So, you are looking to remove, say, 2 of every three data points...

Try this...

assuming your data is in cells A2 - A3600

=IF(MOD(ROW(A2),3)=0,"","X")

Then, filter your data, use the drop-down to select your X fields, then
delete those rows. this will leave @ 1000 records acrosss your spectrum.

"Vance" wrote:

I have a data set of roughly 3600 data points and would like to convert it to
1000 data points while still maintaining the shape of the curve. I am
currently using excel 2007, but I need the file to be compatible with the
older versions of excel as well.