Let’s learn how to create a color changing line chart using Excel. This is what we will create.
Looks interesting? Read on.
Why color changing line charts?
I will be honest. These charts offer no new information. The height of line already encodes the information we need. Color is merely an eye candy. But sometimes you may want some eye candy. If so, you can use this tutorial.
Let’s look at the data:
Let’s say we have some data for 3 months starting 1-SEP-2015 in a table like below. We need to add 3 extra columns – Before, Line & After as shown in the below picture.
What are these 3 columns?
- Before: This is value – 1
- Line: this is simply 1
- After: We first calculate the maximum possible value (let’s say 160) and then subtract value from it. ie 160-value.
Create a stacked area chart from Before, Line & After data:
Select all three columns (before, line & after) and create a stacked area chart.
This is what we get:
Fill plot area with red yellow green gradient
- Select plot area of the chart and fill it with a Red-Yellow-Green gradient (see below)
Fill colors in before, line & after series
- Select before series and fill white color
- Select after series and fill white color
- Select line series and fill it with no color (ie make it transparent)
This is what we get:
Adjust vertical axis maximum
to 160 (or any other value as used in your calculations earlier)
At this stage, our chart looks like this:
Clean up and format the chart:
- Adjust horizontal axis labels
- Set up a chart title
- Remove legend
Now, our color changing line chart is ready:
Download color changing line chart workbook:
Click here to download the workbook. Play with the chart settings & data to understand this chart better.
Would you use such a chart?
I find very few uses for this chart. Also, when creating this chart using area chart technique, we loose the ability to add grid lines (as they are covered by the white color filled areas).
What about you? Would you use color changing line charts? Please share your thoughts and suggestions in the comments section.
14 Responses to “Group Smaller Slices in Pie Charts to Improve Readability”
I think the virtue of pie charts is precisely that they are difficult to decode. In many contexts, you have to release information but you don't want the relationship between values to jump at your reader. That's when pie charts are most useful.
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Chandoo,
millions of ants cannot be mistaken.....There should be a reason why everybody continues using Pie charts, despite what gurus like you or Jon and others say.
one reason could be because we are just used to, so that's what we need to change, the "comfort zone"...
i absolutely agree, since I've been "converted", I just find out that bar charts are clearer, and nicer to the view...
Regards,
Martin
[...] says we can Group Smaller Slices in Pie Charts to Improve Readability. Such a pie has too many labels to fit into a tight space, so you need ro move the labels around [...]
Chandoo -
You ask "Can I use an alternative to pie chart?"
I answer in You Say “Pie”, I Say “Bar”.
This visualization was created because it was easy to print before computers. In this day and age, it should not exist.
I think the 100% Bar Chart is just as useless/unreadable as Pies - we should rename them something like Mama's Strudel Charts - how big a slice would you like, Dear?
My money's with Jon on this topic.
The primary function of any pie chart with more than 2 or 3 data points is to obfuscate. But maybe that is the main purpose, as @Jerome suggests...
@Jerome.. Good point. Also sometimes, there is just no relationship at all.
@Martin... Organized religion is finding it tough to get converts even after 2000+ years of struggle. Jon, Stephen, countless others (and me) are a small army, it would take atleast 5000 more years before pie charts vanish... patience and good to have you here 🙂
@Jon .. very well done sir, very well done.
good points every one...
I've got to throw my vote into Jon's camp (which is also Stephen Few's camp) -- bars just tend to work better. One observation about when we say "what people are used to." There are two distinct groups here (depending on the situation, a person can fall in either one): the person who *creates* the chart and the person who *consumes* the chart. Granted, the consumers are "used to" pie charts. But, it's not like a bar chart is something they would struggle to understand or that would require explanation (like sparklines and bullet graphs). Chart consumers are "used to" consuming whatever is put in front of them. Chart creators, on the other hand, may be "used to" creating pie charts, but that isn't an excuse for them to continue to do so -- many people are used to driving without a seatbelt, leaving lights on in their house needlessly, and forwarding not-all-that-funny anecdotes via email. That doesn't mean the practice shouldn't be discouraged!
[...] example that Chandoo used recently is counting uses of words. Clearly, there are other meanings of “bar” (take bar mitzvah or bar none, for [...]
[…] Grouping smaller slices in pie chart […]
Good article. Is it possible to do that with line charts?
Hi,
Is this available in excel 2013?