How Do I Nail Down Chart Width for Printing

[Mike]

I must make line charts, bar charts, and pie charts a uniform width (either
6.75 inches or 3.45 inches) from spreadsheet files provided by different
authors (but all using Excel 2007). I use page set up narrow margins, I make
the base font for the entire sheet Arial 8, I draw a line 6.75 inches wide
and generate the chart beneath this line. One sheet will print the chart and
the line 6.75 inches spot on; another sheet (different file, same layout
specs) will print the chart and the line 7.0 inches. Same workstation, same
output device. I have checked properties so that the chart does not move or
resize; no help. What am I missing?

Mike

 

[Vrin]

Hi Mike,

If you click on the chart, then click on the Format tab, then change the
size in inches in the Size group, you should be able to set a specific chart
width and height.

~Vrin

 

[Mike]

Hello, Vrin

Thank you for the reply. I have found through trial and error that
adjustments that nail down a specific width must be made in the page layout
view. The properties of the objects must be set to Go not move or size with
cells, after which one can adjust the size of the columns to prevent spill
onto an adjacent "page."

I was surprised and miffed that a line drawn with a specific width would not
hold that width when printed. What was even more puzzling was that in some
cases the line would be a bit shorter, in others a bit longer. That result
was unacceptable for our customer. It appears we can manage overall widths of
tables as well as charts in the page layout view, ruler on.

Mike