WinPlanet has a piece up in which they explore seven different techniques for getting better small business charts out of Excel 2007.

Such as adding a picture background to your chart:

Charts destined for reports and printed display look attractive when combined with a photo background. To do this, click on the chart and from the Chart Tools > Layout tab, select Format Selection. When the Format Chart Area dialog appears, click Fill and then Picture or Texture fill.

Click either File or Clipart depending on where your image is located, select the image to use and click OK. When the image appears behind the chart, adjust the transparency of the image to make it more transparent and to help make sure it does not overwhelm your chart, and then click Close.

To see the image through the chart’s plot area, select the Plot Area, choose Format Selection, and from the Format Plot Area > Fill Area, select No Fill and click Close. The chart will now appear as a transparent object over your semitransparent image.

Check out all their cool Excel small business charting tips here.