Use Categories Instead of Numbers to Label an Axis in Grapher

Scatter Plots

If your data looks similar to this, follow steps below to create a scatter plot from category data in Grapher:

1. Open a new plot document. Then click the Home | New Graph | Line/Scatter | Scatter Plot command.
2. Select the data file and click Open. The default graph is created using the only numeric column for both the X and Y axis.
3. Click on the scatter plot in the Object Manager.
4. In the Property Manager, click on the Plot tab.
5. Select Row number or Sequence number from the X variable list.
6. Verify that the Y variable is set to Column B.
7. Click X Axis 1 in the Object Manager to select it.
8. In the Property Manager, click on the Labels tab.
9. In the General section, select From worksheet in the Label source field.
10. Click in the Worksheet field and select your data file from the list.
11. Click in the Data variable field and select Row number or Sequence number from the list. (Be sure to choose the same X variable list option you previously chose in step 5.)
12. Click in the Label variable field and select Column A from the list. Your graph should now contain categories for the X axis labels.
    
    Note:
    Depending on which rows are displayed, you may need to open the Worksheet range section and change the First row and Last row values.
    
    If your labels are overlapping, expand the Label Settings section, and increase or decrease the Angle (90 is vertical) in the Label Position section.
    
    

Bar Charts

Follow these steps to create a bar chart from category data in Grapher:

1. Click the Home | New Graph | Bar | Horizontal Category Bar Chart command.
2. Select the data file and click Open. 
3. The default graph is created with the category labels automatically displayed.

Updated May 2023