Format specific chart types

Pie charts, bar and column charts, and other specific chart types have special formatting options.

For example, you can apply a shadow to individual pie wedges, move wedges away from the center of the pie, use different symbols for data points along different lines in line charts, and more.

Pie chart with wedge moved away from center of pie

Pie charts: Customize chart elements

One pie chart represents a single data set, and each wedge is one data value in that set.

To adjust the look of individual pie wedges, you must first select the pie chart, and then select the wedges you want to change.

Do any of the following:

  • Fill wedges with specially designed colors or textures: In the Chart inspector, click Chart Colors. Choose a fill type from the first pop-up menu, and choose a fill collection from the second pop-up menu.

    Do one of the following:

    • Fill all the wedges: Click Apply All. The first fill is applied to wedges in the first series, the second fill to wedges in the second series, and so on.

    • Fill a single wedge: Drag the fill to the wedge.

  • Adjust the opacity, stroke, shadow, and other graphical attributes of individual pie wedges: Select the wedge you want to change, and make the adjustments you want in the Graphic inspector.

    Note: Dragging the Opacity slider in the Graphic inspector changes the opacity of the chart as a whole. To affect only selected wedges, select the wedge, and adjust the opacity of the color fill, gradient fill, or tinted image fill as needed.

  • Display data point labels: Select the chart or individual pie wedges, and select Labels in the Chart inspector.

    Do any of the following:

    • Show the series name: Select Show Series Name.

    • Place the data point label closer to—or farther away from—the center of the pie: Drag the Position slider.

    • Set the wedge’s distance from the center of the pie as a percentage of the pie’s radius: Specify a value in the field next to the Position slider.

  • Separate individual pie wedges: Open the Chart inspector.

    Do one of the following:

    • Move a single wedge away from the center of a 2D or 3D pie chart: Select the wedge and drag it, or drag the Explode slider in the Chart inspector.

    • Move all the wedges away from the center of a 3D pie chart: Select the chart, and drag the Explode slider.

  • Add shadows to a pie chart or individual wedges: Select the chart or pie wedges.

    In the Chart inspector, do one of the following:

    • Add shadows to individually selected wedges: Choose Individual from the Shadow pop-up menu.

    • Add a shadow to the chart as a whole: Choose Group from the Shadow pop-up menu.

    • Set shadow attributes: Open the Graphic inspector, and adjust shadow attributes using the controls in the Shadow section.

Bar and column charts: Set shadows, spacing, and series names

In bar and column charts, you can adjust the distance between the sets of bars or columns (data sets); in charts where the data sets aren’t stacked, you can also adjust the distance between the bars or columns (individual data sets). You can also apply shadows to an individual data series or to the entire chart.

Bar Format controls in Chart inspector
  1. Select a bar or column chart.

  2. If the Chart inspector isn’t open, click Inspector in the toolbar, click the Chart Inspector button, and click Chart.

  3. Do any of the following:

    • Change the space between bars: Enter a value in the “Gap between bars” field, or click the arrows.

    • Change the space between categories (in unstacked charts): Specify a value in the “Gap between sets” field.

      The value is the percentage of the bar thickness. Decreasing the space between the bars makes them thicker. You can also move the pointer near a bar edge until it becomes a double-headed arrow, and drag to make the bars thicker or thinner.

    • Add shadows to individual bars: Choose Individual from the Shadow pop-up menu.

    • Add shadows to each group of bars: Choose Individual from the Shadow pop-up menu.

      To set shadow attributes, use the Graphic inspector.

    • Show series names: In the Axis pane of the Chart inspector, choose Show Series Names from the Choose Axis Options pop-up menu in the Category Axis section.

Line charts: Customize data point symbols and lines

In line charts, you can use symbols (circles, triangles, squares, and diamonds) to represent data points. You can also show a straight or curved line between the data points.

Data point controls in Series pane of Chart inspector

Do any of the following:

  • Change the data point symbol: Select a line, and click Series in the Chart inspector. Choose a symbol from the Data Symbol pop-up menu. Adjust the size of the data point symbols by entering a value in the adjacent field or clicking the arrows.

  • Join points with a curve: Select a line, and choose Curve from the Connect Points pop-up menu.

  • Change the line color: Select a line, and use the Stroke controls in the Graphic inspector.

Area charts: Display data point symbols

In area charts, you can use symbols (circles, triangles, squares, and diamonds) to represent data points.

  1. Select an area shape.

  2. If the Chart inspector isn’t open, click Inspector in the toolbar, click the Chart Inspector button, and click Series.

  3. Choose a symbol from the Data Symbol pop-up menu.

  4. Adjust the size of the data point symbols by entering a value in the adjacent field or clicking the arrows.

Scatter charts: Change the look of data point symbols and lines

Scatter charts display data differently than the other kinds of charts. They require at least two columns or rows of data to plot values for a single data series. To show multiple data series, you use additional two-column (or two-row) pairs.

Do any of the following:

  • Connect the points of the selected series with a straight or curved line: In the Series pane of the Chart inspector, choose an item from the Connect Points pop-up menu.

    Data point controls in Series pane of Chart inspector
  • Change the color of the data points or lines in your chart: Select a data point or line that you want to change. (You can change the colors separately for the data points, line, and trendline, even though they represent the same data series.) In the Graphic inspector, click the Stroke color well, and select a color from the Colors window.

  • Change the style and thickness of any line in your chart: Select the line and choose a line style from the Stroke pop-up menu in the Graphic inspector. To adjust the line thickness, enter a value in the field below the Stroke pop-up menu, or click the arrows.

In scatter charts, you can display error bars for both x-axis and y-axis measurements and show a trendline for a selected series.

Two-axis and mixed charts: Change the chart type

Mixed charts present a single chart in which each of the two series can be represented as a different chart type. For example, one data series can be represented by a line while the other data series is represented by columns.

For both two-axis and mixed charts, only a single data series can be represented by each chart type. Either data series can be represented as a column, a line, or an area chart.

  1. Select the data series for which you want to change the chart type.

  2. If the Chart inspector isn’t open, click Inspector in the toolbar, click the Chart Inspector button, and click Series.

  3. Choose a chart type from the Series Type pop-up menu.

3D charts: Adjust scene settings

For 3D charts, you can change the viewing angle and the lighting angle of the chart.

  1. Select a 3D chart.

  2. If the Chart inspector isn’t open, click Inspector in the toolbar, click the Chart Inspector button, and click Chart.

  3. To change the chart’s viewing angle, drag the arrow buttons in the 3D Scene section until you’ve situated the chart the way you want.

  4. To change the lighting angle and intensity, choose an option from the Lighting Style pop-up menu.

  5. To change the depth of the chart elements, drag the Chart Depth slider.

    Dragging to the right makes the chart elements appear to stretch out toward the viewer. If you create a very deep chart, you may have to resize the chart to fit it on the page.

  6. To enhance the edges on a 3D pie chart, select Show Bevel Edges.