Excell chart question

Amp34 · 9 Jul 2015 at 13:04

I have a chart with a load of monthly data going back about 40 years, it looks ugly though...

I want to make the years more legible. When I format the axis I can make the months rotate but there doesn't seem to be an option for the text direction of the second row (years). Does anyone know how I can do that?

Thanks

DampDog · 9 Jul 2015 at 13:15

I'd tweek the the X axis data label interval. In Format axis options change the frequency of the major unit. (play about with minor too) Instead of every year, maybe, 5. 1962-1982ish looks like erroneous data?? Why include it?

Grrrrr · 11 Jul 2015 at 23:13

To answer your question directly you cannot rotate the two separate parts of the axis labels. You can hide one part of the two layered axis labels though which should help make it look better. Or play around with the number formatting like DampDog says.

zola25 · 12 Jul 2015 at 09:32

Are the earlier data points 0? If so, why not remove them and start the data range just before the increase. This will result in a lot less text having to fit in the same space, combine that with the X-axis labels being rotated 45 degrees and it should become much more legible.