8.5.2.1.3 The Tick Labels Tab

This tab is used to customize the axis tick labels, including the display, format, tick label table style.etc. For 2D graphs, tick labels from four axes (Bottom, Top, Left, Right) could be customized separately; for 3D graphs, tick labels from up to 6 axes (X - Front, X - Back, Y - Bottom, Y - Top, Z - Left, Z - Right) can be customized separately, if the Use Only One Axis For Each Direction check box is cleared. For both 2D and 3D axes, you can choose to share the settings for opposite axes.

 Starting with Origin 2017, you can use the Layer list to switch between layers in a multi-layer graph.

Global Controls

 Show Enable this check box to show the tick labels for the selected axis(axes). The contents for this check box update itself with the current active axis icon. Enable this check box to specify whether to share the settings between opposite axes. Note that for 3D graph, only when Use Only One Axis For Each Direction is not selected, will this check box be available.

Display Tab

Type

When editing the Type drop-down list, the axis scale and increment may have to be adjusted accordingly (the Scale). For instance, when choosing the Day of Week option for X axis tick labels, on the Scale tab the scale should be set From 0 To 6, and the Increment to 1.

Numeric The tick labels are decimal numbers representing the axis scale range. This option uses a data set as the source of the tick labels. A data set can be selected from any worksheet in the project by typing it in or selecting it from the Data set combination box (for example, [Book1]Sheet1!C). For each major tick label, Origin checks what the tick label value of numeric type would be (using the settings on the Scale tab). It then uses that numeric value as a row number, and displays the cell value in the selected data set at that row number for the tick label. Displays tick labels in 24-hour clock format, with hour:minute:second:fraction-of-second separated by semicolons. Displays tick labels as calendar-accurate date values. Displays tick labels as month values. This option accepts numeric or text data set values. Displays tick labels as days of the week. Origin creates tick labels from the name or label of the plotted columns. The tick labels derived from column names or labels are positioned along the axis such that the numeric axis scale value equals the column number. For example, if the numeric axis tick label reads "5," Origin replaces that tick label with the name or label from column 5. (When counting columns, Origin ignores any X columns.) When Column Name or Label is enabled, the Display drop-down list supports the following choices: Column Headings/ Units/ Comments/ Sampling Interval/ Parameters / Custom. Please note, this Display Type will be applied by default, when you plot a statistical graph such as box chart. As with the Text from Dataset option, the Tick Indexed Dataset option uses a data set as the source of the tick labels. A data set can be selected from any worksheet in the project by typing in the name or selecting the data set from the Dataset combination box (for example, [Book1]Sheet1!C). This option differs from the Text from Dataset option because each data set value is indexed to a sequential major tick position, starting with the first major tick on the axis. Thus, the value in row one of the specified data set is displayed at the first major tick, the value in row two is displayed at the second major tick, etc. Indicates that a column contains user-designated categorical data. To designate the worksheet column that contains the categorical data, highlight the column and choose Column: Set as Categorical from the menu (or highlight, right-click and choose Set as Categorical from the context menu that appears). This option allows setting custom strings as the tick labels. Enter the strings into the String text box. Use white space to separate different strings. To set a string with a space in one of the tick labels, place quotation marks around that string. For example entering: Asia North America South America Will specify five strings and five tick labels: Asia, North, America, South and America However entering: Asia "North America" "South America" Will specify three strings and three tick labels: Asia, North America, and South America. Use banner-like tick labels for the whole layer and use the column header information specified in Display as banner labels. Note that to use Layer Banner type, tick label table must be enabled in the Table tab. Available only in trellis plot. Use banner-like tick labels for multi-panel graph and use the grouping information specified in String as banner labels

Display

Determines how the tick labels are displayed. The Display drop-down list options differ depending on the Type selection.

• If Type = Numeric, available options include:
Decimal:1000 (1, 1000, 1000000, 1.00E+009) Note: The threshold for conversion to scientific notation is controlled on the Numeric Format tab of the Options dialog box (Tools: Options). (1*100, 1*103, 1*106, 1*109) (1.0, 1.0k, 1.0M, 1.0G) See * below for the supported Engineering data suffixes. Note: A LabTalk system variable (@EF) is provided to enter engineering notation in a non-engineering column. Setting @EF = 1, and entering engineering notation in a non-engineering column, will cause Origin to treat the entry as numeric. Otherwise (@EF = 0), Origin will treat the entry as text (default). To learn more about LabTalk system variables, see the LabTalk Help file. (1, 1,000, 1,000,000, 1,000,000,000) Note: The threshold for conversion to scientific notation is controlled on the Numeric Format tab of the Options dialog box (Tools: Options). (1E0, 1E3, 1E6, 1E9) Note: A Labtalk system variable (@ete) can be used to hide the leading zero in scientific notation. By default it is set as 0, the values display as (1E+00, 1E+03, 1E+06, 1E+09). Setting @ete=1 to hide the leading zero in scientific notation, then the values display as (1E+0, 1E+3, 1E+6, 1E+9). To learn more about LabTalk system variables, see the LabTalk Help file. Select this option to specify a user-defined tick label format, such as setting the number of significant digits or decimal places. Use the Custom Format combo box to either select an option from the drop-down or type it in.
*Origin supports the following Engineering data suffixes:
suffix equivalent quantity
k kilo 10^3
M mega 10^6
G giga 10^9
T tera 10^12
P peta 10^15
m milli 10^-3
u micro 10^-6
n nano 10^-9
p pico 10^-12
f femto 10^-15
 Note: "u" is Origin's universal notation for micron. The only exception is graph axes tick labels, which support "mu". Note also that Origin 7 does not support "E" and "a" as suffixes.
• If Type = Time, the Display drop-down list provides a display selection of days (IRIG time codes only), hours, minutes, seconds, fractions-of-second, and an AM/PM indicator.
• If Type = Date, the Display drop-down list provides a display selection of date values. The entire date value - month, day, and year - is always preserved, but specific sections of the date can be displayed.
• If Type = Month, three Month display formats are available: J abbreviates the month to a single letter, Jan abbreviates to three letters, and January displays the entire word.
• If Type = Day of Week, three Day of Week display formats are available: M abbreviates the day to a single letter, Mon abbreviates to three letters, and Monday displays the entire word.

• If Type = Column Name or Label or Layer Banner, Display becomes a drop-down list with which you can create tick labels from the label row of the plotted columns.

Choose <Custom> to combine label row data or incorporate other dataset information.

• The list is pre-populated with some usable examples. The "?" is a wild card character for plot index, e.g. "1" in place of "?" will use label row data from the first plotted column; leaving "?" will use label row data of each column, respectively (for Layer Banner, leaving "?" should read a pre-specified data plot index from Data Plot Index for Auto Axis Titles in the Plot Details dialog.).

 If combining metadata from multiple label rows causes tick labels to overrun each other, click the Format tab and try enabling Wrap Text.

Set Decimal Places

When Type = Numeric, and Display is not Custom, specify the displayed decimal places in the Decimal Places edit box.

Decimal Number

When Set Decimal Places is selected, specify the displayed decimal places with an integer value.

Custom Format

When Type = Numeric, and Display = Custom use the Custom Format combo box to specify a user-defined tick label format, such as the number of significant digits or decimal places.

Format Description Example
##+## # is digit placeholder. It displays a digit or an insignificant zero.

If the label is a decimal number, it is rounded it to the nearest the integer. (Decimal digits=0)
If the number of the integer digits is less than the number of #, the leading zeros are displayed.
If the number of the integer digits is larger than the number of #, the extra digits are displayed before the +.

00+01, 10+00, 10000+00, 10000000+00
#+##M Follows the same rules as the ##+## format.

M is the suffix.

0+01M,10+00M, 10000+00M, 10000000+00M
*n Display n significant digits *2: 0.0, 2.0, 4.0, 6.0, 8.0, 10
.n Display n decimal places .2: 0.00, 2.00, 4.00, 6.00, 8.00, 10.00
2.n Display n decimal places, in power of two format. 2.2: 1.00*20, 1.95*29, 1.91*219, 1.86*229
E.n Display n decimal places, in engineering format E.3: 1.000, 1.000k, 1.000M, 1.000G
L.n Display n decimal places, in power of e format. L.2: 1.00*e0, 2.48*e6, 2.26*e13, 2.06*e20
P*n Display n significant digits, in scientific notation 10^3 P*3: 1.00*100, 1.00*103, 1.00*106, 1.00*109
S.n Display n decimal places, in scientific notation 1E3 S.4: 1.0000E+01, 1.0000E+03, 1.0000E+06, 1.0000E+09

Custom Formats for Date and Time Data

You can convert ticks labeled with numeric Julian-date values directly to date and time labels using the D and T custom formatting options listed in the following table. These tick formatting options are in addition to those available when you set the Display (Tick Labels tab, Display sub-tab) to Type = Date or Time as outlined above.

To customize minor ticks in a similar fashion, see Minor Tick Labels, below.

Format Description Example
Dn Display date in format n from the Display drop down list of the Column Properties dialog box (indexed from "0") D0: 10/10/1995, 2/25/2023, 7/13/2050, 11/28/2077, etc.
D<format> Display in custom date format, using these date and time format specifiers Dyyyy'.'MM'.'dd: 1995.10.10, 2023.02.25, etc.
Tn Display time in format n from the Display drop down list of the Column Properties dialog box (indexed from "0") T0: 00:00, 48:00, 96:00, 144:00, 192:00, 240:00, etc.
T<format> Display in custom time format, using these date and time format specifiers THH'hrs+ 'mm'min': 00hrs+ 00min, 48hrs+ 00min, etc.

Dataset Name

If Type = Text from dataset / Tick-indexed dataset/ Categorical, the Dataset Name option will be shown.

You can select a dataset from any worksheet in the project by typing it in or selecting from the Dataset Name combination box:

 In the Dataset Name combo box, the most recently active worksheet columns are listed first. So, instead of scrolling down, close this dialog box, click on the desired book and sheet, then reopen this dialog box.

Custom Display

If Type = Column Name or Label/Layer Banner and Display = <Custom>, the Custom Display option will be shown.

Format strings/Labtalk scripts can be entered, and multiple notations and arbitrary fixed strings can be combined as desired. The drop-down list provides some frequently used notations.

String

Available when Type = Tick-indexed string or Panel Banner.

If Type = Tick-indexed string, enter space-separated string for different major ticks. Place quotation marks around the label with space.

If Type = Panel Banner, select <paneln> from drop-down list to use nth-level grouping information as banner label. <paneln, @LA> shows Long Name of the nth-level grouping column in the banner. You can combine multiple <paneln> and arbitrary fixed strings as desired.

Divide by Factor

Each major and minor tick label is divided by the number in this text box. Note that this text box also supports expressions. For example, to divide all labels by 1/3, enter 1/3 in the text box (this will multiply all the labels by 3).

Formula

Specify a formula to calculate a numeric vector which will be used as the tick labels of the axis.

Note: that the calculation will not affect the source data.

Prefix

Type a prefix in this text box to display it before each tick label.

Suffix

Type a suffix in this text box to display it after each tick label. For example: mm, mF, K.

 Both Prefix and Suffix text boxes support special formatting commands called "escape sequences". For instance, to append the lower-case Greek "p" (π) symbol to each tick label you would enter \g(p) or \g(\(x0070)) into this box. To learn more, see Escape Sequences.

Plus Sign

Select the Plus Sign check box to show a plus sign before each positive tick label.

Minus Sign

Select the Minus Sign check box to show a minus sign before each negative tick label.

Format Tab

Color

Select the desired major and minor tick label color from this drop-down list. Create custom colors by selecting the Define Custom Colors button and specifying the RGB in the Color dialog that opens. When Auto is selected, the color of the tick labels follow the color of the axis line.

Font

Font Select the major and minor tick label font type from this drop-down list. Type or select the desired text size (in points) for the major and minor tick labels. Select the Bold check box to change the major and minor tick labels style to bold. Select to draw a separate white background for text in the tick labels

Rotate(deg)

Origin supports arbitrary rotation of tick labels. Type a positive number in this text box to rotate labels counterclockwise, and a negative number to rotate labels clockwise (Origin will change the typed negative number into the corresponding positive number counterclockwise).

Wrap Text

It is used to specify whether to wrap the text in tick labels to avoid overlapping.

Note that text will only be wrapped at the white space between words.

Alignment

Choose from three radio buttons on how should the tick labels align with their corresponding axis ticks.

Center Center the tick labels with the major ticks. Locate tick labels equidistantly between adjacent major ticks. Align the left edge of the tick labels with the major ticks.

Offset in % Point Size

Type the desired value in the Horizontal and Vertical text boxes to control the horizontal and vertical position of the tick labels relative to the axis (100%=one full font width).

Note: You can manually nudge tick labels by selecting them and using the arrow keys to position them. This applies to special tick labels, also.

Labels Stay with Axis

Select this check box to ensure that tick labels always stay adjacent to the axis. When this check box is deselected, the tick labels remain in their default position, even if the axis position is altered.

 You can click to select table labels and nudge them using the arrow keys on your keyboard.

Table Tab

Note: Tick Label Tables can only be used for 2D graphs. This tab is not available in 3D axis dialog.

Enable

Specify whether to enable tick label table. Only when this check box is selected, will the other controls in this tab be available.

Note: when tick label tables are enabled, Axis Breaks cannot be used.

Number of Rows

Select the number table rows for display (maximum number = 5).

If the Number of Rows is set to 2 for the bottom axis, the Bottom icon will be renamed to Bottom 1 and another icons named Bottom 2 will appear. The display options for Bottom 2 can be customized when that icon is chosen.

If there are multiple rows in the table, by default all the other rows will follow the table layout setting of the first row. In order to customize each row separately, click the corresponding icon in the left panel, deselect the Auto check box and customize the table layout for that specified row independently.

Table Layout

Merge Labels Merge adjacent cells with equivalent strings. None No merge. Within Subgroups/Subsets Choose this option and set the subgroups or subsets in the graph. Merge adjacent labels with equivalent strings into subgroups or subsets. Between Subgroups/Subsets Merge adjacent labels with equivalent strings regardless of whether they are in the same subgroups/subsets. Label merging will not be restricted by subgroup or subset size. Specify the background color of the label row(s) in the table. Select this check box to show the parallel border of the row(s) near the graph. Select this check box to show the parallel border of the row(s) far the graph. Select this check box to show the perpendicular inside border of the row(s) in the table. Select this check box to show the perpendicular outside border of the row(s) in the table. Select this check box to show the ticks at beginning of cells. Select this check box to show the ticks at end of cells. Select this check box to show the ticks at center of cells. Select this check box to show the gap between subgroups or subsets
 Note: When showing cell border and ticks in the table rows, be sure line and ticks are enabled on the Line and Ticks tab. When you want to change the order of the table rows, you can right-click on an icon and choose among Move Up, Move Down and Move to Opposite options.

Minor Tick Labels Tab

Use controls on this tab to customize minor tick labels.

Minor Tick Labels

Hide By default, minor tick labels are hidden. Select this option to show labels at all minor ticks. Starting with version 2016, use this setting in conjunction with the Display Format setting to display a custom label at each minor tick (see below). Shows the specified minor tick labels. When this option is selected, a Tick Indices text box will display. In this text box, enter numbers separated by spaces indexed to minor ticks between major ticks (e.g. "2 5" means label the 1st and 4th minor ticks between major ticks). Starting with version 2016, use this setting in conjunction with the Display Format setting to display a custom label at specified ticks (see below).

Minor Labels on Major Ticks

When the major and minor tick labels are shown on the graph, select this check box to display both a major tick label and a minor tick label for each major tick.

Note: This option is only meaningful for time series labels, in which different tick label types for major and minor tick marks (for example, month and day) are specified.

Offset Major by (%)

When the major and minor tick labels are shown on the graph, type a value in the Offset Major by (%) text box. This will move the major tick labels a specified distance away from the center of the page. The value is in units of % of font height.

Display Format

Use this box to display a custom label on minor ticks. For a list of Display Format options (incl. those for date and time), refer to the Origin Formats section of the LabTalk help file.

Examples: Show at Each Minor Tick

 Scale Type = Linear Display Type = Time Display Display = HH:mm Display Format = Tmm Scale Type = Log10 Display Type = Numeric Display Display = Scientific:10^3 Display Format = S*1#

Examples: Show at Specified Indices Only

 Scale Type = Linear Display Type = Numeric Display Display = Scientific:1E3 Tick Indices = 3 Display Format = S.2# Scale = Linear Display Type = Date Display Display = (e.g.) 6/12/2015 Tick Indices = 1 2 3 4 5 Display Format = D6