Creating Sparklines

Customizing Sparklines

Removing Sparklines

THE charting features introduced in Chapter 19, create graphic objects that can be moved and sized independently from the worksheet. They reside in a “graphics layer” that lies atop the worksheet grid. In contrast to these familiar chart objects, sparklines, a feature that’s new in Microsoft Excel 2010, are graphic representations of data that live within worksheet cells. Described by their inventor, Edward Tufte, as “intense, simple, word-sized graphics,” sparklines are ideal for situations in which simplicity and spatial economy matter more than graphic elaboration.

Figure 20-1 provides an example. Each sparkline in cells C3:C11 is a graphic summary of the monthly data in D3:J11. A glance at the sparklines tells us that Parul Manek’s numbers rose steadily through the first five months; that Tad Orman’s began flat, then picked up for a while; that Ty Loren Carlson’s began high, then dropped; and that the others’ varied randomly. Gleaning this much information from direct inspection of the numbers would be laborious.

Figure 20-1. Sparklines, such as those in column C of this example, let you implant miniature line or column charts within worksheet cells.