Can I set a Default Chart so I dont have tokeep reformatting new charts?

[GMI]

Version: 2008 Operating System: Mac OS X 10.6 (Snow Leopard) Hello, I make a lot of charts for my work. I work with about 300 different data sets per month and have to make three or four charts per data set.

So my question is, can I create a default chart that makes all the charts the exact same? I would like to not have to set the font or the colors every time etc....

Is this possible?

Thank you for your help.

S

 

[Carl Witthoft]

Yes. Once you've configured a chart the way you want it, you can save
it as a Custom Chart Type (and you can name it whatever you want), which
will show up in the first menu of the Chart Wizard.

After the prototype chart is set up, click on the chart, from the Chart
Menu select Chart Type, then select Custom, then find User-Defined, and
so on. This is how it's done in Office v.X; may differ slightly in
newer versions.

Carl

 

[CyberTaz]

Unfortunately, Carl's suggestion went out with the bath water when 2008's
new graphics engine took over :-( ‹ Unless you happen to have created the
chart using the Insert> Object> Microsoft Graph Chart method )the old
graphics engine). If your chart is one of the Smart objects from the Gallery
you won't have that option, but here's another suggestion...

Once you have it as you want it, select & copy the chart. Then in the
Toolbox> Scrapbook Palette click the arrow on the right edge of the Add
button below the list area & select Add form Clipboard. Once it's added
dbl-click its name and rename it something appropriate.

When you want another chart drag it from the Scrapbook list then go to
Chart> Source Data to specify the data to be plotted.

*NOTE*: I have not thoroughly tested for all conceivable formatting options
so it may fall short of your expectations or preferences, but for now it's
about all we've got. This should have been made doable by way of Document
Themes in 2008, but MacBU got caught short of full implementation. Hopefully
the next release of Office will show definite improvement.

HTH |:>)
Bob Jones
[MVP] Office:Mac

 

[GMI]

Thanks both for your help. I got the scrapbook trick to work. My major problem now is that all the charts have different dates at the bottom, meaning they have different style of dates showing (10/10/2003, or March-80, or Jan/31/2008 etc etc....) When I now click on the date then on number I get the box that asks me the category, after I untick the source linked box. In theory when I pick "date"it should allow me to set the style of date I want. BUt when I pick it all that comes up is 00-yy........

Do you guys know how to fix this?

Thanks again