Chart Types

Available chart types

Excel 2007 provides various types of charts to lets you display data in different ways that are significant to your audience desired. When changing an existing chart, Excel allows you to choose from a wide range of chart subtypes available for you to use.

Click here for more information on how to insert a chart

Here you will learn about  Column chart subtypes.

Line charts
Pie Chart
Bar Charts

Column charts

Column charts are used to compare values across categories. Data arranged in rows or columns in a worksheet can be plotted in a column chart. This column charts are helpful for displaying data changes over a period of time or for exemplifying similarities between objects. 

Categories in column charts are usually well thought-out all along the horizontal axis and values along the vertical axis.

Sample of a Column Chart

Column charts  -     subtypes

1. Clustered Column in 3-D and Clustered Column

The Clustered column charts evaluate values categorize diagonally. In Excel 2007, clustered column chart displays values in 2-D vertical rectangles. Clustered column in 3-D chart displays only the vertical rectangles in 3-D format and does not show the data in 3-D format.

Note that I use the 3-D column chart subtype to present data in a 3D format that uses three axes (horizontal, depth and vertical axes).

While I consider using a clustered column charttype when dealing with categories that represent;

·         ranges of values (for example, item counts in a histogram).

·         specific scale arrangements (for example, a Likert scale with entries, such as agree, strongly agree, neutral, strongly disagree, disagree).

·         Names that are not in any specific order (for example, item names, geographic names, or the names of people).

2. Stacked column and stacked column in 3-D:

The Stacked column charts displays relationship between individual items to the whole, comparing the similarities contribution of each value to a whole categories diagonally. This displays values in 2-D vertical stacked rectangles. The 3-D stacked column chart shows vertical stacked rectangles in 3-D format but it does not show the data in 3-D format.

Tip: I recommend you to use stacked column chart when you have multiple data series and when emphasizing the total.

3. 100% stacked column and 100% stacked column in 3-D

These column charts compare the gain each value contributes to the total across categories. 100% stacked column chart shows data or values in 2-D vertical 100% heap rectangles. 3-D100% stacked column chart shows the vertical 100% heap rectangles in 3-D format and does not shows the data in 3-D format.

4. 3-D column 

As the name implies, 3-D column charts uses three axes modifiable (a horizontal axis, a depth axis and a vertical axis) and they compare data points alongside the horizontal and the depth axes.

Iused a 3-Dcolumn chart when I want to compare data across the categories and across the series equally.

5. Cylinder, pyramid and cone

Cylinder, pyramid and cone charts are presented in the same stacked, clustered, 3-D chart types, and 100% stacked are provided for rectangular column charts, and they can also show and compare data exactly the same way. The only difference is that these chart types display cylinder, pyramid and cone shapes instead of rectangular shapes. See example in the picture below.