I wanted to make a 3-dimensional plot in Excel and discovered that I cannot
do this. All you can do is make 3-D charts over two dimensions, you cannot
make 3-D plots over three dimensions. There's the surface plot, but that
only plots x and y along with the series. I want to plot true x, y, and z.
HELP!

John W. Mordosky

Hi
try:
http://www.andypope.info/charts/3drotate.htm

--
Regards
Frank Kabel
Frankfurt, Germany
"John W. Mordosky" <John W. schrieb im
Newsbeitrag ...
I wanted to make a 3-dimensional plot in Excel and discovered that I cannot
do this. All you can do is make 3-D charts over two dimensions, you
cannot
make 3-D plots over three dimensions. There's the surface plot, but that
only plots x and y along with the series. I want to plot true x, y, and
z.
HELP!

John W. Mordosky

Thank you very much for that link, it was very informative. However, I
should have been more specific, what I am trying to do is make a true
3-dimensional contour plot in Excel with an x and a y axis and the contours
describing the values that I am trying to plot along that x and y axis. Can
anyone help with that? Thanks.

"Frank Kabel" wrote:

Hi
try:
http://www.andypope.info/charts/3drotate.htm

--
Regards
Frank Kabel
Frankfurt, Germany
"John W. Mordosky" <John W. schrieb im
Newsbeitrag ...
I wanted to make a 3-dimensional plot in Excel and discovered that I cannot
do this. All you can do is make 3-D charts over two dimensions, you
cannot
make 3-D plots over three dimensions. There's the surface plot, but that
only plots x and y along with the series. I want to plot true x, y, and
z.
HELP!

John W. Mordosky

John -

I don't know if you'll call it a "true" 3D plot, but here's one way to do
it.

The x and y axes are category (label) axes, and the labels will be equally
spaced, so your x and y data values (used as labels) should be equally
spaced. The z axis is the only true "value" (numerical) axis.

Arrange the data in a rectangular range of cells. The top left cell is
empty. The rest of the top row contains x values. The rest of the left
column contains y values. The z values are in the body of the range at the
intersection of the x column and y row. Select the entire range, including
the empty cell. Click the ChartWizard, and choose the Surface chart type.

- Mike

www.mikemiddleton.com

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

"John W. Mordosky" wrote in
message ...
Thank you very much for that link, it was very informative. However, I
should have been more specific, what I am trying to do is make a true
3-dimensional contour plot in Excel with an x and a y axis and the
contours
describing the values that I am trying to plot along that x and y axis.
Can
anyone help with that? Thanks.

"Frank Kabel" wrote:

Hi
try:
http://www.andypope.info/charts/3drotate.htm

--
Regards
Frank Kabel
Frankfurt, Germany
"John W. Mordosky" <John W. schrieb
im
Newsbeitrag ...
I wanted to make a 3-dimensional plot in Excel and discovered that I
cannot
do this. All you can do is make 3-D charts over two dimensions, you
cannot
make 3-D plots over three dimensions. There's the surface plot, but
that
only plots x and y along with the series. I want to plot true x, y,
and
z.
HELP!

John W. Mordosky

Thanks for the suggestion! My x and y aren't equally spaced, but I think the
chart tells the story I was hoping for. Thanks again!

John

"Michael R Middleton" wrote:

John -

I don't know if you'll call it a "true" 3D plot, but here's one way to do
it.

The x and y axes are category (label) axes, and the labels will be equally
spaced, so your x and y data values (used as labels) should be equally
spaced. The z axis is the only true "value" (numerical) axis.

Arrange the data in a rectangular range of cells. The top left cell is
empty. The rest of the top row contains x values. The rest of the left
column contains y values. The z values are in the body of the range at the
intersection of the x column and y row. Select the entire range, including
the empty cell. Click the ChartWizard, and choose the Surface chart type.

- Mike

www.mikemiddleton.com

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

"John W. Mordosky" wrote in
message ...
Thank you very much for that link, it was very informative. However, I
should have been more specific, what I am trying to do is make a true
3-dimensional contour plot in Excel with an x and a y axis and the
contours
describing the values that I am trying to plot along that x and y axis.
Can
anyone help with that? Thanks.

"Frank Kabel" wrote:

Hi
try:
http://www.andypope.info/charts/3drotate.htm

--
Regards
Frank Kabel
Frankfurt, Germany
"John W. Mordosky" <John W. schrieb
im
Newsbeitrag ...
I wanted to make a 3-dimensional plot in Excel and discovered that I
cannot
do this. All you can do is make 3-D charts over two dimensions, you
cannot
make 3-D plots over three dimensions. There's the surface plot, but
that
only plots x and y along with the series. I want to plot true x, y,
and
z.
HELP!

John W. Mordosky

John -

You can, of course, insert sufficient extra rows and columns, and interpolate values
to the inserted X and Y values, so that it mimics equally spaced data. In addition,
you can adjust the interpolation to give a smoother surface, with a better
representation of features like saddle points, which Excel's surface charts are
pretty poor at constructing.

I have written an article about surface and contour charts:

http://pubs.logicalexpressions.com/P...cle.asp?ID=447

- Jon
-------
Jon Peltier, Microsoft Excel MVP
Peltier Technical Services
Tutorials and Custom Solutions
http://PeltierTech.com/
_______

John W. Mordosky wrote:

Thanks for the suggestion! My x and y aren't equally spaced, but I think the
chart tells the story I was hoping for. Thanks again!

John

"Michael R Middleton" wrote:


John -

I don't know if you'll call it a "true" 3D plot, but here's one way to do
it.

The x and y axes are category (label) axes, and the labels will be equally
spaced, so your x and y data values (used as labels) should be equally
spaced. The z axis is the only true "value" (numerical) axis.

Arrange the data in a rectangular range of cells. The top left cell is
empty. The rest of the top row contains x values. The rest of the left
column contains y values. The z values are in the body of the range at the
intersection of the x column and y row. Select the entire range, including
the empty cell. Click the ChartWizard, and choose the Surface chart type.

- Mike

www.mikemiddleton.com

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

"John W. Mordosky" wrote in
message ...

Thank you very much for that link, it was very informative. However, I
should have been more specific, what I am trying to do is make a true
3-dimensional contour plot in Excel with an x and a y axis and the
contours
describing the values that I am trying to plot along that x and y axis.
Can
anyone help with that? Thanks.

"Frank Kabel" wrote:


Hi
try:
http://www.andypope.info/charts/3drotate.htm

--
Regards
Frank Kabel
Frankfurt, Germany
"John W. Mordosky" <John W. schrieb
im
Newsbeitrag ...

I wanted to make a 3-dimensional plot in Excel and discovered that I
cannot
do this. All you can do is make 3-D charts over two dimensions, you
cannot
make 3-D plots over three dimensions. There's the surface plot, but
that
only plots x and y along with the series. I want to plot true x, y,
and
z.
HELP!

John W. Mordosky

Hi John,

You're right that Excel doesn't have a built-in feature to create 3-dimensional plots over three dimensions. However, there is a workaround that you can use to create a 3D plot in Excel.

Here are the steps to create a 3D plot in Excel:

1. Enter your data into Excel. You will need three columns of data: one for the x-axis, one for the y-axis, and one for the z-axis.
2. Select the data range that you want to plot.
3. Click on the Insert tab in the Excel ribbon.
4. Click on the Surface chart type in the Charts section.
5. Select the 3-D Surface chart subtype.
6. Excel will create a 3D chart over two dimensions (x and y) with the z-axis represented by the height of the chart.
7. To add the third dimension to the chart, you can use a color scale or a contour plot. To do this, click on the chart to select it, then click on the Chart Tools tab in the Excel ribbon.
8. Click on the Format tab in the Chart Tools section.
9. In the Current Selection group, select the Series option.
10. In the Format Data Series pane, select the Fill & Line tab.
11. Under Fill & Line, select the Gradient Fill option.
12. Choose a color scale or a contour plot from the options provided.
13. Adjust the settings as needed to customize the appearance of your 3D plot.

I hope this helps you create the 3D plot you were looking for in Excel. Let me know if you have any other questions!