Line Charts in PowerPoint

Line charts can display continuous data over time, set against a common scale, and are therefore ideal for showing trends in data at equal intervals. In a line chart, category data is distributed evenly along the horizontal axis, and all value data is distributed evenly along the vertical axis. The line chart can be used if your category labels are text, and are representing evenly spaced values such as months, quarters, or fiscal years.

Figure 1: Line Chart sample

Scroll down to the bottom of the page to see a sample presentation containing line chart types and subtypes:

Line charts have the following chart subtypes:

Line

Line charts are useful to show trends over time or ordered categories, especially when there are many data points and the order in which they are presented is important.

Line with Markers

You can display a line chart with markers to indicate individual data values. If there are many categories or the values are approximate, use a line chart without markers.

Stacked Line

Stacked line charts are used to show the trend of the contribution of each value over time or for ordered categories. This chart type is not easy to see the lines are stacked.

Stacked Line with Markers

Displays the line chart with markers to indicate individual data values.

100% Stacked Line

100% stacked line charts are useful to show the trend of the percentage each value contributes over time or ordered categories. If there are many categories or the values are approximate, use a 100% stacked line chart without markers.

100% Stacked Line with Markers

Displays the line chart with markers to indicate individual data values.

3-D Line

3-D line charts show each row or column of data as a 3-D ribbon. A 3-D line chart has horizontal, vertical, and depth axis that can be modified.

Line Chart Type in PowerPoint Sample Presentation

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