Trying to add tick marks to scatter plots.

[stanhilliard]

I have two Excel 2016 scatter plots that seem to be identical except for their data source. One has a vertical axis with tick marks, the other, I can't make tick marks show.

Here is what I do:

1 Right click [format axis]
2 Select the [text options] icon.
3 Click [Tick Marks]
4 Major type, select "outside".

Nothing happens.

One difference I noticed between the two charts is that when I select the vertical axis of the chart with the tick marks, the line that goes around the number does not extend into the plot area. The corresponding line of the "bad" chart is well into the plot area.

The horizontal axes of neither chart will display tick marks. The selection rectangle around the horizontal axes runs along zero of the vertical, but the axis is across the middle of the plot. Zero is in the middle of the vertical axis, which contains both positive and negative numbers.

[stanhilliard]

Update: Never mind, I fixed it.

Apparently, in order to create tick marks on the vertical axis, Excel required that the horizontal axis properties specified the point where the vertical crossed it as its (the horizontal's) end (minimum) -- which had changed because I added more data to the original data source.

Also, I suspect I cannot add tick marks to the horizontal bottom of the plot because the horizontal axis does not cross at the bottom of the vertical. It crosses at zero on the vertical - which is in the middle of the vertical scale.

In general, if I am right, an axis is located at the point it crosses the other axis, and cannot have tick marks unless that crossing is at the endpoint of the other axis.