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charting outliers - break the vertical axis?

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    charting outliers - break the vertical axis?

    Hi all,
    See the attached sample workbook. The two charts are before and after adding the most recent data - which has massive outliers on half the plotted series, due to lockdown2. I don't want to lose the visual on the rest of the data in the way that including the outliers makes happen.
    My immediate thought was I guess I'll have to break the vertical axis, not having done it before I needed to find out how and found this.
    https://peltiertech.com/broken-y-axis-in-excel-chart/

    I generally agree it gives a better way. If you're using a bar chart.
    However, my chart is a line graph, and the dummy series he creates plot separately rather than hiding behind the original bars, because they're not bars. As such it's simply not going to work.

    Anyone got a suggestion?

    For context, and to forestall suggestions to just remove the outlier, this won't just be a one-off blip, I'm working on this week's data and series E and F continue roughly where they are, increasing slightly, and series B and C DECREASE, I expect that to continue until lockdown is over, when we'll see D and E spring back down and B and C start to recover again.

    Thanks in advance
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    Re: charting outliers - break the vertical axis?

    You did not include your attempts at a panel chart, so I cannot comment on what you attempted and did or did not like about it. My thought was similar to what he talks about in this blog post in the "Use multiple charts or make a panel chart" section (that includes line chart examples): https://peltiertech.com/chart-a-wide-range-of-values/ He links to the same tutorial you did for details on how to make the panel chart. I guess I'm unconvinced that a panel chart cannot work for this.

    If it helps, here's another tutorial that shows three lines in a panel chart: https://peltiertech.com/Excel/Charts...venScales.html This might be particularly interesting if you decide you need another panel to show the detail in the "outlier" region of E and F.

    I guess I would still be inclined to use a panel chart -- just work out the bugs in the panel chart you have already tried.
    Quote Originally Posted by shg
    Mathematics is the native language of the natural world. Just trying to become literate.

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    Re: charting outliers - break the vertical axis?

    Thanks for the link, I had a trawl myself and couldn't find any similar guide to panel line graph. I don't have my attempt anymore, had the dummy series plotted appearing separately. Maybe I was doing something wrong, but given I didn't have the line graph specific instructions, that's not surprising.
    If I struggle further I'll come back. Not gonna mark solved until I've had a proper look through the guide and got working output, that'd just tempt fate...

    Thanks muchly.

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