Adding Error Bars

X error bars indicate error along the x axis in scatter, line, bar, and QC graphs. Y error bars indicate error along the y axis in scatter, line, column, and QC graphs.

Step 1
Select a graph to which you want to add error bars.

Step 2
Choose X Error Bars or Y Error Bars from the Options menu.

Step 3
In the upper-left corner of the Error Bars dialog, select the data series to which you want to apply error bars.

• To select a single series, click it.

• To select consecutive series, select the first series in the range, then Shift-click the last series in the range.

• To select non-consecutive series, Cmd-click each series.

Step 4
In the Bar Attributes area, choose an error bar color, width, separation, and cap length from the pop-up menus.

Step 5
Choose the type of error bars you want to display (Both Errors, Positive Error or Negative Error) from the pop-up menu at the top of the dialog.

Step 6
Choose a source of error from the Source of Error pop-up menu.

• To remove error bars, choose None.

Step 7
If you choose n% of Coordinate, Fixed % of n, or Error to n as the source of error, enter a value for n next to n=.

• If your source of error is a data window, select a column of data.

Step 8
Click the Show button to preview the error bars, then click OK.

See also:
Error Bars, Adding
Error Bars, Showing

End of Topic