# Microsoft Office Application Help - Excel Help forum > Excel Charting & Pivots >  > [SOLVED] How do I make a section of a chart line dotted?

## odcltd

I have an Excel chart, a line graph with 10 data sets charted on it.  The
time scale is 2000 to 2007 and I'd like the forecast data, i.e. 2005 to 2007
to be dotted.

Therefore the line should be solid to 2004, then dotted thereafter.  Is
there an easy way to create such a line?

I'm using Office Excel 2003 v11.5

----------


## John Mansfield

Unfortunately you can not break up the formatting on a trend line like you
can a normal series.  To get around this limitation, plot a second series
that reflects your trendline.  You can use the TREND and/or FORECAST
functions to build the new trendline.  Once the trendline is available as a
second series, you can apply individual formatting to the points and series
as you would with any other chart series.

Although this example contains a lot more than you need, the basic concept
of adding the trend as an additional series is described here:

http://www.pdbook.com/index.php/exce..._linear_trend/

----
Regards,
John Mansfield
http://www.pdbook.com

"odcltd" wrote:

> I have an Excel chart, a line graph with 10 data sets charted on it.  The
> time scale is 2000 to 2007 and I'd like the forecast data, i.e. 2005 to 2007
> to be dotted.
>
> Therefore the line should be solid to 2004, then dotted thereafter.  Is
> there an easy way to create such a line?
>
> I'm using Office Excel 2003 v11.5

----------


## Jon Peltier

You have a couple choices. If you want to keep just a single series, select one by
one each segment you want to change (tow single clicks: one to select the series,
the next to select a point and line segment). Press CTRL+1 to bring up the
formatting dialog, and make your changes. Select the next segment and repeat (or
press the F4 key to repeat).

Choice 2 uses 2 series, with data as shown:

Actual  Projected
2000     100
2001     150
2002     200
2003     250
2004     300
2005     350      350
2006              425
2007              500

All blank cells here must be blank, including the top left cell. Make your line
chart with this set of data, and format the two series differently.

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

odcltd wrote:

> I have an Excel chart, a line graph with 10 data sets charted on it.  The
> time scale is 2000 to 2007 and I'd like the forecast data, i.e. 2005 to 2007
> to be dotted.
>
> Therefore the line should be solid to 2004, then dotted thereafter.  Is
> there an easy way to create such a line?
>
> I'm using Office Excel 2003 v11.5

----------

