示例 CSV
| Quarter | Streaming | Hardware | Services |
|---|---|---|---|
| Q1 | 182000 | 64000 | 41000 |
| Q2 | 201000 | 58000 | 47000 |
| Q3 | 195000 | 71000 | 52000 |
| Q4 | 238000 | 89000 | 60000 |
How to Create a Grouped Bar Chart
A step by step walkthrough for turning a wide spreadsheet into a published grouped bar chart in PlotSet, from shaping the columns to publishing, embedding or exporting the finished chart.
约 8 分钟This guide covers how to create a grouped bar chart in PlotSet: a chart with two or more bars sitting side by side inside every category, so you can compare a handful of series against each other and against the category next door in one picture. You'll end with a published chart built from your own columns, sorted on purpose, coloured consistently, and either embedded on a page or exported as an image.
If your spreadsheet already has one column per series, this takes about eight minutes, most of it spent choosing an order and locking down colours rather than fighting the upload. Add another five or ten if your data currently sits in long format, one row per category-series pair, and needs pivoting into columns first.
你需要的数据
Wide format: one row per category, one column per series. The category name goes first, then one number column for every series you want to compare, with a single header row.
This is wide format, not long format. If your source data instead has three columns, category, series name, value, stacked into many rows, pivot it in your spreadsheet first so each series gets its own column.
Two to four series is the sweet spot. PlotSet will happily chart a fifth or sixth column, but a group of six bars is hard to scan and usually reads better as small multiples.
The column headers become the legend labels, so write them the way you want them to read on the chart. 'Streaming' beats 'streaming_rev' or a generic 'Series 1'.
A blank cell in a series column renders as a bar with no height rather than being skipped. Fill in the real number, or delete the row if a category has no data for one series.
操作步骤
PlotSet 中从空白模板到完成图表的具体点击路径。
- 01
Open the grouped bar chart template
From the PlotSet dashboard, start a new project and choose the Grouped Bar Chart template. It loads with sample data already bound, so you can see exactly how categories and series map onto groups before your own file goes in.
每份指南都从这里开始：先选分类，再选模板，不管你要做哪种图表，用的都是同一个网格。 - 02
Shape your sheet into wide format
Put the category in the first column and give every series its own column after that, one row per category. If your export currently has a separate 'series' column with repeated category names, pivot it in your spreadsheet so each series becomes a column instead of a row value.
- 03
Upload your file or connect a sheet
Import a CSV or .xlsx file from the data panel, paste rows directly, or connect a Google Sheet if you want the chart to refresh later without a re-upload. PlotSet reads the first row as headers and treats every column after the category as a separate series.
这里的数据视图取自一个条形图项目。你可以上传 CSV、用「Magic Import」从图片里提取数字，或同步 Google Sheet，每种图表类型的面板都一样。 - 04
Map the category column and the series columns
Confirm which column feeds the category axis and which columns feed the bars within each group. This is usually right by default when your headers are clean, but double check it if your sheet carries extra columns you don't want charted.
绑定决定哪一列作标签、哪一列提供数值、哪一列决定颜色。「Auto Binding」（自动绑定）会根据表头推测，所以要核对一遍，别想当然。 - 05
Order the categories on purpose
Sort by a series that matters, or keep a natural order such as quarters or age brackets. Alphabetical order almost never tells the right story, and getting this right does more for readability than any colour choice later.
- 06
Lock a colour to each series
Assign one fixed colour per series and leave it alone. The legend is the only thing telling a reader which bar in group four matches which bar in group one, so a colour that shifts partway through a report undoes that link.
Grouped Bar Chart 的「Preview」标签页。所有样式设置都在红框标出的这个面板里，每个设置各自占一个标签页：外观、标题、脚注，以及这种图表类型特有的选项。 - 07
Widen the gap between groups
Check that the space between categories is clearly bigger than the space between bars inside a category. If PlotSet's default gap looks tight, increase it in the chart settings until each group reads as one unit rather than a continuous row of bars.
- 08
Publish, embed or export
Publish for a live, interactive chart with hover tooltips and a shareable link, grab the embed code for a page, or export a PNG, SVG or PDF for a deck or report.
从已加载示例数据的 Grouped Bar Chart 模板开始，再替换成你自己的数据。
打开模板发布、嵌入或导出
最后一段路对每种图表都一样：「Share」（分享）把图表变成一个在线的公开链接和一段嵌入代码，「Export」（导出）把它输出成静态文件。
Share：公开链接与嵌入代码
打开嵌入代码和公开链接的开关，图表就发布出去了。链接可以放心发给任何人；嵌入代码以 iframe 的形式放进任意页面，悬停提示和交互效果都会保留。之后修改了图表，点「Recreate」就能把改动同步到链接和嵌入代码两边。
Export：SVG、PNG 或 JPG
「Export」会按你需要的尺寸输出一份静态副本。SVG 放到多大都清晰，还能在设计工具里继续编辑；幻灯片和文档用 PNG 或 JPG 最稳妥。想让图片在高分屏上够锐利，关键就是那个倍数设置。
Grouped Bar Chart 的样式提示
Two series is ideal, four is the ceiling
Below three bars per group, comparisons are instant. Past four, the eye starts losing track of which colour belongs to which series across groups. If you have more, drop the series nobody asks about or split into small multiples.
Keep the axis at zero
Every bar's length is the thing being compared, so a truncated axis exaggerates every gap between series. If two series are close in value, add value labels instead of zooming the axis in.
Horizontal bars for long category names
If your categories are department names, product names or survey questions rather than short codes, switch the chart to horizontal. Long labels get a full line each with nothing rotated or truncated.
Put the legend in series order
Set the legend to list series in the same left-to-right order they appear inside each group. It saves the reader a lookup on every single group instead of just the first one.
制作 Grouped Bar Chart 时的常见错误
One column loaded as a giant series instead of several
This usually means the sheet was still in long format, category and series stacked into extra rows, when it was uploaded. Pivot the data into one column per series in your spreadsheet, then re-upload or reconnect the sheet.
Groups blur into one continuous row of bars
This happens when the gap between categories is set too close to the gap between bars inside a category. Open the chart's spacing controls and increase the group gap until each category is visibly separated from its neighbour.
A series changes colour partway through the chart
This is almost always a manual colour override on one group that didn't get applied everywhere. Remove the one-off override and assign colour by series globally, in the legend or series settings, so the mapping stays fixed across every group.
深入了解 Grouped Bar Chart
不确定 Grouped Bar Chart 是否是正确选择？查看它是什么、何时使用以及何时不使用。
Grouped Bar Chart：常见问题
Wide format: one row per category and one column per series, with the category name in the first column. A quarterly revenue sheet with columns for each product line is a typical example. CSV and .xlsx both work, and a pasted range from any spreadsheet tool is fine too.
现在制作你的 Grouped Bar Chart
免费开始，300+ 模板任选。无需信用卡。