Visual Formatting

Visual formatting comprises 9 options i.e. Y-axis, X-axis, Secondary Y-axis, Legend, grid line, zoom slider, Lines, markers, columns, data labels, and Series labels.

X-Axis

The X-axis is the horizontal text of the chart.

The following are the steps:

Step 1: Click on the X-axis option. A drop-down appears. We have multiple options available here i.e. Values and Title. Click on the Values option, and a drop-down appears. For example, the values are Arushi, Gautam, etc. A font is an option used to select the type of text we want to show on the x-axis in the chart, we can also set the size of the text, etc.

Step 2: Similarly, click on the title option. For example, the title is Employee Name. To change the color of the title of the x-axis, click on the color option. Select the required color. For example, we have selected orange color, and the Employee Name is changed to orange color.

Y-Axis

The Y-axis is the vertical text of the chart. It is present on the left side of the line and clustered column chart.

The following are the steps:

Step 1: Click on the Y-axis option. A drop-down appears. We have multiple options available here i.e. Range, Values, and Titles. Click on the range option, and a drop-down appears. Minimum and Maximum values can be set by the range option. By default, the minimum value is 0 and the maximum value is the maximum value of the dataset. We can also make the same chart, in a log scale, and can also invert the range of the y-axis.

Step 2: Click on the Values option, and a drop-down appears. For example, the values are 0K, 20K, 60K, etc. A font is an option used to select the type of text we want to show on the y-axis in the chart, we can also set the size of the text, etc. The units can also be customized, to million, thousand, etc.

Step 3: Similarly, click on the title option. For example, the title is Sum of Bonus and joining bonus. To change the color of the title of the y-axis, click on the color option. Select the required color. For example, we have selected orange color, and the Sum of Bonus and Sum of Joining Bonus is changed to orange color.

Secondary Y-Axis

The secondary Y-axis is also the vertical text of the chart. It is present on the right side of the line and clustered column chart.

The following are the steps:

Step 1: Click on the secondary Y-axis option. A drop-down appears. We have multiple options available here i.e. Range, Values, and Title. Click on the range option, and a drop-down appears. Minimum and Maximum values can be set by the range option. By default, the minimum value is 0 and the maximum value is the maximum value of the dataset. We can also make the same chart, in a log scale, and can also invert the range of the secondary y-axis.

Step 2: Click on the Values option, and a drop-down appears. For example, the values are 40K, 50K, 70K, etc. A font is an option used to select the type of text we want to show on the secondary y-axis in the chart, we can also set the size of the text, etc. The units can also be customized, to million, thousand, etc.

Step 3: Similarly, click on the title option. For example, the title is Sum of Salary. To change the color of the title of the secondary y-axis, click on the color option. Select the required color. For example, we have selected orange color, and the Sum of Salary is changed to orange color.

Note: We will remove, Joining Bonus column from our, chart, and add Department under the legends section. This is done because, we cannot add legends, if there are more than one column inside the y-axis. To understand legends in the below section of the article, we have removed it. 

Legends

Legends are the property that is used to sub-categorize the data for better analytics. It divides the data into different sub-groups.

The following are the steps:

Step 1: Click on the Legend option. A drop-down appears. We have multiple options available here i.e. Options, Text, and Title. We can set the position of the legends. Using the Text property, we can change the color and font size of the legends i.e. Department. Click on the Title, to customize the title i.e. Department.

Step 2: Click on the Options property, and a drop-down appears. We can set the position of the legends accordingly. For example, to Top Center, Bottom left, etc. By default, the Top left is the position.

Gridlines

Gridlines are the background lines, which are by default dotted in nature, and are very light and thin.

The following are the steps:

Step 1: Click on the Gridlines option. A drop-down appears. We have an option available i.e. Horizontal.  Click on the Horizontal option, and a drop-down appears. By default, in the line and clustered column chart, only horizontal gridlines are available. We can edit the style of the line. Also, one can set the color and change the thickness of the gridlines.

Step 2: Under the Style option, click on the drop-down option. A list appears. We can change the style of the horizontal gridlines to solid, dashed, etc.

Step 3: If we close the slider of the horizontal gridlines, then the horizontal lines would disappear, as seen in the image below.

Zoom Slider

The zoom slider is used to increase or decrease the range of the numeric values on the y-axis.

The following are the steps:

Step 1: Click on the Zoom slider option. A drop-down appears. We have multiple options available here i.e. Y-axis, Slider labels, and slider tooltips. A slider will appear on the y-axis of the chart. Slider labels, enable the values on the slider as a mark strip. Slider tooltips are used whenever we are sliding the zoom slider, the numeric value will appear on it.

Step 2: The below gif shows how the bars change with the slider.

Lines

Lines refer to the curve of the Salary dataset values. Click on the Lines option. A drop-down appears. We have 4 options i.e. Apply Settings to, shape, colors, and spacing.

The following are the steps:

Step 1: Click on the Shape property. We can change the style of the line to dashed, solid, or dotted. Click on the colors property to customize the color of each of the lines of the legends. For example, change the color of the line to purple.

Markers

Markers refer to the endpoints of each line. Click on the markers option. A drop-down appears. We have 3 options i.e. Apply settings to, shape and colors.

The following are the steps:

Step 1: Click on the Shape button. A list appears for all different types of markers. Choose the marker as per your choice.

Columns

Columns refer to the bars of the line and clustered column chart. On the basis of different groups, we can set the color of the columns in this chart. For example, HR, IT, and Finance. These groups are classified on the basis of legends.

Data Labels

Data labels provide additional information on the lines and columns of the chart. For example, Arushi and Gautam have a salary of 50K and 40K, and they want to display that on the bar. Click on the Data labels option. The salary data label will be added to the entire chart. Also, a drop-down appears. We have four options i.e. apply settings to, options, values, and background. Values and background have the same property as discussed above i.e. font, size, and color. Apply settings to, is a filter on the basis of legends, we can apply the property to specific groups only. The options property is used to set the position of the data labels. We can set the data labels, outside of the bars, inside of the bars, etc. 

Series Labels

Series labels display the name of the column of the line. For example, the Sum of Salary is the series label in this chart. All the options present in series labels are the same as data labels.

A Line and Clustered Column chart is a combination of a line chart with a clustered(segregated) column chart. We could add a secondary y-axis, with just 2 mouse clicks in Power BI. We have various options to format line and clustered column charts, we can change the value of the x-axis, y-axis, its title, etc. We can also add various options like series labels, markers, and data labels in this chart. In this article, we will learn how to format a Line and Clustered Column chart in Power BI and explore its various options.

Formatting a Line and Clustered Column Chart In Power BI

After the successful, creation of a line and clustered column chart in Power BI, we have multiple options to format it. For example, adding the title to the chart, changing the color, and position of the chart, and adding tooltips, bar colors, data labels, and series labels to the chart. We have been given a dataset, name, and Employee, and we have created the Line and Clustered Column chart, by adding the Employee name in the x-axis, bonus(annual) and Joining Bonus in the y-axis, and salary in the secondary y-axis. Using this chart, we will explore every option of this chart in Power BI. There are two types of Formatting in visualizations i.e. visual formatting and general formatting.