Set the range and scale on visuals in Insights

To change the scale of the values shown on the visual, you can use the Format visual pane to set the range for one or both axes of the visual. By default, the axis range starts at 0 and ends with the highest value for the measure being displayed. For the group-by axis, you can use the data zoom tool on the visual to dynamically adjust the scale.

Prerequisites

You have the Insights Author license.
You have the Create Content permission.
You have the View Content permission.
You have at least one of these permissions:
- View Analytics Data
- View QM Data
- View WFM Data
You have added one of these visual to an analysis. See Add visuals to Insights analyses for instructions.
- Bar charts
- Combo charts
- Line charts
- Scatter plots

Page location

Insights > Analyses > Click an analysis > Format visual (upper-right corner of the visual)

Procedures

Expand X-axis or Y-axis, depending on the visual type.

NOTE Use the X-axis for horizontal bar charts, the Y-axis for vertical bar charts and line charts, and both axes for scatter plots. For combo charts, use the Bars and Lines sections, and select single Y-axis to synchronize the Y-axes for both bars and lines into a single axis.
The following steps use a horizontal bar chart as an example, so the procedures focus on the X-axis.

Show or hide labels

Click the Labels toggle to enable or disable labels on the visual.

Change the label size

Click the Label size drop-down, and select a size.

Show or hide grid lines

Click the eye icon next to Grid lines to show or hide the grid lines.

NOTE In some visuals like line charts, the option to show or hide grid lines may only appear under the Y-axis. This behavior can vary by visual type.

Set the axis range

Set the range for the axis by selecting one of the following options:
- Click Auto (starting at 0) to start the range at 0 and end it around the highest value of the displayed measure.
- Click Auto (based on data range) to start the range at the lowest value of the displayed measure and end it around the highest value.
- Click Custom to specify your own Min and Max values.
  
  NOTE If you select Custom, enter the Min and Max values in the fields provided. Use integers for whole number ranges, or decimal values for percentage-based charts (e.g., enter 0 and .3 to show a 0–30% range on a stacked 100% bar chart).

Set the axis scale

For Scale, the default is linear scale. To show logarithmic scale, also called log scale, select Logarithmic Scale option. [HW Change to: select Logarithmic Scale.] Insights chooses the axis labels to display based on the range of values in that axis.

BEST PRACTICE On a linear scale, axis labels appear evenly spaced to reflect consistent arithmetic differences. For example, labels display values like {1000, 2000, 3000} or {0, 50 million, 100 million}, but not {10 thousand, 1 million, 1 billion}. Use a linear scale when:

All values on the chart are in the same order of magnitude.
You want evenly spaced axis labels.
Axis values have a similar number of digits (e.g., 100, 200, 300).
The rate of change is relatively slow and steady (i.e., the trend line doesn’t approach vertical).

EXAMPLE
Profits in different regions of the same country.
Costs incurred for manufacture of an item.

BEST PRACTICE Display axis values on a logarithmic scale to highlight differences in orders of magnitude or to represent exponential growth more clearly. This scale spaces the axis values based on their magnitude rather than a fixed interval. Use a logarithmic scale when:

The numbers that display on the chart aren’t in the same order of magnitude.
You want the axis labels to be flexibly spaced to reflect the wide range of values in that axis. This might mean that the axis values have a different number of digits, for example 10, 100, 1000, and so on. It might also mean that the axis labels are unevenly spaced.
The rate of change between numbers is growing exponentially or is too large to display in a meaningful way.
The audience of your chart understands how to interpret data on a log scale.
The chart displays values that are growing faster and faster. Moving a given distance on the scale means the number has been multiplied by another number.

EXAMPLE
High yield stock prices over a long range of time.
Growth of pandemic infection rates.

Configure axis step count

NOTE If you enable Logarithmic Scale, the Axis step count is automatically calculated. No further configuration is needed.

Select Step size to specify the interval between axis values. The Step size is set to Auto by default.
Select Step count to specify how many steps you want on the axis. The Step count is set to Auto by default.