I can never get tired of in-cell charts, whenever I get sometime, I try to experiment something on them. Here is an idea to design true incell column charts without using any add-ins or installing fonts. These charts can be fun to have on your project report or annual news letter or memos, they take as much time as munching a handful of M&Ms.
Download excel chart containing incell bar chart example
1. First we will create in-cell chart using rept() the usual way
This is the simple step. For a sample data, we can use rept() excel function to repetitively print a symbol. Thus, by repetitively printing “|” (pipe) we can create incell bar charts.
REPT() example is shown below:
=rept("|",10)will print||||||||||
2. Next combine several incell charts to create a column chart
We can combine various incell charts using excel’s concatenate() function or & operator. Better still you can use the concat() UDF. The trick here is we will delimit each chart with an ENTER key code by using char(10) as the delimiter. When used along with “wrap text” cell format this key code will force cell contents to a newline where the char code 10 is inserted.
3. Finally rotate the cell contents by 900 to make the charts vertical
Just select the cell contents, hit ALT+1, and set the alignment formats so that the text is vertically aligned in the cell, and turn on wrap text.
That is all, you will now have an incell bar chart that is vertical like the one below:
Pretty cool eh?
39 Responses to “Incell Bar charts – Revisited”
Hey Chandoo,
I just came across your blog a few days back, and have been facinated by your blog, esp excel tips. Keep the good work going.
I am from IIMK 2007 batch.
Hey Chandoo,
I have been visiting your blog quite frequently ever since I discovered this during a google search. I had read your tip on incell charts earlier and then applied the text orientation and created the similar type of charts and got 'wows' from my colleagues. I wanted to share that with you earlier and others but found no link to upload a file on your site. Am glad that you finally suggested the same thing in your post today.
Keep up the good work
Hey Chandoo,
I have been visiting your blog quite frequently ever since I discovered this during a google search. I had read your tip on incell charts earlier and then applied the text orientation and created the similar type of charts and got 'wows' from my colleagues. I wanted to share that with you earlier and others but found no link to upload a file on your site. Am glad that you finally suggested the same thing in your post today.
Keep up the good work
Regards,
Pankaj Verma
awesome!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Nice charts.
To make a degree sign (°), hold ALT while typing 0176 on the numeric keypad. Nicer than superscripts, and the RSS feed is less likely to display it improperly.
Hi,
Alt+248 also works for ° symbol.
@Simon - welcome to PHD.. thanks for the comments..
@Pankaj - you can always share your ideas in comments... or drop me an email at chandoo dot d at gmail dot com. thanks for the comments 🙂
@Sukhbinder .. thank you 🙂
@Jon.. that is an excellent tip there... I will use it from now on...
That's really cool, but still not quite sparklines. Have you had any luck with making those?
Your site is really great, btw!
@ Cheryl: Thanks for the comments, yeah still no luck with them.. may be this weekend 😉
Chandoo-
First time visitor, I will be back, your excel tips are great. Question about this worksheet. It is looking for an add-in in your c:drive for a "macros.xla"
Is this macros.xla a macro workbook which comes from installing one of the add-ins?
Ahh, after spending time with your blog I found the May 28 post. I'll download that and give it a try
@Greg ... welcome, thanks for the comments.
well, it is looking the addin for the concat udf which I used to create the incell chart. You can find out more about it : http://chandoo.org/wp/2008/05/28/how-to-add-a-range-of-cells-in-excel-concat/, I forgot include it the spreadsheet code as it was on my macros.xla add-in.
Let me know if you still have difficulty
Hi Chandoo, I am still having issues getting either the XLA UDF to work or the simple concatenate to work. When I use concatenate using & the bars simple stack on each other. How do I get around this?
Having the same issue. The bars keep stacking on each other. I'm using excel 2011 on a Mac. Any ideas?
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How can I make incell charts in excel 2007?
You are a king!!
Thanks for helping the world!!
Hi Chandoo,
I have been following your tips for a looooong time now..and finally writing to you as am stuck with a problem.
Was using your rept() formulas when I thought of making it appear on a scale.
Problem......
I am using the rept() function to show a % figure. 60% would give me 6 "*". However just wondering if it is possible to show 10 "*" and only 6 of them highlighted in a different colour in a cell. The remaining 4 grayed out but still visible. Dont know if it is possible, if yes can you help me with this.
Currently I am using a temporary solution by aligning the achieved result (6 in this case) right and the very next cell left aligned to show the remainder (4 in this case) grayed out. However it looks very shabby.
Regards...Sahrukh
[...] Pomys? z powtarzaniem znaków mo?na rozwin?? i wykorzysta? do pokazania trendu kilku kolejnych liczb. Ciekawe podej?cie znalaz?em na blogu http://chandoo.org/wp/2008/07/15/incell-bar-charts-revisited/. [...]
Speechless...awosome! Thanks Chandoo.
How do you insert a watermark in Excel sheet?
@Mathew
There are a few ways to imitate a watermark in Excel
.
1. Use a background Picture
Goto page Layout, background and insert a Picture
.
2. Use a Picture in a Header or Footer
Goto Insert, Header & Footer, choose an image
.
3. Use Word Art
Goto Insert Word Art, setup as required
.
The first 2 methods require that you have already setup an image with the correct wording as a Bitmap image
Chandoo,
How would you be able to do this as a function in VBA? select the cells you want and out pops this bar graph?
I have gone a fan of u.
Pls provide me some extra ordinary tips of excel and VBA
Hello Chandoo
I find you blogs priceless and have learnt so much from it. I was wondering during your next trip to Australia, are you planning to visit Adelaide, I would not miss one of your sessions for anything in the world.
Please try and make it if you can.
Thanks
Dee
Hello, somehow the char function does not work when i use it there is no new line created.
=K7&CHAR(10)&CHAR(10)&CHAR(10)&L7
ths is the same as above is it not. ?
any explanation. is it something in my excel settings?
@Marloes
Char(10) is a Line Feed
For Excel to take advantage of that the cell where it is must have Wrap Text enabled
Select the cell/s
Ctrl 1
Alignment
Enable Wrap Text
Instead of =rep("|",n) it is better :=rep("?",n) or =rep("?",n)
? ? alt+220 , ? ? alt+219
? = alt+220 or alt+219 that make it continous line. (put it as the first parmeter of REPT function.
Great addition!
Thanks for the great tip, Chandoo! Awesome! My leadership was delighted by my output! To make it better, I have applied "Britannic Bold" font. It turned real solid. However, choosing different colors for each bar in many cells in a column is a royal pain though. Mine are simple bar charts. No negative value charting.
They are not trends, but indicate different depts of organization and their contribution at functional levels.
Hi Chandoo,
Found your tips useful.
I suggest to add the category / timeline to Incell graph.
"|||||| Jan
|||||| Feb
||||||||| Mar
| Apr
|||||||| May
|| Jun"
I used
REPT("|",C7/2)&REPT(" ",((MAX($C$7:$H$7)+2)-C7)/2)&C6
to add the timeline
Another Great addition!