Graphing (more) like a Pro

Ever noticed the differences between a stock-standard excel XY graph and graphs you see in papers published in Journals? They tend to look cleaner and professional whilst the standard ones in excel (minus tweaking) look like a high school project?

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So here are some tips to get a more professional look:


1. Get rid of the gray background (Right click & Format Plot Area)

2. Get rid of gridlines, unless they really do add value to your data (Right click & Chart Options)


Quite often a single dotted line to show a threshold value will suffice and at the same time save clutter on your graph.


3. Choose appropriate scaling and keep the axes out of the graph area by choosing where the x and y axes cross each other (Right click the axes, format, scale)


4. Put ticks whether major or minor on the inside. (right click, format, patterns)


5. Keep axes labels short and sweet and give the units in brackets, eg. time [seconds]


6. Place the legend in the graph, this gives a bigger graph view in the same space and its easier for your readership to see where the legend is.


7. Use markers and lines sizing carefully to make the data clear. You often don't need both markers and lines.


8. Don't put too many series on one graph unless it really is necessary.