Neale Blackwood shows how to connect notes with charts
Q: I use text boxes to put notes onto charts. But if I move the chart the text boxes don't move with it. Is there an easy way to achieve this?
A: There are a couple of solutions to this problem. The first uses the Ctrl key to select multiple objects. Click the first text box. Then hold the Ctrl key and click the next text box. Keep holding the Ctrl key down and select the chart, making sure it's the whole chart and not a component of the chart. All objects are now selected. Release the Ctrl key. If you move the chart the text boxes will now move with it. This works for any graphic objects that you want to move together. Click outside the chart area to deselect the objects. If you had held the Ctrl key down as you moved the chart, it would have copied the chart and text boxes.
The other solution allows you to link the contents of the text box to a cell. Click the whole chart then enter = in the formula bar (the space above the column letters and below the toolbar), then click a single cell on the sheet and press Enter. It works best if there is already an entry in the cell. You can move the text box anywhere on the chart and it will always stay in that position when the chart moves. This can be useful to put dynamic notes on charts that change based on text formula in the linked cell. Also, you can link total cells from the chart data for stacked column or bar charts.
Standard text boxes can also be linked to cell contents in the same way. Click the text box and type = in the formula bar and select a cell to establish the link
Neale Blackwood CPA is a senior business analyst with Access Analytic Solutions, which provides Excel consulting services.
Email: nblackwood@accessanalytic.com.au
Reference: February 2008, volume 78:01, p. 20
