Change the look of a chart

You can change the appearance of a chart by applying a different style to it, changing the font, adding a border, and more.

Apply a different style to a chart

The thumbnail images at the top of the Chart tab represent predesigned chart styles that are specifically made to look good with the theme you’re using. You can apply a different style to a chart at any time.

  • Select the chart, click the Chart tab at the top of the sidebar on the right, then select a different style from the thumbnails at the top of the sidebar. (If you don’t see a sidebar, or the sidebar doesn’t have a Chart tab, click Format button in the toolbar.)

If you can’t edit a chart, it may be locked. Unlock it to make changes.

Change the appearance of chart text

When you change the appearance of chart text using the controls in the Chart tab of the Format sidebar, all text in the chart is changed.

  1. Select the chart.

  2. Click the Chart tab at the top of the sidebar on the right.

    If you don’t see a sidebar, or the sidebar doesn’t have a Chart tab, click Format button in the toolbar.

  3. Do any of the following:

    • Change the font: Click the Chart Font pop-up menu and choose a font.

    • Change the character style: Click the pop-up menu below the font family name and choose an option.

    • Make the font smaller or larger: Click the small A or the large A.

      All text in the chart increases or decreases proportionally (by the same percentage).

You can change the chart title and value label text so it looks different from the other text by using the controls in the Chart Title and Value Labels tabs, respectively.

Change the appearance of chart series

You can change the appearance of individual data series in a chart. For example, for bar and pie charts, you can change the fill type and color of bars, the outline (stroke) style, and more. For scatter charts, you can change the symbol that represents each point and add connection lines.

  1. Select the chart, then click one element of a data series (for example, one bar or column, pie wedge, or scatter point).

    The entire data series is selected.

  2. Click the Style tab at the top of the sidebar on the right.

    If you don’t see a sidebar, or the sidebar doesn’t have a Style tab, click Format button in the toolbar.

  3. Use the controls to make changes.

    To see all options, you may need to click the disclosure triangle next to the name of each section.

    Controls for changing appearance of data series

    To change the colors of the data series, click the color well next to Chart Colors. Hover over a color combination to preview what it looks like.

The changes affect only the selected data series. To modify the appearance of other series, select an element from a different series, then make changes.

Change the spacing of elements in bar or column charts

For a bar or column chart, you can set the amount of space between the columns or bars.

  1. Select the chart.

  2. Click the Chart tab at the top of the sidebar on the right.

    If you don’t see a sidebar, or the sidebar doesn’t have a Chart tab, click Format button in the toolbar.

  3. Click the disclosure triangle next to Gaps, then set the desired amount of space.

Change the position of pie chart wedges

  1. Select the pie chart.

  2. Click the Wedges tab at the top of the sidebar on the right.

    If you don’t see a sidebar, or the sidebar doesn’t have a Wedges tab, click Format button in the toolbar.

  3. Click the disclosure triangle next to Position, then drag the Distance from Center slider to separate the wedges.

    Pie chart with wedges separated

To move a single pie wedge, double-click the wedge, then drag it. To move multiple wedges at the same time, Command-click to select them, then drag.

You can also move the Rotation Angle control to change the orientation of pie wedges. You may want to make a point, for example, by positioning certain wedges at the top or bottom of the chart.

Add a border around a chart

You can add a border to any 2D bar, column, area, scatter chart, or bubble chart.

  1. Select the chart.

  2. Click the Chart tab at the top of the sidebar on the right.

    If you don’t see a sidebar, or the sidebar doesn’t have a Chart tab, click Format button in the toolbar.

  3. In the Chart Options section, select the Border checkbox.

  4. To change the border’s appearance, click the disclosure triangle next to Background & Border Style, then use the controls to make changes.

Change the depth of a 3D chart and the shape of series elements

  1. Select the chart.

  2. Click the Chart tab at the top of the sidebar on the right.

    If you don’t see a sidebar, or the sidebar doesn’t have a Chart tab, click Format button in the toolbar.

  3. Click the disclosure triangle next to 3D Scene.

  4. Use the controls in the 3D Scene section to make adjustments.

Bevel the edges between series or wedges in 3D stacked or pie charts

You can increase the distinction between series in 3D stacked bar or column charts and 3D pie charts by beveling the edges where the series meet.

A pie chart with beveled edges
  1. Select the chart.

  2. Click the Chart tab at the top of the sidebar on the right.

    If you don’t see a sidebar, or the sidebar doesn’t have a Chart tab, click Format button in the toolbar.

  3. Click the disclosure triangle next to 3D Scene.

  4. Select the Show Bevels checkbox.