# Charts in Excel 97

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/charts-in-excel-97/126539>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [September 1, 2002, 7:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/charts-in-excel-97/126539 "2002-09-01T07:46:49Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 5\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![dougie\_monty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/439d5e/32.png) [@dougie\_monty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dougie_monty)\
**Post date:** [September 1, 2002, 7:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/charts-in-excel-97/126539/1 "2002-09-01T07:46:49Z")

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I compiled a table, using this application, including data I gleaned from a book titled _Ride the Big Red Cars,_ about the old PE system that once flourished in the Los Angeles area (see _More of the Straight Dope_ for Cecil’s comments on this); the book included financial records for the period from 1912, when the PE first issued a separate statement (It was owned by the Southern Pacific Railroad) until 1953, when the remaining Red Car lines were taken over by Metropolitan Coach Lines.  
Anyway, when I compiled a chart from the table, I wanted the numbers along the bottom (the x-axis, apparently) to show the years. Instead the sequence of numbers in the x-axis begins at 1–first year, apparently–and goes as far as 41st year (1, 4, 7, etc.). How do I get it to replace those single numbers with the year numbers, which I had keyed in at the top of the columns? 😕 Thanks very much.

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**Author:** ![Urban\_Ranger](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/e9c0ed/32.png) [@Urban\_Ranger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Urban_Ranger)\
**Post date:** [September 1, 2002, 9:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/charts-in-excel-97/126539/2 "2002-09-01T09:51:59Z")

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When you create a chart, choose “custom.” The initial dialogue box should have two tabs, one labelled “sequences” (or something like that). At the bottom of this tab you can select a row or column from the table as the labels for the major axis.

Hope this helps.

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**Author:** ![Boyo\_Jim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/87869e/32.png) [@Boyo\_Jim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boyo_Jim)\
**Post date:** [September 1, 2002, 1:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/charts-in-excel-97/126539/3 "2002-09-01T13:50:27Z")

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You should also be able to right click on the chart and choose “Source Data”. You will be able to specify a cell range as the source of the X and/or y axes.

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**Author:** ![Urban\_Ranger](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/e9c0ed/32.png) [@Urban\_Ranger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Urban_Ranger)\
**Post date:** [September 1, 2002, 5:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/charts-in-excel-97/126539/4 "2002-09-01T17:26:36Z")

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Yes, you can do that, but that only affects the data points in the graph, not the labels of the axes.

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**Author:** ![dougie\_monty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/439d5e/32.png) [@dougie\_monty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dougie_monty)\
**Post date:** [September 2, 2002, 11:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/charts-in-excel-97/126539/5 "2002-09-02T11:05:11Z")

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Thanks to both; I’ll try it.  
Dougie\_monty 🙂