If the default clustered column chart is not
the kind of the chart you're likely
to need most often, you can change the default
chart to another type.
Furthermore, if you have a certain chart type
that has design features on it
like a blue background, white foreground,
or whatever, you can save different
chart types as templates and then the next
time you create a chart you can use
one of those templates instead of one of those
standard built-in chart types.
Let's suppose you've decided that this clustered
column chart, although
valuable, is not the one you're using most
often.
When you create charts quickly using perhaps
keystroke shortcuts or even
the menu, you want the chart type that comes
up to be a cluster bar chart or
a stacked bar chart.
So the chart below the data on this worksheet
here is a stacked bar chart
and if you've decided that's the one you'd
like to see most often, make it be your default
type.
Having selected it we can go to the Design
tab in the Ribbon, Change Chart Type,
and while we're here simply say Set as Default
Chart and click OK.
All right, the next time we create a chart
and from now on, regardless of how
many cells are selected, maybe we only want
to show three months.
That's okay.
How about six months here?
I'm going to press Alt+F1 to create a chart
quickly and it's not going to be
the clustered column chart anymore.
It's now a stacked bar chart, because we changed
that to be the default.
What if further more another one of your favorite
chart types is this kind of a
chart with certain kinds of colors added.
So without going to all the details of this
I'm going to the Format tab,
give this a gold background, and maybe change
the inside of it to be a different color.
Maybe that's something I really like and from
now on when I create charts I
might want to have this option out there as
something that I would use.
It doesn't mean that we're going to make this
be the automatic choice, but I
want it as part of my repertoire of frequently
used charts.
In other words, we're going to create a template
here.
So with this chart chosen, click the Design
tab, the second button from the left
in the Ribbon, Save As Template, and we'll
just call this
GoldBackgroundStackedBar, and you don't have
to make it this long necessary, and Save.
At a later time when I'm highlighting some
data to create a chart, maybe I do
want a chart like that.
So on the Insert tab, Other Charts > All Chart
Types.
How about Templates?
Now I only have one and as I point to it what
does it say?
GoldBackgroundStackedBar.
There we go, and OK.
So here is that new chart.
It has the colors, the color selections, and
I presume I've done a lot more too
with that, but nevertheless, I've got a certain
look that I want and I need that
as part of our repertoire of chart types.
Every time I create a chart these templates
are available.
So different approaches here to the template
idea.
You can easily change the default chart from
a clustered column to any of the
other chart types as you want, and furthermore,
you can have your own
collection of templates for frequent use and
you can get to them at any time
when you create charts.
