Fun With Dummy Series.

Introduction

Microsoft Excel offers many chart types and many chart effects, but sooner or later you'll want to do something that Excel doesn't offer. Many effects can be accomplished through the use of extra series and clever formatting. For example, you might want a customized axis style, or a line or shape drawn in a particular position, or text labels that are tied into axis values.

Several of these tricks with dummy series are adaptations of Tushar Mehta's Flexible Log Scale Axis and Broken Y Axis techniques, from his web site, http://www.tushar-mehta.com. While custom labeling of dummy series points can be done manually, most of these tricks rely on Rob Bovey's XY Chart Labeler, a free add-in available for download at http://www.appspro.com, or John Walkenbach's JWalk Chart Tools, another free addin from http://j-walk.com/ss/excel.

Dummy Series Tricks

Simulating Axis Types that Excel Doesn't Include

• Vertical Category Axis
• Tertiary Y Axis
• Arbitrary Axis Scale
• Arbitrary Gridlines
• Arbitrary Gridlines, Take Two
• Simulated Probability Chart
• Reciprocal Axis Chart
• Stacked Line Chart
• Stacked Charts with Vertical Separation

Placing Lines, Shapes, and Labels Exactly Where You Want Them

• Add a Horizontal or Vertical Line to a Column or Line Chart
• Speedometer Chart
• Squeeze Columns Together (Squeeze Out Blank Columns)
• Stock Chart with Left Tick Marker for Open Series
• Special Format for Minimum and Maximum
• Chart with Colored Quadrant Background
• Colored Vertical Band
• Floating Column Charts
• Waterfall Charts
• Fancy Waterfall Chart
• Waterfall Charts that Cross the X Axis
• Control Bubble Chart Bubble Sizes

See also Chart Axes and Axis Tricks and Combination Charts

Simulating Axis Types that Excel Doesn't Include

Placing Lines, Shapes, and Labels Exactly Where You Want Them