Default Series format

  • Thread starter Thread starter Al Camp
  • Start date Start date
A

Al Camp

Is there any way I can force a chart (scatter in this case) to always use a "3pt black
dot" for all series that "may" develop.
My graph works fine, but every once in a while there are more series plotted than I have
previously "manually" formatted. Those new series appear as a variety of shapes and
colors.
I'd like to make the graph "always use a 3pt black dot for ANY series."

Tried a Google Group search, but wasn't sure what terminology to use ("excel" "default"
"series"), so I didn't get any relevant hits.

Thanks for any assistance,

Al Camp
 
Hi Al:
You can format your chart in any way you like and store this as custom
chart. When you later choose this CustomChart with your data it will reflect
the appearance you defined. Make your chart, right click a series and choose
Chart Type... from the pop-up menu. Select the Custom Types tab, and select
User-defined in the "Select from" area. Choose a descriptive name and save,
and your format settings are ready for re-use.
Good luck,
Henk
 
Henk,
Thanks for the reply...
So I take it that I must "manually" format all the series on one chart with 3pt black
dot, and THEN... I can use that as a formatting default for other charts?

Thanks,
Al Camp
 
Yes, that's the idea, Al. I haven't tested this at length, and I am not an
expert just a user myself. On quick testing with a line chart I found that
if you have more series than the ones defined in your custom-built, these
series will get the default format (5 point markers, the colours Excel uses,
etc). Less doesnt seem to be a problem. I suggest just to try it out and
see whether this suits you.
GL, Henk
 
OK Hek,
That's what I needed to know. I had to manually format 52 series because I couldn't
see any other way to do it...
A pain... but it's done now.
Thanks very much,
Al Camp
 
Al, I didn't realise it was in a one time chart....I got the impression you
had to make a similar looking chart every month or so and do all the
formatting again.
I feel bad now that I didn't mention the <Ctrl+Y> trick. You can modify a
series format, select the next series and then pressing Y while keeping the
Ctrl button pressed repeats the last command (i.e. the formatting changes)
for the next series. This works btw on the Office level - the reverse is
Ctrl-Z which undo the last command. I thought this was commonly known so I
didnt think that this was what you were looking for.
 
Thanks Hek,
I'll give that a try.
I should have mentioned, that my chart is actually in an Access 97 database
application, so it's probably using MSGraph 97. So... there's no spreadsheet behind the
graph, but rather a data query.
The two charts are on a report, and I've got them all set up OK right now.
Thanks a lot for the help.
If you ever have an Access question, let me know... I'll try to return the favor.
 
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