In Custom Axis, Y = 1, 2, 4, 8, 16 I showed axes with base 2 logarithmic scales in both Excel 2003 and 2007. In Excel 2003 it is necessary to transform the data to get the intended result. In Excel 2007, the axis can be achieved with the untransformed data.
In the previous post, the data [...]

In Horizontally Banded Chart Background I showed how to create colored horizontal bands in the background of a chart.

I first wrote up that tutorial back when I was using Excel 97, and the protocol remained the same for Excel versions through Excel 2003. The protocol is pretty much the same in Excel 2007, too, but the [...]

In Using Colors in Excel Charts I discussed a lot of details about Excel colors, predominantly in Excel 2003, and specifically with charting in mind. I mentioned the Color Brewer, a neat little utility for selecting colors and designing color palettes. In ColorBrewer2.org Mark Harrower of Axis Maps announced Color Brewer 2, which updates the [...]

With a little knowledge of number formats and a healthy dose of creativity, you can work around apparent shortcomings in Excel’s charting mechanism, neaten up your charts, and produce effects that are otherwise difficult.
In the Microsoft newsgroup, someone asked how to hide the data labels in his stacked column chart if the values are zero.
The [...]

My colleague and fellow Excel MVP Mike Alexander of DataPig Technologies has sent me another article, so instead of the blog being silent while I take today off, it will be graced with more of Mike’s wisdom. Last November, Mike shared with us his Ten Chart Design Principles.
Mike and I have taught advanced Excel classes [...]

In The Problem with Marimekkos, I used a panel chart to separate the data from a single complex and hard-to-decipher chart into four much simpler charts, following the lead of Stephen Few of Perceptual Edge. I used a trick to place two separate legends into the bottom two panels of the chart.

I introduced a method [...]

One of the mysteries of modern life is the order in which series appear in the legend of an Excel chart. People have been driven mad while attempting to reorganize legends in their charts. I’ve spent years working with Excel charts, and I’ve made some observations and generalizations about Excel chart legends. These are only [...]

This is a continuation of Legends in Excel Charts – Formats, Size, Shape, and Position, which started a discussion about the legends in Excel charts. That article talked about legend formatting, and how the best legend is no legend at all: it’s more effective to put the text labels right on the data. But sometimes [...]

Most charts use some kind of legend to help readers decode the charted data. Excel charts have legends by default, and these legends have a great deal of flexibility (as well as some frustrating constraints).
The best legend is actually no legend at all. A legend by its very nature is somewhat separated from the chart, [...]

Earlier this week, Tony Rose wrote about Highlighting Data in a Chart. He used an example called The Mixed Commodities Bag from Business Week, a magazine whose graphics always lead to discussion, for better or worse. I’ve reproduced the chart below using my graphics engine of choice, though I didn’t spend a lot of time [...]