Scatter chart with colors and shapes based off of values

I would probably combine the conditional formatting technique I demonstrate here https://www.excelforum.com/tips-and-...p-example.html with the conditional formatting based on color like Jon Peltier describes here: https://peltiertech.com/conditional-...-excel-charts/

Overview:
1) You have three different colors, so you will need three data series (three rows in the spreadsheet) -- One for each color. Follow Peltier's tutorial to set this up and add the three data series to your chart. At some point, format each data series to have no line and no marker.
2) For the "smiley" text symbols, add a fourth row for data label text, populate this row with the desired smiley face based on the conditions. Then use this row for the data labels (centered). If you are still using 2010 as indicated in your profile, it is much easier to use a third party addin like Rob Bovey's that I talk about in my tutorial. If you have upgraded to 2013 or newer, you should find this functionality native to Excel (somewhere in the data label text options). Format the data labels to use the Wingdings font and the desired font color.

That should give you the desired text "shape" for each point with the desired color.

Bonus suggestion. Rather than using drawing shapes for the background colors in the chart, I would probably use a technique like this: https://peltiertech.com/shaded-quadr...scatter-chart/

You don't say what difficulty you are having, so I'm not sure what to recommend. To be clear, my tutorial basically replaces the built in symbol with a data label containing the desired text character you want to use. In the OP, you showed different smiley faces (characters J, K, L using the Wingdings font). This technique can work for any character you can find a character + font combination for. In my example, I used the UNICODE characters 10102-10110 (numbers enclosed in dark circles characters) and a font that supports those Unicode characters. Most of those other shapes are available in different character + font combinations. It will have trouble if you choose symbols from different fonts, but, as long as you choose symbols from the same font, this technique should work.

You mention the possibility of using the build in chart marker icons. (I did not suggest this previously because you used smiley faces which are not a build in chart marker icon) If this is the route you want to go, then you just need to extend the technique you are already using. I expect you have three data series based on color. To get symbol+color combination, extend that so that you have a different row/data series for each marker + color combination.
row/dataseries 1 -- red square -- formula to test conditions and return value if it fits the criteria for red square or NA() if not.
row/dataseries 2 -- yellow square -- formula to test conditions and return value if it fits the criteria for yellow square or NA() if not.
row/dataseries 3 -- green square -- formula to test conditions and return value if it fits the criteria for green square or NA() if not.
and so on through 3x3=9 color+symbol combinations. Add each row/dataseries as a separate data series to the chart and format accordingly.

If you help me understand what you are having trouble with using data labels, I can help you with that approach. Or, if you just want to use the built in chart symbols (like square, circle, triangle, etc.), then extending the technique you are currently using may be easier.

So each color could also be each one of those shapes.

If I understand the question here, yes. Each color + symbol combination is its own dataseries, and you can have as many dataseries as you want (up to Excel's built in limits -- which are probably way beyond anything that you are likely to encounter).

That looks good. I don't think I would change anything.

I would guess that it is a misunderstanding of how "stacked" charts work. Looking just at the leftmost group of stacked areas:

1) The first (invisible) one extends from the top down to 1.
2) The second (grey) one extends from 1 up 1.5 units to 2.5.
3) The third (dark blue) one extends from the top of the previous (2.5) up 2 units to 4.5
4) The fourth (light blue) one extends from the top of the previous (4.5) up 2.5 units to 7
5) The top (light grey) one extends from the top of the previous (7) up 4 units to 11.

If that is not what you want, then you need to adjust the values in the spreadsheet so that they stack appropriately. If you want the bottom grey stack to end at 1.5, the value in E10:E11 needs to be 0.5.

Yes, you can use VBA to bypass many of Excel's dialogs, including the properties in the format axis dialogs. Whether it is worth the effort depends on why you are trying to bypass the dialog (usually because you will need to frequently change the axis scale properties). In this case, if I understand, it seems like you would need to format the axes once and then never need to change them again, so it seems like more work than necessary.

This tutorial discusses the idea: https://peltiertech.com/link-excel-c...lues-in-cells/ Note the link at the end to another tutorial that offers a different VBA approach.

You can remove individual entries from the legend by:

1) click on the legend to select the legend
2) click on the legend entry you want to delete so that only that entry is selected.
3) press the Del key.