After completing your graphs, you will edit the appearance to get it in the appropriate format.

Excel

  1. Click on “Chart Title”.  Delete the “Chart Title”.  Recall that the description of your figure will go in your figure caption.
  2. Label the axes.
    • Click on “Add Chart Element”
    • Select “Axis Titles”
    • Pick Horizontal and then type in the appropriate title.
    • Repeat for the Vertical axis title.
    • Make sure to include units if the axis refers to a measurement.

3.  Click on the lines across the background of the graph and delete them.  In bar graphs, this will sometimes result in a lack of lines along the axes.

  • Double click on the axis that you are working with.
  • A “Format Axis” bar will show up to the right.  There are a number of choices across the top.  Click on the paint bucket.
  • Look at line options.  Select a solid line and then pick an appropriate color.  Make sure to match the color on the x-axis and y-axis.

4.  Format Axes.

  • Double click on the axis that you are working with.
  • A “Format Axis” menu will show up to the right.  There are a number of choices across the top.  Click on the bars.  Then select “Axis Options”.
  • Decide how to best display your data and select appropriate limits (“Bounds”) and divisions (“Units”) within the data.

5.  Sometimes Excel will put a border around the graph.  For this class, you will delete the extra border.

  • Click on the graph.
  • The ‘Format Chart Area’ menu will be displayed on the right.  Select the paint bucket.
  • Under ‘Border’, select ‘No line’.

6.  Color

  • Consider where your graphs will be displayed.
  • If you are printing on a black and white printer, make sure to adjust your graphs to display in grayscale.  If you need more contrast, consider using different shapes for points or different types of lines (dashed vs. solid, etc.).
  • If your graph will be displayed in color make sure that the colors have enough contrast for the viewer to tell the difference.  Consider how easy it will be to interpret.

7.  To create a figure with multiple graphs, construct each graph individually.  Then copy the graphs into Word.  Arrange them so that they are easy to view and use the “insert textbox” option to label each graph alphabetically (a., b., c., etc.); follow the letter with a period.  Include one figure caption and use the same letters to reference the specific graphs within the figure (a, b, c, etc.).

Figure caption.  Speed of fiddler crabs (Uca pugilator) in relationship to length of longest claw (a) and carapace width (b).

Data file for formatting graphs

 

Check your graph

  • Does your graph address the question you are asking ?  How well does it correspond to the statistical test you are using?
  • Did you label your axes?  Include units?
    • Did you put your predictor and response variables in appropriate places within the graph?
  • Can the reader easily see the information presented?  Is your font size appropriate?  Consider colors or gray scale depending on the mode of presentation?
  • Did you remove grid lines from the background and the border around the graph?
  • Is there a line on both the y- and x-axes?