Drawing a line in Excel (Table of Contents)
Drawing a line in Excel
Here, we are going to help you how to draw a line in excel. But before we understand how to draw a line we should know why we want to draw it. The purpose or need to draw should lead the way, as Excel has a lot of variety in lines that can help us in different situations. As excel user we don’t see a line to be just the path between two points. For us, it could be a connection between two shapes or cells.it can also be used to describe the direction of a process in a flow chart and it can be used in numerous ways while we create excel dashboards.
How to use Drawing a line in Excel
The first thing to know before drawing is where to find the line. Below are the generic steps that will lead your way:
Step 1: Click on “INSERT” Tab as highlighted in below image:
Step 2: Under the “Insert” tab, you will find “Shapes” which is a part of “Illustrations” group
Step 3: In “Shapes”, you will find a wide variety of lines from line to scribble that we will be used according to our requirement:
Purpose of Drawing a line in Excel
Below are a few scenarios that you may come across.
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Example #1: Draw a simple line
Step 1: Select “Line” from “Lines” menu.
Step 2: Click anywhere in the document or the point from where you want to start, hold and drag your mouse pointer to a different location or the point where you want to end and then release.
Step 3: In case you release the mouse cursor in between, you need not worry at all. Select the line, and you will see two dots at each end of the line as shown in below image:
Step 4: Select the dot from any end to resize the line or to change its direction and you will get the output as shown below:
Example #2: Draw multiple lines without selecting “line shape” again
After the first line, if you need to create another line of the same type, you have to select the line again from the “Shapes” menu. What if we need to draw multiple lines without selecting them back from the “Shapes” menu. To overcome this situation, Excel has an inbuilt functionality i.e. “Lock Drawing Mode”. Below are the steps that you need to follow to draw multiple lines repeatedly.
Step 1: While selecting the type of line, right click on the required type and select “Lock Drawing Mode” as shown below:
Step 2: Click anywhere in the document or the point from where you want to start, hold and drag your mouse pointer to a different location or the point where you want to end and then release the mouse cursor.
Step 3: Repeat “Step 2” for every line you need to draw. After you have drawn the number of required lines, Press “Esc” button.
Example #3: Draw an arrow in a flow diagram
Now imagine you need to create a flow diagram to explain the process or steps that you follow for a certain project. In this situation, a simple line might not be useful as you need to specify the direction of the flow. We typically use “Line arrow” for such situations.
Below are the steps you need to take to draw it:
Step 1: Select “Line Arrow” from “Lines” menu.
Step 2: Click anywhere in the document or the point from where you want to start, hold and drag your mouse pointer to a different location or the point where you want to end and then release the mouse cursor.
Example #4: Format the line to make it more presentable
Sometimes we need to present our work to others in both profession and personal world. One thing we should keep in mind is that we might have to make it look visually appealing according to the situation and all you need to do is follow the below set of steps:
Step 1: Select the line which you want to format.
Note: You can also select multiple lines to format them in the same manner in one go and avoid repeating the steps.
Step 2: Select the “Format” tab under the “Drawing Tools” as highlighted below:
Under the “Format tab”, you will have access to a lot of different options. You can change the color of the line or its width/thickness. You can even add some visual effects to it to make it more visually appealing.
To format Color:
Step 3: Now, select “Shape Outline” from the “Format tab” and choose the desired color for your line.
To format Size:
Step 3: Now, select “Shape Outline” from the “Format tab” and choose “Weight” and then the required width.
Similarly, under the “Shapes Outline”, you will find “Dashes” and “Arrows” which can be used to make the line dotted or to change the direction or type of arrows.
You can also use some pre-defined styles for a quick turnaround. They are available under the header “Shape Styles” as shown below:
To format Shape effects:
Step 3: To add shape effects, select “Shape Effects” from the “Format tab” and you will see a wide variety of effects that can be used.
Let us take an example of adding shadow to the line and see it looks like:
Step 4: Select “Shadow” from the “Shape Effects” menu as shown below:
Step 5: Select the required effect from “Shadow” menu and you will see an output similar to one shown below:
Things to Remember about Drawing a line in Excel
This was an overview of drawing a line in excel and some of its applications. To draw other shapes and format them, all you need to do is select the required shape from the “Shapes” menu and follow the steps that we used above for drawing a line in excel. You make things look simple the method of drawing a line in excel will be more helpful.
Some popular types of lines.
- Line
- Line Arrow
- Line Arrow: Double
- Connector: Elbow Arrow
- Connector: Elbow Double-Arrow
Some other applications.
- Used in charts to mark threshold values or as stat markers
- Used as dividers to segregate the spreadsheet into two or multiple regions.
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