Can't align x-axis on hybrid scatter/area chart - excel

Please have a look at This Excel chart. Here is a screenshot:
Here is the data:
There is a scatter series of blue of dots (plus a trendline) and a green area series. The chart data are contained within the series.
The problem I have is that the x-axis values of the two series are not aligned. For example, the second and third blue dots at x = 3.1 and x = 3.8 are in the correct place along the x-axis, but in the green area series they appear to be above x = 2.0 and x = 3.3. How to fix this?

Change the Scatter to a Line Chart, then format Line Color so that there is "No Line". Add trendline.
There may be another way to do this while retaining the Scatterplot, I'm not sure, but this seems to be visually what you're looking for, but I think you will need to use a Line Chart for this unfortunately. The problem is summarized in this similar Q on SuperUser:
https://superuser.com/questions/964264/aligning-stacked-bar-chart-w-scatter-plot-data
The short answer is that your combining (unsuccessfully) a categorical series (the columns) with interval/ratio series (the line charts). So, Excel doesn't know how to plot your categories (columns) on an interval scale (the current X axis).
You can verify this by selecting Chart > Layout > Axes > Secondary Horizontal Axis > More Secondary Horizontal Axis Options. Without making any changes to the axes configuration, the second X-axis will now appear along the bottom of the chart, and you can see it is scaled differently from your Scatter data.
I.e., in the Scatter series, the data is X/Y pairs. But in your Area chart, it treats the X-values as categorical, and in this context "1.1" is no different than "Bob" -- it is a cardinal representation of the data rather than an ordinal representation.
The problem I have is that the x-axis values of the two series are not aligned.
So even though the two series appear to share the same set of X-Values, the Chart is simply incapable of treating those as the same type of data. The x-axes are not aligned because they are not the same data or even the same type of data!
All that said, if you change both series to XY Scatter, it is possible (with some extraordinary effort) to apply shading/coloring below a series or between two series, etc.
http://peltiertech.com/fill-under-between-series-in-excel-chart/
http://chandoo.org/wp/2013/02/13/shaded-line-charts-excel/

What you can do is plot the Area graph on a secondary axis. Then go to Chart -> Layout -> Axes -> Display Secondary Horizontal Axis to see the axis, right click for its properties and change the type of the Axis Type to "Date axis". This (kind of) changes the axis to a numerical type, as opposed to a category type.
However, the area graph will still be placed incorrectly too far to the right because Excel will continue to plot the series as a (kind of) category type, with its data points appearing in the centre of each category as opposed to at the correct x value like in an XY scatter plot.
To get the graphs overlaying the most correctly, you can create a Scaled-up x value series which is, say, 1,000 times the original x-values and use this for the x-values of the area plot. By scaling by 1,000 or 10,000, you eventually get the granularity to a point where it looks more like X-Y plot, but is actually an area plot, and the graphs look like they coincide perfectly.

Related

How do I control which Excel chart axes pair I plot a data series to?

I have three data series (x-y) I want to plot as scatter graphs in Microsoft Excel.
I want the first series to be plotted using the bottom x-axis and left y-axis.
I want the second series to be plotted using the top x-axis and the left y-axis (again).
I want the third series to be plotted using the bottom x-axis and the right y-axis.
So I need four different axes on the four sides of the chart area. Excel seemingly can place primary and secondary horizontal and vertical axes okay but I can't seem to control which combination of these my data series are plotted to - only whether they are "primary" or "secondary" which isn't enough detail.
Any help would be greatly appreciated!
Screenscrab of chart area with the three data series present. The blue series is correctly plotted against bottom X and left Y but the orange and red series are plotted against the wrong y-axis

Excel data representation, Axis labelling non-numeric

I wanted to display my data from my Excel spreadsheet graphically, in the form of a scatter chart.
I know that Excel can do this, but there is one "special feature" about my coordinate system of my graphic, and that is that one of the axes should be labeled with "words" (instead of numbers) to match my table similar to the picture. But I am not sure if Excel can process this at all, I guess that Excel can only work with numbers on the axes.
I would be very grateful for any help and tips and also alternatives!
By definition, the axes in an XY Scatter plot are numeric. But your desired chart can easily be created by adding a helper series to the plot. Assuming the current Y values for the other series are the numbers 1 to 6 for even positioning, you can use a range with Y values 1 to 6 and X values of zero and add that data range as a new series to the plot.
The plot points will sit right on the Y axis. Remove the Y axis labels in the Axis formatting options. You can then use data labels from the worksheet and position them to the left of the plot points of the helper series. Finally, format the markers of the helper series to have no fil and no line to make them invisible.

How to bring Excel chart data labels in front of axis

I created a custom data label series using "Value From Cells" to have a label at the end of the chart displaying the current value. Unfortunately, the axis labels are "on top"/"in front" of the data label. Is there any way to change this (VBA or otherwise)?
I just came up with a kind of absurd workaround. I'll do my best to explain it here in case anyone else comes across this.
To make this easier, the point I want the data label for will be called A. This is the latest value of the original series that should be labeled off to the right of the chart.
I removed the old data labels.
I created a scatter plot with one point: (0,y). The y value was set to A as a percentage of the minimum to maximum y-axis range. So if A is 3 and the y-axis range is -2 to 10, then the y-value would be 3/(10 - -2) = 3/12 = .25. So the result would be a scatter plot with one point at (0,.25).
I made everything on the scatter plot chart (e.g. plot area) invisible EXCEPT the one scatter plot point. This gives me a floating scatter point that moves up and down the y-axis, depending on the percentage calculated above.
I added a y-axis to the scatter plot, and set the minimum to 0 and the maximum to 1. I then removed the axis. This was only to set that min/max.
I moved my scatter plot so that the top/bottom of the plot area was exactly even with the top/bottom of the plot area of my original chart. So now, I have a single point that is moving up and down along the height of the original chart's plot area. Its up/down position is determined by A, and it will line up exactly with the y-position of A (because that's how I designed it).
I added a data label to the scatter plot and hid the scatter plot series. So now, I have my data label in the correct up/down position (lined up with the A).
Change the data label "Label Options" --> "Label Contains" to "Value From Cells". Then reference a cell with A's value that we want displayed (instead of the % value we used to get the up/down position right).
Last step is just to move the scatter plot left/right until it's in the perfect spot to the right of the plot area, and done!
Then repeat that miserable process for 16 charts with copy/paste when possible. Hope this helps someone else!

How can I customize the horizontal axis values in excel?

So I am trying to make a nice line graph for some data that I have. Each line has 100 data points, so excel automatically makes the horizontal axis from 1-100. I want to change the min/max values for the horizontal axis from 0-1, without moving the frame of the graph (i.e. without zooming in the graph). I just want to divide the horizontal axis numbers by 100 in order to rescale the time. This is what my graph looks like now:
http://imgur.com/33KD7RY
So I want to change the numbers on the horizontal axis to be fractions or decimals in the range [0,1]. Does anyone know how I can do this, or any other graphing software that would allow me to do this (I have tried using google sheets, but they have less options to customize axes than excel). Thank you!
Did you use two column to plot one line and did you use the Scatter with smooth lines chart type?
Have one column (X) go from 0 to 1 using intervals of 0.01 and your data in your second column (Y). When using a scatter with smooth lines chart type your answer should look like this:
image graph
Plotting your second line in the same chart can be done the same way by adding it through the 'select data' options of the chart.

Excel curve (Showing values at both sides of y-axis)

I have created a curve in Excel 2013.
At the Y-Axis I am showing some values that show the probability for survival for each 100.000 citizen. Now my problem is, that I want to also show it in percentage, at the right side of the Y-Axis.
How do I do this?
Thanks in advance.
Ps. I have added an the curve as an image, so that you can see how it looks at the moment.
Add a secondary (Y) axis:
Create a combo chart with a secondary axis
When the numbers in a chart you created vary widely from data series to data series, or when you have mixed types of data (for example, price and volume), you can plot one or more data series on a secondary vertical (value) axis. The scale of the secondary vertical axis shows the values for the associated data series. A secondary axis works well in a chart that shows a combination of column and line charts.
Combo chart with secondary axis
In Microsoft Excel 2013, you can quickly show a chart like the one above by changing your chart to a combo chart.
Click anywhere in the chart you want to change to a combo chart to show the Chart Tools.
Chart Tools
Click Design > Change Chart Type.
Type group on the Design tab
On the All Charts tab, choose Combo, and then pick the Clustered Column - Line on Secondary Axis chart.
Combo chart with secondary axis on All Charts tab
Under Choose the chart type and axis for your data series, check the Secondary Axis box for each data series you want to plot on the secondary axis, and then change their chart type to Line.
Make sure that all other data series are shown as Clustered Column.
To clarify what is plotted on each of the vertical axes, you can add axis titles.
.
If I understood you correctly, you only need a right axis that shows a percentage scale, with, e.g., the tick mark for 100% at the same level as the tick mark for 100000 on the left axis.
You do not need any additional curves.
Then, you need to:
Create some dummy data. You may use two cells, which will give you a series with a single data point. Use 10 (X range) and -1 (Y range). Depending on the options you selected for your y axis, you may have to set the Minimum value fixed at 0 (you can do this now or later).
Add it to the plot.
Assign it to a secondary y-axis. Right-click on the series, Format Data Series -> Series Options -> Secondary Axis. Or, if you find it difficult to select it this way, select the chart, Go to Format, select the series from the pull-down menu on the top left, and Format Selection.
Format the right axis scale to give you a correct matching with the left scale. Right click on the secondary y axis, set the Minimum fixed at 0, the Maximum fixed at 1.2 (to match the figure you posted), and the number format as Percentage. PS: there will be a tick label "120%" on the right axis. That will not look good for what you are plotting. It will be best to set the Maximum of the left axis to 115000 (say), and the right axis to 1.15 then.

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