Log scale limitations

[rose]

As long as I can remember Excel cannot plot a graph with axes in log scale
from, say, 25 to 160. In this example Excel would overwrite the scale to
range from 1 to 1000, always multiples of 10. This is a big limitation in
the engineering world. What's funny is, that the spreadsheet program in
StarOffice has the same limitation. Programs like Matlab or Mathematica
don't.

 

[RichardG]

Hi Rose,

I have the same feeling and was frustated with Excel's log scale
limitations. With that, I created my own log scale charting program.
Initially using the Excel chart book written by John Walkenbach,
http://j-walk.com/ss/about/, as a way to learn how to create a dummy
axis, I now have my own log chart Excel spreadsheet. I am no longer
handicapped by the x-axis always being a multiple of ten. It is not an
elegant program, most of it is done by brute force, but I am happy for
now.

With this newsgroup and others, I am learning to take my 'brute force'
method programs and apply more efficient programming methods and
techniques.

Regards,

RichardG

 

[Jon Peltier]

Richard, Rose -

The trick is to make your own arbitrary axis, using log values you've calculated in
the sheet, and apply customized data labels. John shows this technique in his
Charting book, Tushar Mehta shows this in his Flexible Log Scale example on his web
site (http://tushar-mehta.com), and I show the approach in general and with other
examples starting here:

http://peltiertech.com/Excel/Charts/ArbitraryAxis.html

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