Exemple de CSV
| Department | Headcount |
|---|---|
| Engineering | 84 |
| Sales | 52 |
| Customer Support | 37 |
| Marketing | 29 |
| Finance | 18 |
| Operations | 15 |
How to Create a Bar Chart
A step by step walkthrough for turning a spreadsheet into a published bar chart in PlotSet, from shaping the sheet to exporting or embedding the finished chart.
Environ 6 minutesBy the end of this guide you will have a published, interactive bar chart built from your own spreadsheet: sorted, labelled, coloured on purpose, and either embedded on a page or exported as an image for a deck. Not a screenshot of someone else's example, your own categories and your own numbers, going through the same click path a real PlotSet chart takes from upload to publish.
If your spreadsheet is already in two columns, category and value, this takes about five minutes. Add ten more if you are still cleaning up a messier export: merging duplicate category names, deciding what to do with a stray blank row, or pulling one column out of a wider report. Budget the six minutes below and treat the rest as a buffer.
Les données dont vous avez besoin
Two columns, one row per category: the category name first, the number second. No totals row, no merged cells, one header row.
Keep the category column as plain text. If a spreadsheet turns "Q1" or a department code into a date or a formula result, PlotSet will chart the underlying value, not the label you intended.
One number per category. If you are tracking a category across several time periods, that is a grouped or stacked bar chart, not this one: see the grouped bar chart guide for the extra column that setup needs.
Delete any totals or subtotals row before uploading. A "Total" row uploaded as data becomes a bar of its own, usually the tallest one, and throws off the sort.
Blank cells in the value column render as zero-length bars rather than being skipped. Fill them in or remove the row.
Les étapes
Le parcours exact dans PlotSet, d'un modèle vierge à un graphique terminé.
- 01
Open the bar chart template
From the PlotSet dashboard, start a new project and choose the Bar Chart template. It loads with sample data already in place so you can see the exact column layout PlotSet expects before you touch your own file.
Chaque guide commence ici. Choisissez la catégorie, puis le modèle : c'est la même grille quel que soit le type de graphique visé. - 02
Shape your sheet into two columns
Put the category name in the first column and its number in the second, one row per category. If your source data is a pivot table or a report with subtotals, strip those out first: the upload should be nothing but categories and values.
- 03
Upload your file 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 you want the chart to pick up edits later without a re-upload. PlotSet reads the first row as headers automatically.
La vue données, ici sur un projet de graphique en barres. Importez un CSV, extrayez les chiffres d'une image avec 'Magic Import' ou synchronisez une Google Sheet. Le panneau est identique pour tous les types de graphique. - 04
Map the category and value columns
Confirm which column feeds the category axis and which feeds the bar length. This is usually automatic when your headers are clear, but check it manually if your sheet has extra columns PlotSet might have guessed wrong on.
Les associations déterminent quelle colonne devient l'étiquette, laquelle fournit les valeurs et laquelle pilote la couleur. 'Auto Binding' les devine à partir de vos en-têtes : vérifiez-les plutôt que de les tenir pour acquises. - 05
Sort the bars
Switch the sort to descending by value unless your categories already have a natural order, such as age brackets or survey ratings. A sorted chart shows the ranking at a glance; an unsorted one makes the reader hunt for it.
- 06
Add value labels and drop the gridlines
Turn on labels at the end of each bar so the exact number is readable without measuring against the axis. Once every bar carries its own number, the background gridlines are usually redundant and the chart reads cleaner without them.
- 07
Pick one colour and a title
With a single series, one consistent colour is correct: colour is not carrying any information here, so a rainbow of bar colours only adds visual noise. Save a second colour for a highlight if you want to draw attention to one specific bar. Add a chart title that states the comparison, not just the metric.
L'onglet 'Preview' pour un graphique Bar Chart. Tous les réglages de style se trouvent dans le panneau entouré en rouge : apparence, en-tête, pied de page et les options propres à ce type de graphique, chacun dans un onglet distinct. - 08
Publish, embed or export
Publish for a live, interactive chart with hover tooltips and a shareable link, 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 or a report.
Partez du modèle Bar Chart avec des données d'exemple déjà chargées, puis remplacez-les par les vôtres.
Ouvrir le modèlePublier, intégrer ou exporter
La dernière ligne droite est la même pour tous les types de graphique : 'Share' transforme le graphique en lien public actif et en code d'intégration, 'Export' l'enregistre sous forme de fichier statique.
Share : lien public et code d'intégration
Activer le code d'intégration et le lien public revient à publier le graphique. Le lien peut être envoyé à qui vous voulez sans risque, et le code d'intégration s'insère dans n'importe quelle page sous la forme d'une iframe qui conserve les infobulles au survol et l'interactivité. Si vous modifiez le graphique par la suite, cliquez sur 'Recreate' pour répercuter ces changements sur le lien comme sur le code.
Export : SVG, PNG ou JPG
Le bouton 'Export' génère une copie statique à la taille dont vous avez besoin. Le SVG reste net à toutes les échelles et peut encore être modifié dans un outil de design ; PNG et JPG sont les choix sûrs pour les présentations et les documents. C'est le multiplicateur d'échelle qui vous donne une image nette sur un écran retina.
Conseils de style pour un Bar Chart
Horizontal bars for long category names
If your categories are anything longer than a short code, department names, product names, survey questions, keep the chart horizontal. Long labels get a full line each with no rotating or truncating, which is the main reason to reach for a bar chart over a column chart in the first place.
Start the value axis at zero, always
Bar length is the encoding, so a truncated axis exaggerates every gap on the chart. If you are tempted to zoom in on a narrow range of similar values, add value labels instead and leave the axis at zero.
Cap it around twenty five bars
Past roughly twenty five categories, a bar chart turns into a wall of thin lines nobody can compare. Filter to your top group (top 10, top N by region, whatever the story actually needs) and mention in the title or a caption that it is a subset.
Reserve colour for one comparison at a time
If you do need a second colour, use it for exactly one thing: the category you are calling out, or a threshold like "above target" versus "below target." Two colours used for one clear reason read better than four colours used for none.
Erreurs courantes en créant un Bar Chart
The bars come in alphabetical order, not ranked
This means the sort setting is still on the default (usually by category, not by value). Open the sort control in the chart settings and switch it to sort by the value column, descending.
One bar is far taller than the rest for no obvious reason
Check the raw data for a totals or subtotals row that got uploaded along with the real categories. Delete that row from the source sheet and re-upload, or remove it directly in PlotSet's data table.
A category is missing or merged with another
This usually means two rows in the source spreadsheet had category names that differ only by trailing spaces, capitalization or a stray character. Clean the category column in your spreadsheet (a TRIM formula catches most of it) before re-uploading.
En savoir plus sur le Bar Chart
Vous n'êtes pas sûr que le Bar Chart soit le bon choix ? Découvrez ce que c'est, quand l'utiliser et quand l'éviter.
Bar Chart : questions fréquentes
Two columns and one header row: category names in the first column, one number per category in the second. CSV and .xlsx both work, and a pasted range from any spreadsheet tool is fine too.
Créez votre Bar Chart maintenant
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