Bar & Column Charts

Bar & Column Charts

Working with Bar and Column charts in Power BI

When to use

Clustered Bar and Column charts are very useful for comparing values to each other, stacked charts are useful for showing buildup and 100% stacked charts are great for showing the portion of a whole

Instructions

Bar and Column charts are very similar, essentially just 90 degrees different. (Column charts stand up, bar charts fell over.)

Types of Bar and Column Charts

• Stacked
• 100% Stacked
• Clustered

Layout

• Checking a measure will automatically add it to the correct axis (x-axis for bar charts, y-axis for column charts.)
• Checking alphabetical columns will automatically add them to the categorical axis (y-axis for bar charts, x-axis for column charts.)
• Legends, tooltips, and color saturation can also be configured

Formatting

• Dragging multiple fields into a categorical axis field area will activate Drill Down
• Dragging multiple fields into the value axis area will render stacked or side-by-side depending on the type of chart chosen
• Visual formatting can be done by going to the Visualization pane -> Format icon

Hints & tips

Common Modifications for bar and column charts:

• Rename the Legend and force it to bottom
• Provide a custom title for the chart
• Turn on Data Labels
• Turn off the axis titles