Over Lapping Bubbles and Labels

  • Thread starter Thread starter Fullam
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Fullam

Can anyone advise the best way of avoiding over lapping bubbles on
bubble chart ?

I have a similar issue with the labels overlappinmg eachothe
 
Hi,

To avoid overlapping you will need to change the x and or y value of the
point. Add an offset value to either dimension to re-locate it. The
problem with that is that the point no longer truly represents the
values. How would the reader of the chart know which bubbles where
correct and which ones where shifted?
You could sort your data on bubble size (descending). This will not stop
the overlapping but should allow the smaller sizes to appear on top.

With data labels you can use 1 of 5 built-in label positions,
left/right/above/below/center. Or you can manually move it to any
position. There is no built-in function to detect and resolve
overlapping labels.

Cheers
Andy
 
Hi:

Set up yr data in two different series (A,B), assigning bubbles to each
different series. Ensure the bubble sizes are different. Format series B by
making the bubbles transparent (Right click the right series, Choose Format
Data Series / Patterns/ Area None) and make the line a contrasting colour to
Series A. Ensure the series B is on top of Series A (Right-click a series
and click Format Data Series / Tab "Series Order"). You will now see "empty"
bubbles on top of "filled" bubbles. Series A and B can be independently
labeled (and formatted for that matter). Right-click the label in the chart,
Choose Alignment and select the wanted position. Repeat for the other label,
obviously choosing a different label position than for Series A. This also
should work when bubbles partly overlap, or when one "disappears" behind a
larger one.
I hope this helps (I have Excel 2003).
vbr,
Henk
 
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