An axis title is text that defines the category or the unit of measurement on an axis.

Axis titles are defined separately for the vertical and the horizontal axes. Click the Axis Titles button on the Layout tab, and then select either Primary Horizontal Axis Title or Primary Vertical Axis Title to display a submenu that is specific to that axis. When you turn on an axis title, a text box appears containing default placeholder text, “Axis Title.” Click in this text box and type your own label to replace it, as shown in Figure 23-39. If you’ve plotted any data on a secondary axis, you’ll see Secondary Horizontal and Secondary Vertical Axis Title options as well.

For the horizontal axis title, the options are simple: either None or Title Below Axis, as shown in Figure 23-39. You can choose More Primary Horizontal Axis Title Options, but again, as with the regular title options, there are no unique settings in the dialog box—just general formatting controls.

For the vertical axis title, you can choose from among the following options, as shown in Figure 23-40.

• Rotated Title: The title appears vertically along the vertical axis, with the letters rotated 90 degrees (so that their bases run along the axis).
• Vertical Title: The title appears vertically along the vertical axis, but each letter remains unrotated, so that the letters are stacked one on top of the other.
• Horizontal Title: The title appears horizontally, like regular text, to the left of the vertical axis.

FIGURE 23-39
An axis title describes what is being measured on the axis; you can edit the placeholder text in the title.

FIGURE 23-40
You can select these vertical axis titles, from left to right: Rotated Title, Vertical Title, and Horizontal Title.

Each type of vertical axis shrinks the chart somewhat when you activate it, but the Horizontal Title format shrinks the chart more than the others because it requires more space to the left of the chart.

If the chart does not resize itself automatically when you turn on the vertical axis title, you might need to adjust the chart size manually. Click the chart, so that selection handles appear around the inner part of the chart (the plot area), as shown in Figure 23-41. Then drag the left side-selection handle inward to decrease the width of the chart to make room for the vertical axis label.

FIGURE 23-41
You can adjust the size of the plot area to make more room for the vertical axis title.

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