Area Charts
An area chart displays series as a set of points connected by a line, with an area filled in below the line. Values are represented by the height of the point as measured by the y-axis. Category labels are displayed on the x-axis. Area charts are typically used to compare values over time.
There are three types of area charts: area, stacked area, and 100% stacked area.
Area
An area chart displays series as individual straight lines with a filled-in area below the line. The area below the line is filled in. The height of each data point is determined by its value.
| Chart area | Description |
|---|---|
Values |
Required. The values in a value series determine the height of the lines in that series. Value labels appear on the y-axis. Each value series appears as an individual area. |
Category groups |
Optional. Categories are displayed as labels on the x-axis. Multiple groups are nested. In area charts, categories are typically time-related. |
Series groups |
Optional. Series are displayed as individual areas in the chart. Each series is also displayed in the chart legend. |
Note
In some area charts, the areas for some value series may be obscured by areas for other value series. To avoid this, select a stacked area chart, 100% stacked area chart, or add three dimensional effects to the area chart.
Stacked Area
A stacked area chart displays series as individual straight lines with a filled in area below the line. Each area is displayed stacked on top of the area below it. The height of the uppermost line is based on the total value for each category.
| Chart area | Description |
|---|---|
Values |
Required. The values in a value series determine the height of the lines in that series. The height of the first series is based on the value of each data point in the series. The height of additional series is based on the values of the data points in the series plus the values of the data points in the series below it. Value labels appear on the y-axis. |
Category groups |
Optional. Categories are displayed as labels on the x-axis. Multiple groups are nested. In area charts, categories are typically time-related. |
Series groups |
Optional. Series are displayed as individual areas in the chart. Each series is also displayed in the chart legend. |
100% Stacked Area
A 100% stacked area chart displays series as individual straight lines with a filled in area below the line. Each area is displayed stacked on top of the area below it. The height of each data point is based on a percentage of the total of all values for the category. The height of the uppermost line is always the full height of the chart.
| Chart area | Description |
|---|---|
Values |
Required. The percentage of the values in a value series determines the height of each data point. The y-axis shows a value of 0 to 100. Value labels appear on the y-axis. |
Category groups |
Optional. Categories are displayed as labels on the x-axis. Multiple groups are nested. In area charts, categories are typically time-related. |
Series groups |
Optional. Series are displayed as individual areas in the chart. Each series is also displayed in the chart legend. |
See Also
Concepts
Working with Chart Data Regions