View Single Post
  #12   Report Post  
Posted to microsoft.public.excel.programming
Rich K[_3_] Rich K[_3_] is offline
external usenet poster
 
Posts: 8
Default how to plot a chart with 3 axes?

More than just looking nice, the ability to have multiple axes can be
viewed as essential in some professions, such as engineering.
Multiple Y axes can actually aid in solving problems quickly by visual
comparison. For example, comparisons of temperatures, pressures and
other (transient) data can directly isolate issues in engine
manufacturing and testing. This includes stalls, sensor problems
etc...

Therefore, some people can find multiple axes plots to be not only
clear and accessible, but essential.

On Apr 20, 2:46*pm, "Jon Peltier"
wrote:
The vast majority of users of these newsgroups post on top. If you follow
suit, it will be easier to follow a thread.

I stand by my statement. While there are subsets of users that are
accustomed tomultipleaxis charts, even these users can be initially
distracted if theaxesare not carefully planned and executed. IMOmultipleaxesalong the left side of a chart is one of the most confusing ways to
accomplishmultiplescales. The user has to do a lot of work to correlate
each series to a particular scale. With the data overlapping, the impulse to
treat artifacts as real is hard to resist. Such an artifact would be where a
curve plotted on one scale intersects a second curve plotted on its own
scale.

The advantage of a panel type chart is that it simplifies the scales for
each panel, and it eliminates artifacts. You can still clearly compare in a
panel chart the positions of peaks, plateaus, slope changes, etc., in
different series.

I was trained as a scientist and worked as an engineer for two decades. I've
wrestled with many techniques for displaying information, and I've seen
cleverly designed axis scale mechanisms lead to much more confusion than
elucidation. The few situations that meritmultiplescales have been where
opposite scales show alternated units for a given quantity, such as the
Fahrenheit and Celsius example I gave in one of the pages I cited, or where
a subset of data is displayed in a corner of the chart, as an inset, though
with perhaps one of theaxesof the inset aligned with the axis of the main
chart.

I realize that you've got a product to sell, and in fact it looks like a
pretty well designed utility. The problem is that it makes it easy for
people to make nice looking but confusing charts.

- Jon
-------
Jon Peltier, MicrosoftExcelMVP
Tutorials and Custom Solutions
Peltier Technical Services, Inc. -http://PeltierTech.com
_______

"Rich K" wrote in message

...
On Apr 19, 1:46 pm, "Jon Peltier"
wrote: The capability to addmultipleaxeslooks nice, but it tends to confuse more
than help.


http://www.perceptualedge.com/articl...xes-that-work-...





- Jon
-------
Jon Peltier, MicrosoftExcelMVP
Tutorials and Custom Solutions
Peltier Technical Services, Inc. -http://PeltierTech.com
_______


"Rich K" wrote in message


...
Or for moreY-axesinExcel, try Multy_Y or EZplot atwww.OfficeExpander.com..
There is a Demo version to try.
Cheers!


On Apr 18, 5:48 am, "Peter T" <peter_t@discussions wrote:


If I follow, you want the normal x-axis and two verticaly-axes, the
secondaryy-axis on the right of your chart.


Rt-click your second series and Select Object (or double click the
series),
select the 'Axis' tab and select the Secondary Axis option.


Regards,
Peter T


wrote in message


....


Hello, i have 3 columns and i want to have the normalyand x axis,
but on the other side of the plot
i'd like to have also a z axis.
For example i want to plot a curve that is a function of x:y=f(x) and
Z=g(x) on the same plot and haveyon one side and z on the other
side.


Thanks, contact me also via email


More than just looking nice, the ability to havemultipleaxesis
viewed as essential in some professions, such as engineering.MultipleYaxesprovide more than a "magnitude" comparison, but can
actually aid in solving problems quickly by visual comparison. *For
example, comparisons of temperatures, pressures and other (transient)
data can directly isolate issues in engine manufacturing and testing.
This includes stalls, sensor problems etc...

Therefore, it is a bit overstated to declare thatmultipleaxesplots
are confusing when many people view them as not only clear and
accessible, but essential.