Excel - Labels on charts overlap!

[g3a3n3n3]

Hello

I'm having trouble with a vertical bar chart that I have created. The labels that go at the bottom of each bar is quite long (they're almost sentences) and I need them to be a size 10 font. Problem is they overlap each other. The only way I can stop this from happening is by making it a smaller font - but I need it to stay at font size 10. Some time ago I did a similar chart and I remember the chart moved up to allow for the lengthy text. I tried looking at the options available but couldnt seem to work it out. Can someone please help me.

Thanks in advance
Gillian

 

[MeGustaXL]

Hi Gillian,

Have you tried rotating the X-Axis labels?

Right-Click the Axis, Format Axis, Alignment, then either drag the clock hand up to 12 o'clock, or enter "90" in the degrees box.



Chris

Varium et mutabile semper Excel

 

[Tranquilo]

If you don't have any page width limitations, you could always just click on the grey square at the top of the row numbers and to the left of the column letters, highlight all, then double click on the column edge.

 

[g3a3n3n3]

Thanks Chris and Tranquilo for your responses. Chris I need the text to be aligned at 0 degrees. I need to be able to space the text out so that they dont overlap each other.

 

[straybullet]

If you select the Plot area, you can move it. This should allow you to have the labels formatted as needed, yet still be legible.

Let them hate - so long as they fear... Lucius Accius

 

[g3a3n3n3]

thanks straybullet - although some graphs do this automatically. Is there a setting that can be used to allow this - I have about 20 graphs that have dynamic data and hence some text are rather short while there are other more lengthy texts.

- Gillian

 

[MeGustaXL]

When you say "a vertical bar chart", do you mean a Column Chart? With the category names along the bottom (X-Axis), e.g. January, February, etc, and the values up the Left (Y-Axis).

If that's the case, could you consider actually using a Bar Chart? It may even present the data more forcefully, if your aim is to show a large difference in monthly totals, say. Plus you'd be free to compress the width of the plot area to allow for W I D E R titles

Or how about staggering the X-Axis labels using Rob Bovey's X-Y Chart Labeller?

http://www.appspro.com/Utilities/ChartLabeler.htm

D'OH! It's a Bar Chart not an X-Y Scatter Plot - but still, you must have the labeller anyway!


Chris

Varium et mutabile semper Excel

 

[MeGustaXL]

Gillian,

I was looking at Andy Pope's site for the solution to another problem, saw this and thought of you -

http://www.andypope.info/charts/staggeredaxislabels.zip

Chris

Varium et mutabile semper Excel