Today's Feature Article!

Reposition Data Point Labels To Make Charts Easier To Read In Excel 97-2000-2001-2002!

Although creating charts is a breeze in Excel, sometimes the chart elements aren't as neatly arranged as they could be. For example, if you're showing labels next to the data points, the labels may be difficult to read because they're placed over the actual data point or some other dark-colored chart element. Fortunately, it's easy to change the data label's placement.

You can adjust the label placement to appear in several predefined positions relative to the data points. To do so, select one of the data labels. When you do, all of the related labels are automatically selected. Next, choose Format | Selected Data Labels from the menu bar and then click on the Alignment tab. Select the desired location from the Label Position dropdown list and click OK.

If most of the labels are already in an acceptable position, you can selectively change the Label Position setting for individual labels. To do so, select the labels as previously described. Then, wait a moment and click on the single data label you want to change. Doing so selects the individual label. You can then change Label Position setting as you did before.

If the results after changing the Label Position setting are still undesirable, you can manually drag the data labels to an appropriate place. To do so, follow the previous steps to select an individual label. Then, click and drag the label's border to move it to the desired location.

Cathy Chambers