CSV de ejemplo
| Warehouse | FulfillmentHours |
|---|---|
| Chicago | 4.2 |
| Chicago | 4.8 |
| Chicago | 3.9 |
| Chicago | 9.1 |
| Chicago | 4.5 |
| Chicago | 4.1 |
| Dallas | 6.0 |
| Dallas | 6.3 |
| Dallas | 5.8 |
| Dallas | 6.1 |
| Dallas | 12.4 |
| Dallas | 6.5 |
| Reno | 3.0 |
| Reno | 3.2 |
| Reno | 2.9 |
| Reno | 3.4 |
| Reno | 3.1 |
| Reno | 7.8 |
How to Create a Violin Plot
A step by step walkthrough for turning raw, row-level data into a published violin plot in PlotSet, including the bandwidth setting that decides whether the shape is real.
Unos 9 minutosThis guide covers how to create a violin plot in PlotSet, starting from a spreadsheet of individual observations and ending with a published chart you can embed or export. It is not five clicks: the one setting that actually matters, bandwidth, has no correct default, so you will nudge it and look at the result rather than accept whatever PlotSet picks first.
Nine minutes, roughly, if your data is already one row per observation with a group column and a value column. Pulling that from a report that only has group averages adds five more, because you'll need to go back to the source and get the underlying rows. A violin built from averages isn't a violin, it's a flat line pretending to be one.
Los datos que necesitas
Two columns, one row per observation: a group label first, a numeric value second. Raw values, not pre-aggregated averages, one header row.
Every observation needs its own row. If your source file already has one row per group with an average fulfillment time, there is nothing left to draw a density from: go back and pull the order-level data instead.
Keep the group column as text. A warehouse code like "04" will still group correctly, but check the axis order once it is uploaded in case it got sorted numerically instead of the way you intended.
A blank cell in the value column is dropped from that group's density rather than treated as zero, which is the right behavior but can explain a row count that does not match your source file.
Uneven group sizes are fine. Chicago having forty rows and Reno having twelve does not break anything here, unlike some chart types that expect equal counts.
Los pasos
El camino exacto en PlotSet, desde una plantilla en blanco hasta el gráfico terminado.
- 01
Open the Violin Plot template
From the PlotSet dashboard, start a new project and choose the Violin Plot template. It loads with sample data already in place, so you can see the two-column shape PlotSet expects before you touch your own file.
Todas las guías empiezan aquí. Elige la categoría y luego la plantilla. Es la misma cuadrícula sea cual sea el tipo de gráfico que busques. - 02
Shape your sheet into observations, not summaries
Put the group label in the first column and the raw numeric value in the second, one row per observation. If your export is a pivot table with an average per group, that is the wrong shape: pull the underlying rows from wherever the pivot came from.
- 03
Import your data or connect a sheet
Use the data panel to import a CSV or .xlsx file, paste rows directly from a spreadsheet, or connect a Google Sheet if the underlying numbers change regularly. PlotSet reads the first row as headers automatically.
La vista de datos, aquí en un proyecto de gráfico de barras. Sube un CSV, saca los números de una imagen con Magic Import o sincroniza una Google Sheet. El panel es el mismo en todos los tipos de gráfico. - 04
Map the group and value columns
Confirm which column feeds the category axis and which feeds the density curve. This is usually right on the first try when your headers say what they mean, but double-check it if your sheet carries extra columns PlotSet had to guess between.
Las asignaciones deciden qué columna se convierte en la etiqueta, cuál aporta los valores y cuál define el color. Auto Binding las deduce de tus encabezados, así que revísalas en lugar de darlas por buenas. - 05
Adjust the bandwidth and watch what changes
Move the bandwidth slider up and down before settling on a value. Too high and two real peaks merge into one soft hump; too low and the curve gets bumpy from noise alone. Keep whichever shape survives a small nudge in both directions.
- 06
Sort the groups by median
Switch the group order from alphabetical to sorted by median value. Reno, Chicago, Dallas in that order tells the reader something; Chicago, Dallas, Reno alphabetically does not.
- 07
Turn on the inner box and pick your colors
Enable the inner box or median marker so a reader who wants the exact number does not have to eyeball the widest point of the curve. One color per group is standard; save a second, contrasting color for a group you specifically want to call out.
La pestaña Preview de un gráfico de tipo Violin Plot. Todos los controles de estilo están en el panel enmarcado: apariencia, encabezado, pie de página y las opciones propias de este tipo de gráfico, cada grupo en su propia pestaña. - 08
Wrap up: publish, embed or export
Publish for a live, interactive chart with a tooltip on every group, grab the embed code to drop it into a page, or export a PNG, SVG or PDF if you need a static image for a deck.
Empieza con la plantilla de Violin Plot, que ya trae datos de ejemplo cargados, y sustitúyelos por los tuyos.
Abrir la plantillaPublícalo, incrústalo o expórtalo
El último tramo es igual en todos los tipos de gráfico: Share convierte el gráfico en un enlace público en vivo y un código de incrustación, y Export lo guarda como un archivo estático.
Share: enlace público y código de incrustación
Al activar el código de incrustación y el enlace público, el gráfico queda publicado. El enlace se lo puedes enviar a cualquiera sin problema, y el código de incrustación se coloca en cualquier página como un iframe que conserva los tooltips al pasar el cursor y toda la interactividad. Si editas el gráfico más adelante, haz clic en Recreate para llevar esos cambios a ambos.
Export: SVG, PNG o JPG
Export guarda una copia estática en el tamaño que necesites. El SVG se mantiene nítido a cualquier escala y se puede seguir editando en una herramienta de diseño; PNG y JPG son la opción segura para diapositivas y documentos. El multiplicador de escala es lo que te da una imagen nítida en una pantalla retina.
Consejos de estilo para un Violin Plot
Trim the curve if your values are bounded
If your value column cannot go below zero, hours worked, order counts, percentages, turn on trimming so the density stops at the observed minimum instead of smoothing past it into negative territory that cannot exist.
Keep the inner summary on by default
A bare outline looks cleaner in a screenshot but leaves the reader guessing at the median. The inner box costs almost nothing visually and answers the first question anyone asks about a distribution: where is the middle.
One color family, not one color per group by default
Color coding every violin a different hue implies the groups are categorically different in some way beyond the axis label. A single color, or a light gradient across an ordered axis, keeps the reader's attention on shape rather than on a legend.
Widen the chart before you narrow the bandwidth
A violin squeezed into a narrow column looks noisier than the same data drawn wide, because horizontal detail gets compressed along with the shape. Give the chart more width first, then revisit the bandwidth: you may not need to smooth as hard as you thought.
Errores comunes al hacer un Violin Plot
Every violin comes out as a thin, flat sliver
This is almost always pre-aggregated data: one row per group with an average, instead of one row per observation. Check your source file for the raw rows the average was calculated from and upload those instead.
Two groups that should look different look identical
The bandwidth is probably set too high for the amount of data you have, smoothing away the real differences between groups. Lower it step by step until the shapes diverge, then stop at the point where they stop changing.
The curve extends below zero on a value that cannot be negative
Kernel density smoothing does not know your values are bounded, so it draws density past the edge unless told otherwise. Turn on trimming to the observed range, or note in a caption that the tails past the boundary are a smoothing artifact.
Aprende más sobre el Violin Plot
¿No estás seguro de que el Violin Plot sea la opción correcta? Descubre qué es, cuándo usarlo y cuándo no.
Violin Plot: preguntas frecuentes
Aim for at least fifty observations per group before trusting the shape, and a few hundred before it is genuinely stable. PlotSet will still draw a violin from fewer rows, but the curve mostly reflects the bandwidth setting rather than the data at that size.
Crea tu Violin Plot ahora
Gratis para empezar con más de 300 plantillas. No se necesita tarjeta de crédito.