Multipanel Charts

[William]

Hello,
I'm trying to create a multipanel chart or trellis display graph. I've seen
the only two sites that talk about these and have examples,
www.processtrends.com and www.peltiertech.com, but I'm having a difficult
time understanding it. The processtrends site has a good example of the
vertical panel chart, but there's no instruction on how to actually create
the chart from the data. The other aspect is that both sites require the
values be converted into a value range. My question is can the charts be
created with current values, since the values are close enough ranges using
minimum and maxium values ? What is the best way to create these charts?
Here's the type of data (made up numbers):
Demand Visits Appts Referrals
1/1/2005 503 442 174 329
2/1/2005 442 499 154 288
3/1/2005 442 522 118 324
4/1/2005 357 350 116 241
5/1/2005 497 384 170 327

Thanks in advance.

 

[Jon Peltier]

You have to convert the values so that the points fit within the panels
you've defined.

Excel and other plotting software does this behind the scenes, converting
the values according to the axis scales and the axis size (e.g., pixels), to
make the points fit in the chart. If you ever made a chart the old fashioned
way, with pencil and ruler, you did the same.

You could plot your sample data in a regular chart (i.e., in a single panel)
because the values are close but not too close, and there is not much
overlap. One advantage of the panels is that you can set them up so each
series fits nicely in a panel, and can have its panel's axis scale
independently of the others. Another advantage of a panel is to show data on
the same scale, but separately, so one series doesn't obscure another.

I don't know if there's a "best" way to do this. I've made perhaps hundreds
of these charts, so my way is pretty well developed, and if I've left out
any steps, it's because I forget to note all the minor adjustments I make
subconsciously that others wouldn't know to make. If you have specific
difficulties with my procedures, email me and I'll try to clarify the
instructions. On these pages I have rather detailed instructions:

http://peltiertech.com/Excel/ChartsHowTo/PanelChart1.html
http://peltiertech.com/Excel/ChartsHowTo/PanelUnevenScales.html

- Jon