Excel 2000, surface chart gridlines

[email protected] · Jan 24th 2003

I am charting data using the Contour option of the Surface chart. Because I have quite few data points (100x500) the wireframe or gridlines obscure the colours beneath.

I have turned off gridlines but this makes no difference.

Any clues?

Dave Hawley · Jan 25th 2003

Hi Ed

Are you talking about Worsheet gridlines or the Major and Minor gridlines via "Chart Options" ?

[email protected] · Jan 25th 2003

I discovered that if I edit the colours in the legend that I loose the black lines around each and every datat point on the chart. However, now I have reinstated the gridlines they sit behind the colours of the chart.

Is it possible to make the major gridlines visible, in front of the colours of the chart?

Jon Wharf · Jan 27th 2003

That's really useful, Ed - if I ever knew that by editting the legend key you can turn off the construction grid on contour charts I've deeply forgotten it.

As for putting contour lines on (if that's what you mean) - are your colours so smoothly graded that the transitions are not visible?

Jon

[email protected] · Jan 27th 2003

Ideally I would like both contour lines and x/y gridlines on the major values of the x/y axes.

Any ideas?

[email protected] · Feb 1st 2003

Any news?

**Andy Pope** · Mar 15th 2003

I know this is a bit late but.....

I did some playing around with a surface chart. Seems that there is a strong relationship between the surface area legend key and the gridlines.

So, if you remove the border from the legend key the outline of the surface also disappears. Taking with it the gridlines.

If you make the border bold or dashed the grid lines across the corresponding surface value also become bold or dashed.

The only way I could get gridlines was by overlaying charts. The top chart has no chartarea or plot area fill. The legend entries would need there area and border set to none.

Now given I just said the gridlines reflect the legend key characteristics you would have thought the gridlines would also vanish, but NO.

I don't really like suggesting over laying charts but you can not combine chart styles that include a surface plot. The reason being that Excel will not allow combinations of 2d and 3d charts.
And it looks like the 2d surface chart is really the same as the 3d surface chart as viewed from directly above.

Anyhow thought I would share the info.:D

Excel 2000, surface chart gridlines

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