Try Excel Geo Graphs
Microsoft Excel Geo Graphs is an excellent program that is used by almost everyone such as students, businessmen, accountants, artists, and so forth. The Microsoft Excel program can be purchased on its own or you can also purchase it as part of a Microsoft Office package. Most people appreciate all of the different types of graphs that can be made easily with Excel. However, have you ever considered using this program to design a 3-D map?
If you have already purchased the Microsoft Excel software and it does not have this amazing tool, then it is simply a matter of downloading and installing the add-in. Once you have done this you may be quite confused on how to actually use the program. This article will explain how to download the add-in plus how to design a map using the Microsoft Excel Geo Graphs 3-D Map add-in.
As mentioned previously, there is a little-known add-in in the Excel software that will allow you to draw 3-D maps. This cool add-in will allow you to quickly and very simply present and visualize data that contains a geographic element. Being a Microsoft product, the 3-D Map utilizes Bing maps as its primary underlying product. This will allow you to create standard or 3-D map overlaid data that you can present in a variety of different ways.
If you own Excel 2013, the following steps will help you as you install the Power Map add-in and create a few interesting, yet simple maps. If you own Excel 2016 then you will find this type of information further on in the Plotting Graphs in 3-D Map section. Let’s begin our adventure by installing the Power Map add-in for Excel 2013.
You should understand that Excel Geo Graphs Power Map is preinstalled in the 2016 Excel. However, you will need to do a manual installation for Excel 2013. If you have an earlier version than this then, unfortunately, the earlier versions will not support Power Map. Also, you should be advised that Power Map is only compatible with Windows operating systems.
Having Excel 2013, you begin by downloading the plug-in from the Microsoft website. If you discover that the URL is not working correctly then you may need to search for it in Google. Search for the Power Map Preview for Excel 2013. Once you find it, continue on to the Microsoft website and download it from there.
Make certain that you download the proper version, 64 bit or 32 bit. Obviously, that will depend on which type of operating system you are using. After it is downloaded, launch it and follow the installation instructions all the way to the setup. Once the installation has finished, make sure that there is an insert tab saying Map in the Power Map section. If it is not there, you may need to activate it by going to the Add-in menu.
Go to the Add-in menu, choose file – option – add-ins. You will see a pop-up window and at the bottom of this window, select COM Add-ins and then click Go. Go back to the Microsoft Power Map and make a final click on the OK button to activate the add-in. That is it, that is all there is to it. You now should have successfully set up your Excel 2013 Power Map add-in.
Before you start plotting graphs in 3-D map it is important to know that you will need to be connected to the Internet. The reason for this is because Power Map/3-D map accesses and utilizes Bing maps so as to create a base map. The centroid of any country will be automatically used to plot the map.
For example, let’s say that you want to investigate population data from Wikipedia about the 50 most populous countries. You can access it from a specific link which will contain all of the data, not just population, of the top 50 countries. Once you are at this link you simply select the table that contains the data and then click on Insert – 3-D Map – Open 3-D Maps (Excel 2016) or Insert – Map – Launch Power Map (Excel 2013).
This will now launch the Power Map Window and you will see that your first option is to choose the location/geography. Your next step will be to select the data that you need to visualize. You can also make a selection of different types of visualization to use. There are 5 different options to select from including Bubble, Heat Map, Region, Stacked Columns, and Clustered Columns.
Your next step will be to decide whether you want a 3-D map or a flat map. It is also interesting to note that there are a variety of pre-defined map themes that you can choose from. With either the flat map or the 3-D map you will be able to add text descriptions by means of a text box. There will also be options so that you can change the visualization formatting as well.
In the Layer Options or the Settings Menu, which is located on the right side, you will be able to change the size, opacity, or thickness of your data points. You also will be able to choose different colors. If your data has any time variables, you will be able to create a video-base on various changes over time. You can find the options for this feature under the Tour Group which is located at the top left of the screen.
Now that you have discovered many of the options of this amazing program your final step will be to save your work. With Power Map – 3-D map, the map will retain all of its interactive functions. If you need to use the map in another software application, then you must create a copy of your map image. If you want to save the picture you can use the button “Capture the Screen” that is located in the Tour Group. Simply do a save and then a Ctrl + V to paste your image wherever you want.
Finally, for further information on how you can make a tile grid map by using Excel Geo Graphs Mapping, search out an article about how to make a map using an open data spreadsheet.
