Copying data and charts in Excel

We've been spending a lot of time creating and formatting tables and building charts of different types and now we're ready to start using some of that information in PowerPoint. I've placed the final versions of two of our workbooks in a folder. In our Exercises folder in Data, Final Charts and Tables. Now, if you don't have access to these files, you probably have been saving your work as you go along. So what you'll find is the MiniSolar tables and the sales summary that we started out with.

So, here's our sales summary, here's our MiniSolar tables where we created pivot tables. So let's take a look at how we can select items. First, if we simply want to grab our logo, and we don't already have it in PowerPoint, we have a good copy of it here. And, if we want to select cells or ranges of cells we can do that as well. Simply by selecting. If we want an entire table, there's a shortcut to do this. Select the first cell and hold Ctrl+shift and right arrow and down.

And it will select the entire table until it runs into an empty row or the edge of a worksheet. And I can then right-click and say, I would like to copy this. And it's now placed on the clipboard. So this data is available to me to paste into Microsoft PowerPoint or Word or any place else I'd like to be able to paste this. Now I'm going to click on Summaries. And I also want to use this table. So I'm going to select it. Right-click, copy it.

And in doing so, what I've done now is, I've replaced this selection, which I copied to the clipboard. With my pivot table, because the clipboard, by default, holds one item at a time in the newer versions of Microsoft Excel. But we're not restricted by that. I actually have access to a better clipboard. So if I want to take many charts and many tables out of Excel, or even a small number, three or four.

And I want to take them to PowerPoint or perhaps to Word. There's an easier way to be able to copy. What I can do, is I can click the downward pointing arrow in the right hand corner of the clipboard group on the home tab of the ribbon. When I do, I'm opening the office clipboard, and it's capable of holding up to 24 individual items. So now let's go back to my mini solar orders. It's still selected. Right-click, copy. There it is on the clipboard.

Now let's go to Summaries and let's grab this data. Right-click, copy. And here it is. The oldest thing I copied will be at the bottom of the list. The newest at the top. Now, I'd like the chart that goes with this. Select, right click, copy. There's its chart. I'd like this pivot table now. Copy. And, its corresponding chart.

That's how easy it is to load multiple items to the clipboard. Now I've been copying everything in its native format. So I'm copying tables as tables, and I'm copying my charts as charts. And that's how they'll look when I paste them. But I have the ability right now to say what I want is a picture of something. I don't really want to take this in as a chart or I don't want to take this in as a table. I prefer to have a picture of a table. So, I can select then.

And rather than Clicking copy or choosing Copy I'm going to choose Copy As Picture, as shown on the screen. I can save this as a bit map if I prefer but that picture format's just fine. And now I have a picture. And you'll notice that that picture looks markedly different than the order date customer information down here. It actually looks just like a picture. Let's swing over to our other Excel workbook, and copy a few things from there as well.

In this workbook we have an entire page of charts. Now, I'll want once again, to pop that Office clipboard open so that I can see it. If I can't see the clipboard, then I'm not using it. And I would like to take many of these charts. So, I'm simply going to choose them and I'm going to use the shortcut key, Ctrl+C to quickly copy each and every one of these separately to the Office Clipboard.

Now I'm going to go grab my inverter sales. I want to spend just a moment formatting this as a table so it looks a little bit better. I'm going to use one of the primary colors here, my table has headers, that looks great. I'm going to say I don't want the filter buttons. That looks lovely, now let's copy that as well. If I copy it as a picture, it won't look like data it will look a picture. So I have a ton of items sitting up here on my clipboard and I'm ready now to go and paste them.

Into Microsoft PowerPoint, and choose my Paste options there. If you're following along with these movies and you've just copied all of these same items to the clipboard, or some items from one of your workbooks, please don't close Microsoft Excel and Microsoft PowerPoint. If you close all of the Office applications, it will clear the clipboard. So this is a good time to go on to at least one more movie. So you can see how we begin pasting items from the clipboard into Microsoft PowerPoint slides.