Scatter Plot- How to Name the Points??

[Barklie]

Hello, I'm trying to create a scatter plot with points that are named (i.e. identified by which row they come from). I'm trying to do this so my legend will indicate specific information about the points rather than just what their coordinates are. Below is an example where the first column is my election year, the second is my actual electoral votes (X-axis values), and the third column is my predicted electoral votes (Y-axis values). Does anyone know if this can be done or how I would do it? Thanks!

Date	Actual Votes	Predicted Votes
11/2/1948	307	317
11/4/1952	89	87
11/6/1956	457	498
11/8/1960	219	332
11/3/1964	486	506

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[ParamRay]

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Yes, you can do it. But it's a bit fiddly because, for scatter charts, Excel only gives you the option to display data labels with the x value, the y value and/or the series name.

Here's what to do:
(1) Add data labels to your scatter chart;
(2) Click on the first data label so that only that data label is selected;
(3) In the formula bar type "=" (an equals sign without the quotes);
(4) Click on the cell that contains the text you want in your data label;
(5) Press Enter on the keyboard; and
(6) Repeat steps 2-5 for the remaining data labels.

Hope it helps.

 

[Barklie]

Thank you so much. I could not figure this out for the life of me.

 

[Jon Peltier]

The manual approach described by gpeacock is fine, until you get to the 12th or 15th point and there are dozens more, and your eyes are crossing. There are a couple quicker options:

If you are using Excel 2013, you can add the labels using any of the built in options, then format the labels, and use the "Labels in Cells" option, and select the range with the desired labels.

In any version of Excel, you can download and install Rob Bovey's free Chart Labeler addin from http:/appspro.com. It lets you select a range containing labels for a series of points.