Stacked charts misalign when printed

[Hans]

Hi,

I have two charts layed over eachother, with one's background completely
transparent, in order to be able to see all the data I want in one visible
chart (I saw that trick on one of the MVP's sites).

So aligning the two charts was already a tedious work, but now I print them
(even in print preview), the alignment gets messed up, so you can see it are
actually two charts instead of one.

Can anyone help me solve this issue? Thanks,

 

[Barb Reinhardt]

What type of charts are you stacking. Line and bar? Is the X axis label
the same for both? Please advise.

Barb Reinhardt

 

[Hans]

Hi Barb,

One chart is a simple bar chart and the other a combination of a stacked bar
and line chart: stacked bars in primary Y and line in secondary Y. The
X-axis labeling is indeed the same for both charts. I also put the minimum,
maximum and units of all three Y-axes such that they match nicely.

What I want to do with this 'complex' cart solution: I have per date a range
of data that I want to show in one clear chart:
- labour cost
- material cost
(- sum of these costs)
- selling price
- margin (%)

I've put both costs as a stacked bar in the primary axis of the first chart
together with the margin in the secondary axis. In the other chart I've only
put the selling price. When laying them over eachother the selling price
chart is in the background and its bars are wider then the stacked bars of
the cost. So, you see everything in one chart.

But if you have any suggestions as to how to solve this more easily, be my
guest, because adding data to this chart is a lot f work.

thanks,

 

[Jon Peltier]

Hans -

The solution may be difficult. The way to get the charts to line up is
to use only one chart. That is, design a combination chart that contains
all of the data in one chart. Otherwise there is no guarantee that
objects so nicely aligned on screen will remain lined up when dragged
through the printer driver.

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