How to Make a Line of Best Fit/Best Fit Line/Trendline in iWork Numbers '09

Question

I'm not sure if this is well-known or has been answered elsewhere already, but multiple Google searches have not shown this solution on how to create a line of best fit in Numbers '09 (there is another method that involves drawing a line yourself, but this is much easier and more accurate).
I stumbled across this trying the above self-draw technique and got so excited I wanted to post the technique. So here is what you do:
1) Type out your X and Y data
2) Select the data and select Charts, then select the Scatter Plot
3) Open up Inspector and select the Chart tab
4) Select the "Series" tab below the picture of the Scatter Plot and the "Chart Colors..." button
5) At the bottom of the Inspector window, open the "Advanced" arrow
6) Select the "Trendline" tab and select the "Linear" trendline from the drop-down bar
That's it! You can even select the options to show the line equation or the R-squared value!
Here is a picture of the selected options and what your graph should look like (check that nice R-squared value!).
http://i.imgur.com/AvfPv.png
I hope this helps and hope it moves up to the top of the Google search page for this feature.

Answer 1

Hi Asclepius37,
Why not just search "trend" or "trendline" in the Numbers '09 User Guide?
That would take you to page 149 of the guide and the article "Showing Trendlines in Charts," which lists a set of instructions very similar to those in your post.
The Numbers '09 User Guide and the iWork Formulas and Functions User Guide are searchable pdf files, and may both be downloaded through kinks in the Help menu in Numbers. Both are excellent resources to have on hand.
Regards,
Barry
PS: Searching "best fit" will return zero results, but "best" or "best-fit" will get you to the same article.
B