Chart Type X-Y (Scatter)

On the first page of the Chart Wizard you can choose a chart type.

To access this command...

Choose Insert - Chart...

Insert Chart

X-Y (Scatter)

An X-Y chart in its basic form is based on one data series consisting of a name, a list of x‑values, and a list of y‑values. Each value pair (x|y) is shown as a point in a coordinate system. The name of the data series is associated with the y‑values and shown in the legend.

Choose an X-Y chart for the following example tasks:

scale the x‑axis
generate a parametric curve, for example a spiral
draw the graph of a function
explore the statistical association of quantitative variables

Your X-Y chart may have more than one data series.

X-Y Chart Variants

You can choose an X-Y chart variant on the first page of the Chart Wizard, or by choosing Format - Chart Type for a chart in edit mode.

The chart is created with default settings. After the chart is finished, you can edit its properties to change the appearance. Line styles and icons can be changed on the Line tab page of the data series properties dialogue box.

Double-click any data point to open the Data Series dialogue box. In this dialogue box, you can change many properties of the data series.

For 2-D charts, you can choose Insert - y-Error Bars to enable the display of error bars.

You can enable the display of mean value lines and trend lines using commands on the Insert menu.

Points only

Each data point is shown by an icon. Office uses default icons with different forms and colours for each data series. The default colours are set in Tools - Options - Charts - Default Colours.

Lines Only

This variant draws straight lines from one data point to the next. The data points are not shown by icons.

The drawing order is the same as the order in the data series. Mark Sort by x-values to draw the lines in the order of the x-values. This sorting applies only to the chart, not to the data in the table.

Points and Lines

This variant shows points and lines at the same time.

3-D Lines

The lines are shown like tapes. The data points are not shown by icons. In the finished chart choose 3-D View to set properties like illumination and angle of view.

Smooth Lines

Choose Smooth from the Line type dropdown to draw curves instead of straight line segments.

Click Properties to set details for the curves.

Cubic spline interpolates your data points with polynomials of degree 3. The transitions between the polynomial pieces are smooth, having the same slope and curvature.

The Resolution determines how many line segments are calculated to draw a piece of polynomial between two data points. You can see the intermediate points if you click any data point.

B-Spline uses a parametric, interpolating B-spline curve. Those curves are built piecewise from polynomials. The Degree of polynomials sets the degree of these polynomials.

Stepped Lines

Choose Stepped from the Line type dropdown to draw lines which step from point to point instead of straight line segments.