If you want to create infographics using Excel then learn here how to create infographics using excel.
It is a known fact that infographics have the potential to be a game changer. And that is why it is important that it be designed to reach the targeted audience. There are many tools that can help you in creating a good infographic but there is one tool that is not often considered worthy of creating an infographic. When you think of Excel all you can think of is lots and lots of figures on a spreadsheet but it can do more than that.
Usually infographics are created by experts who have lot of experience doing this sort of thing. But if you have a working knowledge of MS Excel and some creativity you can beat the experts at their game. So, how to create infographics using Excel? MS Excel has a lot of things that can be used for such a purpose like
- Charts which come in many types
- Shapes which can be categorized as rectangles, lines, arrows and so on
- Different layouts
- Ability to link the data to graphic
- Formatting of cells
You can format the shapes in many ways. You can have it in 3D or 2D. You can make it big or small. They can be filled with colors or can be even filled with pictures. They can also be rotated. The charts or graphs can be used to signify a process, list, cycle, matrix, hierarchy or pyramid of data. This is all possible due to the availability of SmartArt graphic.
Here are two examples of the things that you can do with MS Excel as a tool that creates infographic.
- Creating an infographic which can be updated with the change of a slicer. It is not as difficult as it sounds. There are only 3 steps involved in creating such an infographic. The first one is to create a wide bar chart. Next step is to overlay an image on this bar chart. This might require a little more effort if you are using more than one image. The last step is to insert the slicer so that your chart can be filtered.
- Customizing an infographic shape. Once you customize a shape you can use it in different infographics of your own.
Once you know how to create infographic using Excel you should also keeps the following things in mind while creating one.
- Keep the infographic simple. An infographic is not a platform for you to show all that you know about MS Excel. The goal here is different and that is to address a particular problem or answer a question. So don’t overload the graphic with charts and graphs.
- Be creative. Excel offers a lot of tools and ways to use these tools. It is up to you to make use of them creatively. Even a simple shape can be transformed by your creativity to something else.
- Focus on the information. Remember you are using the graphic to impart the information that you have in a more effective manner. So, use the information effectively along with the charts, shapes and other things. Make sure that information is coming across the way you want it to.
- Be organized. The information that you are passing should be passed along in such a manner that it is not confusing. There should be a logical flow to the visual pointers in your infographic.
- References should be given where possible. Also give out the source of your information so that your infographic is reliable and transparent. Also make sure that the information that you give out is accurate
- The style and content of your infographic should match the topic that you are trying to present in your infographic
