Ways to Select Chart Elements

You can select chart elements by:

• Using the menus and tool bar (for the chart and axes).
• Clicking an element. You can also select frames by clicking inside them.
• Right-clicking an element and choosing an option from the Select submenu.
• Pressing the Tab key to cycle through the frames.
• Selecting multiple points simultaneously using lasso selection.

Using the Tab Key and Menus

When you use the Tab key, the Chart Editor selects frames (except for the inner frame) based on a default selection order. You can change the selection order of some elements by bringing them to the front or sending them to the back. See the topic Changing the Display Order for more information.

Not all chart elements can be selected with the Tab key or the menus and tool bar. Only the mouse lets you select every type of chart element. For example, you cannot use the Tab key to select data points in a scatterplot.

Using the Pop-up Menu

Right-click the relevant area of the chart and choose an option from the Select submenu.

Selecting More Than One Element

You must use the mouse if you want to select more than one element. With one or more elements already selected, press Ctrl and then click to extend the selection to include the clicked element. With an extended selection, you can make only those changes that apply to everything in your selection. When you first start working with the Chart Editor, keep your selections simple, so that it is easy to make the change that you want. As you get more experience editing charts, you can extend your selections.

Selecting Multiple Points Simultaneously (Lasso Selection)

For scatterplots and other charts with markers/points, you can use the lasso selection option. Choose Lasso Select Markers from the Edit menu. This action changes your cursor to a lasso. To select points, click and hold the mouse button while drawing the "lasso" around a group of points. Release the mouse button when finished. The Chart Editor then selects all the points encompassed by the lasso.

Canceling a Selection

You can cancel all selections by pressing Esc.

Selecting Grouped Elements

Not all items can be selected individually. For example, tick labels are grouped together and can be selected only as a group.

Selecting Graphic Elements

The Chart Editor allows you to select all graphic elements, all graphic elements in a specific category, or an individual graphic element. You click to drill down to the different levels. In addition, you can click a legend swatch to select a category.

Selecting Laterally

When an item (a graphic element or a group of graphic elements) is selected, you can click another similar item to select it instead. This is called lateral selection. For example, if a single graphic element is selected, you can click another graphic element to select only the clicked element. If a group of graphic elements is selected, you can click another group to select that group (for example, if the female group is selected, you can click the male group to select it instead).

Summary of Different Selection Methods