How toВ Calculate a Placeholder ValueTo find the placeholder value,В I took the FY18 number minus the FY07 number and divided that by 11. Dotted lines are great for visualizing estimates or uncertainty.So how did I do this? How toВ Add Placeholder Data to Your TableYou need to fill in some placeholder numbers with estimated values.In this example, weвЂ™ll make our line increase by 5.27% each year. Using Dotted Lines to Show UncertaintyWe used a dotted line to connect two points on the graph. Nothing.And,В thereвЂ™s all this white spaceВ between FY07 and FY17,В which is obviously not going to work. Second, what if your datesВ donвЂ™tВ go in order?В What if youвЂ™ve got data for one point in timeвЂ¦ and then you skip a big chunk in the middle?You can create an Excel line chart with more than 1 plot line by creating a new chart from multiple columns of data or adding a new column to an existing.First,В I tried filling in my table with the few data points that were available.Excel doesnвЂ™t quite know what to do with that.ExcelВ didnвЂ™tВ showВ anything at all for FY07. Click the Action pop-up menu , then choose Apply to enclosed items.

For example, you can change the lineвЂ™s color, width, etc. How to ChangeВ Solid Lines to DottedВ Lines in ExcelAfter setting up your table, youвЂ™re goingВ toВ insert a line graph just like youвЂ™ve done a million times before.В By default, Excel gives you a solid line.HowВ do you get the dotted line appearance?В ThisВ part is really easy! Click Once to Edit the Entire LineIf you click once onВ the line,В youвЂ™ll notice thatВ all ofВ the dots are selected.You can edit the entire line at once, just as you normally do. I want to focus on the numbersВ that we do have data for. Selective Labeling Will Focus Your Audience on Your Years of ChoiceIn the table, youвЂ™ll notice that these placeholder valuesВ donвЂ™t have fiscal years above them.I donвЂ™tВ want every single yearвЂ™s label to show up in the graph. Increase Each Year by the Placeholder ValueThe next box is 35% plus 5.27%.

AvoidВ UsingВ Text Boxes and Shapes Whenever PossibleSometimes people think IвЂ™mВ going to InsertВ вЂ“> ShapeВ and adding some type of dashed line.While youвЂ™d get the sameВ end resultвЂ¦В that would be a lot of work.I donвЂ™t want to add text boxesВ or shapesВ on my graphs if I can avoid it.IВ work on a lotВ of automation projects, soВ the more built-in features you can have, the better.В Manually creating shapes is clunky and time-consuming. That would be way too much work! Since all but one segment would be dashed, I set the entire line to be dashed, and then set one segment to be solid. It depends on whether your graph is going into a tiny space in a Word report, or into a large slide in a PowerPoint presentation.For thisВ particular graph,В I didnвЂ™tВ change the segments to dashed lines one at a time. Experiment with a Few Different Dashed StylesYouвЂ™ll need to try a few different dashed styles.Some styles work better for smaller graphs, and some styles work better for larger graphs. You would click on the dot in this screenshot, for example, to edit just the section of line to the left of it.Right-clickВ on that dotВ and select Outline.Then, click on Dashes.

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