Excel Video 80 focuses on how to change and format the Vertical Axis. It’s easy to change the units (thousands, millions, etc.), which side of the chart the Axis is on, and to reverse the axis so the lower values are on the top of the chart.
The heart of Excel Video 80 is how important it is to recognize the scale being used on the Vertical Axis. Watch the examples to see how much a chart can change based on the Vertical Axis scale. If you want to minimize the appearance of variability in your data, choose a very large scale for the Vertical Axis. If you want to magnify smaller changes in the data, choose a much smaller scale for the Vertical Axis. It’s easy to change the minimum and maximum axis values from the Format Axis window.
You can also control major and minor tick marks from the Format Axis window. You can choose whether the tick marks appear and the intervals at which the tick marks are set. Lots of tick marks and gridlines can make a chart cluttered and hard to read, but there are occasions where the tick marks will really emphasize your point.
Finally, you can control where the Horizontal Axis crosses the Vertical Axis. I demonstrate two different ways to set that point, using the Horizontal Axis Crosses section and by setting the minimum axis point. Excel treats these options differently, so look at both ways to decide the way you want your chart to appear.
