Rotating Value Labels in Pages 09 Bar Graph

Hi j,

The value labels on the category axis and the value axis may be rotated using the Metrics Inspector:

Select the box containing the labels, then use the rotation control or the stepper to rotate the labels, or enter the counter clockwise rotation in degrees into the box with the stepper.

The chart's legend may be rotated as well, but in this case it's the whole box that rotates, not the individual text items in the box. In the example above, I resized the box width to force the two legend items into a one-above-the-other format before rotating the box 180 degrees. Not useful, but it shows the possibility.

Regards,

Barry

Hi James,

There is no option for rotating the Data Labels in Pages. The labels will always be oriented to match the Axis Labels. See below:

If you were making a presentation and needed to have them a certain way, it would be reasonable to do them in separate text boxes with manually filled values. For routine work where the extra effort would be unreasonable, we have no choice but to accept the standard orientation.

Jerry

James wrote:

"When I click on the text box with the Value / Data label, the rotator in the Metrics Inspector is greyed out."

That's because rotation of these labels is not suppported.

Jerry slipped an extra word into his statement. It should have read "The labels will always be oriented to match the Axis Labels."

The value labels attached to the individual bars cannot be rotated. As Jerry suggested, the workaround is to apply these labels 'manually' using individual text boxes.

In the example, I created and filled the first box, set its text colour and rotation, then duplicated it enough times to have one for each column.

Then I positioned each one on its bar, just below the label created by checking the Value labels box in the Inspector.

I clicked on each box and edited the contents to match the Value label on that column.

Then I selected all of the boxes, and used the navigation arrow keys to nudge them into their final positions.

Finally I unchecked the Show Value labels box in the Inspector, for the result below:

Definitely something to be saved for occasions where the effort is justified, and where the chart is stable. The text boxes do not update, of course, nor do they move with the columns when the chart is rescaled or otherwise changed.

Regards,

Barry

PS: Want this feature added? The route is to Provide Pages Feedback, either via the item of that name in the Pages menu, or via the link. Both lead to the same form. The form is delivered directly to Apple.