Preparing charts for output

As well as editing the standard chart options, there are many tools you can use to improve your charts for printing or publication. These appear in the Chart Tools Gallery of the Edit Chart dialog. We feature a few below; there are many more to explore.

Click the Edit button to change a wide range of aspects of the graph, add titles, and use various tools to customise the chart. One of the most useful tools allows you to drag the chart labels - very useful if you have a cluster of points with overlapping labels. Click the Edit button, then the Tools tab of the Edit dialog, the Add... button, and choose 'Drag Marks'. Click the "Add" button, then on the next dialog box, click "Close". When the chart is displayed, you will find that the cursor displays as a hand symbol on hovering over a data label, allowing you to drag the label to the desired position.

NOTE: any alteration of other aspects of the graph will cause the labels to return to their original position. Therefore, moving the labels should be the last alteration you make before printing or exporting the graph.

If the new group perimeter method is not appropriate to your needs, you may find it useful to draw lines on a chart, to separate groups or clusters of points, for instance on an MDS plot (below).

•	Click the Chart Edit button, choose the Tools tab - Add... button, and from the list of tools, choose Draw Line. If you click on the Pen button, you can specify the type and colour of the line.

•	When you have made your choice, click 'Close' to return to the program, where you can simply draw lines with the mouse. Lines, once drawn, can be dragged to the position required.

•	To alter the line type or colour, open the Tools tab again, click on Draw Line, and make the changes you require.

•	To remove lines from a plot, go to the Tools tab, click on Draw Line, and press the Delete button.

Annotations can be very useful if, for instance, there are a large number of points on your chart and you wish only to label a few of them. To add annotations:

•	With the chart showing, click on the Edit button to show the editing screen, select the Tools tab; click Add, and from the 'Other' tab on the Chart Tools Gallery screen, select Annotation from the list of tools.

•	Enter the text you want on your annotation into the text box on the Options tab, and then use Position: Custom to manoeuvre the label into the desired position. Use the options on the other tabs to change font, shading, outline and other details.

•	To add another annotation, click Add, and select Annotation again.

•	With the chart showing, click on the set-square icon to show the editing screen. Click on the Titles tab (on the Chart tab) to show the following screen:

Note that there are very many options on the Edit screen and it is worth a few minutes' experimentation to see what sort of effects are available to enhance your charts for publication or display.

When you have performed an analysis, if you enable the plot legend, the groups will be displayed on the legend:

If you wish, you can change the order in which the Groups are displayed in the legend; click the Edit Chart button, and on the Series tab, select a Group, and use the Up or Down arrow to move it into the order you want. When an item is shifted up or down the list, its position on the chart legend will change accordingly.