Visualization Techniques for Impressive Charts

A Quick Step by Step Guide

Leila Gharani, MA
Excel Instructor / Business consultant
© 2016 Leila Gharani – XelPlus.com

Edited by: Michael Diamond

A Quick Word…

The following cheat sheets provide brief and simple instructions to help you quickly create the charts in my

Excel Charts: Visualization Secrets for Impressive Charts course on Udemy.com.

Watching the videos and following along in the Demo Workbook and completing the exercises is an important

part of learning. If you don’t use it immediately, you will forget. Since it’s unlikely you’ll be creating all the

charts in one go, these cheat sheets will help you when you get stuck. Whenever you’re not sure what the

next step is, refer to them.

Sometimes we also forget what type of charts are available for us. This quick guide gives you a good overview.

I hope they can be of good assistance for your work.

All the best,

Leila

www.Xelplus.com

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Which Chart Would You Like to Make Today?
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An Overview of The Techniques Used

4
Chart Series Label Positioning - Line series
1 2 Select the entire data
Make the necessary
calculations for the table and create a line
position of the labels. series chart.
Remember to use the
NA() function to
generate errors in
cells, otherwise you
get a continuous line
for the Actual data
label.

Activate data labels for the legend

series. Format the labels  select
series name instead of value.

5
Chart Series Label Positioning - Stacked Column Chart
1 Create a stacked column chart by highlighting the
regions and months.

2
Position the data labels by defining their X and Y positions. Create “Label Position” as Y axis by using sum formula
to total Label position as a cumulative total – tweaking can be done later for better positioning. X values should
be larger than the count of months. Add “Label Position” to current stacked chart column as Y axis.

3 Change Y Axis to XY Scatterplot chart & add X values to 4 Activate data labels and make the markers invisible.
XY Chart.

5 Select each data 6 Tweak the position

label individually.
While that cell is
selected, go to the
formula bar and
enter the cell
reference to its
region name (e.g.
4493 = A40
(Europe), 14508 to
A41 (Asia), etc.,)
of the Region
labels by dividing
the Label Position
formula by 2 and
subtract that
answer from the
original formula.

6
Conditional Formatting of Chart Columns for Best Impact
1 Create a Bar chart from the existing table.

2 Automate the table to show max and min 3

Add MAX and Min series to the chart by copying the table data, select Paste
values in the Max and Min Columns by Special, uncheck the categories box and paste. Select any column to bring the
using the Max and Min formula as shown Format Dialog Series box and change the overlap to 100% so the new series
below. overlaps the original one.

4 5
Format chart as
desired (e.g., Highlight the Max and Min columns only and display the label;
remove grid hide the “0” in the other columns by using the custom format
lines, Change #,##0;-#,##0;; in the Label Number format dialog box.
chart colors,
etc). Always
Keep the Sales
series as the
top one so the
Max and Min
columns will
alwasy sit on
top of the Sales
series
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Conditional Formatting of Bars for Best Impact
1 The steps are almost identical to the previous
chart. The only new thing required is reversing
the chart categories.

2 Prepare the data table as you did with the

3
Column Chart. To save time, you can add all
To reverse the categories right click or
the data at the same time as shown above
select the Y axis and choose the Format
and insert a bar chart.
Axis option. In the dialog box check the
“Categories in Reverse Order”. This will
transpose the categories from A to Z. 4
Remove gridlines and tick marks (right click, format axis, set tick marks to none); add data labels
(Layout->Data Labels->outside end); overlap data bars to 100% (so the Max and Min value bars sit
on top of each category : right click – format data series – increase overlap to 100%); reduce the
bar gap width (right click – format data series – move Gap width slider to the left). Delete the top
Axis.

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Error Bars to Group Categories and Create Visual Splits
1
Insert a bar chart and prepare it for inserting the vertical lines via error bars. Add another data set below the
original table for the new chart series which adds a new point on the x axis (i.e. 3.5 and 6.5 on the X axis )

2 Add the “Split” series to the chart using the Y values.

Select the newly added series and change the chart
type to Scatter.
3 Add X values to Scatterplot series: Select data->series
>Edit->Define X values

4
Activate the error bars for this series. Delete X Error bars from: Layout->Select x
error bars, ->Delete

6 Change Scatterplot to Secondary Axis: Select Series->Format Selection-> Choose

Secondary Axis -> Fix Axis (Select Secondary axis) to Min= 0 to Max=1,. Hide
markers and the secondary axis.
5

Format vertical error bars: Layout :Select Layout->Error Bars->More

Error Bar Options-> Direction: Select Plus; End Style :No Cap, Error
Amount : Fixed value = 1
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Charts with Dynamic Comments / Annotations
There are several methods to add comments to a chart:
1. Insert a text box or shape on the chart – not dynamic
2. Change the specific marker itself to a shape – dynamic but not perfectly positioned
3. Add a new series to control the text box – dynamic and perfectly positioned: Below steps show how

1 Insert a line chart to

2 Create an image that you want to add
to your chart. You can insert an image
create your basic
or design a shape of your liking using
chart.
insert shapes.

3 4
Define the position of your text box on your chart: Add new table
with X & Y values. The X value is the position of the month, i.e. 7 =
July in this example, and Y is the height. Optimally it should sit a little
higher than the data point. At first input these manually and later
update these to dynamic formulas.
Add the new series to your chart. Select Y value first.
Change type to Scatterplot and then add the X values
to the series. Copy the image, select the new series
data point and paste into the marker. To get the
positioning right, adjust the Y values.

5
Next step is to make the annotation dynamic. Add a Month
category in a cell above the x-y table. Use the match function in
the x value cell to map the month; use Index to map the Y value
and add an adjustment factor to this for perfect positioning.

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Measuring Performance - Actual Versus Budget
For the following 3 charts: Select data table and insert Column Chart.

11) Basic chart: Column comparison chart if you prefer a wider chart
a) To change color: Select series; choose Select Fill and select color
b) To Switch legend to the top: Right Click, format legends, choose “Top” option
c) Add Chart Title and increase or widen chart as desired
d) To change gap width: Select any data series, right click, select format data series,
decrease gap width for wider columns and increase gap for narrower columns
e) Remove the tick marks: Select X axis, right click – Format Series, Major Tick marks- select
none from the drop down list; remove outside border and remove gridlines

22) Combination Column and Line Chart

a) Select any budget column-Right mouse click- select change Chart type and select line chart
b) Format line color accordingly

33) Change second series to marker

a) Select the series, right click select format data series
b)) Go to Marker Options, select built in option, select the line option select line from the
dropdown list and format to desired line width
c) ) For the marker fill: select Marker Fill option, choose color fill option & select the color you want
d) To remove the line: go to Marker line option, and select no line option

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Variances With One Bar Chart
1 Create data table (D97:H103) using the following formulas (copy down formulas from row 97 to row 103)
*Note: The Actual Above & Below Columns determine the size of the error bars which show the Actual/Budget Variance
2 Add Bar Chart by selecting Company and
Actual. Add labels, remove gridlines , axis
and decrease gap width.
5 Create the red and green bars – these
are done using error bars.
For red: Select “Actuals Below” series
and go to error bars. Delete Vertical bars
and adjust horizontal bars with this
selection: Plus, No Cap, Custom error
amount and Col D for the positive values.
Change color to red, line style to a thick
line (6).
For green: Repeat as you would for red,
except use the minus option and for the
custom error amount use the column E
values for negative values. Select green
as color and adjust size to 6.
Remove the secondary axis and hide the
markers.
Actual below (Col D)
Actual Above (Col E)
For Labels (Col F)
Variance for Budget (Col G)
Position of Variance (Col H) <- Increment each row by 1
The Actual series are added two more times to the chart as scatter plot
3 4
Add “Actuals below” as scatterplot to chart: Click Repeat the same steps for “Actual
on chart, select data, add new, select Col H values Above” series.
for the Y axis. Change Chart type to scatterplot and
add x-values. These are in “Actual” column (Col B).
6
To add the % variance to
chart. First add the “For
labels” series as scatter
plot. Hide the markers.
Activate data labels for
these and connect each
label with a formula to
the values in Variance to
Budget Column.
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Vertical Bullet Chart with Percentages
1 2
Create a stacked column Switch Actual and Plan to
chart from the data and secondary axis.
switch row/column.

3
Change the chart type for 5
plan to a line with markers - Fix the primary and
remove the line and format secondary axis to min 0 and
the marker accordingly. max 1.

4
Select one of the band
series from the primary axis
and reduce gap to zero.

6
Format the rest accordingly:
Reduce plot area, hide the
secondary axis and select
your colors.

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Horizontal Bullet Chart
1 Create a stacked column chart from the data and switch row/column.

2 Switch Actual and Target Series to Scatterplot.

.
3 Format axis: Set Minimum Value to 0 and
. Maximum to 1.

4 . .
Add Y Axis value (50%) to data
table.
5 Edit Actual and Target series: 6
assign 50% as Y value to align Format the chart similar to the
them to the bands and assign vertical bar chart.
the Actual and Target data
from the table for the x-values.
.
8
. For Target: Activate the Error bars but
this time remove the Horizontal bar.
7 Select the Actual series and activate the For the vertical error bars make the
error bars; remove the vertical bars. following selection: Both, No Cap and
Activate the Horizontal error bars, select fixed value to 0.2 (20%). Change the
minus and set the custom value to the line color, increase the line thickness to
Actual value from the table. Increase the 1.2. Remove the marker and shrink the
thickness of the error bar to 16; change line chart as desired.
color and remove the marker.

.
9
To correct the legend marker
for Target, you can add a shape
right beside it and group it with
the chart.

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Effective Comparisons: Using Symbols in Charts
The key to getting symbols in the X-axis is to prepare
your data accordingly before inserting your chart.
2 Go to Insert: symbols, arial font and
1 insert the up and down arrow symbols in
To show the % change in the x-axis do
an empty cell.
the necessary calculation. In this
example

3 Create the following data columns in the data preparation table:

a) Link all the cells in Col F to Column D
b) Use the following formula to add the symbols in Col A:IF(D8<0,"▼ ","▲ ")
c) Link Col H to Col A (to show each month)
d) Create an Actual column in column I and link values to column C.

4 Highlight the data Preparation

column and insert Column Chart

5
Format chart accordingly

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Effective Comparisons: Using Colored Ranges
1 Populate the Min PY, Max PY and Max Columns with the following formulas:
1) Min PY: use the Min formula to calculate the minimum values: MIN($C$77:$C$88)
2) Max PY: use the Max formula to calculate the maximum values: MAX($C$77:$C$88)
3) Max: The column is the difference between values in the Min & Max PY columns

2
Insert an area chart: Use Month, Min PY and Max Series
(You do not need the Max PY in the chart, just to
calculate the Max series).
The shaded band should equal 1400 (800+600).
Stacked Area charts put each series on top of each
other. Select the Min PY series and change series color
to invisible. Format Max series color to pale blue.
3
Add the Sales Series.
Change the chart type from
Area Chart to a line chart.

4
To add series labels to
Min PY: X value: 13 (1 position after Dec) Y Value: Min PY Value
chart, create a new
Max PY: X value: 13 Y Value: Max PY Value
table and define the
Sales : X value: 13 Y Value: Last Sales value in the Sales column
position of each label.

5 6
Add this new series to the chart.
Add data labels for
Add Y values first. Change chart
this new series. Link
type to scatterplot and then add
the labels with a
in the x values
formula to the series
names in the Excel
Table.

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Effective Comparisons: The Pin Chart

1 Make the necessary calculations. 2 Insert a scatter chart for the +

and - series and update the
formatting of each series
accordingly.

3 Activate the vertical 4

Activate data labels for
error bars for both
each series and remove
series and use 100%
the vertical axis.
for value.

5
Adjust the horizontal axis. Remove
the labels, tick marks and change 6
the color as desired. To get the positioning properly,
remove the color from the chart and
plot area and position on top of the
original chart, then using the arrow
keys adjust accordingly.

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Predictive Analysis - Showing Outlook Development
1
The key to getting this chart right is to set up a staggered, continuous line series. To ensure
the lines overlap, set the last value of your data of one series as the starting value in the next
series.
If the cells highlighted in yellow are blank then the continuity of chart line will be broken
because a gap will appear where there there isn’t any data (see example below).

2
Insert the line chart and format accordingly
- Highlight the entire data table
- Insert the Line Chart
- Change the line color of each series for easy readability
- Add a chart title
- Move the legend to the top of the chart
- Remove or lighten the gridlines

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Box Plots to show Distributions
1 Highlight the Youngest, Oldest & Median Age table values
& insert a new line chart

2
Add Up/Down bars:
- Design
- Chart Element
- Select up down bars

3 Select Median age Series and change chart type to

Scatterplot 4
- Change the Secondary Axis on Scatterplot to Primary Create Scatterplot Legend Table
axis 1) Add Series Labels (insert line symbol w/ Median age)
- Change the Marker’s to a Line. Change the size to 11 2) Use COUNTA(A44:A48)+0.5 for X axis or manually fix values
and choose Solid fill 3) Link Y to last value in each category; use
- Format the bars with solid fill and remove the bar AVERAGE(D51:D52) for Medium Age Value
borders
- Decrease Gap width of the original line series
- Remove chart legend

5
Create Chart Legend using Scatterplot labels
1) Add X & Y Axis values to chart
2) Activate these newly added value labels
3) Link each label to the appropriate category name using formulas
4) Select markers and make them invisible

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Parts-to-whole

1
Create & Copy down the following Table formulas
1) % Total: Cost Centre Value/Total
2) Ranking:
RANK(C65,$C$65:$C$69,0)/Countif($C65:C65,C65)-1
3) Ranked Cost Centre: INDEX($A$65:$A$69,MATCH(F65,$D$65:$D$69,0))
4) Ranked Values: INDEX($B$65:$B$69,MATCH(F65,$D$65:$D$69,0))
5) % by Rank: INDEX($C$65:$C$69,MATCH(F65,$D$65:$D$69,0))
2
Insert Bar Chart:
1) Highlight Cost Center and % by Rank column values
2) Insert Bar Chart
3) Right Click-format series- Check Categories in Reverse order option
4) Remove Legend and gridlines. Adjust gap width as desired.

3
Insert Dynamic Data Labels: 4
Add Total to bottom of chart:
1) Activate the data labels for the bar chart
1) Click on the chart to activate it
2) Adjust color
1) Add a line to the bottom of the chart
3) Link labels to Value column with formulas
2) Insert a text box and link to Value Total
3) Format cell value to number

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Pareto Chart
1 2
Use the table from Insert a bar chart using the
the Parts-to-Whole Cost Center and % Columns
Chart. Add a for the x and y values.
Cumulative %
column.

3
Add the Cumulative % series to the chart
and change it to a line chart.
4
Add data labels to the column series and link
each of the labels with a formula to the
original values

5
Format the chart as desired (e.g. change the
gap width, bar color, line color, etc.)

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Sparklines
1
To Insert a Line Sparkline
1) Select the destination cell
2) Go to Insert-Sparkline-Line
3) Select the respective range
4) Press Enter
5) Copy down

Note: To give a chart feel you can

include month abbreviations at the
top of table as shown here.

2 To adjust formatting, go to the design tab and format as desired (e.g.

add high-low points, change line color, add markers, etc.)

3
By default, the axis are independent
of one another.
To compare sparklines results to each
4
Things you can do to accentuate Sparklines:
other, select the ‘Same for All a) To change Sparkline to Column: Design  column.
Sparklines’ option under the Vertical b) To add the axis: Select Axis
Axis section. Under the Vertical Axis c) To ungroup the Sparkline cells, select Ungroup to
section select ‘Same for All make them independent from one another.
Sparklines’. This sets all the sparklines
in your range onto the same axis for
in cell comparison between the
different companies.

22
Panel / Matrix Chart
Designing a panel chart is easy. It’s
just a matter of proper data
organization.
1
The x-axis will run all the
For the chart shown, you need to
way down and the values
organize the data in this way.
do not overlap to make sure
line breaks are created in
the chart.

2 Insert a line series and adjust color 3

and formatting accordingly. Make
Add data for the dividers using X and Y
sure you click on each series and
values. The first vertical line in this case
adjust the color to the given one for
should be after the 12th month, the 2nd
each category.
line after the 24th. Add this series to the
chart and switch chart type for this series
to scatterplot.

4
Activate the error bars for these series.
Keep the vertical ones and keep fixed
error value as 1. Adjust the color and
5
formatting of the lines. These will be Switch the divider series to the
the dividers. secondary axis and restrict min to 0
and max to 1.

Hide the secondary axis by setting

the options “major & minor tick
marks”, “axis labels” to none. Update
the color of the axis line to match the
dividers.

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Waterfall Chart
1
Prepare the Data by adding a
cumulative column, A column to
track the start and end values, a
before and after column for the
deltas and the location of Data
labels.

2
Select the start & end column,
before & end column and insert a
column chart.

3
Change the chart type of the before
& after series to a line chart.
4
Select one of the lines and select 5
up/down bars. To add the location of the data labels
add the last series to the chart and
change to a scatterplot. Show data
labels, hide the markers and connect
each cell with a formula to the
respective delta value. Show standard
data labels for the start/end series.

6
To show the connectors, add the
cumulative series and change to
scatter chart without markings. Add
error lines for only horizontal plus
values. Set length to 1. Update
formatting for the final chart.

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Coming Up:
The Ultimate Waterfall
Chart Course
For anyone interested in creating ANY variation
of the Waterfall chart

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