Axes and grid lines on visual types in Insights

When you create a chart in Insights, axis lines, axis labels, axis sort icons, and grid lines are added to the chart automatically. You can format your visuals to show or hide these if you want, and also customize the axis label size and orientation.

You can format axis lines, grid lines, and axis labels and axis sort icons for the following chart types:

  • Bar charts

  • Box plot charts

  • Combo charts

  • Histograms

  • Line charts

  • Scatter plots

  • Waterfall charts

To format axis lines, axis labels, and grid lines in a chart

  1. On the analysis page, choose the visual that you want to format.

  2. On the menu in the upper-right corner of the visual, select the format visual icon.

    The Format visual pane opens at left.

To show or hide axis lines

  1. In the Format visual pane, choose the axis that you want to format.

  2. Choose Show axis line. Clear the check box to hide the axis line for the chosen axis. Select the check box to show it.

To customize axis titles

  1. In the Format visual pane, choose the axis that you want to format.

  2. Choose Show title. Clear the check box to hide the axis title and drop-down caret icon for the chosen axis. Select the check box to show them.

  3. To change the title from the default field name, enter a title in the text box.

NOTE   In addition to the chart types listed previously in this topic, you can also customize the axis titles in pie charts, donut charts, funnel charts, heat maps, and tree maps.

To show or hide the sort icon

  1. In the Format visual pane, choose the axis that you want to format.

  2. Choose Show sort. Clear the check box to hide the sort icon for the chosen axis. Select the check box to show it.

    When you choose to remove the sort icon, the sort icon is removed from the axis. Any sorts that were applied to the visual before removing the icon are not removed from the visual.

NOTE   In addition to the chart types listed previously in this topic, you can also show or hide the sort icon in pie charts, donut charts, funnel charts, heat maps, and tree maps.

To show or hide the data zoom

  1. In the Format visual pane, choose X-axis.

  2. Choose Show data zoom. Clear the check box to hide the data zoom. Select the check box to show it.

    The data zoom bar appears automatically on charts with an X-axis that contain more than one data point. Adjust the bar from the left and right to zoom to specific data points in the chart.

NOTE   If you zoom in or out using the data zoom bar, and then choose to hide the data zoom bar, the zoom position isn't maintained. The visual zooms completely out to include all data points. Showing the data zoom again returns the visual to its previous state.

To show or hide axis labels

  1. In the Format visual pane, choose the axis that you want to format.

  2. Choose Show labels. Clear the check box to hide the axis labels for the chosen axis. Select the check box to show it.

To change the label size

  1. In the Format visual pane, choose the axis that you want to format.

  2. For Label size, choose a size.

To change the label orientation

  1. In the Format visual pane, choose the axis that you want to format.

  2. For Label orientation, choose an orientation.

To show or hide grid lines

  1. In the Format visual pane, choose the axis that you want to format.

  2. Choose Show grid lines. Clear the check box to hide grid lines for the chosen axis. Select the check box to show it.