I am creating charts for the valuation of startups, based on new funding rounds. I want a time axis (X) that has evenly distributed time, even though the data points may not be evenly distributed. Example: let's say we follow company X for three years: 2012, 2013 and 2014. There are five funding events: Jan-13, June-13, Dec-13, Feb-14 and Oct-14. In a traditional Excel chart, there would be five datapoints, but this will be misleading. I want a chart where the X-distance is the same for all years, and you can see graphically when in time an event occurs. I could of course create a table with every date in the time series, and then create a value for each day, only incrementing it when a new round occurs. But this is very cumbersome, and there ought to be a better way.
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Using a scatter chart with the data formatting you want for the X axis will properly space dates. Beyond, that, what you want to do is unclear, as reflected in several answers referring to entirely different things. It would help if you include a screenshot or mockup of what you want (scan a napkin drawing, if necessary).– fixer1234Commented Oct 18, 2015 at 22:47
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2 Answers
A line connects two data points. To show a step change as you describe in a comment above, you need two data points for the day when the change happens, and plot in a XY scatter chart.
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Thanks, this is exactly what I was looking for. Here is the final picture of it: snag.gy/B1Ps3.jpg– NiklasRCommented Oct 20, 2015 at 8:24
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1If my post solved your question, please do the right thing and mark it as the answer. That's how to say thanks here. Find the gray check mark to the left of the post above and click it.– teylynCommented Oct 20, 2015 at 9:01
This is built-in in Excel. Step by step (translated from German version, XL2003):
1. Select your x,y data
2. "Insert"/"Diagram"
3. Choose "Line diagram" (as an example)
4. assistant starts, proceed to step 3
5. For "primary axis", choose "time axis"
6. Finish
You can even format the time axis later on to only show months, and adjust the starting and ending point in time.
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I follow you to step 3. Then it looks like this: snag.gy/9TNuy.jpg However, in this chart, there is a a tilting line between the shifts in value. This is not what I want. The value of the company stays the same until it changes. So the lines should be all horizontal until they change value. Is that possible to achieve?– NiklasRCommented Oct 18, 2015 at 16:48
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The closest chart type to what you intend is a bar chart, not a line chart. You could try to enlarge the bar width and to allow overlap. Commented Oct 18, 2015 at 20:52
