Sankey diagrams are used to show flow between two or more categories, where the width of each individual element is proportional to the flow rate. These chart types are available in Power BI, but are not natively available in Excel. However, today I want to show you that it is possible to create Sankey diagrams Read More
Category: Charts
Switch chart between monthly and quarterly
In this post, I want to answer a question asked by a reader. The question was from Nick: “I have a chart on a separate chart sheet, where I’d like to add a developer object (button, option box or checkbox) to control whether data is shown quarterly or monthly. Any idea how to do that?” Read More
3 ways to change or insert images based cell values
From stock parts to holiday villas, from employees to logos, there are plenty of reasons to insert and automatically change an image based on a cell. You may think of this as a lookup function that returns a picture, rather than a value. Ultimately, the purpose is to link an image or picture to a Read More
VBA code for charts and graphs in Excel
Charts and graphs in Excel have hundreds of different options. This is great for creating precisely the visualization we want but can be time-consuming to apply. When we want to apply those hundreds of settings to lots of charts, it can take hours and hours of frustrating clicking. The short code snippets below will help Read More
Create dynamic chart titles with custom formatting
Titles are an overlooked aspect of many charts. A bland title misses out on so much rich information which could be used to enhance a users understanding of the report. Here is an example of bad and good chart titles: The 2nd chart title adds additional insight and provides a much richer experience for the Read More
Set chart axis min and max based on a cell value
“Not again…” I think to myself every time I change the minimum and maximum values of a chart axis. It’s such a tedious task, and I know I’ll be doing it again at a future point. It only takes a few seconds, but all that time starts to add up. There are various chart objects Read More
How to create a step chart in Excel
A step chart is used to show data which changes at specific points, then remains consistent until the next change occurs. Interest rates set by central banks across the world follow this system. Some dudes in suits meet together on a particular day and decide the rate should change. That change happens instantly and remains Read More
Variable width column charts and histograms in Excel
In Excel, the standard column chart will display all columns with the same width at regular intervals. However, in some circumstances, it would be better for the width of each column to be different. For example, where each column represents different ranges of data. This same principle of column width also applies to histograms. Excel Read More
Creating custom Map Charts using shapes and VBA
Whenever I see promotional images for expensive BI Dashboard software, they always show the same thing – a map with countries or regions highlighted in different colors. It sends the subtle message that maps are the pinnacle of Business Intelligence (whether they are or not is a different matter altogether). Until Excel 2016, these Map Read More
The Ultimate Guide to Slopegraphs in Excel
I’m not going to lie to you, the first time I saw a Slopegraph I was completely underwhelmed, I thought “it’s a line chart with only two points, hardly worth getting excited about”. But in recent months I have started to love Slopegraphs. By thinking of them as “just a line chart” I was seriously Read More
