Excel Annoyances

3D CHART ANNOYANCES

CAN’T CHANGE 3D COLORS IN EXCEL 97

The Annoyance:

My company is near the end of its fiscal year, which means for the next few months I’m stuck using Excel 97 to create 3D charts. I’m trying my best, but the darn program keeps getting in the way. For example, there’s a cool bit of clip art called AMVICTOR on the Office 97 CD. (Choose Insert → Picture → From File and navigate to the CLIPART\Popular folder on the CD to find it.) I added the image to the floor of my 3D chart, and then tried to change the floor’s fill color by clicking the floor, clicking the Fill Color button on the Formatting toolbar, and clicking a new color (actually a lighter shade of gray). Nothing happened. Why must Excel always make my life difficult?

The Fix:

Sometimes it does seem like Excel is doing its best to frustrate you, but take heart: it does this to everyone. If you’re using Excel 97 or 2000, adding a bit of clip art or pasting a drawing object into the floor or wall of a 3D chart prevents you from changing the color of the wall or floor using the Fill Color toolbar button. Go figure! But you can change the wall or floor fill colors by right-clicking the wall or floor, choosing Format Wall (or Floor), and clicking the square with the desired fill color. Bear in mind that changing the element’s fill color removes the clip art or drawing object you pasted into the element, so you’ll need to reinsert it into the floor or wall.

FLOOR TURNS BLACK IN 3D CHART

The Annoyance: ...