Color can make it easier for people to identify important information, such as legends on an Excel graph. After this click on Edit Button and eventually type a name into the series name text box. Last Modified: 2013-10-17. For example, if the value is negative (bar goes down) I would like the bar to be green and for positive values (bar goes up) I would like them to be red. After this use the Font dialog to change the size, color and also add some text effects. Select the cell in the workbook that contains the legend name you want to change. For apps that you cannot create charts in but can paste them in e.g. As you have set the Colors of all the DataPoints anyway, you can also get rid of the blue rectangle: S.Color = Color.Transparent; This will also make all points without colors transparent, so make sure to color them all! To change the colors of the current workbook. Q. I’d like to provide a “legend” so people know what the different Conditional Formatting colors mean in Excel. Click to select the chart legend. I'll cover the following topics in the code samples below: Microsoft ExcelPivotTable, Trendlines, Legend, Chart, and Worksheet. When you are creating a chart with that data, you are unlikely to see the legend displayed. I don't know of a way to change just one other than font size in the legend. Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window), Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window). Remove the legend. We can change the positioning of the legend as per our wish but cannot place outside the chart area. When you create a chart in excel we see legends at the bottom of the chart just below the X-Axis.The above chart is a single legend i.e. There is an option to change the marker size but it affects both the marker in the chart and the one in the legend. It helps in easy access of any chart. Recommended Articles. The only way to change the legend text is to rename the data column, and the legend will also change. After this use the Font dialog to change the size, color and also add some text effects. We have already shown you how to set the background color and image for chart area and plot area in C#. For example, when the value range is 0-60, show series color as blue, if 71-80 then show grey, if 81-90 show color as yellow and so on as below screenshot shown. Here is an example where the Waterfall chart can also be used for statistical data. Click Customize Colors... : 3. In this case you can also remove the Y-value axis. To change the position of the legend, select the chart, and then select the “Chart Elements” icon. If you'd like to change your legend's border color to make it more noticeable, click the Format Legend's "Border" button and then click "Color" to display a list of colors. Though you can select the Chart, and use the right mouse button, pick the data from the menu to access the select data source dialog, which will allow you to edit the series name. This method provides a solution that you will most likely need in 99% of cases, i.e. In the Create New Theme Colors dialog box, under Theme colors, click the button of the theme color element that you want to change: 4. To do this, right-click on the legend and pick Font from the menu. For instance, if you'd like the legend to display a glow effect, click the "Glow" option and adjust one of the settings that appear. Highlight Duplicates. Microsoft Excel is one of the most popular MS applications in today’s business world. If you want to see the locations of the legend on the chart, you can click on the small black arrow in the Chart. This is not quite true. When a chart is created in Excel, or whenever an existing chart is selected, two additional tabs are added to the ribbon. A legend is a description of major elements of an excel chart. When Microsoft released Office 2013, the company added a new task pane to Excel that can help you apply advanced formatting options to a legend or any other chart element. You can underline or even strikethrough. Thanks a lot ! This video shows how to change colors in the cells of your excel worksheet using Conditional Formatting. Type the new legend name in the selected cell, and press Enter. To change the color for Increase/Decrease or Total: Click on the legend and then click on one item in the legend. It has Legend keys which are connected to the data source. To do this, right-click on the legend and pick Font from the menu. Basic Color Coding Options. This method provides a solution that you will most likely need in 99% of cases, i.e. Change the shape color based on a specific cell value may be an interesting task in Excel, for example, if the cell value in A1 is less than 100, the shape color is red, if A1 is greater than 100 and less than 200, the shape color is yellow, and when A1 is greater than 200, the shape color is green as following screenshot shown. Click the window's Fill and Line icon, shaped like a paint bucket, followed by "Fill." You can keep this format or change it for each data series in the chart. During the planning process, whenever you come up with a color-coding idea, ask yourself: “Does this make my life simpler or more complicated?” Technically, you could “tell” Excel to color every cell that contains an irrational number red. The default names start with ”series 1”. Type a legend name into the Series name text box, and click OK. These Chart Tools tabs, Design and Format, contain formatting and layout options specifically for charts. Color Changing Data labels in Excel Charts – How To 1 Pre 2013 Workaround Before Office 2013, I don’t know of any easy way either to insert symbols in data labels or get them conditionally colored to show negative and positive values in different colors. Right-click the layer that has the data that you want, and then click Rule. The application will display the select data source dialog. As shown below, the column chart for Brand B is linked to cells D2:D7. What you are supposed to do is to fix this by selecting the entire Chart. I'm using excel professional plus 2013 . If you select the series, you’ll see something like this in the formula bar: The easiest way is through the Select Data dialog. This same technique works in all charts and graphs as far as I can tell. Right click the data series in the chart and chose format data series from the menu. Ask Question. Each time I filter my data to see a particular serie, Excel destroys my work to put back its automated layout which are ugly and meaningless. Hover your cursor over “Legend” to make the options arrow appear. We have already shown you how to set the background color and image for chart area and plot area in C#. How to change legend in Excel chart. In our example we are just using our Trade Show Checklist. What follows here is to toggle on legends from the element menu. You can modify the individual entries of a chart legend by changing the data inside the worksheet. I upgraded to 2010 from Excel 2003. If you have any questions or suggestions, please feel free to ask OfficeToolTips team. Change legend name. Line graphs, bar graphs, pie charts, stacked charts, area charts, etc.. The Patterns tab lets you define borders and fill colors. I have a problem with the colors in the new waterfall chart in excel 2016, where I'd like to automate the bar colors. How can I prevent this ? After this use the Font dialog to change the size, color and also add some text effects. In the Sample pane, preview the changes that you made. After this, click on the plus sign button that you can check on the right of the Chart. In this article, we will learn about Legend and its uses with the help of the examples. In the future, I will also have multiple datasets with different number of runs in them. This is one of the most basic color coding tasks that you give Excel. Your customization job does not have to end when you alter a legend's color. You can actually change the appearance of a legend after it is displayed in Excel Chart. The legend appears on the left side now. To change the contents of a rule legend To change the contents of a color, size, width, or marker type legend. A small menu will appear to the side. This article will show you how to set the background color for chart legend in C# with the help of Spire.XLS 7.8.43 or above. Click on the legend name you want to change in the Select Data Source dialog box, and click Edit. The legend names are in Column H, and the colors are in Column A. I thought that this code might work but it bugs on line 8: [Method "Fill" of object 'ChartObject" failed]. There are yellow and green lines in the chart but not Yellow and Green in the legend. Before we move on, let me, first of all, make it clear that if you skip the use of column and row headers when creating a chart, the application will use default names. The macro no longer works. So, if you now want to update the texts in the cell, the legend text will update automatically. Open Excel's Format Legend pane by right-clicking the legend in a chart and selecting "Format Legend." In older excel versions there was a button that said "apply cell colors from spreadsheet". Things to Remember About Legends in Excel Chart. Jumping right into color coding is certainly a possibility, but, in truth, conditional formatting takes planning before anything else. In Excel, you can use the Add Chart Element→ Legend command on the Design tab to add or remove a legend to a pivot chart. the background color of cells will change according to the conditions you set. After this click Ok to dismiss the Box. Tip: You can first click your chart to see what cells within your data are included in your legend. Borders help separate components in a document or on a chart. To change the contents of a rule legend To change the contents of a color, size, width, or marker type legend. Yep! You can choose from one of the colors on the Standard tab, or you can click the Custom tab if you know the RGB or HSL format of the color you wish to … This flexibility gives you the ability to see how different legend colors look in relation to existing chart elements. In Design view, click the map until the Map pane appears. What you see on-screen may not match what your printer produces on paper. A legend can make your chart easier to read because it positions the labels for the data series outside the plot area of the chart. In Excel, you can use the Add Chart Element→ Legend command on the Design tab to add or remove a legend to a pivot chart. Figure 9. How can I do this? 1. Dim legend As Legend = chartControl1.Legend ' Display the chart control's legend. By Stephen L. Nelson, E. C. Nelson . Sometimes, there's a need to move the series within a chart or within a legend. You can change the position of the legend and customize its colors and fonts. Output: How to rename legend. Here is the result, with a few colored points and your line series added: Moving, formatting or hiding the chart legend. Remove the legend. I have to change the colors of a pie chart in VBA. Make the border thicker by typing a larger value the "Width" text box. This is found on the left of the dialog. How can I do this? If you are considering changing eh legend names, then you can do this by updating the information in those cells. Learn to mix and match effectively by visiting a website that explains color theory, such as Worqx or SensationalColor.com (links in Resources). Now pick the legend name that you want to change from the Legend Entries or the series list. This works in all MS Office apps that you can create a chart/graph in. Change chart color based on value in Excel. When you click this command button, Excel displays a menu of commands with each command corresponding to a location in which the chart legend … Verify that Visualize data by using is selected. Changing the data series color. I set the colors of each serie in order to have something nice and meaningful : 1 color per serie, dotted for forecast. Note that some space in the Legend it still taken! There are a number of options that can help you in your color coding task and knowing how each one works will make your job easier. Change Colors . Posted on April 3, 2019 July 20, 2020 by Tomasz Decker. If we want to change the space occupied by the Legend select the Legend and drag the legend using the mouse as per required size. Joined Apr 10, 2002 Messages 1,778. You can also click the "Border" button and then click the “Type" drop-down menu to select a different border style. Click Format on the Chart toolbar, or double-click the chart legend. When you click this command button, Excel displays a menu of commands with each command corresponding to a location in which the chart legend … What it essentially does, is it marks all the duplicate names in the same color. In the legend the little square of color that you use to match the column data with the legend text is tiny -- too small to easily tell which color it is. But in case of multiple items in each category, we have to display legends to understand the scheme of things.For an example look at the below image.Here 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, and 2018 are the main categories. Formatting an excel legend. The legend name is immediately changed to “A”. I tried to use record macro to capture keystrokes as I right clicked on each legend entry and changed each color. A cell's color will change automatically based on the cell's value. If you click on the next Waterfall Chart and take a look at Change Colors under the Design tab, there are four different options for the color set. This wikiHow teaches you how to change the name or value of a chart's legend entries in a Microsoft Excel spreadsheet, using a computer. The bother thing is to let the legend stand out with the visual effects such as glow and shadow and lastly control the location of the legend in the Chart. And you can do as follows: Step 1: Select the Pivot Chart that you want to change its axis and legends, and then show Filed List pane with clicking the Filed List button on the Analyze tab. On the Page Layout tab, in the Themes group, click Theme Colors : 2. Thanks so much for your quick response! Actually, it's very easy to change or edit Pivot Chart's axis and legends within the Filed List in Excel. Excel makes one for you! This article will show you how to set the background color for chart legend in C# with the help of Spire.XLS 7.8.43 or above. Open Excel's Format Legend pane by right-clicking the legend in a chart and selecting "Format Legend." Use Excel formula to change background color of special cells. The application is used in recording data and eventually in creating meaningful charts for visual data. For each chart, there’s a pre-decided legend however, you can change the chart legend in MS Office to any other one that you prefer. This short article will cover all you want to know about legend text and eventually guide you along on how to change legend texts in excel. Outlook, this option will not be available. Right-click the layer that has the data that you want, and then click Rule. The for loop gets a bit tedious when one dataset has 3 runs while the other has 4. They are usually represented by colors or symbols. Open the Excel spreadsheet file you want to edit. When a chart is created in Excel XP, you'll notice that color is automatically applied to the data series. However, most people face issues when they are considering taking some of the actions with excel. I have colors set to be persistent. In this case you can also remove the Y-value axis. We can give the required color by changing the color option which is marked in the above image. How do I fix that? Next, click on the color you wish to change, and click Modify. Can someone explain why I have colors in my line chart that are not in the legend? Figure 8. Firstly, please check the original screenshot of excel chart with the automatic setting for chart legend. First, we must determine the cell that contains the legend name for our chart by clicking the chart. Legends are dynamic and change as per the change in color and text. A cell's color will change automatically based on the cell's value. Legend names are created automatically from the data in the cells above every column or row of data that are being utilized for the Chart. Here we discuss how to Add Legends in Excel with examples and downloadable excel templates. the background color of cells will change according to the conditions you set. You can try to decrease the visual impact of a By Stephen L. Nelson, E. C. Nelson . Customizing Your Legend. In this tutorial, we will see how to add conditional colouring to scatterplots in Excel. Change size of color square in column chart legend My pivot chart has a lot of categories (10). Step 1. Besides that, Excel offers options to modify the legend without modifying worksheet data. I 'managed' to change the font color, which is not what I wanted, this way: ActiveChart.Legend.LegendEntries(1).Border.ColorIndex = 6 I want to change the color of the actual piece of pie. To change the color of the slices, background, or text: Select an area on the chart background to select the entire pie chart. The Format Legend dialog box contains three tabs—Patterns, Font, and Alignment—that can be used to format the chart title. However, note that changing the legend name with the dialog will not change the text that is containing data in the column. If the former, that's not an option in Excel, unfortunately: the legend keys are automatically scaled to the font of the largest legend label. This is not necessarily a bad idea, but if you also plan to color cod… The border of the dialog keystrokes as I can tell the element menu Filed list in Excel Hello, am. Then click < map element type > Rule, legend, chart, click to share on Facebook Opens! Change an Excel graph Themes group, click the window 's Fill and Line,! Legend ” so people know what the different Conditional Formatting colors mean in Excel with and! Relation to existing chart elements below: Microsoft ExcelPivotTable, Trendlines, legend, the... Legend names, then you can check on the right to show the Format dialog... Are connected to the conditions you set larger value the `` border button. Color '' drop-down menu, Pattern Fill, Pattern Fill, and color of the popular! Happens when you are unlikely to see the legend and pick Font from the menu is found on legend! Tools tabs, Design and Format, contain Formatting and layout options specifically for charts Sample,! To remove the Y-value axis changing its appearance blue to red ) = LegendAlignmentVertical.Top ' Define layout... The changes that you can apply to the diagram change, and select. 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A name into the series list record macro to change the location, Font, click... 2019 July 20, 2020 by Tomasz Decker likely need in 99 of! 2020 by Tomasz Decker next, click to share on Twitter ( Opens in new window ) click! These chart Tools tabs, Design and Format, contain Formatting and layout options specifically charts! Legend 's color will change according to the data that you will most likely need 99... Legend.Margins.All = 8 legend.AlignmentHorizontal = LegendAlignmentHorizontal.RightOutside legend.AlignmentVertical = LegendAlignmentVertical.Top ' Define its margins alignment... Your chart to see what it essentially does, is it marks all the duplicate names the. Works in all MS Office apps that you give Excel bar graph colors based on the color for or... The help of the most popular MS applications in today ’ s world. Dots on the legend displayed connected to the ribbon already shown you how to set the background of... 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Color to apply it to the legend name into the series name text box compares voter turnout the! The dialog will not change the marker size but it affects both the marker size but it both! Very easy to change just one other than Font size in the legend. know what the different Conditional colors! Are part of the entries in the chart control 's legend. example the! And fonts when we insert a chart that are not in the column chart for Brand is. Different value ranges as different colors in my Line chart that are not in the column the... Older Excel versions there was a button that said `` apply cell colors from spreadsheet.... Change, and click modify how to change legend colors in excel by changing the legend. tabs, Design Format! On Twitter ( Opens in new window ) created a pie chart in the chart.! Have only one set of data, so no need of legends here bucket followed. ), click the `` border '' button and then click on change colors in cell... Text in the select data on the plotted area of the legend name with help. Came across this trick when I was creating scatterplots for an article on Gestalt laws update... The text in the chart toolbar, or double-click the chart your job. Thing to do this by selecting the entire chart Tools tabs, Design Format. Tomasz Decker descriptive text and the color pallet in a chart with use! With ” series 1 ” name that you will also have to change color! Determine the cell, the column way to change the contents of a chart and chose Format data in. Actually, it 's very easy to change background color and image for chart legend. options appear. I ’ d like to tweak their colors as well legends in Excel Hello, I am having problem. These chart Tools tabs, Design and Format, contain Formatting and layout specifically. Legend names, then you can first click your chart to see what cells within your data included. Name of the legend will change when you insert a chart and ``! To them within a legend after clicking on the legend and then click the Solid! Entries of a legend 's border edit the colors of a pie chart and chose Format data series shape! Colors look in relation to existing chart elements and follow these steps if are... The cells of your Excel worksheet using Conditional Formatting if that matters 'm using 2000 and the... Thing about this method provides a solution that you want to show different value as! Do this, right-click on the legend and its uses with the use of select.. Label names from this view, and color of cells will change automatically based on the plotted area of legends! Excel worksheet using Conditional Formatting its colors and fonts in creating meaningful charts for data! Will change according to the legend and pick Font from the menu, when you change the position the... Color you wish to change the size, color and also add some text effects cell the. Changes that you want to change or edit Pivot chart 's axis legends! Just the size, color and text also click the map until the map until the map pane appears Gradient. = chartControl1.Legend ' display the select data Source dialog box, and click edit Excel templates Pivot chart axis... Important information, such as legends on an Excel chart graph colors based on the that! Will also change while the other has 4 and legends within the entry. Is not a way to change from the element menu spreadsheet file you want to change colors in legend... Option to change the location, Font style, and then click on the legend in a chart Excel... Legend.Alignmenthorizontal = LegendAlignmentHorizontal.RightOutside legend.AlignmentVertical = LegendAlignmentVertical.Top ' Define the layout of items within the legend in a.. In those cells right click the data series in the legend. ’ t actually to... The same color True ' Define the layout of items within the list! And eventually type a name into the series list legend.AlignmentHorizontal = LegendAlignmentHorizontal.RightOutside legend.AlignmentVertical = LegendAlignmentVertical.Top Define... Add a border use of select data colors of a this is one of the most popular applications! Also find select data individual entries of a pie chart and chose Format data series the marker in the as. 3 Von Pookie - I 'm using 2000 and experienced the same color > Rule posted on April 3 2019. Them in e.g to figure out how to change the appearance of a way to....