Comments on: 10 x 10 Tips to improve your (Excel) charts: formatting http://www.excelcharts.com/blog/10-x-10-tips-to-improve-your-excel-charts-formatting/ Effective Charts and Dashboards for Excel users Fri, 03 Feb 2012 17:31:47 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.1 By: Warren Apel http://www.excelcharts.com/blog/10-x-10-tips-to-improve-your-excel-charts-formatting/#comment-343 Warren Apel Thu, 21 May 2009 09:13:16 +0000 http://www.excelcharts.com/blog/10-x-10-tips-to-improve-your-excel-charts-formatting/#comment-343 Excel has a nasty habit of autoscaling the Y axis to give nice amounts of white space. I think a good corollary to 8 is that the Y axis should end at the maximum possible value, if there is one. I do a lot of work displaying student assessment data, and if the test is out of 100 points, there's no reason for the chart to go to 120. Yet so many student data charts do, because (rule 11) that's the Excel default. Excel has a nasty habit of autoscaling the Y axis to give nice amounts of white space. I think a good corollary to 8 is that the Y axis should end at the maximum possible value, if there is one. I do a lot of work displaying student assessment data, and if the test is out of 100 points, there’s no reason for the chart to go to 120. Yet so many student data charts do, because (rule 11) that’s the Excel default.

]]> By: admin http://www.excelcharts.com/blog/10-x-10-tips-to-improve-your-excel-charts-formatting/#comment-342 admin Sun, 13 Jan 2008 23:15:53 +0000 http://www.excelcharts.com/blog/10-x-10-tips-to-improve-your-excel-charts-formatting/#comment-342 Jon: it is very specific to column charts, isn't it? Probably I'll replace it and move it to the tips on column/bar charts. Jon: it is very specific to column charts, isn’t it? Probably I’ll replace it and move it to the tips on column/bar charts.

]]> By: Jon Peltier http://www.excelcharts.com/blog/10-x-10-tips-to-improve-your-excel-charts-formatting/#comment-341 Jon Peltier Sun, 13 Jan 2008 22:23:56 +0000 http://www.excelcharts.com/blog/10-x-10-tips-to-improve-your-excel-charts-formatting/#comment-341 You should not break the rule with a column chart, but with a line (or XY) chart, the rule is generally unnecessary. You should not break the rule with a column chart, but with a line (or XY) chart, the rule is generally unnecessary.

]]> By: admin http://www.excelcharts.com/blog/10-x-10-tips-to-improve-your-excel-charts-formatting/#comment-340 admin Fri, 11 Jan 2008 09:00:55 +0000 http://www.excelcharts.com/blog/10-x-10-tips-to-improve-your-excel-charts-formatting/#comment-340 Matthew: by default the origin should be zero. I agree with you: there are charts where it doesn't make sense or is plain stupid. But too often we see misleading column charts because the scale is not shown and the reader can't verify where it starts. So, break the rule when you have to, but make sure that improves the chart. Matthew: by default the origin should be zero. I agree with you: there are charts where it doesn’t make sense or is plain stupid. But too often we see misleading column charts because the scale is not shown and the reader can’t verify where it starts.

So, break the rule when you have to, but make sure that improves the chart.

]]> By: Matthew http://www.excelcharts.com/blog/10-x-10-tips-to-improve-your-excel-charts-formatting/#comment-339 Matthew Fri, 11 Jan 2008 07:54:23 +0000 http://www.excelcharts.com/blog/10-x-10-tips-to-improve-your-excel-charts-formatting/#comment-339 I don't agree with 8, and I think obsession with this rule (which you obviously aren't as you say it can be broken) leads to some idiotic charts. The reason it can be broken is because sometimes in the two series you are comparing there is a constant base level, and it is the change from that level which is interesting. Thus you can quite legitimately (in my view) start the chart around the peak of that base level. I don’t agree with 8, and I think obsession with this rule (which you obviously aren’t as you say it can be broken) leads to some idiotic charts.

The reason it can be broken is because sometimes in the two series you are comparing there is a constant base level, and it is the change from that level which is interesting. Thus you can quite legitimately (in my view) start the chart around the peak of that base level.

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