Power BI – How to Format Column Chart?

A column chart is a vertical chart, which could present a single bar with multiple stacks in it. We have various options to format column charts, we can change the value of the x-axis, y-axis, its title, etc. In this article, we will learn how to format a column chart in Power BI and explore its various options.

Formatting a Column Chart In Power BI

After the successful, creation of a column chart in Power BI. There are several ways we may format it. Adding a title, modifying the chart’s color and position, and adding tooltips, bar colors, and data labels are a few examples. We were provided a dataset, a name, and an employee. To make the column chart, we added the employee’s name to the x-axis and added the employee’s pay and bonus to the y-axis. We will examine every Power BI column chart option using this chart. In visualizations, there are two forms of formatting:

• Format X-xis
• Format Y-axis
• Visual formatting and
• General formatting, we will discuss all in this article.

Format X-Axis of a Power BI Column Chart

Step 1: Click on the X-axis option a drop-down will 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. Here, we have selected orange color, and the Employee Name is changed to orange color.

Format Y-Axis of a Power BI Column Chart

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. 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 Salary and Sum of Bonus. To change the color of the title of the y-axis, click on the color option. Select the required color. Here, we have selected orange color, and the Sum of Salary and Sum of Bonus is changed to orange color. 

Visual Formatting in Format Column Chart

Visual formatting comprises nine options i.e. Y-axis, X-axis, Legend, grid line, zoom slider, bars, data labels, and total labels.

Legends

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

Note: Note: We have removed, bonus from the chart shown, and added, the department column for the legends. 

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. Like, Top Center, Bottom left, etc. By default, the Top left is the position. 

Gridlines

The Gridlines are the background lines, which are by default dotted in nature, and are very light and thin. Let’s understand by following steps:

Step 1: Click on the Gridlines option. Click on the Horizontal option, and a drop-down will appears. By default, in column charts 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 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. Let’s understand by following steps:

Step 1: Click on the Zoom slider option. 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 column 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. 

Bars

Bars refer to the rectangular columns, which show the dataset value corresponding to each X-axis value in the column chart. On Clicking the Bars option. A drop-down appears. We have two options i.e. Color and Spacing. We can customize the color of the bars accordingly, and can also add padding between the bars. 

Data Labels

Data labels provide additional information on the bars. Let’s understand by 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 three 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. 

Note: The data labels in the case of column charts, can only be set inside the bars, and not outside. It means that position has only inside options in data labels. To set data labels outside use the option, total labels which is discussed below. 

Total Labels 

Total labels are the same as data labels. Total labels display the data labels outside the bars. Click on the Total Labels option. We have two options Values and Background. The values option is used to set the font, size of the labels, units, etc. The background option is used to set the background color to the labels. 

If we want to change the units of the labels, then click on the Display units under Values. We have multiple units, for example, thousands, millions, etc. 

General Formatting in Format Column Chart

There are multiple options in general formatting. For a column chart, we have options like Title, tooltip, effects, alt text, etc. We will look at each of the options in detail.

Property

The property option is generally present in every visualization. It contains three options, Size, position, and Advance options. We, generally do not use these properties, because all are easily accessible with mouse clicks. The size property helps to resize the visualization created. The position property changes the position of the visualization, in the report. The Advance option comprises adding a layer order, which is rarely used.

Title

The title formatting is present in every visualization. As the name suggests, it adds a heading to the visualization. Click on the slider to enable the title. Let’s understand by following steps:

Step 1: Click on the Title option. A drop-down list appears. Add the title, under the Text section. For example, Sum of Salary by Employee Name and Department. We can view in the image a title is added to the chart. As done previously we can customize the size, font type of the chart, etc.

Step 2: We can also change the color of the title. Under the text color, select the required color. For example, yellow in this case. The title color changes to yellow.

Effects

The effects section comprises three features i.e. Background, Visual Border, and Shadow. All works according to their names. The background adds a background color to the visualization, the Visual border adds a border around the visualization, and the shadow option creates a shadow on the outskirts of the visualization.

Click on the Background option. Select the color of the background accordingly. For example, Pink. We can view in the below image that the background of the chart changed to pink.

Header Icons

Header icons are the options, present on the top of the visualization. For a column chart, there are two options, filter on visuals and more options. Click on the header-icons option, we will get various options, like Background, Border, and Icons. One can set its colors as per choice.

Tooltips

If we hover over a visualization, then we cannot view any information related to the chart. Consider a situation, where we want to display the fields added by hovering over the chart, then this task can be achieved by the Tooltips option. Tooltips have three properties i.e. Options, Text, and Background. Click on the tooltips option. Now, for example, we hover over the bar, then we can view that the employee Name Arushi, Department IT, Salary 50K, and Total 50K is displayed. We can set text and background color according to our needs.

Alt Text

Alt text is a property present in each visualization. People generally misinterpret, alt text by its name, they think that alt text will be displayed when they hover over the visualization. Alt text is for the persons, who cannot see the visuals, images, etc. This option is only available if you are using a narrator in your system. When your narrator is active, then this alt text will be spoken by the system. Click on the Alt text, and type the required text.