Purpose: Automatically apply labels to XY scatter charts in Excel
My use: I have used it for analysis tasks in my work as a Market Researcher and Market Planner
Where can you get it: http://www.appspro.com/Utilities/ChartLabeler.htm
Platforms: Windows, Mac
If you do charting in Excel and have ever worked with XY scatter charts, you know what a pain in the a** it is to apply a third label on the X/Y points in a scatter chart. Excel will allow users to label the points with either the X-value, Y-value, or both, but not a third column of labels. I have been waiting for this option through several iterations of the software (Office 97 through 2007), alas it has never shown up. Instead, for my work I have been forced to use text boxes and manual labeling of XY charts. Sadly, I'm not a VB programmer.
All that changed when I found XY Chart Labeler from AppsPro. The have created a freeware add-on to MS Excel (Windows) that provides a dialogue box for adding in those pesky labels on XY charts. It allows users to add labels in automatically by picking a placement relative to the data points (above, left, right, bottom, centered) and highlighting the field of labels. It will also allow for manual placement. Best of all, it will match the appropriate labels to your data points. Just make sure you select the same number of labels as you have data points. In Excel 2007 the XY Chart Labeler must be installed as an add-in.
Also, note that the authors state "Even though this utility is called the XY Chart Labeler, it is capable of labeling any type of Excel chart series that will accept data labels." Cool!
The only real bug I have found in the software so far is that when it adds in the labels to a chart sometimes it fails to apply a color to the labels so they are applied invisible (no color applied/chosen). No worries - just click on the spot where a label should appear and change the font color to black and you are good to go. This little bug is a small price to pay for such a useful add-on to Excel.
[ Note: For you Linux types, I have tested the Open Office suite (Calc) which does offer scatter chart labeling but I just don't find Calc to be as full featured as MS Office when it comes to creating charts. For Mac users, AppsPro does offer a version for Mac but according to the authors it is not as full featured as the Windows version. I don't own a Mac and have not tried this alternative.]
Below is a screen shot. It shows the data, the chart, and the XY Chart Labeler dialogue window. It's pretty simple if you ask me, but it does need to be installed in Excel as an add-in.
Thank You AppsPro!
Give it a try - what do you think? How does the Mac/Apple version perform? Do you have a better free option for XY chart labeling tasks? Have you seen other similar free add-ins for Excel that you can share?
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