The first step to putting a chart into a slide in Impress is to collect your data and get it in a form that can be used. Most people use a spreadsheet to organize their production, sales and profit data. You can use OpenOffice.org Calc for your spreadsheet needs. I've put together some fictitious sales data from three sales professionals at Mega Manufacturing Inc.

Open up a new spreadsheet in Calc, then highlight and copy the following table in your browser. Paste the data into your spreadsheet.

Once the data is in your spreadsheet, highlight your data again and click the Insert and Graph buttons. Follow these steps to create a graph:

1. In the AutoFormat Chart window make sure the "first row as label" and 'first column as label" boxes are checked. When you are done, click the Next button.
2. In next window you can select the chart type. Scroll down in the chart type window and find the "Lines" 3-dimensional chart. It's a 3-D chart that has ribbon like lines, that show the data. You can use one of the other charts, if you like. This one gives a high-impact visual chart that looks good in the Impress slide.
3. Select the chart type and make sure the "data in columns" box is checked. Click Next. In the "choose a variant" window, just click Next.
4. In the Display window you can edit the chart title. Type in "Mega Manufacturing - Sales for 2003" and click Create.

Magically, your 3-D chart will appear on your spreadsheet. You can resize the chart window, change the colors and so on. Left click on the chart, then right click to get a menu of items that can be changed. If you want to edit it on your slide, guess what? You can change it there, too.

Next: Place The Chart On Your Impress Slide »