Excel 2010 Bible

Part III: Creating Charts and Graphics

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The same data, in the form of a stacked column chart, is shown in Figure 18.13. This chart has the

added advantage of depicting the combined sales over time. It shows that total sales have remained

fairly steady each month, but the relative proportions of the two products have changed.

Figure 18.14 shows the same sales data plotted as a 100% stacked column chart. This chart type

shows the relative contribution of each product by month. Notice that the vertical axis displays

percentage values, not sales amounts. This chart provides no information about the actual sales

volumes. This type of chart is often a good alternative to using several pie charts. Instead of using a

pie to show the relative sales volume in each year, the chart uses a column for each year.

FIGURE 18.13

This stacked column chart displays sales by product and depicts the total sales.

FIGURE 18.14

This 100% stacked column chart display monthly sales as a percentage.