Creating X/Y chart with X-Axis labels in between

Question

Hello all.
I would like to create a Numbers 09 scatter/XY chart with the X-Axis labels between the gridlines instead of on them.   How can I do this with a line chart also?  Or, does thids format require a Combination chart?  If so, how can what I'm trying to create be made?

Answer 1

I'll give you the basic steps. I might miss one or two along the way.  The basic steps are to create the chart, remove all the unecessary parts of the chart and set the fill color to none, create & format the table, slide the table under the chart, align the two, then lock them.
Create a chart from your data. I said the chart above was a line chart but it was actually a scatter chart.
I'd recommend making up a few "special" data points (overwriting a few points in your actual data for the time being) that you can use to align the table and chart.  In the chart above, I used something like (1.5, 0.1) and (30.5, 0.9), two points that should align exactly with the X & Y gridlines if the chart and table are properly aligned.
Set the min and max for both axes.
Size and place the chart where you want it
Set the fill color to none
Remove the value labels, gridlines, axes, etc.
Create a plain table with the necessary number of columns and rows. The one above has 32 columns and 7 rows.
Put the value labels in the table. I vertically centered the Y axis labels in the cells using the icon on the toolbar. I didn't horizontally center the X axis labels but maybe I should have.
Make the table borders the color & thickness you want.  At this point, the X&Y axis labels will also have borders.
Turn on Border Selection in the Table menu
Select the borders you want to remove and change them to no line. You click on a border to select the entire thing then click again to select a segment. You can command-click to select multiple border segments. Be careful you don't miss when clicking or your entire selection will disappear. I recommend selecting & changing a few at a time
Select the table and send it to the back using Arrange/Send to Back.
Slide the table under the chart.
With the entire table selected so that it has the little squares at the corners and sides, drag on the squares to get the table about the right size. Hold down Command when dragging to turn off snaps. Try it without Command and you'll see what I mean.
Use the Table Inspector to fine-tune the row & column sizes so the table "gridlines" match the chart. You are trying to line up the gridlines with your two "special" data points. You might want to adjust the size of the chart some too.
You can move the table around by dragging to get it close to where it should be. You can select the chart and use the arrow keys to move it pixel-by-pixel.
You'll have to repeat the steps above until everything is aligned. Then you can get rid of those "special" data points.
When it all looks good, lock the table and chart so nothing gets changed or moved accidentally.
That was it off the top of my head. It comes out to alot of steps but once you've done stuff like this a few times it gets easy.