Jun 12, 2014

One of the frustrating things I find about Microsoft Excel, particularly when you’re producing a chart, is the huge quantity of formatting options that are available. Despite this large abundance, I find that it is often difficult to find the formatting you want. This blog post will outline one specific example which you may find useful when formatting your charts in Excel. In Excel, it’s possible to visually line up a data point with its corresponding position on the chart’s category axis. This is especially important when working with area or line charts to make the information easier to read. Basically, you can add drop lines, which are visual aids that help anchor each data point to the category axis on your 3D chart. There are a number of ways to do this based on which version of Excel you’re using and once you’ve got a 3D chart set up. In Excel 2013, select the data series to which you want to add drop lines. In your top navigation bar, there will be a contextual tab called ‘Chart Tools’ with a ‘Design’ tab and a ‘Format’ tab under it. Click ‘Design’ and in the ‘Chart Layouts’ group on the left hand side, click on ‘Add Chart Element.’ Select ‘Lines’ and choose ‘Drop Lines.’

In Excel 2007 and 2010, select the data series to which you want to add drop lines. Similar to Excel 2013, there will be a contextual tab called ‘Chart Tools’ but there will be 3 options under this – ‘Design,’ ‘Layout’ and ‘Format.’ Click on the ‘Layout’ tab and in the ‘Analysis’ group, click the ‘Lines’ button. Select ‘Drop Lines’ from the drop-down list to add drop lines to that data series. It’s a little bit different in Excel 2003. You will need to right-click on one of the data series lines in your chart then choose ‘Format Data Series.’ In the pop-up dialogue box, click on the ‘Options’ tab and in this view, check the option for ‘Drop Lines.’ This type of formatting can also be applied to 2D and line charts. If you’re interested in finding out more about charts in Excel, take a look at New Horizons’ Microsoft Excel training programs.