What is a scatter plot?

A scatter plot - also called a scatter chart or scatter diagram - plots two numeric measures against each other, with each row of data drawn as one point. The X-axis is one measure, the Y-axis is the other, and the position of each point shows the relationship between the two. Use it when the question is about correlation, clustering, or outliers between two numeric variables, not a trend over time or a comparison across categories.

When should I use a scatter plot instead of a line chart?

Use a scatter plot when you are comparing two numeric measures against each other and the dimension is not time - for example, marketing spend against revenue, or response time against satisfaction score. Use a Line Chart when one axis is time and the question is about trend over a sequence, not the relationship between two independent measures.

What does the dimension field do on a scatter plot?

The dimension field splits the points into separate series, one per category, each shown in a different color. This lets you see whether the relationship between the two measures differs across groups - for example, plotting deal size against close time, split by sales region, shows whether the correlation holds consistently across regions or only in some.

How many measures does a scatter plot need?

Exactly two. Both measures are numeric and become the X and Y positions of each point. A scatter plot also requires exactly one dimension, which is used to group points into colored series rather than as a plotted axis.

What does Ripple Effect do?

Ripple Effect adds a pulsing ring animation around each point, drawing attention to the data on a presentation or live dashboard. It is a visual emphasis effect, not a way to encode additional data - all points pulse identically. Use it sparingly; with a large number of points, constant rippling can be distracting rather than helpful.

Why are my points overlapping and hard to distinguish?

Overlapping points, known as overplotting, happen when many rows share similar or identical X and Y values. Reduce Symbol Size, lower the opacity by choosing a lighter fill color, or pre-aggregate the data in Transform if many rows genuinely cluster at the same coordinates. Enable Data Zoom so viewers can zoom into a dense region and separate the points visually.

Does a scatter plot show correlation automatically?

No. The chart shows the position of each point, and viewers visually infer whether a pattern exists - a rising trend, a cluster, or no relationship at all. There is no trend line, regression line, or correlation coefficient calculated or displayed automatically. If you need a quantified correlation, that calculation should happen in Transform or be stated separately in the chart title or a supporting text element.

Scatter Plot | Edilitics Docs

Plot two measures against each other to reveal correlation, clusters, and outliers - best for relationships between numeric variables, not trends over time.

A scatter plot - also called a scatter chart or scatter diagram - plots two numeric measures against each other, with each row of data drawn as one point. Drop one categorical or date field into Column and exactly two numeric fields into Row. Use it when the question is about the relationship between two numeric variables - correlation, clustering, or outliers - not a trend over time or a ranked comparison across categories.

When to Use

A scatter plot answers a different kind of question than most other charts in this module. Bar charts and line charts compare a measure across a dimension. A scatter plot compares two measures directly against each other, with the dimension used only to color and group the points. Use it to investigate whether two numeric variables move together, whether the data forms distinct clusters, or whether a few points stand apart from the rest as outliers.

A scatter plot does not calculate or display correlation. The chart shows where each point falls - it is up to the viewer to visually judge whether a relationship exists. There is no automatic trend line, regression line, or correlation coefficient. If the chart needs to make a specific quantitative claim about the relationship, state it in the chart title or compute it separately in Transform - do not let the visual pattern alone imply a statistical conclusion that has not been verified.

Switch to a different chart when:

One of your two fields is time and the question is about trend - use Line Chart
You need to encode a third numeric measure as point size - use Bubble Chart
You are comparing a measure across categories, not two measures against each other - use Horizontal Bar
You need to see the distribution shape of a single measure - use Histogram

Scenario	Dimension	Measure 1 (X)	Measure 2 (Y)
Marketing spend vs. revenue by channel	Channel name	Sum of spend	Sum of revenue
Response time vs. satisfaction score by team	Team name	Average response time	Average satisfaction score
Deal size vs. days to close by region	Region name	Sum of deal size	Average days to close
Tenure vs. performance score by department	Department name	Average tenure	Average performance score
Page load time vs. bounce rate by device type	Device type	Average load time	Bounce rate %

Required Inputs

Field	Type	Count
Dimension	Categorical or Date	Exactly 1
Measure	Numeric	Exactly 2

The dimension groups points into separately colored series. The two measures become the X and Y position of each point.

For step-by-step build instructions, see Build Your First Chart.

Formatting Options

The Format tab unlocks after at least one field is assigned. Once your chart is rendering, use these controls to define how it looks and how viewers interact with it.

Style

Use the chart title to state the relationship being examined - viewers need to know which measure is on which axis before they look at the point pattern.

Control	What it does
Show Chart Title	Shows or hides the title. The text is preserved when hidden so you can toggle it back without re-entering.
Enter Chart Title	Title text. Maximum 50 characters.
Font family	Font applied to the title.
Font size	5 to 30.
Bold / Italic	Weight and style.
Alignment	Left, center, or right within the chart container.

Scatter Styles controls the shape, size, color, and ripple animation of every point.

Control	What it does
Shape	The marker shape for every point: Circle, Rect, Round Rect, Triangle, Diamond, Pin, or Arrow. Circle is the default and most neutral choice.
Ripple Effect	Adds a pulsing ring animation around each point. Off by default. Use for presentation contexts where drawing attention to the data matters; avoid on dense charts where constant rippling becomes distracting.
Ripple Scale	Size of the ripple relative to the point, 1.5 to 10.0. Default is 2.5. Only available when Ripple Effect is on.
Size	Diameter of each point, 1 to 50. Default is 10. Reduce on dense charts to limit overplotting; increase on sparse charts so points are easy to see.
Scatter Color	Single fill color for all points. Only shown when the dimension produces one series (or no dimension is grouping the data).
Gradient Start Color / Gradient End Color	When the dimension splits points into multiple series, each series gets a color interpolated between Start and End rather than a single fixed color.

Data labels print a value next to each point. On a scatter plot with more than a handful of points, labels will overlap heavily - use them only on charts with a small number of points where every point needs to be individually identified.

Control	What it does
Show Data Labels	Shows or hides value labels on points.
Font family	Font applied to data labels.
Font size	Maximum 18. Keep small on dense charts.
Bold / Italic / Color	Text styling.
Position	Vertical and horizontal alignment of the label relative to the point.
Number Type	Default, Scientific, Decimal, or Percentage.
Display Unit	None, Thousand, Million, or Billion.
Decimal Places	0 to 6. Available when Number Type is not Default.

The legend identifies which color corresponds to which category in the dimension. Critical when more than one series is plotted - without it, viewers cannot tell groups apart.

Control	What it does
Show Legends	Shows or hides the legend. On by default.
Vertical position	Top, middle, or bottom alignment of the legend block.
Horizontal position	Start, center, or end alignment.
Show Name	Default: labels always visible. On Hover: labels appear only when viewer hovers the legend.
Orientation	Vertical or Horizontal legend layout.
Item Gap	Spacing between legend items.
Font Size	Legend label font size.
Color	Legend label text color.

Axes

Both axes on a scatter plot are numeric value axes - there is no categorical axis. Name both clearly so viewers immediately know what each axis represents without checking the tooltip.

Select X or Y before making changes. Settings apply to the selected axis only.

Control	What it does
Show Axis Name	Shows or hides the axis name label.
Axis name text	Label text. Maximum 20 characters. Defaults to the field name.
Font family	Font applied to the axis name.
Font size	5 to 30.
Bold / Italic	Weight and style.
Offset (%)	Distance between the axis name and the axis line. Increase if the axis name overlaps the axis labels.
Alignment	Start, center, or end along the axis.

Leave these at their defaults unless you are building a minimal dashboard layout.

Select X or Y before making changes.

Control	What it does
Show Axis Line	Shows or hides the axis line. Hiding it also hides ticks.
Line Color	Color of the axis line.
Line Width	Thickness of the axis line, 0 to 5.
Line Type	Solid, Dashed, or Dotted.
Show Ticks	Shows or hides tick marks on the axis line.
Tick Color	Color of the tick marks.
Tick Length	Length of the tick marks, 5 to 10.

Select X or Y before making changes. Hiding axis labels also hides the axis name.

Control	What it does
Show Axis Label	Shows or hides labels along the axis.
Font family	Font applied to axis labels.
Font size	Label font size.
Bold / Italic / Color	Text styling.
Rotation	Angle of label text.
Display Unit	Auto, None, Thousand, Million, or Billion. Available on both axes since both are numeric.

Grid lines on a scatter plot give viewers a reference grid for reading point positions against both numeric scales. Keep them on for both axes - unlike a bar or line chart, there is no implicit category axis to anchor against.

Select X or Y before making changes.

Control	What it does
Show Gridlines	Shows or hides grid lines for the selected axis.
Grid Color	Color of the grid lines.
Left / Right / Top / Bottom	Plot area margins as a percentage. Increase Left when Y-axis labels are clipped. Increase Bottom when X-axis labels overflow.

Interactivity

The tooltip is the primary way viewers read exact X and Y values for a specific point, since position alone is hard to read precisely against a numeric grid.

Control	What it does
Show Tooltip	Shows or hides the tooltip on hover. Keep on.
Background Color	Tooltip background color.
Headers / Values tabs	Separate styling for the axis label rows (Headers) and the value rows (Values). The Values tab includes Number Type, Display Unit, and Decimal Places.

Keep animation on for presentations where the points appearing draws attention to the overall pattern forming. Turn it off on dashboards that auto-refresh.

Control	What it does
Enable Animation	Turns the build animation on or off.
Duration	How long the animation runs, 0 to 3000ms. Default is 1000ms.
Delay	Time before the animation starts after the chart loads, 0 to 2000ms.
Easing Function	The motion curve. Cubic Out (the default) gives a natural deceleration.

Enable Data Zoom when many points cluster together and viewers need to zoom into a dense region to separate overlapping points.

Control	What it does
Show Data Zoom	Shows or hides the zoom control.
Zoom Type	Slider: a draggable range bar alongside the chart. Inside: scroll-to-zoom directly on the plot area. Inside is often more useful on a scatter plot than on other chart types, since viewers frequently want to zoom into a specific cluster rather than scroll along one axis.
Slider Size (px)	Width or height of the slider bar, 10 to 100. Slider type only.
Position	Position of the slider relative to the chart.
Alignment	Alignment of the slider control.
Orientation	Horizontal or Vertical, depending on which axis needs zooming.
Show Detail Label	Shows range values at the slider handles.
Background Color	Slider background.
Filler Color	Color of the selected range inside the slider.
Border Color	Slider border.
Handle Color	Color of the drag handles.
Brush Selection	Enables click-and-drag to zoom into a range.

Emphasis highlights the hovered point, useful for picking out one point from a dense cluster.

Control	What it does
Show Emphasis	Enables or disables the hover effect.
Focus Type	Item: highlights the hovered point and dims others. Series: highlights all points in the hovered series (the same dimension category) and dims the rest - use this to trace one category's spread across the chart. None: no visual change on hover.
Enable Scale	Scales the hovered point slightly larger.
Scale Size	How much the point scales. Keep at 1.3 or below on dense charts to avoid the scaled point overlapping its neighbors.

Enable the Toolbox when viewers need to export the chart or inspect the exact values behind specific points.

Control	What it does
Show Toolbox	Shows or hides the toolbox icon bar.
Save as Image	Adds a download icon that saves the chart as a PNG.
Data View	Adds an icon that opens the underlying data table in the chart area.

Best Practices

State the relationship being examined in the chart title. Unlike a bar or line chart where the axis labels alone often communicate the question, a scatter plot benefits from an explicit title - "Marketing Spend vs. Revenue by Channel" tells viewers what to look for before they study the point pattern.

Do not claim correlation the chart does not show. The visual pattern of points is suggestive, not proof. Avoid titling a chart "X Causes Y" based on a scatter plot alone - state only what the data shows, and note any caveats about sample size or confounding factors separately if the chart will inform a decision.

Reduce point size or opacity when points overlap heavily. Overplotting hides how many rows actually share similar coordinates. Smaller points, lighter colors, or pre-aggregating in Transform all help reveal density that a wall of solid-colored points would otherwise hide.

Use Series focus in Emphasis when comparing groups. With multiple categories plotted in different colors, Series focus lets viewers isolate one group's spread at a time - much easier than trying to visually filter colors out of a busy chart.

Limit Ripple Effect to genuinely highlight-worthy charts. It is a strong visual effect meant for drawing attention, not a default styling choice. On a chart with many points, ripples animating constantly can be distracting rather than helpful - reserve it for charts with a small number of points or specific points you want to emphasize.

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Scatter Plot