Beispiel-CSV
| Day | Hour | Orders |
|---|---|---|
| Monday | 9 | 12 |
| Monday | 12 | 31 |
| Monday | 15 | 22 |
| Monday | 18 | 45 |
| Tuesday | 9 | 15 |
| Tuesday | 12 | 28 |
| Tuesday | 15 | 19 |
| Tuesday | 18 | 52 |
| Wednesday | 9 | 11 |
| Wednesday | 12 | 24 |
| Wednesday | 15 | 20 |
| Wednesday | 18 | 58 |
How to Create a Heatmap
A step by step walkthrough for turning a row, column and value sheet into a published heatmap in PlotSet, from shaping the data to picking a colour scale that doesn't lie.
Etwa 8 MinutenRows and columns you chose, a colour scale that actually matches your data, a chart either embedded on a page or exported as an image: that's what you'll have after this guide on how to create a heatmap in PlotSet, built from your own grid rather than someone else's correlation matrix with your name on it, taken through the same click path a real PlotSet chart takes from upload to publish.
If your data is already three columns, row, column and value, this takes about eight minutes, most of it spent getting the colour scale right rather than the upload itself. Add another five if you're pivoting a wide table (weekdays across the top, hours down the side) into that long shape first. Budget the eight minutes below and treat pivoting as a separate, earlier step.
Die Daten, die Sie brauchen
Three columns, one row per cell: the row category, the column category, and the numeric value at that intersection. One header row, no pre-shaded formatting.
This is long format, not wide format. If your source is a pivot table with days across the top and hours down the side, unpivot it first: one row per cell, not one column per day. Most spreadsheet tools call this "unpivot" or "melt."
A missing combination (say, Wednesday at 21:00 never happened) doesn't need a zero row. Leave it out and PlotSet renders that cell as empty rather than as a false zero, which matters a lot on a colour scale.
Keep the value column numeric only. If a cell has been formatted as a percentage or currency string in the source sheet, strip the symbol before uploading or PlotSet will treat it as text and the colour scale won't compute.
For a correlation matrix, both the row and column categories are the same list of variables. That's normal, the diagonal (each variable against itself) will read as the maximum value, which is expected and fine to leave in.
Die Schritte
Der genaue Klickpfad in PlotSet, von einer leeren Vorlage bis zum fertigen Diagramm.
- 01
Open the Heatmap template
From the PlotSet dashboard, start a new project and choose the Heatmap template. It loads with sample data already bound so you can see the exact three-column shape, row, column, value, before you touch your own file.
Jede Anleitung beginnt hier. Wählen Sie erst die Kategorie, dann die Vorlage. Das Raster ist für jeden Diagrammtyp dasselbe. - 02
Shape your sheet into row, column, value
One line per cell. If your data currently lives as a wide grid, days across the top as separate columns, unpivot it into this long format first. This is the step people skip and then wonder why the upload doesn't map cleanly.
- 03
Upload your file or connect a sheet
Use the data panel to import a CSV or .xlsx file, paste rows directly, or connect a Google Sheet if the underlying numbers change on a schedule and you'd rather not re-upload every time.
Die Datenansicht, hier in einem Balkendiagramm-Projekt. Laden Sie über "Upload CSV File" eine CSV-Datei hoch, holen Sie die Zahlen mit "Magic Import" aus einem Bild oder verbinden Sie ein Google Sheet. Der Bereich sieht bei jedem Diagrammtyp gleich aus. - 04
Map the row, column and value fields
Tell PlotSet which column feeds the row axis, which feeds the column axis, and which is the numeric value being shaded. Clear headers like "Day", "Hour", "Orders" usually get guessed correctly, but check it when your sheet carries extra columns.
Die Zuordnungen legen fest, welche Spalte zur Beschriftung wird, welche die Werte liefert und welche die Farbe steuert. "Auto Binding" errät sie anhand Ihrer Spaltenüberschriften. Prüfen Sie das Ergebnis, statt sich darauf zu verlassen. - 05
Choose sequential or diverging
Sequential (light to dark, one hue) for a quantity that only runs from low to high, like order counts. Diverging (two hues either side of a real midpoint like zero) when some values are above a baseline and some are below it, like a correlation matrix or a change-from-average table.
Der Tab "Preview" für ein Diagramm vom Typ "Heatmap". Alle Gestaltungsoptionen stecken im umrandeten Bereich: Aussehen, Kopfzeile, Fußzeile und die Optionen, die es speziell für diesen Diagrammtyp gibt, jeweils in einem eigenen Tab. - 06
Order the rows and columns on purpose
Switch off alphabetical sorting unless the categories already have a natural order, like weekdays or hours. Sort by row total, or group similar rows next to each other, so the pattern (the hot band, the quiet row) is visible instead of scattered across the grid.
- 07
Turn on cell labels if the grid is small enough
Under roughly a fifteen by fifteen grid, showing the number inside each cell costs nothing and lets readers get an exact value without hovering. Past that size, leave the cells blank and rely on the tooltip, printed numbers on a dense grid just become noise.
- 08
Publish, embed or export the finished grid
Publish for a live chart with hover tooltips that show the row, column and exact value, grab the embed code for a page, or export a PNG, SVG or PDF if you need a static image for a deck.
Starten Sie mit der Heatmap-Vorlage samt bereits geladenen Beispieldaten und ersetzen Sie diese durch Ihre eigenen.
Vorlage öffnenVeröffentlichen, einbetten oder exportieren
Der letzte Abschnitt ist bei jedem Diagrammtyp gleich: "Share" macht aus dem Diagramm einen öffentlichen Live-Link und einen Einbettungscode, "Export" schreibt es als statische Datei heraus.
"Share": öffentlicher Link und Einbettungscode
Aktivieren Sie den Einbettungscode und den öffentlichen Link, um das Diagramm zu veröffentlichen. Den Link können Sie bedenkenlos an alle weitergeben, und der Einbettungscode fügt sich als iframe in jede Seite ein. Die Tooltips beim Überfahren mit der Maus und die volle Interaktivität bleiben erhalten. Wenn Sie das Diagramm später bearbeiten, überträgt "Recreate" die Änderungen auf Link und Einbettung.
"Export": SVG, PNG oder JPG
"Export" schreibt eine statische Kopie in der Größe heraus, die Sie brauchen. SVG bleibt in jeder Skalierung scharf und lässt sich weiterhin in einem Design-Tool bearbeiten; PNG und JPG sind die sichere Wahl für Folien und Dokumente. Der Skalierungsfaktor sorgt dafür, dass das Bild auf einem Retina-Display gestochen scharf wirkt.
Styling-Tipps für Heatmap
Set the scale range with an outlier in mind
One unusually large cell, a launch-day spike, a data-entry error, pulls every other cell toward the pale end of the scale and the pattern disappears. Cap the scale manually at a sensible ceiling, or fix the outlier at the source, rather than letting the raw maximum decide the range for you.
Pick a midpoint that means something for diverging scales
Zero for a correlation matrix or a change value, the historical average for a performance grid. An arbitrary midpoint (PlotSet defaulting to the middle of your data's range) will shade cells as "above average" and "below average" relative to nothing in particular.
Cluster rows instead of alphabetizing them
If two rows behave similarly across every column, put them next to each other. Alphabetical order is the single most common reason a heatmap looks like noise when the underlying data actually has a clear block structure.
Avoid the default rainbow if PlotSet offers one
A spectral scale isn't perceptually ordered, so a reader's eye sees hard edges where the data is actually smooth. A single-hue sequential scale, or a proper two-hue diverging scale, reads correctly at a glance and holds up for colour-blind readers.
Häufige Fehler bei Heatmap
The whole grid looks nearly one colour
This is almost always one extreme value stretching the scale so far that everything else compresses into a narrow band near the low end. Find the outlier cell, decide whether it's real, and either cap the colour scale's maximum manually or exclude the value.
Upload succeeds but the grid comes out with gaps or extra cells
Check that every row/column combination in your source data is spelled and cased consistently. "Monday" and "monday " (with a trailing space) read as two different rows to PlotSet, which fragments what should be one row into two thin, mostly-empty ones.
A diverging scale makes ordinary values look alarming
If the midpoint got set to the middle of the data range instead of a real baseline like zero, half your unremarkable cells will shade as if they're notably below average. Reset the midpoint to the value that actually matters for your data before publishing.
Mehr über Heatmap erfahren
Nicht sicher, ob Heatmap die richtige Wahl ist? Erfahren Sie, was es ist, wann Sie es verwenden sollten und wann nicht.
Heatmap: häufige Fragen
Three columns in long format: a row category, a column category, and a numeric value for each combination, one row per cell. A wide pivot table needs to be unpivoted into this shape first. CSV and .xlsx both work, along with a pasted range from any spreadsheet.
Jetzt Heatmap erstellen
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