Creating charts with objects in excel

Although I don't have a specific answer to your primary question I don't
know of any limit to the number of objects that can be grouped.

However, I am curious as to why you don't use the Callouts available from
the Drawing Toolbar. It would save you a lot of time & effort, [IMHO] look
more professional, & may obviate the problem you're encountering.

HTH |:>)
Bob Jones
[MVP] Office:Mac



On 8/3/08 9:48 PM, in article 59b55f70.-1.TakeThisOut@webcrossing.caR9absDaxw,
"tm@officeformac.com" <tm.TakeThisOut@officeformac.com> wrote:

> Version: 2008
> Operating System: Mac OS X 10.4 (Tiger)
> Processor: Intel
>
> I am trying to put statistical information in bar charts created in Excel. I
> put asterisks in text boxes and draw lines below them to show which groups are
> being compared. The program does not seem to want to let me group them all,
> maybe there is a limit to how much you can group? So, to keep them from
> moving, I tried to save as a picture in a jpeg or png format but not all the
> lines and asterisks are showing up. I am finding this program extremely
> frustrating to use and hope I don't lose my mind before I finish my thesis. If
> anyone knows how to save the charts so that all the info shows up I would
> appreciate knowing.
>
> Thanks

Yeah, the Help still leaves a lot to be desired, but they are improving it
steadily In the meanwhile you can access the AutoShapes either from the
Drawing toolbar or from the Toolbox - Object Palette (I kinda prefer the
latter) but you can also use the top edge of the Callouts in the Drawing
toolbar to "tear off" the callouts to keep them handy. If you use the Object
Palette select Callouts from the dropdown.

Either way, simply click the one you want to use, then position your pointer
where you want to start the callout line. Then drag away from that spot to
where you want to type the content. Alternatively you can simply click
rather than dragging, then adjust size & position from there.

You'll find a little more if you look up "shapes" in the Help - there are
additional links on the same page.

Also, once you format the first one you can Control/Right-Click it & select
Set As Default Shape. Each one you create from then on (in that file) will
be formatted the same way but can also be edited if you wish.

HTH |:>)
Bob Jones
[MVP] Office:Mac





On 8/4/08 3:12 PM, in article 59b55f70.1.TakeThisOut@webcrossing.caR9absDaxw,
"tm@officeformac.com" <tm.TakeThisOut@officeformac.com> wrote:

> Thanks for your reply, the answer is that unfortunately I don't know how to
> use the callouts. I've searched the help function and online to find the best
> way to do this but didn't find any useful information. I find the problem with
> office is that you don't know about the functions unless someone else tells
> you or you can find it online. I rarely find an answer in the help provided
> with the product, the search usually doesn't bring up close answers to my
> query or is very general and gives info I already know. If you can direct me
> to a webpage with info on how to use this function I would appreciate it.
>> Although I don't have a specific answer to your primary question I don't
>> know of any limit to the number of objects that can be grouped.
>>
>> However, I am curious as to why you don't use the Callouts available from
>> the Drawing Toolbar. It would save you a lot of time & effort, [IMHO] look
>> more professional, & may obviate the problem you're encountering.
>>
>> HTH |:>)
>> Bob Jones
>> [MVP] Office:Mac
>>
>>
>>
>> On 8/3/08 9:48 PM, in article 59b55f70.-1.TakeThisOut@webcrossing.caR9absDaxw,
>> "tm@officeformac.com" wrote:
>>
>>> Version: 2008
>>> Operating System: Mac OS X 10.4 (Tiger)
>>> Processor: Intel
>>>
>>> I am trying to put statistical information in bar charts created in Excel. I
>>> put asterisks in text boxes and draw lines below them to show which groups
>>> are
>>> being compared. The program does not seem to want to let me group them all,
>>> maybe there is a limit to how much you can group? So, to keep them from
>>> moving, I tried to save as a picture in a jpeg or png format but not all the
>>> lines and asterisks are showing up. I am finding this program extremely
>>> frustrating to use and hope I don't lose my mind before I finish my thesis.
>>> If
>>> anyone knows how to save the charts so that all the info shows up I would
>>> appreciate knowing.
>>>
>>> Thanks
>>
>>