In Excel, a grouped chart refers to two or more types of charts in a chart-for example, you can have a chart with a line series and a column series. When we select the Custom Type tab in the first step of the Chart Wizard, you will find the two combined charts in the graphics type list: Columnar-area and line-column charts, as shown in Figure 1.
Figure 1
Many users believe that only these two types of combined charts can be created in Excel. In fact, the elasticity of creating a composite chart is great, and the key is figuring out how the chart and chart types work. When we choose a chart type, we usually work in either of these ways: 1. If you select a series in a chart, the chart type you select applies only to the selected series. 2. If you do not select a series of charts but any other chart objects, the selected chart type applies to all series in the chart.
For example, suppose you want to create a chart that displays a column, a polyline, and an area chart at the same time, and you can follow the steps below.
1. After entering data in the worksheet, select Insert > Chart, select column in the Chart Wizard dialog box, and then click Finish to create a column sheet, as shown in Figure 2.
Figure 2
2. Click the 2nd February data series to select it, and then select Graphics > Graphics type, open the Graphics Type dialog box, select Line Chart, and click OK, as shown in Figure 3.
Figure 3
3. Use the same method to change the types of the 3rd and 4th data series into area and pie charts, and get the results shown in Figure 4, so that we get a combination chart with 4 types.
Figure 4
It should be noted that not all graphic types can be used to create a composite chart. For example, Excel does not allow three-dimensional chart types to be used for composite charts.