Ok, so I've been working and sometimes computer programs are hard to work with and don't have good options or documentation. So I finally figured something that has bothered me for a while out about Apple's Numbers from the iWorks package.
Inverting the axis on a scatter chart is important in many applications. For instance for me, I wanted to plot values calculated versus depth. Moreover, I didn't want the label to be a negative number; instead I wanted the plot to begin with 0 at the top counting down with numbers increasing towards the bottom.
The way to do this, if you are given "depth" for instance (beneath the surface of the ground) is to do the following:
a) turn the depths to negative, so that they are actually the elevations beneath the surface (with an elevation of 0) or whatever values that you need to be invert similarly.
b) make the scatter plot in numbers as normal
c) in the inspector, edit the "format" for the Y-axis, for instance. Choose Custom... format.
d) create a new custom format. Push the + sign next to where you can input number formats. This will bring up another line where you can input conditions on the format.
e) Choose "If Less than 0" in the pull down menu. Now drag that icon that says "spaces" and looks like a - to in front of the integers icon under the conditional statement. Leave the line that says "If Conditions are not met" as just the integers. Now click out and your y-axis should be inverted as expected.
Hopefully this helps someone, it will at least enable me to remember this task in the future. I will also be doing similar things to make life easier for others (if they are unfortunate enough to google this page!) as I figure things out in Grad school and beyond!
A Letter To My Most Influential Teacher
14 years ago
