Formatting a Least-Squares Graph Using
Microsoft Excel
Background Color
Right-click anywhere on the background. Click on
Format Plot Area... Under
Border,
select the style, color and weight (or none) of the box around the graph. Under
Area, select
white for a white background. Click
OK.
Text Font
Double-click on the graph title, axis title, legend or the equation of the line. Click on the
Font tab. Select the
Font:,
Font Style: and
Size: for the text. Click
OK.
Axis Scale
Double-click on the axis. Click on the
Scale tab. Set the
Minimum: and
Maximum:
values to be used for the axis. The
Major unit: is the increment to be used for tick marks and
axis labels.
Moving Objects
Click on the equation of the line or legend box (a highlighted box will appear). Click and
drag one of the squares surrounding the box to move the text to a different position on the graph.
Portrait vs. Landscape Orientation
Click on
Page Setup... under
File on the menu bar. Click on the
Page tab, and click on
the radio button next to either
Portrait or
Landscape under
Orientation to select the orientation
of the graph on the page. Click on
OK.
Line Style
Double-click in the line. Under
Patterns, select the style, color and weight for the line.
Data Point Style
Click the first data point in the series (the first and last data points should be highlighted).
Move the mouse cursor over the last data point in the series until
Series 1 (m,n) appears in the
yellow information box (m and n are the number of rows and columns in your data). Right-click.
Click on
Format Data Series... Click on the
Patterns tab. Under
Marker, select the style and
size for the data point marker.
Resizing
Click anywhere in the background of the graph (a box surrounding the graph will appear).
Move the mouse cursor to any of the small, black squares embedded in the box (you should see
a double arrow appear). Click and drag to make the graph larger or smaller.
Repositioning
Click on the
Chart tab under the
Page Setup... menu under
File on the menu bar. Click
on the radio button next to
Custom under
Printed Chart Size. Click on the
Margins tab. Click
on the checkboxes next to both
Horizontally and
Vertically under
Center on page (you can use
the
Margins spacings to position a small figure where you want it on a page). Click on
OK.
Headers/Footers
Click on the
Header/Footer tab under the
Page Setup... menu under
File on the menu
bar. Click on either the
Custom Header... or
Custom Footer... button and enter the text that
you want in the
Center Section: box. Click on
OK. Click on
OK.
Print Preview
Click on
Print Preview under
File on the menu bar at any time to see how your graph
will look when it is printed.
Printing
Click on
Print... under
File on the menu bar. Click
OK.