Adjust scale of chart to match real world

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Pat B - 12 Sep 2007 00:40 GMT

Hi- I'm plottig a series of x,y points for designing model rocket nose cones
in Excel. I've got everything set up correctly but have two problems-

1. What settings would I use on the x and y axis so that my chart properly
displays the correct proportion of my nose cone? I'm assuming that the x and
y axis should both start and end with the same values- is that correct?

2. And, after I get the proportion correct, is there a way to print out the
chart to match real world dimensions? For example, I'm plotting my dimensions
in inches. Can I somehow print out the chart so that each "1" equals 1" in
real life?

Thanks!

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Del Cotter - 12 Sep 2007 12:02 GMT

>Hi- I'm plottig a series of x,y points for designing model rocket nose cones
>in Excel. I've got everything set up correctly but have two problems-
[quoted text clipped - 7 lines]
>in inches. Can I somehow print out the chart so that each "1" equals 1" in
>real life?

Sadly, Excel's not a drawing program. You might be able to get the x and
Y scales to match enough for your purposes with a bit of effort. Try
changing the *Location* of the chart so it's embedded in a worksheet
instead of on its own page. That will let you drag the shape of it until
you're happy that the x and y grids are square.

Printing out to exact scale is going to be more of a problem. I guess
you'll just have to print out, measure the printed lines, and readjust
the size of your chart until you've reached a satisfactory size.

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Del Cotter
NB Personal replies to this post will send email to del@branta.demon.co.uk,
which goes to a spam folder-- please send your email to del3 instead.

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Jon Peltier - 12 Sep 2007 12:51 GMT

This tired old page gives a VBA routine to make the gridlines square:

http://peltiertech.com/Excel/Charts/SquareGrid.html

I believe it includes a fudge factor that you can determine from a test
printout, to make the screen display a bit rectangular so the printout is
square. Of course, a visual isn't so important if you can feed the
coordinates directly into a CNC machine, right?

- Jon
-------
Jon Peltier, Microsoft Excel MVP
Tutorials and Custom Solutions
Peltier Technical Services, Inc. - http://PeltierTech.com
_______

>>Hi- I'm plottig a series of x,y points for designing model rocket nose
>>cones
[quoted text clipped - 21 lines]
> you'll just have to print out, measure the printed lines, and readjust the
> size of your chart until you've reached a satisfactory size.

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Pat B - 12 Sep 2007 17:26 GMT

Thanks guys- I'll try the code. That did bring up an idea at least of
printing it and checking to see if the gridlines are square. Coincidently, it
does appear that if I force the start and end points of my chart to be the
same values that the gridlines just might end up being square anyway.

I've had luck creating a PDF document and parsing it in Corel Draw. Now I'll
print it with the major gridlines and adjust it from there. Thanks!

Pat

> This tired old page gives a VBA routine to make the gridlines square:
>
[quoted text clipped - 37 lines]
> > you'll just have to print out, measure the printed lines, and readjust the
> > size of your chart until you've reached a satisfactory size.

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