”.
5. Set the error alert then click OK

Generating charts
- A chart also known as graph is a vertically appealing diagram or diagrams generated from numerical
data on a worksheet.
- Charts make it easy for users to see comparison, patterns, and trends in data. For example, instead of
analyzing sales details on a worksheet, you can use a line chart to see at a glance whether sales figure
are on upward or downward trend and how actual sales compare to the projected sales.
- A chart is linked to the worksheet data. It’s created from and whenever data on the worksheet is
modified, the chart is updated automatically.

Types of charts

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- Some types of charts available in Microsoft Excel include column chart, bar charts, pie charts, line
graph, scatter diagram and area graph.
1. Line chart- represents data as line with markers at each data value in the x-y plane.
2. Column chart- represent data as a cluster of columns comparing values across categories
3. Bar chart- data values arranged horizontally as clustered bars. Compares values across categories
4. Pie chart- displays the contribution of each value to a grand total.
5. Scatter chart- compares pairs of values on the same axis.

- To generate a chart:
1. Select the range of values for which you want to create a chart. In charts, a data range is
referenced as an absolute range. For example =Sheet1!$B$2: $C$8 means that the base data is
referenced from Worksheet 1 and the selected range is B2 to C8.
2. Click the Chart wizard button on the standard toolbar and the chart wizard dialog box is
displayed.
3. Click the type of chart you wish to create. If the office assistant appears, close it. The chart sub-
type preview will show several styles of the selected chart type.
4. Click the Next button
5. Click the Series tab to specify data series properties. Data series refers to related data points
plotted on a chart, each represented by unique colour or pattern.
6. Click the expand dialog button to bring the full dialog box view then click the Next button. In
step 3 of the wizard, use the appropriate tabs to type the title of the chart, show a legend, select
whether to display gridlines or not etc. After all these functions click the Next button.
7. In step 4 determine whether the chart will be inserted in the current worksheet or in a worksheet,
then click Finish button.

Editing and formatting charts

- Once the chart is created, its data series patterns or colour, size, location and orientation can be
changed. Once you select the chart, a chart menu item is added onto the menu bar.

Resizing and moving a chart

- To resize a chart, simply chart you wish to resize and use the place handles just to drag to size. To
move the chart, click inside the chart area, then drag to the desired position

Labeling data values

- Each representation of data on a chart can either be labeled by a value or text label. For example, in a
bar chart the compares the height of pupils, each bar can be given a labels to make it more readable.

- To label a chart:
1. Right click the chart then select the Chart options command from the shortcut menu.
2. Click the Labels tab and choose whether you want value or text labels, then click OK button to
apply

Inserting titles
- Each chart must have a heading showing clearly what it represents. To make the chart understandable,
include axis title.

- To include axis titles proceed as follows:

1. Right click the chart, then select the chart option commands
2. Click the Titles tab, then type the chart title (heading) and axis titles respectively
3. Click OK button to apply

Inserting a legend
- A legend is equivalent to a key used on manually drawn charts. It shows what each colour or pattern of
data series represent. For example, a chart may have green representing boys and pink representing
girls. Without a legend it would be difficult to know how to differentiate the two data series.

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- To create a legend:
1. Right click the chart, then select the Chart options command.
2. Click the Legend tab and specify that it be displayed in the chart area.
3. Click OK to display

Changing the chart location

- To change the location of a chart:
1. Select the chart
2. On Data menu, click Location
3. Specify whether to embed the chart onto a worksheet, or place it in a new worksheet, then click
OK

Changing the chart type

- To change the chart:
1. Select the chart.
2. On Data menu, click Chart Type
3. On the chart Type dialog box, select the type of chart you want to replace with, and then click OK.

Printing workbooks
- Printing in spreadsheet is almost the same as printing in word processing. However, most spreadsheets
allow the user to print an entire workbook, worksheet, chart or a selected range. Before sending the
work to a printer you need to preview it so that you make any necessary adjustments.

Print preview
- Print preview displays the worksheet, chart or selected range exactly the way it would appear when
printed.
- To display worksheet, chart or selected range:
1. Click the Print preview button on the standard toolbar
2. The worksheet will be displayed in the print preview window with the status bar reading
preview.
3. To make any page adjustment, click the setup button to setup the following:
a) Page orientation and scaling;
b) Margins;
c) Headers and footers.
d) Sheet options such as row and column headings, gridlines and page order are used to
specify how multiple sheets are to be printed.
4. To print click the print option to display print dialog box.
5. Select printer- the name box in this dialog box enables a person to select the printer that will me
used to print the document. All the printers that are installed on the computer will be available
here.
6. The print what options are:
a) Selection- this prints the selected worksheet area;
b) Workbook- prints all the worksheets in the workbook;
c) Selected chart- prints the selected chart only.
7. Specify the number of copies, then click OK to start printing the job.

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