Naming Basics Best practice recommendations are to create a chart placing independent variables on the horizontal, x-axis and dependent variables on the vertical, y-axis.

We discuss a comment on a previous post stating that the text of labels on the vertical axis of graphs must be horizontal by discussing the pros and cons of four possible positions for these labels.

If you have uneven distribution of data in your Excel chart, here is a better way to change the automatic axis settings.

How to Change the Intervals on an X-Axis in Excel. The X-axis, which is the horizontal axis, on most Excel charts does not use numeric intervals like the vertical Y-axis does.