Word

Quick Reference

Unless you have good reasons to choose some other settings, the best way to copy a chart into Excel is to:

• choose Edit > Paste Special and choose to paste as Picture (Enhanced Metafile)
• double-click the chart and on the Layout tab, choose In line with text.

How to copy a chart from Excel into a Word document

This page explains the ins and outs of copying an Excel chart into Word.

There are four things to think about:

• How do you want text to flow around your chart?
• Do you want to link your chart to the source workbook?
• What format is best for your chart?
• How do you control the size of text in the chart?

1. How do you want the text to flow around the chart? Should your chart be in-line or floating?

All objects in Word (and a chart is an object) are either in-line or floating. To control the placement of your chart, and how text flows around the chart, decide whether you want it to be in-line or floating. You can read about the difference at the following articles on the Word MVPs site: The draw layer: a metaphysical space and Working with Anchors.

• To put your chart inline, double-click the chart (or click once and do Format > Object or Format > Picture). On the Layout tab, click "In line with text" (see Figure 1).
• To float your chart, so you can drag it around, and so text will flow around it, double-click the chart (or click once and do Format > Object or Format > Picture). On the Layout tab, choose anything except "In line with text" (see Figure 1).

Figure 1: Use the Format > Object or Format > Picture. On the Layout tab, choose whether you want your chart in line or floating.

If you have a caption on your chart, and you want to make sure that the chart and the caption stay together, see How to keep a figure on the same page as its caption in Microsoft Word.

2. Do you want to link your chart to the source file?

You can paste a chart into Word and link it to its source file. If you do that, whenever you make a change in the source Excel file, Word can update the chart in your document to reflect the changes in the source Excel file.

To link your chart to its source, in Word, do Edit > Paste Special. Click the Paste Link option button (Figure 2).

Figure 2: To link the chart in your Word document to its source Excel file, choose the Paste link option.

If you link your chart, when you double-click the chart in Word, Excel opens the original file, where you can edit it. When you return to Word, your Word document will reflect your changes.

3. What format is best for pasting a chart?

There are two main formats in which you can paste your chart: as a picture, or as an Excel chart object. But you only get to make this choice if you have not linked your Word document to the source Excel file.

Paste as a picture

You can paste the chart as a picture. If you do this, the file size is small and you can treat it like a picture: re-size, rotate,  convert to a drawing object so you can edit the text, and re-colour elements of the chart.

For most tasks, pasting as a picture is my preferred method.

To paste your Excel chart as a picture, follow one of these methods:

• In Excel, click the chart. In Word, choose Edit > Paste Special and choose to paste as a Picture (Enhanced Metafile).
• In Excel, click the chart once and be sure it shows 8 small black square markers on the edge. Do Edit > Copy, or just ctrl-c. In Word, do Edit > Paste, or just ctrl-v.

Paste as an Excel chart

Alternatively, you can paste the chart as an Excel chart. This imports the entire workbook into your Word document, so you can end up with a very large file.

To paste your Excel chart as an Excel chart object, follow one of these methods:

• In Excel, click the chart. In Word, choose Edit > Paste Special and choose to paste as an Microsoft Office Excel Chart Object.
• In Excel, hold down the Ctrl key and click the chart. Make sure it shows 8 hollow round markers on the edge. Do Edit > Copy, or just ctrl-c. In Word, do Edit > Paste, or just ctrl-v.

If your chart is in Word as an Excel chart, you can double-click the chart to edit the chart or anything else in the Excel file, including the source data for the chart. When you're finished, click outside the chart, in the main body of the Word document.

4. How to control the size of text in a chart

When you paste a chart into a Word document, you can re-size it to suit your needs. But if you do so, the size of text in the chart (the chart title, axis titles and tick marks, or the legend) can end up either too small or too large.

To solve this problem, make the chart in Excel about the same size as you want it to appear in Word. And adjust the size of text within the chart in Excel.

If you want a chart the full width of the page, set the paper size and margins in Excel to be the same as your Word document. Then, drag the edges of the Excel chart to size it.

To set a precise size for a chart in Excel, hold down the Ctrl key and double-click the chart. Or, hold down the Ctrl key and choose Format > Object. You'll now see the Format Object dialog box (Figure 3).

Figure 3: You can use this Format Object dialog box to set the size of your Excel chart precisely. When you paste it into Word, it will retain roughly the same size.