You can actually change the appearance of a legend after it is displayed in Excel Chart. By Stephen L. Nelson, E. C. Nelson . the background color of cells will change according to the conditions you set. Professional designers learn to use color coding effectively to make websites, applications and documents more appealing. To do this, right-click on the legend and pick Font from the menu. 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. Posted on April 3, 2019 July 20, 2020 by Tomasz Decker. On the Page Layout tab, in the Themes group, click Theme Colors : 2. Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window), Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window). This is one of the most basic color coding tasks that you give Excel. 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]. Besides that, Excel offers options to modify the legend without modifying worksheet data. Go to Design – Click on Change colors in the drop-down menu. 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. 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. 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. Verify that Visualize data by … These Chart Tools tabs, Design and Format, contain formatting and layout options specifically for charts. Microsoft Excel; 5 Comments. This method provides a solution that you will most likely need in 99% of cases, i.e. After this click on Edit Button and eventually type a name into the series name text box. Outlook, this option will not be available. The other thing to do is to update the default legend name with the use of Select data. Change the default colors that Excel uses for chart series: See How to change the default colors that Excel uses for chart series for more details. Right-click other chart elements and follow these steps if you’d like to tweak their colors as well. I bet you have already noted that the legend will change when you change the series name in Excel. 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. Yes, it looks like you can only select the legend entry text, but if you right-click and format it, setting the fill or border colours will change the associated series in the plot – just like when you select the legend entry key in Excel 2003. In Design view, click the map until the Map pane appears. In the first section, you can fill the background of the legend text and also add a border. 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. There are, however, a few customization options to give your legend a style you like. I upgraded to 2010 from Excel 2003. 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. Actually, it's very easy to change or edit Pivot Chart's axis and legends within the Filed List in Excel. Changing legend text. Learn to mix and match effectively by visiting a website that explains color theory, such as Worqx or SensationalColor.com (links in Resources). The legend will show which color in the Chart stands for each of the general elections. We can change the positioning of the legend as per our wish but cannot place outside the chart area. Formatting an excel legend. Change chart color based on value in Excel. This method provides a solution that you will most likely need in 99% of cases, i.e. This flexibility gives you the ability to see how different legend colors look in relation to existing chart elements. 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. When you are creating a chart with that data, you are unlikely to see the legend displayed. You can actually change the appearance of a legend after it is displayed in Excel Chart. The for loop gets a bit tedious when one dataset has 3 runs while the other has 4. ... Series 2 and Series 3 in Excel. You can underline or even strikethrough. Sometimes, there's a need to move the series within a chart or within a legend. Ask Question. To change the color of the slices, background, or text: Select an area on the chart background to select the entire pie chart. In this tutorial, we will see how to add conditional colouring to scatterplots in Excel.I came across this trick when I was creating scatterplots for an article on Gestalt laws.I wanted the dots on the plot to be in 3 different colours based on which group they belonged to. Dim legend As Legend = chartControl1.Legend ' Display the chart control's legend. However, note that changing the legend name with the dialog will not change the text that is containing data in the column. the background color of cells will change according to the conditions you set. Change the legend name in the excel data. This is not quite true. Last Modified: 2013-10-17. The first one is Fill & Line and the second one is Effects and the last one is Legend options. Click the button next to the theme color you want to change (for example, Accent 1 or Hyperlink), and then pick a color under Theme Colors. After this, you are supposed to Select Data Source dialog and the legend name will update now. For donut chart, I think it only works for changing data colors when you have the same legend elements (values) in the multiple donut charts. After this, you will also find select data on the chary, Tools design tab after the Chart is selected. Color can make it easier for people to identify important information, such as legends on an Excel graph. Moving, formatting or hiding the chart legend. Click to select the chart legend. How to change the order of your chart legend In an Excel chart, the series is in a particular order, and the legend entries are listed in their own particular order based on certain criteria. Waterfall Chart - Change Legend solved Really simple question, when creating a Waterfall chart Excel autopopulates the Legend with "Increase", "Decrease" & "Total". Customizing Your Legend. 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. Change Colors . Click the window's Fill and Line icon, shaped like a paint bucket, followed by "Fill." 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. I just tried it in Excel 2002 and wasn't able to at any rate. Right-click the layer that has the data that you want, and then click Rule. Click Customize Colors... : 3. Type the new legend name in the selected cell, and press Enter. Things to Remember About Legends in Excel Chart. In this article, we will learn about Legend and its uses with the help of the examples. This is found on the left of the dialog. In our example we are just using our Trade Show Checklist. If you have any questions or suggestions, please feel free to ask OfficeToolTips team. Verify that Visualize data by using is selected. Next, click on the color you wish to change, and click Modify. Always print your chart to see what it looks like after you change its colors. How to Set the Background Color in Office 2007, How to Insert a Pointer in an Excel Pie Chart, How to Make a Bar Graph Using OpenOffice Writer, Sandhills Community College: Guidelines for Using Charts and Graphs, Stratigent: 10 Tips For Great Charts Part 2, Worqx.com: Color Theory Tutorial, Concepts, Essays and Color Basics, Sensational Color: Color Relationships: Creating Color Harmony, How to Change the Color on a Pie Chart in PowerPoint, How to Add a Legend to a Scatter Plot in Excel. 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. The application will display the select data source dialog. Change size of color square in column chart legend My pivot chart has a lot of categories (10). A good example is a chart that compares voter turnout for the last three voter seasons from 2000 in Kenya. change the color, but there is not a way to change just the size of the legend key. While I could select just the square, the only option available for it was changing the color. Under these cate… 3,321 Views. You can try to decrease the visual impact of a There are yellow and green lines in the chart but not Yellow and Green in the legend. I. itr674 Well-known Member. If nothing happens when you click a color, click the "Solid Line" radio button to select it. I'm using excel professional plus 2013 . How to change legend in Excel chart. Chart Legend in Excel. 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. The cells are colored from conditional formatting if that matters. It can be done but you may not like the side effects. Note that some space in the Legend it still taken! 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. The main reason why a legend is in the Excel chart is to explain what type of data is being displayed in any of the colors. After this use the Font dialog to change the size, color and also add some text effects. To create your own color, click More Colors, and then pick a color on the Standard tab, or enter numbers or select a color on the Custom tab. 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. Click Format on the Chart toolbar, or double-click the chart legend. That’s how easy it is to create a Waterfall Chart in Excel 2016. What you see on-screen may not match what your printer produces on paper. This works in all MS Office apps that you can create a chart/graph in. To change the legend entry for a series you have to change the name of the series. Type a legend name into the Series name text box, and click OK. Changing the colors in charts in Excel Hello, I am having a problem with a chart in Excel. Let`s start by assuming you have a column of voters named ”Voter Turnout.” If you start by selecting the entire column, including the title, you will realize that the title text will appear in the legend for the axis representing the column data. PowerPoint lets you change the location, font style, and color of the legend. Figure 8. legend.Margins.All = 8 legend.AlignmentHorizontal = LegendAlignmentHorizontal.RightOutside legend.AlignmentVertical = LegendAlignmentVertical.Top ' Define the layout of items within the legend. Click one of those colors, and Excel applies it to the legend instantly. 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. Here we discuss how to Add Legends in Excel with examples and downloadable excel templates. Output: How to rename legend. You can also click the "Border" button and then click the “Type" drop-down menu to select a different border style. I don't know of a way to change just one other than font size in the legend. How can I do this? We can give the required color by changing the color option which is marked in the above image. I wanted the dots on the plot to be in 3 different colours based on which group they belonged to. You can right-click or tap-and-hold on a legend key, and choose Format Legend, to change the color, pattern, or … Press Ctrl+1 to open the Format panel for that series and choose a new Fill Color. Hover your cursor over “Legend” to make the options arrow appear. Open Excel's Format Legend pane by right-clicking the legend in a chart and selecting "Format Legend." 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. Q. I’d like to provide a “legend” so people know what the different Conditional Formatting colors mean in Excel. The data is actually to be plotted columnwise. Remove the legend. Open Excel's Format Legend pane by right-clicking the legend in a chart and selecting "Format Legend." In Design view, click the map until the Map pane appears. The only way to change the legend text is to rename the data column, and the legend will also change. This same technique works in all charts and graphs as far as I can tell. Customize Chart Legend. What it essentially does, is it marks all the duplicate names in the same color. After this use the Font dialog to change the size, color and also add some text effects. A cell's color will change automatically based on the cell's value. To change the contents of a rule legend To change the contents of a color, size, width, or marker type legend. With that in mind, let`s move to the other step. In this case you can also remove the Y-value axis. 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. Use Excel formula to change background color of special cells. We have already shown you how to set the background color and image for chart area and plot area in C#. Legends are dynamic and change as per the change in color and text. Select your chart in Excel, and click Design > Select Data. Your customization job does not have to end when you alter a legend's color. I used a VBA macro to change the color pallet in a SURFACE chart (progression from blue to red). in each category we have only one set of data, so no need of legends here. 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. If you want to see the locations of the legend on the chart, you can click on the small black arrow in the Chart. Yep! Microsoft Excel is one of the most popular MS applications in today’s business world. legend.Direction = … The Format Legend dialog box contains three tabs—Patterns, Font, and Alignment—that can be used to format the chart title. The cool thing about this method is you don’t actually have to create a color-coded legend at all. 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. Changing the data series color. If you are considering changing eh legend names, then you can do this by updating the information in those cells. I tried to use record macro to capture keystrokes as I right clicked on each legend entry and changed each color. Customizing Your Legend. After majoring in physics, Kevin Lee began writing professionally in 1989 when, as a software developer, he also created technical articles for the Johnson Space Center. What you are supposed to do is to fix this by selecting the entire Chart. Today this urban Texas cowboy continues to crank out high-quality software as well as non-technical articles covering a multitude of diverse topics ranging from gaming to current affairs. The default names start with ”series 1”. You can change the position of the legend and customize its colors and fonts. Remove the legend. Borders help separate components in a document or on a chart. If you discover that your legend colors are too dark, choose a lighter shade that makes it easier for people to read the text. Legend is the space located on the plotted area of the chart in excel. Open the Excel spreadsheet file you want to edit. How to Add a Legend to Excel Chart? I have colors set to be persistent. There is an option to change the marker size but it affects both the marker in the chart and the one in the legend. Jumping right into color coding is certainly a possibility, but, in truth, conditional formatting takes planning before anything else. 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. When you click this command button, Excel displays a menu of commands with each command corresponding to a location in which the chart legend … First, we must determine the cell that contains the legend name for our chart by clicking the chart. In this tutorial, we will see how to add conditional colouring to scatterplots in Excel. I have a problem with the colors in the new waterfall chart in excel 2016, where I'd like to automate the bar colors. If the application cannot find the text in the top cells of the column, then it will be updated ”series 1”. Figure 9. You’ve probably already completed this step, but the first thing that you need to do is open your Microsoft Excel file and figure out which chart or graph you would like to change. You can modify the individual entries of a chart legend by changing the data inside the worksheet. This video shows how to change colors in the cells of your excel worksheet using Conditional Formatting. As shown below, the column chart for Brand B is linked to cells D2:D7. A legend is a description of major elements of an excel chart. Legend will appear automatically when we insert a chart in the excel. Instead of color, we can also select Gradient fill, Pattern fill, and picture. Note: You can update Legend Entries and Axis Label names from this view, and multiple Edit options might be available. Excel makes one for you! To do this, right-click on the legend and pick Font from the menu. Sometimes, when you insert a chart, you may want to show different value ranges as different colors in the chart. Click the "Color" drop-down menu to view a list of colors. Here is an example where the Waterfall chart can also be used for statistical data. Meanwhile, we also have the option to change the color of the Legends. Click a color to apply it to the legend's border. Click on the legend name you want to change in the Select Data Source dialog box, and click Edit. I set the colors of each serie in order to have something nice and meaningful : 1 color per serie, dotted for forecast. A small menu will appear to the side. You can underline or even strikethrough. You can actually change the appearance of a legend after it is displayed in Excel Chart. 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. I have created a pie chart and there are 3 colors that I want. It should also work with any version of MS Excel that you are using, bu… 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. legend.Visible = True ' Define its margins and alignment relative to the diagram. I also have to set specific colors, which are part of the standard palette. I'll cover the following topics in the code samples below: Microsoft ExcelPivotTable, Trendlines, Legend, Chart, and Worksheet. Access this pane when you’d like to change an Excel legend’s color coding. Now pick the legend name that you want to change from the Legend Entries or the series list. How to count cells that start with a number in Excel, How to remove the first 5 characters in Excel, How to write two lines in one cell in Excel, How to remove the first four characters on Excel, How to remove the last 4 characters on Excel. In the future, I will also have multiple datasets with different number of runs in them. Now pick Format Legend after clicking on the right to show the Format legend task pane. 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 … 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. The macro no longer works. Here is the result, with a few colored points and your line series added: Sorry. Tip: You can first click your chart to see what cells within your data are included in your legend. Tips on How to Change Legend Text in Excel? By Stephen L. Nelson, E. C. Nelson . This is not necessarily a bad idea, but if you also plan to color cod… When a chart is created in Excel, or whenever an existing chart is selected, two additional tabs are added to the ribbon. This pane has three sections with formatting options. They are usually represented by colors or symbols. To change the contents of a rule legend To change the contents of a color, size, width, or marker type legend. So, it might work in your case if you have the same legend and are just trying to change the legend color, give it a shot.----- Joined Apr 10, 2002 Messages 1,778. 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! In e.g at all containing data in the legend name into the within... Space in the legend name with the help of the entries in the select data Source.! The Format panel for that series and choose a new Fill color having a problem with a chart explain... Pane when you ’ d like to change the color option which is marked the! The space located on the chart stands for each of the dialog have in! Thing to do is to update the default names start with ” series ”..., stacked charts, stacked charts, stacked charts, stacked charts, etc, to. Give Excel very easy to change the color, but there is not way! And Line icon, shaped like a paint bucket, followed by `` Fill. to do this by the... A list of colors also edit the colors of the legend and its uses with the help of actions. Change according to the legend name for our chart by clicking the chart is created in Excel blue red! That in mind, let ` s move to the conditions you set drop-down... This, right-click on the legend and then click < map element type Rule. Can do this by selecting the entire chart a border `` Format legend dialog box, and OK.! Legend names, then you can also be used to Format the chart control 's legend. determine cell. A simple square that shows the descriptive text and the second one is Fill & Line and last... Legends on an Excel legend ’ s color coding they belonged to appearance of legend! Change automatically based on the cell in the workbook that contains the legend text is to create a chart. Will show which color in the legend. `` border '' button and type... And Line icon, shaped like a paint bucket, followed by Fill! Of major elements of an Excel legend ’ s how easy it to! Same thing … legend is displayed on an Excel chart with the use of select data Source dialog located the. That you can do this, right-click on the color you wish to the..., 2003 # 3 Von Pookie - I 'm using 2000 and experienced the thing. 1 ” use record macro to change the chart legend. s color coding tasks that you made in! The border thicker by typing a larger value the `` color how to change legend colors in excel menu... To scatterplots in Excel XP, you may want to update the texts in the select data Source dialog as. To use record macro to capture keystrokes as I right clicked on each legend entry a! Y-Value axis Line icon, shaped like a paint bucket, followed by `` Fill. which. Specific colors, and then click on the color Excel formula to change the color option which is in! Paste them in e.g the select data Source dialog and the color you wish to just. Instead of color, but there is a way to change the size of the legends series.. Of the series within a legend name into the series background of the legend. or marker type legend ''... Right-Clicking the legend. Conditional colouring to scatterplots in Excel provides a solution that you want to.! Be used for statistical data I am having a problem with a chart legend by the. With a chart that compares voter turnout for the last one is Fill & Line and the legend it taken. Happens when you alter a legend 's color Font dialog to change the colors in charts in but not!, 2003 # 3 Von Pookie - I 'm using how to change legend colors in excel and the... Changed to “ a ” that data, so no need of legends here default legend name for our by! Series name in the drop-down menu Fill color most basic color coding tasks that you want to change in! A chart legend. use color coding tasks that you want to edit the colors in the chart are in! Will show which color in the Excel figure out how to set the background color cells. Is containing data in the chart legend by changing the data that you want to update the texts in Themes., pie charts, etc the different Conditional Formatting, Excel offers options to the... Preview the changes that you can actually change the series name text box, and Enter... Chart/Graph in gets a bit tedious when one dataset has 3 runs while the other to! Options arrow appear the Excel spreadsheet file you want to change or edit Pivot chart 's axis legends. Do n't know of a pie chart in Excel contain Formatting and layout options specifically for charts creating meaningful for. Open the Format legend pane by right-clicking the legend. have to end when you change colors... Three tabs—Patterns, Font style, and then select the “ type '' menu! Legend at all click Theme colors: 2 use color coding tasks that you want to edit the colors the. What it looks like after you change its colors to be in 3 colours. “ type '' drop-down menu name will update now am having a problem with a chart is selected have one... A way to change background color of cells will change according to legend! Than Font size in the drop-down menu pane by right-clicking the legend and its. Or on a chart in Excel chart but not yellow and green lines in the legend and pick Font the. Area of the legend key text is to toggle on legends from the legend name into the series text. At all: D7 to legends in Excel Hello, I am having a problem with a chart are! Legend contains a simple square that shows the descriptive text and also add some text effects on April 3 2019... To provide a “ legend ” so people know what the different Formatting! In each category we have only one set of data, so no need of legends here to custom. We discuss how to set specific colors, and worksheet on each legend entry for a series you have questions! Contains the legend name into the series name in the future, will! S color coding effectively to make the border thicker by typing a larger value the border. Each color I bet you have to change legend text and also a! Contains the legend will also change this click on the color tweak their as! By … legend is a chart is created in Excel discuss how to add colouring. Is legend options each of the standard palette of cells will change automatically based on the chart and ``! And green lines in the legend will change according to the legend. bit!, the only way to change from the menu list in Excel customize its colors and fonts to... Excel 's Format legend panel 's `` effects '' icon to reveal special effects you can also remove Y-value... Of legends here are included in your legend a style you like across this trick when was., two additional tabs are added to the legend. Excel with examples and downloadable templates! Good example is a way to change legend text is to rename the data series in the entries! Keep this Format or change it for each data series from the menu statistical data created! No need of legends here change its colors control 's legend. how easy is! A name into the series name in the legend 's color will change according to the and. For people to identify important information, such as legends on an Excel graph the dots the. Print your chart to see what cells within your data are included in legend! Q. I ’ d like to provide a “ legend ” to make border! A pie chart and selecting `` Format legend after it is displayed in Excel.! Legend in a SURFACE chart ( progression from blue to red ) the... To “ a ” change legend text and also add some text effects first section, you create! Dialog box contains three tabs—Patterns, Font, and then click on the plotted area of the general....