how to create a stair step chart

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  • Start date Start date
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Guest

I'm trying to create a chart that looks like a flight of stairs going from
the lower left of the page to the upper right of the page. I've looked in
the templates online, but I don't see any. Can someone help me?
 
Ronica said:
I'm trying to create a chart that looks like a flight of stairs going
from the lower left of the page to the upper right of the page. I've
looked in the templates online, but I don't see any. Can someone
help me?
Click to expand...

Assuming you're using the Chart object (Insert > Object > Microsoft Graph
Chart):

- Click just inside the shaded box, right-click, and select Chart Type. In
the dialog, choose an XY(Scatter) type, and choose the subtype of "Scatter
with points connected by lines without markers" (the bottom-right one).
Click OK.

- (Optional) Right-click one of the grid lines in the chart, select Format
Gridlines, and change its color, weight, style, etc.

- In the data sheet, start by typing each X value twice; for example,
X value 1 1 2 2 3 3 4 4

- Below each X value, type a Y value. Again, each value is entered twice,
but offset like this:
X value 1 1 2 2 3 3 4 4
XY 1 1 2 2 3 3 4 4 5
This pattern forms the stair step: two Y values with the same X value, two X
values with the same Y value, repeat as needed.

This kind of pattern can also be created in an Excel chart and imported or
linked into a Word document.
 
An alternative method is to create a table with the required number of rows
and columns and apply borders selectively. This has the advantages of (a)
not being an OLE object and (b) allowing you to insert text on the steps if
desired. It took me about a minute and a half to create seven steps this
way. It would have been MUCH faster (less than 30 seconds) if I'd thought to
select all the step cells at once (with Ctrl+click) before applying the
borders.

--
Suzanne S. Barnhill
Microsoft MVP (Word)
Words into Type
Fairhope, Alabama USA

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