how do you make a line of a chart change color halfway through?
 

How could you change the color of a line in a line chart so that at some
point on the graph the line changes color?

Say like the line chart shows data over the months of a year but at month
July, the line on the chart changes from blue to green and is green the rest
of the months.

I am asking about 1 line being two colors.

Answer: how do you make a line of a chart change color halfway through?
 

1. To change the color of a line in a line chart so that it changes halfway through, you can follow these steps:
2. Select the line that you want to change the color of by clicking on it once.
3. Right-click on the line and select "Format Data Series" from the drop-down menu.
4. In the "Format Data Series" pane that appears on the right side of the screen, click on the "Fill & Line" tab.
5. Under the "Line" section, click on the "Solid line" option.
6. Click on the "Color" drop-down menu and select the color that you want the line to be for the first half of the chart.
7. Under the "Gradient line" section, click on the "Type" drop-down menu and select "Linear".
8. Click on the "Angle" drop-down menu and select "90 degrees".
9. Click on the "Stop position" drop-down menu and select "50%". This will create a gradient effect that changes the color of the line halfway through the chart.
10. Click on the "Add" button to add a new color stop.
11. Select the new color stop and choose the color that you want the line to be for the second half of the chart.
12. Adjust the "Stop position" as needed to ensure that the color change occurs at the desired point on the chart.
13. Click "Close" to apply the changes to the line chart.

By following these steps, you can create a line chart with a line that changes color halfway through.

how do you make a line of a chart change color halfway through?
 

Hi,

You could format each segment of the line.
Select the series and then use the Right cursor to move through the
segments. Note if you only have 1 series changing a section of the series
will cause the legend to report each segment.

The other way is to use multiple series. But it does depend on where along
the line the colour change occurs.
Leave cells blank when you do not require the line for a particular colour.

This example uses an xy-scatter as the line changes colour between
categories.
http://www.andypope.info/charts/conditionalline.htm

Cheers
Andy

--

Andy Pope, Microsoft MVP - Excel
http://www.andypope.info
"biff" wrote in message
...
How could you change the color of a line in a line chart so that at some
point on the graph the line changes color?

Say like the line chart shows data over the months of a year but at month
July, the line on the chart changes from blue to green and is green the
rest
of the months.

I am asking about 1 line being two colors.

how do you make a line of a chart change color halfway through
 

Thanks for the reply. I am still learning Excel so I may be missing
something. I can select the line on the chart and I can see all the data
points of the line highlighted. I do not know what you mean though by a
"right cursor". I can right click the line and I see an option to "format
the data series" but whenever I change a setting (such as line color), it
does it for the entire line. I don't know how to highlight only a portion of
the line. Am I doing this work you suggest to the chart or the data that the
chart is pulling from? I am not really familiar with "multiple series"
either.

"Andy Pope" wrote:

Hi,

You could format each segment of the line.
Select the series and then use the Right cursor to move through the
segments. Note if you only have 1 series changing a section of the series
will cause the legend to report each segment.

The other way is to use multiple series. But it does depend on where along
the line the colour change occurs.
Leave cells blank when you do not require the line for a particular colour.

This example uses an xy-scatter as the line changes colour between
categories.
http://www.andypope.info/charts/conditionalline.htm

Cheers
Andy

--

Andy Pope, Microsoft MVP - Excel
http://www.andypope.info
"biff" wrote in message
...
How could you change the color of a line in a line chart so that at some
point on the graph the line changes color?

Say like the line chart shows data over the months of a year but at month
July, the line on the chart changes from blue to green and is green the
rest
of the months.

I am asking about 1 line being two colors.

how do you make a line of a chart change color halfway through
 

I am using Excel 2007 btw.

"biff" wrote:

Thanks for the reply. I am still learning Excel so I may be missing
something. I can select the line on the chart and I can see all the data
points of the line highlighted. I do not know what you mean though by a
"right cursor". I can right click the line and I see an option to "format
the data series" but whenever I change a setting (such as line color), it
does it for the entire line. I don't know how to highlight only a portion of
the line. Am I doing this work you suggest to the chart or the data that the
chart is pulling from? I am not really familiar with "multiple series"
either.

"Andy Pope" wrote:

Hi,

You could format each segment of the line.
Select the series and then use the Right cursor to move through the
segments. Note if you only have 1 series changing a section of the series
will cause the legend to report each segment.

The other way is to use multiple series. But it does depend on where along
the line the colour change occurs.
Leave cells blank when you do not require the line for a particular colour.

This example uses an xy-scatter as the line changes colour between
categories.
http://www.andypope.info/charts/conditionalline.htm

Cheers
Andy

--

Andy Pope, Microsoft MVP - Excel
http://www.andypope.info
"biff" wrote in message
...
How could you change the color of a line in a line chart so that at some
point on the graph the line changes color?

Say like the line chart shows data over the months of a year but at month
July, the line on the chart changes from blue to green and is green the
rest
of the months.

I am asking about 1 line being two colors.

how do you make a line of a chart change color halfway through
 

By right cursor I mean the right arrow key. This will allow you to move
through minor charting elements.
http://www.andypope.info/tips/tip003.htm

Cheers
Andy

--

Andy Pope, Microsoft MVP - Excel
http://www.andypope.info
"biff" wrote in message
...
Thanks for the reply. I am still learning Excel so I may be missing
something. I can select the line on the chart and I can see all the data
points of the line highlighted. I do not know what you mean though by a
"right cursor". I can right click the line and I see an option to "format
the data series" but whenever I change a setting (such as line color), it
does it for the entire line. I don't know how to highlight only a portion
of
the line. Am I doing this work you suggest to the chart or the data that
the
chart is pulling from? I am not really familiar with "multiple series"
either.

"Andy Pope" wrote:

Hi,

You could format each segment of the line.
Select the series and then use the Right cursor to move through the
segments. Note if you only have 1 series changing a section of the series
will cause the legend to report each segment.

The other way is to use multiple series. But it does depend on where
along
the line the colour change occurs.
Leave cells blank when you do not require the line for a particular
colour.

This example uses an xy-scatter as the line changes colour between
categories.
http://www.andypope.info/charts/conditionalline.htm

Cheers
Andy

--

Andy Pope, Microsoft MVP - Excel
http://www.andypope.info
"biff" wrote in message
...
How could you change the color of a line in a line chart so that at
some
point on the graph the line changes color?

Say like the line chart shows data over the months of a year but at
month
July, the line on the chart changes from blue to green and is green the
rest
of the months.

I am asking about 1 line being two colors.

how do you make a line of a chart change color halfway through
 

OK thanks for the reply. I do have Excel 2003 to use as well and I see that
you can use the right arrow key to move through the line. However, this is
not working in Excel 2007. In Excel 2007, I can click the line and it will
highlight but if I hit the right arrow key to move through the line I have
just highlighted, it will instead deselect the line completely.

Are you using Excel 2003?

"Andy Pope" wrote:

By right cursor I mean the right arrow key. This will allow you to move
through minor charting elements.
http://www.andypope.info/tips/tip003.htm

Cheers
Andy

--

Andy Pope, Microsoft MVP - Excel
http://www.andypope.info
"biff" wrote in message
...
Thanks for the reply. I am still learning Excel so I may be missing
something. I can select the line on the chart and I can see all the data
points of the line highlighted. I do not know what you mean though by a
"right cursor". I can right click the line and I see an option to "format
the data series" but whenever I change a setting (such as line color), it
does it for the entire line. I don't know how to highlight only a portion
of
the line. Am I doing this work you suggest to the chart or the data that
the
chart is pulling from? I am not really familiar with "multiple series"
either.

"Andy Pope" wrote:

Hi,

You could format each segment of the line.
Select the series and then use the Right cursor to move through the
segments. Note if you only have 1 series changing a section of the series
will cause the legend to report each segment.

The other way is to use multiple series. But it does depend on where
along
the line the colour change occurs.
Leave cells blank when you do not require the line for a particular
colour.

This example uses an xy-scatter as the line changes colour between
categories.
http://www.andypope.info/charts/conditionalline.htm

Cheers
Andy

--

Andy Pope, Microsoft MVP - Excel
http://www.andypope.info
"biff" wrote in message
...
How could you change the color of a line in a line chart so that at
some
point on the graph the line changes color?

Say like the line chart shows data over the months of a year but at
month
July, the line on the chart changes from blue to green and is green the
rest
of the months.

I am asking about 1 line being two colors.

how do you make a line of a chart change color halfway through
 

Hi,

Works fine for me in xl2007.

Left cursor will deselect the line and move to the previous major chart
item.

With the mouse you can select the line then click the line again on the
segment you want to format.

Cheers
Andy

biff wrote:
OK thanks for the reply. I do have Excel 2003 to use as well and I see that
you can use the right arrow key to move through the line. However, this is
not working in Excel 2007. In Excel 2007, I can click the line and it will
highlight but if I hit the right arrow key to move through the line I have
just highlighted, it will instead deselect the line completely.

Are you using Excel 2003?

"Andy Pope" wrote:


By right cursor I mean the right arrow key. This will allow you to move
through minor charting elements.
http://www.andypope.info/tips/tip003.htm

Cheers
Andy

--

Andy Pope, Microsoft MVP - Excel
http://www.andypope.info
"biff" wrote in message
...

Thanks for the reply. I am still learning Excel so I may be missing
something. I can select the line on the chart and I can see all the data
points of the line highlighted. I do not know what you mean though by a
"right cursor". I can right click the line and I see an option to "format
the data series" but whenever I change a setting (such as line color), it
does it for the entire line. I don't know how to highlight only a portion
of
the line. Am I doing this work you suggest to the chart or the data that
the
chart is pulling from? I am not really familiar with "multiple series"
either.

"Andy Pope" wrote:


Hi,

You could format each segment of the line.
Select the series and then use the Right cursor to move through the
segments. Note if you only have 1 series changing a section of the series
will cause the legend to report each segment.

The other way is to use multiple series. But it does depend on where
along
the line the colour change occurs.
Leave cells blank when you do not require the line for a particular
colour.

This example uses an xy-scatter as the line changes colour between
categories.
http://www.andypope.info/charts/conditionalline.htm

Cheers
Andy

--

Andy Pope, Microsoft MVP - Excel
http://www.andypope.info
"biff" wrote in message
...

How could you change the color of a line in a line chart so that at
some
point on the graph the line changes color?

Say like the line chart shows data over the months of a year but at
month
July, the line on the chart changes from blue to green and is green the
rest
of the months.

I am asking about 1 line being two colors.

how do you make a line of a chart change color halfway through
 

Ok thanks. I think something is up with this particular chart I am working
with. If I create a new simple chart in Excel 2007, the steps you describe
work (a line segment is selectable).

"Andy Pope" wrote:

Hi,

Works fine for me in xl2007.

Left cursor will deselect the line and move to the previous major chart
item.

With the mouse you can select the line then click the line again on the
segment you want to format.

Cheers
Andy

biff wrote:
OK thanks for the reply. I do have Excel 2003 to use as well and I see that
you can use the right arrow key to move through the line. However, this is
not working in Excel 2007. In Excel 2007, I can click the line and it will
highlight but if I hit the right arrow key to move through the line I have
just highlighted, it will instead deselect the line completely.

Are you using Excel 2003?

"Andy Pope" wrote:


By right cursor I mean the right arrow key. This will allow you to move
through minor charting elements.
http://www.andypope.info/tips/tip003.htm

Cheers
Andy

--

Andy Pope, Microsoft MVP - Excel
http://www.andypope.info
"biff" wrote in message
...

Thanks for the reply. I am still learning Excel so I may be missing
something. I can select the line on the chart and I can see all the data
points of the line highlighted. I do not know what you mean though by a
"right cursor". I can right click the line and I see an option to "format
the data series" but whenever I change a setting (such as line color), it
does it for the entire line. I don't know how to highlight only a portion
of
the line. Am I doing this work you suggest to the chart or the data that
the
chart is pulling from? I am not really familiar with "multiple series"
either.

"Andy Pope" wrote:


Hi,

You could format each segment of the line.
Select the series and then use the Right cursor to move through the
segments. Note if you only have 1 series changing a section of the series
will cause the legend to report each segment.

The other way is to use multiple series. But it does depend on where
along
the line the colour change occurs.
Leave cells blank when you do not require the line for a particular
colour.

This example uses an xy-scatter as the line changes colour between
categories.
http://www.andypope.info/charts/conditionalline.htm

Cheers
Andy

--

Andy Pope, Microsoft MVP - Excel
http://www.andypope.info
"biff" wrote in message
...

How could you change the color of a line in a line chart so that at
some
point on the graph the line changes color?

Say like the line chart shows data over the months of a year but at
month
July, the line on the chart changes from blue to green and is green the
rest
of the months.

I am asking about 1 line being two colors.