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Presentation is more than cosmetic. Professional presentation engenders a sense of professionalism, quality and pride. Here are some tips to improve the way your Gantt chart looks.
MODIFYING COLORS AND PATTERNS
You can do this in two ways:
By Family of Bars
(i.e. criticals, non-criticals, summaries etc).
Choose "Format - Bar Styles". Each row in the upper part of the screen represents a bar type.
Select one Tasks and modify the shape, colour and pattern in the centre part of the lower screen
You might choose to make your critical tasks full-blooded red and your non-critical tasks blue with a striped pattern. This prints well in black and white or colour.
By Selection
(i.e. first selecting individual tasks).
- Select a task
- Choose "Format - Bar" and repeat
THE WIZARD
The first step you can take is to remove Microsoft Project's default screen by running the Gantt chart wizard.
- Choose "Format - Gantt-chart-wizard"
- Answer 'Critical Path', 'None' and 'Yes' to all three questions when you are asked
DRAWING ON THE GANTT BAR
You can also place notes, geometric shapes and graphic symbols (such as logos) on the Gantt chart.To place the drawing toolbar on your screen:
- Choose "View - Toolbar - Drawing"
Experiment with different symbols. To place a logo or other graphic symbol on the Gantt chart, copy it into the clipboard from an external program and simply paste it onto the chart.
Note: When you adjust the scale of your Gantt chart, these graphic objects will not scale with them
TEXT ON YOUR GANTT BARS
You may want certain names or numbers to appear on or near your Gantt bars. This is done as follows. Choose one of the methods above then:
- Click the 'Text' tab from the lower part of the screen
- Select a variable and its intended position relative to the Gantt bar.
Note: That if you choose positions 'above' or 'below', additional lines are consumed and you will be using up vertical space.
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