---
title: "How does graphing work?"
slug: how-does-graphing-work
url: https://invertbio.com/docs/faq/how-does-graphing-work
---

# How does graphing work?

All chart settings are accessed via the **Chart** button in the chart header, which opens a settings panel.

## Chart Types

Switch between **Line**, **Bar**, and **Scatter** using the Chart type selector at the top of the Chart settings panel.

## Time-series Charts (Line)

### Time normalization

All time-based charts are normalized to the **Run Start** time, which calculates the **Elapsed Run Time (ERT)**. Use the **Time Filters** section in the Chart settings panel to change the normalization basis (e.g. to a specific event like Feed Start, or to a phase like Production Start).

### Zoom

**X-axis drag zoom:** Click and drag within the graph to zoom into a specific time window. The current bounds appear in the top right corner. Click the ✕ to reset.

**X and Y axis custom ranges:** Open the Chart settings panel to set precise Min / Max / Interval values for both the X and Y axes. These compose with drag-zoom so both can be active simultaneously. Overridden values are shown highlighted; use the Reset button within each axis section to revert.

### Downsampling and Interpolation

To maintain a responsive interface, raw data is downsampled for line charts. Data is interpolated between time points to enable formula calculations and grouped statistical comparisons across runs with different data frequencies. Higher-resolution raw data renders as you zoom in, and is also available via data export.

### Chart Splits

Use the **Split by** control in the Chart settings panel to choose how runs and metrics are distributed across graphs:

- **All in one** — all metrics and runs on a single graph; each metric has a distinct line style, each run a unique color.
- **Split metrics** — one chart per metric; run colors are consistent across charts.
- **Split runs** — one chart per run or run group; metric colors are consistent across charts.
- **Separate** — each metric and run combination gets its own chart.

### Chart Layout

Control the number of charts per row: **Auto**, **Full width**, **2 columns**, or **3 columns**.

### Grouping

Use **Group by** in the Chart settings panel to categorize runs by a metadata attribute and access statistical comparison tools. Grouped line charts display the median (50th percentile) as a solid line with a shaded band from the 16th to 84th percentiles — a distribution-agnostic representation of central tendency and spread. For normally distributed data, this band corresponds to approximately ±1 standard deviation.

## Scatter Charts

Switch to scatter via the Chart type selector in the Chart settings panel. The X-axis defaults to Run ID but can be changed to any categorical or aggregated metric. The Y-axis supports any numeric value including time-series aggregations (mean, min, max, std, first, last, count), single-point properties, and calculated metrics.

When the X variable is numeric, toggle between **Continuous** and **Categorical** X-axis mode in the Chart settings panel. Enable **Show statistics** to overlay mean, standard deviation, standard error, and 95% confidence intervals per X category.

## Bar Charts

Bar charts display aggregated metric values as bars, with the X-axis driven by a run attribute (e.g. Run ID, Strain, Condition) and the Y-axis using the same aggregations as scatter. Use **Color by** in the Chart settings panel to add a second grouping dimension via bar color.