Saad -

Try this. Start your year data in 1895, and include 1896-1899 in the list. Put the
pre- data next to 1895, then leave 1896-1899 blank, and continue with 1900.

Make the chart (this will work with a scatter or line chart). Double click on the X
axis, select the Number tab, click on Custom in the list of categories, then in the
Type box, enter this:

[=1895]"pre-";0

What this does is display 1895 as "pre-", but still treats it as the numerical value
1895. If you're using a scatter chart, set the minimum to 1895 and the major unit to
5. If it's a line chart, set the ticks between labels to 5. With the chart still
selected, go to the Tools menu, Options, click on the Chart tab, and choose
Interpolate for Plot Empty Cells As.

- Jon
-------
Jon Peltier, Microsoft Excel MVP
Peltier Technical Services
Tutorials and Custom Solutions
http://PeltierTech.com/
_______

afsarul wrote:
Thank you for the reply. I'm not sure if I understood you clearly, but
the method you suggested for me would not be valid, since the 'pre-'
label contains significant data that I cannot ignore.

Maybe to explain myself a bit more. I have a data range that starts at
'pre-' and ends at '2025'. The interval is yearly i.e pre-, 1900, 1901,
1902, 1903...2025 (with the exception of the 'pre-' which is data summed
from years preceding 1900). I would like the x-axis to read pre-, 1900,
1905, 1910, 1915 ... 5 years ..., 2025. Instead it reads pre-, 1904,
1909, 1914, 1919 .... 5 years .... 2024. It doesn't change whether its
a line or scatter and the category spacing is at 5.

Still your help is appreciated, my Masters is seemingly hanging on this
trivial issue.

Regards,

Saad