示例 CSV
| Month | Average Rainfall (mm) |
|---|---|
| Jan | 146 |
| Feb | 109 |
| Mar | 97 |
| Apr | 66 |
| May | 44 |
| Jun | 39 |
| Jul | 18 |
| Aug | 25 |
| Sep | 41 |
| Oct | 88 |
| Nov | 158 |
| Dec | 152 |
How to Create a Polar Area Chart
A step by step walkthrough for turning a spreadsheet of cyclical categories into a published polar area chart in PlotSet, from shaping the sheet to adding a scale and exporting the finished rose.
约 8 分钟A spreadsheet of months, hours or compass directions is the starting point for how to create a polar area chart in PlotSet, ending with a published circular chart that carries a real scale, not just a decorative rose. Not a screenshot of someone else's rose chart, your own data, run through the same click path a PlotSet chart takes from upload to publish.
If your spreadsheet is already two columns, category and value, in the order you want them to appear around the circle, this takes about eight minutes. Add another five if you're reordering a report that came out sorted by value, or renaming months so they match a calendar year instead of a fiscal one. Budget the eight minutes below and treat the rest as a buffer.
你需要的数据
Two columns, one row per sector, listed in the order you want them to appear around the circle. Category first, number second, one header row. No totals row, no sorting by value.
List categories in the order they should sit around the circle. PlotSet places rows starting near the top and moving clockwise, so a resorted or alphabetized sheet breaks a cycle like the calendar.
Keep the value column free of negative numbers. A polar area chart has no direction below the centre to draw a sector in, so a negative value either gets clipped or throws off the whole scale.
Delete any totals or subtotals row before uploading. A stray "Total" row becomes a sector of its own, usually the longest one, and it wrecks the radial scale for every other category.
Blank cells in the value column render as a zero-length sector rather than being skipped. Fill them in or remove the row before you upload.
操作步骤
PlotSet 中从空白模板到完成图表的具体点击路径。
- 01
Start the Polar Area Chart template
From the PlotSet dashboard, start a new project and choose the Polar Area Chart template (listed as the radial polar bar template in the library). It loads with twelve sample sectors already in place, so you can see the column layout before swapping in your own file.
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 two columns, in cycle order
Category in the first column, its number in the second, one row per sector. Order the rows the way you want them to read around the circle: January through December, midnight through 11pm, or north through northwest. PlotSet plots rows in sheet order; it does not infer a calendar or a clock face for you.
- 03
Upload your file or connect a sheet
Import a CSV or .xlsx file from the data panel, paste rows straight from a spreadsheet, or connect a Google Sheet if you want the chart to update later without a re-upload. PlotSet reads the first row as headers automatically.
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 and value columns
Confirm which column feeds the angular position and which feeds the radius. This is usually automatic when your headers are clear, but worth checking manually if your sheet carries extra columns PlotSet had to guess at.
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
Leave the sort alone
Unlike a bar chart, resist switching this to sort by value. Sorting breaks the cycle you built into the row order, putting December next to July instead of January. If your categories genuinely have no natural order, a bar chart will serve the comparison better than forcing them into a circle.
- 06
Turn on radial gridlines and label the scale
Add the concentric rings and label at least two of them with real values. Without a visible scale, a reader can see which sector is biggest but has no way to convert a radius into a number, and the chart stops doing a chart's job.
- 07
Style one colour and add sector labels
A single series gets one consistent colour, same reasoning as a bar chart: colour isn't carrying any information here. Turn on labels at the outer edge of each sector so the exact value is readable without measuring against the rings, since the area exaggerates differences more than a straight bar would.
Polar Area 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。 - 08
Publish, embed or export the finished rose
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 report.
从已加载示例数据的 Polar Area 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。
Polar Area Chart 的样式提示
Keep it to categories that actually cycle
Months, hours, compass directions, days of the week. If your categories don't have a natural loop, the circle implies a relationship between neighbours that isn't real, and a sorted bar chart will tell the same story more clearly.
Cap it around twelve sectors
Twelve months work well because each label still has room to breathe. Past about a dozen sectors, labels start colliding at the outer edge, and the rose turns into a solid blob near the centre where the radii sit close together.
Start the radius at zero, always
Radius is the encoding here, exactly like a bar's length is the encoding on a bar chart. A truncated scale exaggerates every sector, and since area already grows faster than radius, a non-zero start compounds the distortion instead of fixing anything.
Print the numbers, don't rely on the shape
Because area scales with the square of the radius, two sectors that differ by twenty percent in value can look twice as different by eye. Turn on value labels so the reader isn't left estimating from the picture alone.
制作 Polar Area Chart 时的常见错误
The sectors are sorted by value and the cycle is gone
This is usually the sort control defaulting to descending, the same setting that helps a bar chart and ruins a polar area chart. Open the sort setting in the chart settings and switch it back to the sheet's own row order.
The chart looks good but nobody can read a value off it
This means the radial gridlines are off or unlabeled. Turn them on and label at least two rings with real numbers, otherwise the circle is decoration, not a chart.
Labels overlap at the outer edge
Usually too many sectors for the space; past about fifteen categories the labels start colliding no matter how the chart is sized. Group the smallest categories into an "Other" sector, or move to a bar chart if every category needs its own visible label.
深入了解 Polar Area Chart
不确定 Polar Area 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。
Polar Area Chart：常见问题
Two columns and one header row: category names in the first column, one number per category in the second, listed in the order you want them to appear around the circle. CSV and .xlsx both work, and a pasted range from any spreadsheet tool is fine too.
现在制作你的 Polar Area Chart
免费开始，300+ 模板任选。无需信用卡。