MS Project Visualization Using MS Visio

When linked as shown on the projectlinks page, a Microsoft Visio image will illustrate the MS Project plan.

Chart Label Tied to Worksheet Cell

You can put a label on an Excel chart tied to data and computation on a spreadsheet. For example, you can reference assumptions, or a total that may not be displayed explicitly in the chart data such as a total on a pie chart.

On the spreadsheet, prepare a cell with the desired label content. For example, if a total is displayed in cell Sheet4!B6, in cell A20 enter =B6 &" Total" for example. Good practice would be to name the cell and refer to it by that label, e.g. rngTotal.

To put that label on a PivotChart, click the chart area to select it, then from the Ribbon Chart Tools > Format > Insert Shapes > Text Box and click in the chart area to place the box. Then, without entering text in the text box, click in the formula bar and enter =Sheet4!A20 or =Sheet4!rngTotal, and Enter. You must enter this in the formula bar, not directly into the text box. The fully qualified name as shown is required. Contents of cell A20 are then shown in the chart.

There are several variations to this, all centered around creating a text box on the chart, and entering a formula into it from the formula bar. The 3-Dimensional Pie Chart article following illustrates use of this technique.

3-Dimensional Pie Chart

First, create a data table suitable for a Pivot. Sort the table in ascending order of the values to be charted.
Row Labels Dropdown > More Sort Options...
Ascending (A to Z) by: Sum of Value

Then create a Pivot chart referencing the data table.
Insert > PivotTable > PivotChart and follow the wizard to connect it to the data table.
Right-Click the chart area > Change Chart Type...
Select Rotated Pie Chart
Optional
Right-Click a field button on the chart area
Hide All Field Buttons on Chart
Right-Click Legend > Delete (because labels will be on the pie chart)
Click the Title field and enter a title, or drag the Title field and Pie to positions desired, or right-click the Title field > Delete

Right-Click Chart Area Border > Format Chart Area...
Fill: No fill
Border Color: No line
Shadow: Preset: No Shadow

Right-Click outside the pie, and inside the chart area > Format Plot Area...
3-D Rotation
X: (value entered rotates the pie segments around the center of the pie)
Y: 40
Perspective: 10

Click the pie, and the whole object will show selection points (you can later click individual segments to format each)
Right-Click the pie > Format Data Series...
3-D Format
Top: top-left lozenge with rounded edges
Width: 800
Height: 1200
Bottom: Top-left lozenge with rounded edges
Width: 800
Height: 1200
Surface: Preset Standard #3, or pick your preference.
Shadow: Preset "Perspective Below"

Right-Click the pie > Add Data Labels...
Right-Click a Data Label > Format Data Labels...
Label Options > Label Contains:
Category Name (check)
Value (check)
(optional) Show Leader Lines; Label Position (you'll drag them into place anyway)
Number
Accounting: Symbol: None; Decimal Places: 0 (or choose number format to match your chart values)

Right-Click a Data Label > choose font size, font color etc. from the pop-up menu.
Click a Data Label and drag into place as desired.

An Excel template file can be added to Excel, and selected in "Excel Ribbon Insert>Charts>All Charts>Templates>Frisbee" to insert the illustrated 3D Pie Chart on an Excel worksheet. To install the template: right-click the preceding link, "Save Target As…" and download the file to your system. Place the un-zipped .crtx file in directory "C:\Users\Owner\AppData\Roaming\Microsoft\Templates\Charts" or equivalent path on your system to make it selectable as a Chart template.

Create a Total cell on the spreadsheet. For example:
=TEXT(GETPIVOTDATA("Value",$A$1), "#,##0") & " Total". (Click the total cell in the pivot table to automatically insert the PIVOTDATA call).
Name the Total cell (for example): Formulas > Define name > Name: LabelName

Click the Chart Area
Layout > Insert > Text Box
Click in the Chart Area to instantiate and position the Text Box
Click in the Formula Bar, and enter "=LabelName" (without the quotes) and Enter. Contents of the Total cell will show in the Text Box.
Select the Text Box and format the text.

Size the Chart Area bounding box and drag a corner to minimize open space around the Pie Chart and Labels.

Click and select the Chart Area bounding box, and Copy.

Place the pie chart into your target doc or ppt slide using Home > Clipboard > Paste Picture (pic symbol in the popup menu). This preserves the transparent background. Re-size the pie chart in the target doc as needed.