Selecting a Chart Pattern

Written by Allen Wyatt (last updated November 21, 2019)
This tip applies to Word 97, 2000, 2002, and 2003

While Microsoft Graph allows you to develop full-color charts, you may want to orient them more toward black-and-white if they will appear in a black-and-white document. Similarly, you may wish to play with patterns and colors to get the most from printing on your color printer. Toward this end, the program allows you to specify patterns to use for different portions of your chart. These patterns are primarily used to differentiate data series (rows in your spreadsheet) from each other. To change the pattern assigned to a data series, follow these steps:

Make sure your chart is visible on the screen and you have selected it. (You do this by clicking on the chart.)
Select a data series by clicking on the graphic representation of that series. For instance, if your data is displayed as a column chart, click on the column that represents the series whose pattern you want to change.
Choose Selected Data Series from the Format menu. Microsoft Graph displays the Format dialog box for the selected item. The Patterns tab should be selected. (See Figure 1.)

Figure 1. The Patterns tab of the Format Data Series dialog box.

Using the controls in the dialog box, modify the pattern as desired.
Click on OK.

WordTips is your source for cost-effective Microsoft Word training. (Microsoft Word is the most popular word processing software in the world.) This tip (687) applies to Microsoft Word 97, 2000, 2002, and 2003.

Author Bio

Allen Wyatt

With more than 50 non-fiction books and numerous magazine articles to his credit, Allen Wyatt is an internationally recognized author. He is president of Sharon Parq Associates, a computer and publishing services company. Learn more about Allen...

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What is 1 + 3?

2019-10-10 06:08:39

sampada Koli

want to apply pattern to charts in microsoft word 2007. Is any add ins available?

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