Smoothing Out Data Series

When you are creating line charts in Excel, the lines drawn between data points tend to be very straight. (This makes sense; the lines are meant to connect the points.) You can give your graphs a more professional look by simply smoothing out the curves Excel uses at each data point. Follow these steps:

1. In your chart, right-click on the data series that you want to smooth. Excel displays a Context menu.
2. Choose Format Data Series from the Context menu. Excel displays the Format Data Series dialog box.
3. Make sure the Patterns tab is displayed. (Click here to see a related figure.) (In Excel 2007, make sure that Line Style is selected.)
4. Select the Smoothed Line check box.
5. Click on OK.