Fixing PowerPoint Annoyances

Chapter 6. Charts and Graphs

If you use PowerPoint for any length of time, sooner or later you’ll come face to face with Microsoft Graph, PowerPoint’s charting engine. Microsoft Graph is a scaled-down subset of Excel that charts based on data in a datasheet. Graph does not do calculations, nor can it handle formulas. It just charts the data as is. If you need something more robust, you can always create your charts in Excel and import those charts into your presentation.

This chapter tackles some of the more annoying issues you may run into when working with charts in PowerPoint, whether they’re created in Microsoft Graph or Excel. We’ll deal with some of the bizarre text and formatting issues Microsoft’s graphing programs bring your way. You’ll also learn how to resize your charts without distorting the fonts, create user-defined charts, and solve other tricky issues.

TEXT ISSUES

Y-Axis Titles Truncated

THE ANNOYANCE: The last letter of my Y-axis title text is cut off. I tried making the font smaller, but it didn’t help. How can I make PowerPoint show the whole title?

THE FIX: Unfortunately, you can’t resize the Y-axis title box on the chart. You can, however, replace the Y-axis title with a regular text box.

You can also try adding two spaces followed by a period to the Y-axis title box to extend it. Format the period as the background color so it won’t print.

This is a sporadic issue possibly related to video drivers and display settings. The truncated Y-axis title on the chart will ...