Chapter 20: Getting Started with Excel Charts
20
FIGURE 20.10
A column chart with two data series
The orientation of the data has a drastic effect on the look (and, perhaps, understand-
ability) of your chart. Figure 20.11 shows the column chart in Figure 20.10 after changing
the orientation. Notice that the chart now has three data series, one for each month. If the
goal of your dashboard is to compare actual with projected values for each month, this ver-
sion of the chart is much more difficult to interpret because the relevant columns are not
adjacent.
FIGURE 20.11
The column chart, after swapping the row/column orientation