Create a combined chart tutorial in Excel 2007

In general, it is useful to create Excel2007 charts that compare different types of data. For example, you want to compare the distribution price of the transaction, or the sales tax, or the unemployment rate and the consumer index, or some other thing.

To quickly and clearly display different types of data, it is helpful to draw some data series with different chart types on different axes. Look at the example below.

Suppose you work in a manufacturing company, you want to analyze the sales unit price over the previous months and the total sales revenue for each month, and you want to identify where the problem occurs, such as high sales price and low turnover, showing the unit price that can be further discounted.

You can make two different charts, one to draw the monthly sales unit price, one to draw the monthly turnover. However, two charts will be parsed separately. Therefore, we would prefer to create a chart like the following.

1

With the right actions, you can easily make such a chart. Here are two major steps (changing the chart series type and adding axes), and then how to combine the two to complete the final chart.

Step 1: Enter the following data in the worksheet:

2

Click Format Form on the Start tab of the Ribbon, select the style, and format the data as a table. After the table is established, it is easier to read the data or perform some more advanced actions such as filtering the data. (Just by the way, this feature is not used in the following.)

Figure 3

Combine different chart types

The 1th step in creating a chart with multiple types is actually creating only one type of chart. Here, the chart you want to create has columns and polylines, but will start with a regular bar chart. (Note: In fact, it has nothing to do with the starting chart type, but if you use many series, you should choose a chart type that applies the main series, so that you can work less later)

Step 2: Select the data that you entered in step 1, insert the column chart in the Ribbon Insert tab (as shown in the following illustration).

4

Now, we created a histogram with two series, all plotted on the same axis, but not in line with what we were trying to do, because we don't even see the sales unit Price series because of the difference in the ratio between the turnover and the sales price.

5

Next, change the chart type of the total transactions series to a polyline.

Step 3: Select a series. Select the series that you want to change to a different type, in this case the "Total Transaction" series.

Select series: There are a number of ways to select a data series, which only briefly describes the two of the most commonly used. Note that you select a series instead of an entire chart or a single data point.

Method 1: Click the series you want to select in the chart. Notice that you do not click the legend text "total transaction ($)", but instead click one of the red bars in the chart. Now you should see the series highlighting, as shown in the figure. (Note that the small blue circle in the red bar)

6

Method 2: Click the Chart Format tab in the Ribbon or the Chart Layout tab (Note that these tabs appear only when you select the chart). In the leftmost section of these tabs, there is a group named "Current selection," which has a drop-down menu named "chart area."

7

Click the Drop-down menu and select the series you want to change, in this case, select the series "Total Transaction ($)".

8

Step 4: Change the chart type of the selected series.

First, on the Design tab of the Ribbon, click Change Chart type at the left of the ribbon.

9

The Change Chart Type dialog box pops up, where you select the new type you want. In this example, select the line chart and click OK.

10

Classification:

• Excel Tutorials