Custom bar graph with different colored bars

Question

I need to create a graph with sales year over year bars.  Each bar is a percentage obtained by dividing 2012 sales by 2011 sales.

If sales in 2012 were larger for that product, that percentage is above 100%.  If they were lower for that product then the percentage is less than 100%.

I need to differentiate between the >100 and the <100 values.  Id like to make the section of a bar red if its less than 100 and blue if its >100.

Is this possible?

Answer 1

Yes.

Spread your values out like this:

X-values   Y1              Y2              Y3

e                                                    4.63

f                                                     5

g                                  6.66         

h                                  7.25          

i                 8.74                           

j                 9.95         

Then select the data range and build your chart, say a 3-d clustered bar chart. Excel will assign a different color for each Y pair automatically.