Excel 2010 Bible

Part III: Creating Charts and Graphics

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Bar

A bar chart is essentially a column chart that has been rotated 90 degrees clockwise. One distinct

advantage to using a bar chart is that the category labels may be easier to read. Figure 18.17 shows

a bar chart that displays a value for each of ten survey items. The category labels are lengthy, and

displaying them legibly with a column chart would be difficult. Excel offers six bar chart subtypes.

On the CD
A workbook that contains the chart in this section is available on the companion CD-ROM. The file is named
bar charts.xlsx.

Note
Unlike a column chart, no subtype displays multiple series along a third axis. (That is, Excel does not provide a
3-D Bar Chart subtype.) You can add a 3-D look to a column chart, but it will be limited to two axes. n

You can include any number of data series in a bar chart. In addition, the bars can be “stacked”

from left to right.

FIGURE 18.17

If you have lengthy category labels, a bar chart may be a good choice.