Many users are content to stick with the predefined chart layouts and chart styles. For more precise customizations, Excel allows you to work with individual chart elements and apply additional formatting.

You can use the Ribbon commands for some modifications, but the easiest way to format chart elements is to right-click the element and choose Format from the shortcut menu. The exact command depends on the element you select.

For example, if you right-click the chart’s title, the shortcut menu command is Format Chart Title. The Format command displays a stay-on-top tabbed dialog box with options for the selected element. Figure 18-10 shows the Format Axis dialog box, which I displayed by right-clicking the vertical axis and selecting Format Axis from the shortcut menu.

If you’ve applied formatting to a chart element and decide that it wasn’t such a good idea, you can revert to the original formatting for the particular chart style. Right-click the chart element and choose Reset To Match Style from the shortcut menu. To reset the entire chart, select the chart area when you issue the command.

In previous versions of Excel, double-clicking a chart element displayed its Format dialog box. NEEW FFEEATUREE That mouse action no longer works in Excel 2007.

FIGURE 18-10
Each chart element has a formatting dialog box. This one is used to format a chart axis.

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