I have data collected on a daily basis (for work days) over several years,
and I want to plot it on an X-Y plot versus date. I would like the monthly
intervals showing on the scale to be like 1/1/04, 2/1/04, 3/1/04, etc.
Similarly, for annual intervals, 1/1/03, 1/1/04, 1/1/05, etc. Excel just
wants to put in the same number of days for the intervals. Any suggestions?

It sounds like you are using an XY chart.

For XY trend charts, I often run into the issue you are talking about
frequently. I use a few formatting tricks:

For my X Axis number format I double click the X axis to get Format Axis
window. I select number tab and enter my date format. For monthly data
spanning years, I use "mmm'yy" which will show up as Mar'06 on the chart X
axis.

For my interval, I use 32 days to make sure that I get my months to
increment.

I have several trend chart examples at
http://processtrends.com/pg_charts_trend_chart.htm

...Kelly

(E-Mail Removed)




"John" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
news:C59D798E-8749-4CD5-B5C8-(E-Mail Removed)...
>I have data collected on a daily basis (for work days) over several years,
> and I want to plot it on an X-Y plot versus date. I would like the monthly
> intervals showing on the scale to be like 1/1/04, 2/1/04, 3/1/04, etc.
> Similarly, for annual intervals, 1/1/03, 1/1/04, 1/1/05, etc. Excel just
> wants to put in the same number of days for the intervals. Any
> suggestions?

Thanks, Kelly, but this did not work for me. When I used 32 days, after about
every 20 months, it skipped a month on the axis, as if it were "rounding" to
the nearest month.

I have an old chart that has on the x-axis, 1/4/99, 2/4/99, 3/4/99, etc
through 8/4/04. Unfortunately all I have is a printed copy and have lost the
Excel file from which it was printed. So I know it can be done, but I just
can't figure it out.

"Kelly O'Day" wrote:

> It sounds like you are using an XY chart.
>
> For XY trend charts, I often run into the issue you are talking about
> frequently. I use a few formatting tricks:
>
> For my X Axis number format I double click the X axis to get Format Axis
> window. I select number tab and enter my date format. For monthly data
> spanning years, I use "mmm'yy" which will show up as Mar'06 on the chart X
> axis.
>
> For my interval, I use 32 days to make sure that I get my months to
> increment.
>
> I have several trend chart examples at
> http://processtrends.com/pg_charts_trend_chart.htm
>
> ...Kelly
>
> (E-Mail Removed)
>
>
>
>
> "John" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
> news:C59D798E-8749-4CD5-B5C8-(E-Mail Removed)...
> >I have data collected on a daily basis (for work days) over several years,
> > and I want to plot it on an X-Y plot versus date. I would like the monthly
> > intervals showing on the scale to be like 1/1/04, 2/1/04, 3/1/04, etc.
> > Similarly, for annual intervals, 1/1/03, 1/1/04, 1/1/05, etc. Excel just
> > wants to put in the same number of days for the intervals. Any
> > suggestions?
>
>
>

John:

How many months of data do you have to chart?

Have you tried 2 month interval (63 days)?
What about quarter (94 days)?


...Kelly










"John" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
news:30E0FF84-F5C7-47D9-A08A-(E-Mail Removed)...
> Thanks, Kelly, but this did not work for me. When I used 32 days, after
> about
> every 20 months, it skipped a month on the axis, as if it were "rounding"
> to
> the nearest month.
>
> I have an old chart that has on the x-axis, 1/4/99, 2/4/99, 3/4/99, etc
> through 8/4/04. Unfortunately all I have is a printed copy and have lost
> the
> Excel file from which it was printed. So I know it can be done, but I just
> can't figure it out.
>
> "Kelly O'Day" wrote:
>
>> It sounds like you are using an XY chart.
>>
>> For XY trend charts, I often run into the issue you are talking about
>> frequently. I use a few formatting tricks:
>>
>> For my X Axis number format I double click the X axis to get Format Axis
>> window. I select number tab and enter my date format. For monthly data
>> spanning years, I use "mmm'yy" which will show up as Mar'06 on the chart
>> X
>> axis.
>>
>> For my interval, I use 32 days to make sure that I get my months to
>> increment.
>>
>> I have several trend chart examples at
>> http://processtrends.com/pg_charts_trend_chart.htm
>>
>> ...Kelly
>>
>> (E-Mail Removed)
>>
>>
>>
>>
>> "John" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
>> news:C59D798E-8749-4CD5-B5C8-(E-Mail Removed)...
>> >I have data collected on a daily basis (for work days) over several
>> >years,
>> > and I want to plot it on an X-Y plot versus date. I would like the
>> > monthly
>> > intervals showing on the scale to be like 1/1/04, 2/1/04, 3/1/04, etc.
>> > Similarly, for annual intervals, 1/1/03, 1/1/04, 1/1/05, etc. Excel
>> > just
>> > wants to put in the same number of days for the intervals. Any
>> > suggestions?
>>
>>
>>

Kelly,
It varies. Sometimes I have 5 years worth, so that would be 60 months. Since
months, quarters, and years are of different lengths, having a certain number
of days as the major unit on the scale doesn't work out. Is there a way to
tell Excel to have as the major unit on the scale months or quarters or
years, even though the data are plotted by days? This is a format axis issue,
and I have done it before, but don't remember how.
John

"Kelly O'Day" wrote:

> John:
>
> How many months of data do you have to chart?
>
> Have you tried 2 month interval (63 days)?
> What about quarter (94 days)?
>
>
> ...Kelly
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
> "John" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
> news:30E0FF84-F5C7-47D9-A08A-(E-Mail Removed)...
> > Thanks, Kelly, but this did not work for me. When I used 32 days, after
> > about
> > every 20 months, it skipped a month on the axis, as if it were "rounding"
> > to
> > the nearest month.
> >
> > I have an old chart that has on the x-axis, 1/4/99, 2/4/99, 3/4/99, etc
> > through 8/4/04. Unfortunately all I have is a printed copy and have lost
> > the
> > Excel file from which it was printed. So I know it can be done, but I just
> > can't figure it out.
> >
> > "Kelly O'Day" wrote:
> >
> >> It sounds like you are using an XY chart.
> >>
> >> For XY trend charts, I often run into the issue you are talking about
> >> frequently. I use a few formatting tricks:
> >>
> >> For my X Axis number format I double click the X axis to get Format Axis
> >> window. I select number tab and enter my date format. For monthly data
> >> spanning years, I use "mmm'yy" which will show up as Mar'06 on the chart
> >> X
> >> axis.
> >>
> >> For my interval, I use 32 days to make sure that I get my months to
> >> increment.
> >>
> >> I have several trend chart examples at
> >> http://processtrends.com/pg_charts_trend_chart.htm
> >>
> >> ...Kelly
> >>
> >> (E-Mail Removed)
> >>
> >>
> >>
> >>
> >> "John" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
> >> news:C59D798E-8749-4CD5-B5C8-(E-Mail Removed)...
> >> >I have data collected on a daily basis (for work days) over several
> >> >years,
> >> > and I want to plot it on an X-Y plot versus date. I would like the
> >> > monthly
> >> > intervals showing on the scale to be like 1/1/04, 2/1/04, 3/1/04, etc.
> >> > Similarly, for annual intervals, 1/1/03, 1/1/04, 1/1/05, etc. Excel
> >> > just
> >> > wants to put in the same number of days for the intervals. Any
> >> > suggestions?
> >>
> >>
> >>
>
>
>

Kelly,
Success! Whoopee!
I finally figured it out. Instead of an X-Y chart, use a Line chart. Then I
can have the major units as months.
John

"Kelly O'Day" wrote:

> John:
>
> How many months of data do you have to chart?
>
> Have you tried 2 month interval (63 days)?
> What about quarter (94 days)?
>
>
> ...Kelly
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
> "John" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
> news:30E0FF84-F5C7-47D9-A08A-(E-Mail Removed)...
> > Thanks, Kelly, but this did not work for me. When I used 32 days, after
> > about
> > every 20 months, it skipped a month on the axis, as if it were "rounding"
> > to
> > the nearest month.
> >
> > I have an old chart that has on the x-axis, 1/4/99, 2/4/99, 3/4/99, etc
> > through 8/4/04. Unfortunately all I have is a printed copy and have lost
> > the
> > Excel file from which it was printed. So I know it can be done, but I just
> > can't figure it out.
> >
> > "Kelly O'Day" wrote:
> >
> >> It sounds like you are using an XY chart.
> >>
> >> For XY trend charts, I often run into the issue you are talking about
> >> frequently. I use a few formatting tricks:
> >>
> >> For my X Axis number format I double click the X axis to get Format Axis
> >> window. I select number tab and enter my date format. For monthly data
> >> spanning years, I use "mmm'yy" which will show up as Mar'06 on the chart
> >> X
> >> axis.
> >>
> >> For my interval, I use 32 days to make sure that I get my months to
> >> increment.
> >>
> >> I have several trend chart examples at
> >> http://processtrends.com/pg_charts_trend_chart.htm
> >>
> >> ...Kelly
> >>
> >> (E-Mail Removed)
> >>
> >>
> >>
> >>
> >> "John" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
> >> news:C59D798E-8749-4CD5-B5C8-(E-Mail Removed)...
> >> >I have data collected on a daily basis (for work days) over several
> >> >years,
> >> > and I want to plot it on an X-Y plot versus date. I would like the
> >> > monthly
> >> > intervals showing on the scale to be like 1/1/04, 2/1/04, 3/1/04, etc.
> >> > Similarly, for annual intervals, 1/1/03, 1/1/04, 1/1/05, etc. Excel
> >> > just
> >> > wants to put in the same number of days for the intervals. Any
> >> > suggestions?
> >>
> >>
> >>
>
>
>