Show Gridlines in a chart

You can also show alternating bands of color in the chart background that correspond to your axis grid lines.

You can change the scale for the major and minor gridlines using the Axis Range property.

Procedure

  1. Select the Y-axis or the X-axis of the chart.
  2. To show alternating bands of color as your chart background, do the following:
    1. In the Properties pane, double-click the Gridlines property.
    2. Select the Show alternating color bands check box.
    3. Set the color and transparency of the first and second colors.
  3. To show major gridlines as your chart background, do the following:
    1. In the Properties pane, double-click the Gridlines property.
    2. Select the Show major gridlines check box.
    3. Set the color, style, and weight of the major gridlines.
    4. If you are working with a gauge chart, specify the length of the gridline.
  4. To show minor gridlines as your chart background, do the following:
    1. In the Properties pane, double-click the Minor gridlines property.
    2. Select the Show minor gridlines check box.
    3. Set the color, style, and weight of the minor gridlines.
    4. If you are working with a gauge chart, specify the length of the gridline.
    5. To specify by how many minor intervals to divide the major intervals, in the Properties pane, type a number in the Number of Minor Intervals property.
  5. To specify the color, style, and weight of major gridlines do the following:
    1. Select the Show major gridlines check box.
    2. Click Line color and choose a color for the major gridlines.
    3. To specify the thickness of the gridlines, click Point size and select a line weight from the list.
    4. Click a line style in the Line style list.
  6. To specify the color, style, and weight of minor gridlines:
    1. In the Properties pane, under General, double-click the Minor Gridlines property.
    2. Select the Show minor gridlines check box.
    3. Click Line color and choose a color for the minor gridlines.
    4. To specify the thickness of the gridlines, click Point size and select a line weight from the list.
    5. Click a line style in the Line style list.
    6. To change the transparency of the gridlines, type a percentage in the Transparency box.