Chart properties

Bar Width and Font Size

Click on Properties in the Action Bar in order to adjust bar width and font size.

Change the bar width by manipulating the slide bar. Below you have the possibility to change the font size in the same manner. To apply the same font size settings to all charts contained on the slide click Apply font size to all charts on slide.

Legend

In order to display a legend for your chart, click on Properties in the Action Bar and then on Show Legend.

Here you can choose if you want the legend to be inserted to the Right, Top, Left, Bottom, In Chart Left or In Chart Right (Figure 56). Once you have selected a position, the legend will be inserted accordingly. A click on the legend allows you to adjust the design (font size, font color, etc.) for a uniform appearance. To remove the legend, simply open Properties and in Show Legend select None.

To change the horizontal orientation of the texts of the In-Chart legend (left, center, right), you can simply click on the legend and arrange the contents accordingly.

Performance Mode

When a chart is entered into a presentation, the default is set to performance mode. This allows the user to achieve the best possible result. However, it only works correctly if all the fonts used are installed on the system.

Compatibility Mode

This mode should be used if the performance mode causes problems (e.g. due to uninstalled fonts). If you want to switch to Manual edit mode, you have to switch to compatibility mode first. You can select this via Properties in the Action Bar. When you are working in compatibility mode, a message will appear in the Action Bar in the right corner to inform you on the mode you are working with. This makes it easier to keep track of which mode the chart is currently in.

Of course, you can also switch back to the performance mode. To do this, also select the appropriate mode under Properties.

Manual edit mode

Once you are content with the design of your chart, you can still make manual changes at a later stage. To do so, activate Manual edit Mode. In doing so all empower® charts functions are deactivated and you can now implement all manual changes to your chart.

Please note:

Some formatting may be lost in the process after you have deactivated Manual edit mode.

Manual edit Mode should not be used for manipulation of the chart in normal use as almost all changes made so far will be reverted; more fundamental changes may lead to empower® charts no longer working correctly for this chart.

In order to gain an overview of the different changes that occur when leaving Manual edit Mode, it is necessary to distinguish between Gantt charts and data charts:

Gantt charts

After leaving Manual edit Mode (almost) all changes made by the user are reverted.

Data charts

After leaving Manual edit Mode all changes made by the user are reverted apart from the following exceptions:

• Changes to color of data points (e.g. a section of a bar)
• Changes to shading of data points
• Any changes to the category axis
• Changes to axis settings (the PPT axis will need to be inserted in manual mode, later the EC axis will need to be toggled on and off in charts mode)
• Changes to gridlines in the chart

Additional shapes in the chart will not be removed; this also applies to chart title, axis title, data table, etc.

Configuring axis

In Properties you can insert a primary axis (as well as a secondary axis). Once you have selected an axis, you can either scale it automatically, or enter a value manually for a minimum as well as a maximum for the axis scale.

In addition, you can adjust the text formatting of the axis labelling by clicking on the respective axis. You also have the possibility to change the scaling of the axis.

With empower® charts, axes can also be designed flexibly. To flip the axis direction, you can simply click Properties and Vertical (Value) Axis. Here you can set the option Reverse Axis Direction.

This automatically reverses the axis direction of the chart.

Conversely, the same behavior applies to bar charts and their Horizontal (Value) Axis.

empower® charts also allows the use of a date axis. If you aim to use one, select the desired chart and click on Data in the action bar and then on Edit Data. In the Excel® table that opens you will then have the ability to enter the date values into the corresponding cells for the axis of your choice. It is important that these values have the same date format as Excel® (e.g. 07/01/2018) and that this date does not function as a table header.

Once you have changed the values of the axis to a date format in the Excel®, you can close the Excel® table. Once you click on the axis labels, you will be provided with further options in Properties. You can now set the time frame to be displayed on the axis by setting the start and end dates manually or by selecting the dates using the date picker. In addition, select if you want the time steps as days, months, or years. Lastly, you can change the Date Format using the relevant dropdown menu.

Same scaling and size for all charts

In order to aid comparison of charts on the same slide, it is possible to match the scaling and size of the charts. To do so, select a chart on the slide and click Properties. Afterward click Apply to all charts on slide. You can then choose between applying the font size of the selected charts for all the charts on the slide or applying the scale and size of the selected chart for all the charts on the slide. The matching to height orients itself to the highest chart on the slide.

Charts with breaks can now be matched to other charts with the function same scaling and size.

This ensures that the scales of the axes are identical and the charts appear more uniform.

Tip: Always apply the same scale and size function to the chart, which has the smallest scale, i.e. where a certain reference value (e.g. 100) is displayed the smallest.

Change customizing

If there are multiple customizations set up in empower® charts, it is possible to change to a different design or convert individual charts. A customization contains information such as fonts, colors, or even axis settings.

To change to a different customization, click on the chart and then on the Properties button and then on Change customizing. A new window will open which will provide all available customizations. Select the desired customization and confirm your selection by clicking OK.

To change the whole customization of empower®® charts, e.g. to change the appearance of every newly created charts, click on the More button in the menu ribbon and then on User settings. A new window with a dropdown menu will open in which you can set the new customization. Confirm your change by clicking OK.