= Putting error bars on graphs using EXCEL 2007, 2010 and 2013 =

(This a bit more convoluted than in earlier versions of EXCEL but uses exactly the same strategy)

 1.	Click on '''INSERT''' on menu bar and doubleclick on '''COLUMN''' in the '''CHARTS'''  section at the top of the spreadsheet.

 1.	Choose '''2-D COLUMN CLUSTERED''' (leftmost chart on 1st row from the top). 

 1.	Doubleclick on the outputted graph.  In the '''DATA''' section at the top of the spreadsheet click '''SELECT DATA'''. Note: for EXCEL 2010 double right click on the graph and choose '''SELECT DATA''' from the resulting pop-up menu.

 1.	In the left window labelled '''LEGEND ENTRIES (SERIES)''' click '''ADD'''.

 1.	In the '''SERIES NAME''' box type in Males; Delete all contents in the '''SERIES VALUES''' box directly beneath and click the spreadsheet icon immediately to the right of the '''SERIES VALUES''' box.

 1.	Highlight cells A2 to A4 in the column representing the means (these should appear in the '''SERIES VALUES''' box). Click '''OK'''.

 1.	In the left window labelled '''LEGEND ENTRIES (SERIES)''' click '''ADD'''.

 1.	Repeat steps 5 and 6 for Females: in the '''SERIES NAME''' box type in Females, delete all contents in the '''SERIES VALUES''' box directly beneath and click the spreadsheet icon immediately to the right of the '''SERIES VALUES''' box.

 1.	Highlight cells A5 to A7 in the column representing the means (these should appear in the '''SERIES VALUES''' box). Click '''OK'''.

 1. Click '''EDIT''' in the '''HORIZONTAL (CATEGORY) AXIS LABELS''' box.

 1.	 Delete any contents In the '''AXES LABEL RANGE''' box, and insert {“NE”,”SE”,”W”} and click '''OK'''.

 1.	 Now doubleclick on any bar representing males in the graph and choose '''LAYOUT''' in the top spreadsheet menu and in the '''ANALYSIS''' section click '''ERROR BARS>MORE ERROR BARS OPTIONS''' and choose '''CUSTOM''' and click '''SPECIFY VALUE'''. Note: In EXCEL 2013 the custom error bar option is found by clicking on the '''DESIGN''' tab and choosing '''ADD CHART ELEMENT''' on the far left of the upper tool bar.

 1.	Click on the spreadsheet icon adjacent to the box under '''POSITIVE ERROR VALUE''' and highlight cells B2 to B4 in the width (standard error) column. The co-ordinates of the standard error row should appear in the '''POSITIVE ERROR VALUE''' box. Repeat for the '''NEGATIVE ERROR VALUE''' box again highlighting cells B2 to B4. Click '''OK''' and '''CLOSE'''. 

 1.	Repeat steps 15 and 16 for females by clicking on any bar representing females and placing cells B5 to B7 in the '''POSITIVE ERROR VALUE''' and '''NEGATIVE ERROR VALUE''' boxes.
 
 1.	Click '''OK''' and '''CLOSE'''. You should now have a bar chart with error bars. Doubleclicking on the bars and clicking the '''FORMAT''' tab in the menu bar  located at the top of the spreadsheet allows the user to change the style and colour of the bars. 

A similar approach to the above works producing line plots with error bars at set points (usually corresponding to groups) on the x-axis. The line plot can then be edited to leave just error bars. If using EXCEL 2010 you can double click on a particular error bar on a particular line and choose '''Marker Options>Built in''' and choose '''type'''. An error bar centrepoint in the particular type will then appear in the middle of the error bar. This can be repeated for each error bar. If you then double click on a line and choose '''Line Color>no line''' the line disappears leaving just the error bars giving something like [[attachment:errbars.ppt|this.]] If you then also click on each error bar and choose Line Color>Solid line the error bar lines will change colour like  [[attachment:errbarcol.ppt|this.]]