This seems like a simple question, but I can't find a solution online. I'm creating surface plots in Excel, and I wanted to see if there was a way to set the bin size for coloring. Right now Excel defaulted to 4 bins (colors) for my data, but I want to display more to have more of a gradient effect.

3 Answers

I was able to do it (if I understand your question correctly) in Excel 2007 by clicking on the vertical axis, doing right-click → Format Axis…, and then setting the “Major unit” to a Fixed value smaller than the default (“Auto”) value.

               

6

I just had the same problem. To clarify: If you're using a 2D surface plot (ie, a contour plot "viewed" from directly overhead), you can't edit the colour ranges. You need to switch to a 3D surface plot (which has all three axes), and edit the vertical axis in that. Then when you switch back to a 2D surface plot, those edited values will be applied.

0

I was working with a contour graph (2D view from overhead of a 3D surface plot) and found that if I selected Vertical (Value) Axis from the drop down on either the Layout or Format tabs (under Chart Tools), I could adjust the ranges just fine. No need to swap to a 3D view and back.

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