Control basic formatting for chart axis labels from the Edit toolbar. Click on the axis labels and use the appropriate Edit icons. Clarify your data by adjusting the step size, grid lines and tick marks.
Adjust label spacing
When information is clustered too closely, alter the spacing of the lines or fill areas by adjusting the Min Value and Max Value spacing.
To adjust the spacing for the left axis:
- Select the chart, right-click and choose Chart Properties.
- Use the drop-down to adjust the Min Value to change the starting point for the data.
- Change the Max Value to adjust the uppermost value of the left axis.
- Adjust the Step Size to change the interval and scale of values.
Additional axis settings
There are additional settings for each axis. For the left axis, you can also choose to Show Zero Line. For the bottom axis, you can expand the line to Expand to Edge.
The Rotation setting in the Chart Properties panel gives you the option to change the rotation of the labels for either axis. For example, you can shift the labels on the bottom axis to a vertical position.
Format labels from the data table
Use the data table for the chart to format the values for the measurement axis labels. To work with a chart data table:
- Select the chart.
- Click the Data icon in the Edit toolbar.
- In the data table that opens, select the appropriate labels such as a series of dates.
- Right-click and choose Cell Properties.
- In the Formats panel that opens to the right, adjust the settings as desired.
Override data table formatting
There may be times when you do not want the settings in the data table associated with your chart to affect the display. Go to the Chart Properties panel and click the Override link in the Left Axis settings section. Now you can set the value formatting separately for the chart display.
For more information on formatting, see Value formats for chart labels.
For more information on display options, see Axis and series display for charts.