The Vertical and Horizontal Step Charts are really Line graphs that use a vertical and horizontal "step" connection, respectively, between each data point. A step connection is constructed by connecting each data point at a right angle. These two graph types are useful for accentuating changes in a value over a period of days.

Example plots from our Graph Gallery
[click on the image to see original graph]

Step Line Graphs

Step Line Graph Example

In Origin, there are actually four different "step" connection types that can be enabled for a Line (or Line & Symbol) plot:

• Vertical - The initial line for each data point is vertical.
  
• Horizontal - The initial line for each data point is horizontal.
  
• Horizontal Center - Each data point is positioned in the middle of the horizontal run for each step
• Vertical Center - Each data point is positioned in the middle of the vertical run for each step.
  

Only the Vertical and Horizontal Step connections are provided as built-in graph templates. These two plot types are accessible from Origin's Plot menu and Template Library, as well as the 2D Graphs Extended toolbar.

To learn more about the customizations that can be made to this plot type, view the Line plot details* page.

The symbols have been enabled and set to red to illustrate how each Step connection type is created. The Step connections are (from left to right):

Top: Vertical, Vertical Center
Bottom: Horizontal, Horizontal Center