Chart Frames

What Is a Chart Frame?

The Chart Frame Settings Window...
- Title
- Border
- Coordinate Grid
- What is a Coordinate Grid?

Removing a Chart Frame

Saving a Default Chart Frame

What Is a Chart Frame?

The chart frame is a perimeter around the four edges of the chart. The chart frame is made up of three basic components, all are optional...

The various components in the chart frame can be displayed, hidden and modified in the Chart Frame Settings window. To open this window, choose Edit > Chart Frame Settings from the main menubar.

The Chart Frame Settings window is described in the next section.

The Chart Frame Settings Window

To open the Chart Frame Settings window and modify the various components of the chart frame, choose Edit > Chart Frame Settings from the main menubar.

A Preview is displayed on the right side of the Chart Frame Settings window. The Preview displays a small rendering of the current chart frame settings. As the chart frame settings are modified (on the left side of this window), the Preview will update. The Preview is simply for reference and is not drawn to scale.

The top left side of the Chart Frame Settings window has three tab buttons, one for each of the three basic frame components: Title, Border, and Coordinate Grid. Select the tab button for the component that you would like to enable, disable, or modify. The options for each of these three basic components are described in the next sections.

Title

To display the title at the top of the chart frame, open the Chart Frame Settings window, select the Title tab button, and check the Display Chart Title checkbox.

Options for the chart title will appear below the tab buttons...

Frame Title

The editable text field is just below the Display Chart Title checkbox. Enter the text you would like to appear at the top of your chart frame here. Frame titles may include tags (or text variables) to automatically inject text strings into the title of a chart.

Up to 125 characters may be used for a chart title.

Break

The Break menu lets you determine what kind of "break," if any, appears in the chart's border. A break in the chart's border allows the title to be inserted within the border. If no break is selected (the first item in the Break menu) the chart title will appear below the border.

The Break menu will only appear when a chart border is displayed.

Font, Size, Typeface, and Color

The appearance, size and color of the chart title can be changed by modifying the settings in the Font, Size, Typeface, and Color menus.

A shadow can be drawn behind the chart text by modifying the Depth and Color menus. If you don't want a shadow behind the chart title, select None from the Depth menu.

Border

To display a border around the entire chart, open the Chart Frame Settings window, select the Border tab button, and check the Display Chart Border checkbox.

There are two different types of borders to choose from...

The options for these two types of borders are described in the following sections...

Border Type: Rendered Style

When a border type of Rendered Style is selected, you can choose from a library of pre-drawn rectangle styles, adjust their size, and apply a color. The rendered style will fit the rendered border around your chart.

Rendered Style options are as follows...

Border Type: Custom Lines

When a border type of Custom Lines is selected, you can customize the size, color, and corner for the one or two lines that will border your chart.

Click the Outside Line or Inside Line button to choose which of the two lines to edit.

Then adjust the Line Width, Corner type, and Color for each of the two lines. If you only want one of the two lines for your frame, you can turn a line off by setting its Line width to None. Interesting frames can be created by checking the Corner Only button for one of the frame lines.

Coordinate Grid

What is a Coordinate Grid?

A coordinate grid is a series of equally spaced horizontal and vertical lines drawn across the entire chart. The space between the lines, a "plane," is assigned a sequential letter or number. These enumerated horizontal and vertical planes divide the entire chart into many squares that can be identified by a horizontal-vertical grid location - much like you see on the old paper maps.

Using a coordinate grid the grid location of a specific person can be given in the form of a horizontal letter or number followed by a vertical letter or number. For example: H-9.

In the example below - the grid location of John BOUVIER has been given as being C-2. To find this location, move across the chart horizontally until you find the vertical plane for C and then move down the chart vertically until you find the horizontal plane for 2. The intersection of these two planes is a square with a grid location of C-2. John BOUVIER’s box will be inside that square.

Coordinate Grid Settings

To display a coordinate grid for the chart, open the Chart Frame Settings window, select the Coordinate Grid tab button, and check the Display Coordinate Grid checkbox.

Options for the coordinate grid will appear below the Display Coordinate Grid checkbox...


Lines...


Text...

The appearance, size, and color of the grid letters and numbers can be changed by changing the settings in the Font, Size, Typeface, and Color menus.

A shadow can be drawn behind the grid letters and numbers by modifying the Depth and Color menus. If you don't want a shadow behind the grid characters, select None from the Depth menu.


Horizontal & Vertical...

Numbers, lowercase letters, or uppercase letters can be used to enumerate coordinate grid planes (the space between the grid lines) - that selection is made from the menu directly under the Horizontal or Vertical subtitles.

The letters and numbers for horizontal grid locations can be placed and the top and/or the bottom of the chart based on your selection in the second menu under the Horizontal subtitle.

The letters and numbers for vertical grid locations can be placed on the left and/or the right of the chart based on your selection in the second menu under the Vertical subtitle.


Grid Location Preview...

A preview of how grid locations will be expressed given the current coordinate grid settings appears at the bottom of this panel. Note that grid locations are always expressed as horizontal followed by vertical.

Removing a Chart Frame

Any or all of the components of a chart frame can be removed (or hidden) by following these steps...

Saving a Default Chart Frame

In the previous sections, various chart frame settings for Title and Border were explained. Attributes for these two components (Title and Border) can be saved and applied to frames in new charts. Thus, if you edit the title and border for a chart frame and are pleased with its look, new charts will have the same look.

To save the settings of the current chart frame as the default chart frame appearing in new charts - click the Save Default Chart Frame button at the bottom if the Chart Frame Settings window.

More information about defaults for charts appears here.