## Format Category(X) Axis dialog

This dialog appears when you double-click a category(X) axis of a chart or right-click a chart and then select Format Axes > Format Category(X) Axis from the shortcut menu. It helps you to format the category(X) axis of a chart, and consists of the following five tabs:

- Axis tab
- Tick Mark tab
- Font tab
- Orientation tab
- Format tab

OK

Applies the changes and close the dialog.

Cancel

Does not retain any changes and close the dialog.

Apply

Applies all changes and leave the dialog open.

Help

Displays this help document.

### Axis tab

Specifies the general properties for the category(X) axis of the chart. See the tab.

Option

Specifies the options for the category(X) axis.

- Number of Labels
  Specifies how many labels to be displayed in the category(X) axis.
- Label Every N Tick Marks
  Specifies whether to display a label every N tick marks.
- Draw Ticks Only
  Specifies whether to show the labels on the category(X) axis.
- Show Gridlines
  Specifies whether to show the horizontal gridlines in the chart.
- Show Axis Label Tips
  Specifies whether to display the complete label text when the mouser pointer points at a label on the category(X) axis.

Line

Specifies the line style for the category(X) axis.

- Color
  Specifies the color of the category(X) axis.
- Transparency
  Specifies the transparency for the color of the category(X) axis.
- Style
  Specifies the style for the line of the category(X) axis.
- Thickness
  Specifies the thickness for the line of the category(X) axis.

Labels

Specifies the properties for the labels on the category(X) axis.

- Label Axis Gap
  Specifies the distance between the label and the category(X) axis.
- Best Effect
  Specifies whether to adjust the labels automatically to make them placed best.

If the category(X) axis is used to show numeric data of a scatter or a bubble chart, the following options will be available. See the tab.

Option

Specifies the options for the category(X) axis.

- Minimum Value
  Specifies the minimum value that is to be displayed on the category(X) axis.
- Maximum Value
  Specifies the maximum value that is to be displayed on the category(X) axis.
- Increment
  Specifies the difference between two adjacent values on the category(X) axis.
- Number of Tick Marks
  Specifies how many tick marks to be displayed on the category(X) axis.
- Draw Axis Only
  Specifies whether to show the labels on the category(X) axis.
- Show Gridlines
  Specifies whether to show the horizontal gridlines in the chart.

Line

Specifies the line style for the category(X) axis.

- Color
  Specifies the color of the category(X) axis.
- Transparency
  Specifies the transparency for the color of the category(X) axis.
- Style
  Specifies the style of the category(X) axis.
- Thickness
  Specifies the thickness of the category(X) axis.

Labels

Specifies the properties for the labels on the category(X) axis.

- Label Axis Gap
  Specifies the distance between the label and the category(X) axis.
- Best Effect
  Specifies whether to adjust the labels on the category(X) axis automatically to make them placed best.

### Tick Mark tab

Specifies the properties of tick marks on the category(X) axis. See the tab.

Tick Mark

Specifies the general properties for all the tick marks on the category(X) axis.

- Correlate with Axis
  If checked, the settings tick mark labels will correlate with the line settings of the axis automatically.
  - Color
    Specifies the color for all the tick marks on the category(X) axis.
  - Style
    Specifies the type for tick marks on the category(X) axis.
  - Transparency
    Specifies the transparency for the tick marks on the category(X) axis.
  - Thickness
    Specifies the thickness for the tick marks on the category(X) axis.

Major Tick Mark

Specifies the properties of the major tick marks on the category(X) axis.

- None
  If selected, major tick marks will not be shown on the category(X) axis.
- Inside
  If selected, major tick marks will be inside the chart.
- Outside
  If selected, major tick marks will be outside the chart.
- Cross
  If selected, major tick marks will be across the category(X) axis.
- Major Tick Length
  Specifies the length of major tick marks on the category(X) axis.

Minor Tick Mark

Specifies the properties of the minor tick marks on the category(X) axis.

- None
  If selected, minor tick marks will not be shown on the category(X) axis.
- Inside
  If selected, minor tick marks will be inside the chart.
- Outside
  If selected, minor tick marks will be outside the chart.
- Cross
  If selected, minor tick marks will be across the chart.
- Minor Tick Length
  Specifies the length for the minor tick marks on the category(X) axis.

### Font tab

Specifies the font format of the tick mark labels on the category(X) axis. See the tab.

Font

Specifies the font format of text in the tick mark labels.

- Font list
  Lists all the available font faces that can be selected to apply to the text.
- Font Size
  Specifies the font size of the text.
- Font Color
  Specifies the font color of the text.
- Transparency
  Specifies the transparency of the text.
- Rotation
  Specifies the rotation angle of the text around its center, in degrees. The default value is 0.
- Shearing
  Specifies the gradient of the text.

Effects

Specifies the special effects of text in the tick mark labels.

- Style
  Specifies the font style of the text. It can be one of the following: plain, bold, italic, and bold italic.
- Strikethrough
  Specifies the style of the horizontal line with which the text is struck through. It can be one of the following: none, thin line, bold line, and double lines.
- Underline
  Specifies the style of the horizontal line under the text. It can be one of the following: none, single, single lower, bold line, bold lower, double lines, bold double, patterned line, and bold patterned.
- Superscript
  Raises the text above the baseline and changes the text to a smaller font size, if a smaller size is available.
- Embossed
  Makes the text appear to be raised off the page in relief.
- Outlined
  Displays the inner and outer borders of each character.
- Subscript
  Lowers the text below the baseline and changes the text to a smaller font size, if a smaller size is available.
- Engraved
  Makes the text appear to be imprinted or pressed into the page.
- Shadowed
  Adds a shadow beneath and to the right of the text.

Sample

Displays a sample of the specified font and any text effects.

### Orientation tab

Specifies the rotation angle of the tick mark labels on the category(X) axis. See the tab.

Automatic

Specifies to adjust the rotation angle of the label text on the axis automatically according to the length of the label text, in degrees.

When this option is checked by default:

- If the text can be completely displayed horizontally, the default rotation angle will be 0.
- If the text can not be completely displayed horizontally, the default rotation angle will be 30 anticlockwise, and the cut off part will be shown as suspension points.

Angle

Specifies to customize the rotation angle of the label text on the axis. When you change the rotation angle in the text box, the red line in the spin box will change correspondingly, and vice versa.

### Format tab

Specifies some properties for the tick mark labels on the category(X) axis. See the tab.

Category

Specifies different formats to display the tick mark labels on the category(X) axis.

- Scale
  Lists all the formats of a value of a scale type that can be applied to the tick mark labels.
- Number
  Lists all the formats of a value of a number type that can be applied to the tick mark labels.
- Date/Time
  Lists all the formats of a value of a date/time type that can be applied to the tick mark labels.
- Text
  Lists all the formats of a value of a text type that can be applied to the tick mark labels.
- Mapping
  Lists all the formats of a value of a mapping type that can be applied to the tick mark labels.

Formats

Displays all the formats of the selected category. For more details about every format, see A detailed chart property reference.

Properties

Specifies the properties for the format that you selected.

Sample

Displays the selected format effects.

Stack

Lists all the formats that you selected from different categories.

Add

Adds a format to the Stack list box.

Remove

Removes a format from the Stack list box.

Apply

Applies the specified format in the Stack list box to the tick mark labels.