Excel displays the selected data in a histogram format. You can select. Click anywhere on the chart and select and highlight the data cells in the table again. To help you visualize the cell data, Excel includes a number of chart types, ranging from standard bar charts to 3-D area charts to circular pie charts. Excel can convert almost any group of data into a chart, so all you have to do is arrange the data in a desirable way and choose the type of chart that you want.
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Although there's no simple one-click option for turning data into a histogram chart in Microsoft Office for Mac, you can use the chart tools in Excel to create a histogram that displays distribution and frequency data in a graphical vertical bar graph format. Before creating your histogram, import or input the data you want to display as a histogram in a new Excel workbook table with separate columns or rows for value and frequency data.
1.Open the workbook file that contains your data in Microsoft Office for Mac Excel.
2.Select and highlight the range of data cells in the table. Don't include the data labels that describe each column or row of data.
3.Click the 'Charts' tab on the main menu ribbon. Click the 'Column' button in the Insert Chart group, and then select the 'Clustered Column' option. Excel displays the selected data in a histogram format. You can select and drag the chart to a convenient location on the screen.
4.Click anywhere on the chart and select and highlight the data cells in the table again.
5.Click the 'Chart Layout' tab in the main menu ribbon. Enter a title for your histogram in the space provided on the chart.
6.Select the 'Axis Labels' button in the Labels group on the ribbon. Click the 'Vertical Axis Title' button and enter a vertical axis title in the space on the chart. Select 'Axis Labels' followed by 'Horizontal Axis Title' and type a horziontal access title in the space on the chart.
7.Click on any bar in the histogram to select all bars, and then choose 'Format Data Point' in the context menu.
8.Change the value in the 'Gap Width' box to '0%' to remove all space between the bars in the histogram, and then click the 'OK' button.
9.Save the workgroup document to preserve your histogram.
Tip
- To increase or decrease the size of the histogram, click on any corner of the chart and drag up or down with your mouse.
Warning
- The information in this article applies to Microsoft Office for Mac 2011. It may differ slightly or significantly for other versions of Microsoft Office.
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About the Author
Adrian Grahams began writing professionally in 1989 after training as a newspaper reporter. His work has been published online and in various newspapers, including 'The Cornish Times' and 'The Sunday Independent.' Grahams specializes in technology and communications. He holds a Bachelor of Science, postgraduate diplomas in journalism and website design and is studying for an MBA.
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Grahams, Adrian. 'How to Create a Histogram in Mac Office.' Small Business - Chron.com, http://smallbusiness.chron.com/create-histogram-mac-office-63174.html. Accessed 26 November 2019.
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Two columns or rows of data in Microsoft Excel may contain useful information, but you'll just have a set of numbers. You can give spreadsheet viewers a graphical representation of those numbers by letting Excel generate visually illustrative charts. An X-Y scatter chart is an ideal plot choice when you have data sets with at least two interesting variables per record, and because scatter plots are a native graph option in Excel, you simply decide what data and which type of scatter plot you wish to use. One click will give you a whole new way to look at your spreadsheet information.
How Scatter Plots Work
A scatter plot, or scatter chart, is a useful tool when you have data that you want to analyze in multiple dimensions. For example, you might have records of sales that indicate a date and the size of the sale, or you might have information about how long individual sales people have worked at you business and how much revenue they brought into the company.
You can make an Excel scatter plot assigning one of the variables in each record to the x-coordinate and one to the y-coordinate on a standard graph axis. Each point will then be plotted as a point on the graph. You can do this by hand with graph paper or with a variety of different digital tools, but Excel is often a useful choice if you have it installed and especially if you already have the data in spreadsheet form.
Traditionally, the x-coordinate is used to represent the independent variable and the y-coordinate the dependent variable, meaning that if you think one variable has an influence on the other you would make the influencing one the x-coordinate.
Draw an Excel Scatter Plot
Open the Program and File
Launch Excel and open the spreadsheet with the data to transform into an X-Y scatter plot diagram.
Highlight the Relevant Columns
Highlight the columns or rows with the data to include in the scatter plot.
Select the Scatter Option
Click the “Insert” tab on the ribbon menu, and then choose the “Scatter” menu from the Charts section of the ribbon.
Click the Chart
Click the chart that pops up to see the design and formatting options. Click the 'Design' tab.
Select an Option
Select one of the scatter plot diagram options, such as “Scatter with only Markers,” “Scatter with Smooth Lines and Markers” or “Scatter with Straight Lines.” The scatter plot is inserted into the Excel spreadsheet.
Title Your Chart
Click the chart title area and input the title you want for your chart.
Style Your Chart
Change the scatter plot’s appearance by clicking one of the options in the Format and Style sections of the ribbon. You can change the colors, line width and shading here. This is optional.
When clicking through the chart options, be careful that you don't click one of the other types; if you do click inadvertently, you can simply click “Change Chart Type” and select “X-Y Scatter Plot” from there.
Line Graph in Excel
You can also add a line graph in Excel to connect data points rather than displaying them as single elements. This is often done for data where you are showing changes at discrete points in time.
The process for doing so is similar to drawing a scatter plot. Select the two columns of data that you want to plot, then click the 'Insert' tab on the ribbon menu. Click 'Insert Line or Area Chart.' Click 'Line with Markers,' then click the chart that pops up to customize it with the options in the 'Design' and 'Format' tabs.
References (3)
About the Author
Fionia LeChat is a technical writer whose major skill sets include the MS Office Suite (Word, PowerPoint, Excel, Publisher), Photoshop, Paint, desktop publishing, design and graphics. LeChat has a Master of Science in technical writing, a Master of Arts in public relations and communications and a Bachelor of Arts in writing/English.
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LeChat, Filonia. 'How to Make an X-Y Scatter Plot in Microsoft Excel.' Small Business - Chron.com, http://smallbusiness.chron.com/make-xy-scatter-plot-microsoft-excel-75543.html. 19 February 2019.
LeChat, Filonia. (2019, February 19). How to Make an X-Y Scatter Plot in Microsoft Excel. Small Business - Chron.com. Retrieved from http://smallbusiness.chron.com/make-xy-scatter-plot-microsoft-excel-75543.html
LeChat, Filonia. 'How to Make an X-Y Scatter Plot in Microsoft Excel' last modified February 19, 2019. http://smallbusiness.chron.com/make-xy-scatter-plot-microsoft-excel-75543.html
Note: Depending on which text editor you're pasting into, you might have to add the italics to the site name.