Line & Area Charts

Line & Area Charts

Working with Line charts in Power BI

When to use

Line charts are useful for showing trends in your data

Instructions

Line charts and area charts are very similar, with the latter essentially just being a line chart with the lower area filled in.  (The stacked area chart is obviously an exception to this.)

Types of Line Charts

• Line Chart
• Area Chart
• Stacked Area Chart

Layout

• Checking a measure will automatically add it to the y-axis
• Checking alphabetical columns will automatically add them to the categorical x-axis
• Legends and tooltips can also be configured

Formatting

• Dragging multiple fields into the x-axis area will activate Drill Down
• Dragging multiple fields into the y-axis area will add another line
• Visual formatting can be done by going to the Visualization pane -> Format icon
• Trend lines can be found under the magnifying glass icon in the Visualizations pane

Hints & tips

Common Modifications for Line charts:

• Rename the Legend and force it to bottom
• Provide a custom title for the chart
• Change the y-Axis display units
• Change the line (or fill) colors
• Turn on Data Labels and customize the series (each series can be controlled separately)