Technical Support Document

Advanced Tips and Tricks: Minitab 15

 Tile graphs on the screen In the Graphs folder in the Project Manager, highlight multiple graphs, right-
click, and choose Tile or Tile With Worksheet.
 Layout graphs With a graph active, choose Editor > Layout Tool, then add graphs to the layout. Or,
highlight multiple graphs in the Graphs folder in the Project Manager, right-click, and choose Layout Tool.
 Add a footnote Choose Tools > Options > Graphics > Annotation > My Footnote to automatically add the
date or time the graph was last modified, worksheet name, project name, or custom text as a footnote on all
graphs.
 Make a similar graph With a graph or control chart active, choose Editor > Make Similar Graph to make a
graph that retains all properties of that graph but uses different variables.
 Duplicate a graph With a graph or control chart active, choose Editor > Duplicate Graph to make an exact
duplicate of that graph.
 Copy Command language With a graph active, choose Editor > Copy Command Language to copy the
command language for that exact graph (including editing) to the Clipboard. This is available only for
control charts (Stat menu) and graphs created using the Graph menu.
 Divide a graph into panels Use a categorical variable to split a graph with groups into multiple panels.
Choose Multiple Graphs on the dialog box, then click the By Variables tab. You can also right-click the
graph and choose Panel. On some graphs (such as Time Series Plot), you can split the plot into panels based
on number of points per panel.
 Brush multiple data points To highlight multiple data points on a graph, press and hold the Shift key as
you brush the points.
 Set ID variables In Brush mode, right-click the graph and select Set ID Variables.
 Subset based on brushed points In any Data > Subset command or Graph command > click Data
Options, choose to include or exclude brushed rows.
 Go from graph to worksheet Right-click the graph and choose Switch To: WorksheetName to go to the
worksheet from which the graph was created.
 Plant a flag on a DOE contour plot Right-click the plot and select Plant Flag. Click the plot to display the
coordinates and fitted value at that point.
 Edit and annotate a graph Choose Tools > Toolbars > … to display the Graph Editing and Graph
Annotation toolbars.

Knowledgebase ID 1914: http://www.minitab.com/support/answers/answer.aspx?ID=1914 Page 1

 Open Excel files Choose File > Open Worksheet. From Files of Type choose
Excel (.xls). You can also click Options and Preview to specify the data to import and to ensure that it is
formatted properly.
 Open CSV files Choose File > Open Worksheet. From Files of Type choose Text (*.csv.).

CUSTOMIZATION

 Set a default file location Choose Tools > Options > General. Specify the default file location by typing in
the path or by clicking the button to browse to the folder.
 Enable command language Choose Tools > Options > Session Window > Submitting Commands to enable
command language for every Minitab session.
 Remove prompt to save graphs Choose Tools > Options > Graphics > Graph Management. Under
Prompt to Save A Graph Before Closing, choose Never.
 Customize menus and toolbars Choose Tools > Customize. Add, delete, move, or edit menu or toolbar
items; create or edit menus or toolbars; add items that link to executable or macro files; set keystrokes for
commands.
 Manage Profiles Store the current settings in Tools > Options, Tools > Customize, and Editor > Define
Custom Lists in a profile that you can use whenever you choose.

DATA MANIPULATION

 Code data Choose Data > Code >… to code data from numeric, text, or date/time values into different
numeric, text, or date/time values, or to code using a conversion table in the worksheet.
 Change data type Change the format of a column of data from Numeric, Text, or Date/Time into a
different format.
 Extract from date/time Choose Data > Extract from Date/Time > … to extract any of the following (alone
or in combination) from a Date/Time column: Year, Quarter, Month, Week, Day of month, Day of week,
Hour, Minute, Second, Tenths, Hundredths, Thousandths.
 Run commands from History Highlight a command (or commands) in the History folder and press
CTRL+L (or right-click and choose Command Line Editor) to open those commands in the Command Line
Editor. Click Submit Commands to run.
Knowledgebase ID 1914: http://www.minitab.com/support/answers/answer.aspx?ID=1914 Page 2
 Technical Support Document
Advanced Tips and Tricks: Minitab 15
 Setting value order Choose Editor > Column > Value Order to set the value order for a text column using
a custom list, an order occurring in the worksheet, or a user-defined order. This controls the order of groups
on bar charts and similar graphs, as well as tables and grouped output. Also add a user-defined list for future
use.
 Autofill Automatically repeat the value in a cell (or cells) or follow a pattern as you click and drag down a
column or columns in a worksheet. To repeat a value, select the cell, then hover your cursor on the lower
right corner of the cell. When the cross appears, click and drag down the column to repeat the value in other
cells. To repeat a pattern of values rather than a single value, press [CTRL] as you drag, following the same
convention as in Excel.
 Autofill using lists Define custom lists to be used for Autofill. For example, you can use Editor > Define
Custom Lists to define “Mon Tues Wed Thu Fri Sat Sun” as a list, type one of the values in Row 1 of a
column, and click and drag to fill in the list.
 Hide columns Choose Editor > Column > Hide Selected Columns to keep columns hidden from view.
 Column description Choose Editor > Column > Description to add a column description. To see the
description, hover you cursor over the red triangle in the corner of the column name.

Knowledgebase ID 1914: http://www.minitab.com/support/answers/answer.aspx?ID=1914 Page 3

 Clear a dialog box Press F3 to clear a dialog box and return it to default settings.
 Copy a dialog box Press ALT+PrntScrn to copy a screenshot of a dialog box only (instead of the entire
screen).
 Select only a “column” of text In the Session window (or anywhere there is text output) press ALT while
you click and drag to highlight a “column” of text.
 Go to the last dialog Press CTRL+E to return to the last dialog.
 ReportPad Save the ReportPad as .RTF or .HTML, or right-click on ReportPad in Project Manager and
choose Copy/Move to Word Processor to automatically put the contents of the ReportPad in the computer’s
default word processor (usually Microsoft Word).
 Zoom in and out of the worksheet Press CTRL and scroll the mouse wheel to zoom in and out of the
worksheet.
 Go to the first or last value in a column Press Home or End in a column in the worksheet to go to the top
of the column or the bottom of the data in the column, respectively.
 Save History output as an Exec Highlight a command or commands in History, right-click, and choose
Save As. Then change the file type to Exec Files (*.MTB) to save the commands in an Exec file.

SPECIALIZED DOCUMENTATION

 StatGuide
 Help > Methods and Formulas
 Knowledgebase

Knowledgebase ID 1914: http://www.minitab.com/support/answers/answer.aspx?ID=1914 Page 4