When I create a stacked column chart, the columns appear as thin coloured
lines. How do I make them into normal size coloured vertical bars, please

Hi,

Try right-clicking any column and choose Format Data Series, and on the
first tab, Series Options, reduce the Gap Width

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If this helps, please click the Yes button.

Cheers,
Shane Devenshire


"bowfin" wrote:

When I create a stacked column chart, the columns appear as thin coloured
lines. How do I make them into normal size coloured vertical bars, please

Hi,

Unexpected skinny columns is normally a sign that the x axis is using dates
and that you only have values for sporadic dates.
If so you can change the axis to be category rather than time series.

xl2003: Right click Chart Options Axes X axis Category
xl2007: Select X axis Right click Format axis Axis Options Text

Cheers
Andy

--

Andy Pope, Microsoft MVP - Excel
http://www.andypope.info
"bowfin" wrote in message
...
When I create a stacked column chart, the columns appear as thin coloured
lines. How do I make them into normal size coloured vertical bars, please

Many thanks. That took me to the right area. The eventual solution, under
Axis Optios seems to be to use "Automatically select based on data" and "Base
Unit-Fixed-months"
Thanks again
bowfin

"Andy Pope" wrote:

Hi,

Unexpected skinny columns is normally a sign that the x axis is using dates
and that you only have values for sporadic dates.
If so you can change the axis to be category rather than time series.

xl2003: Right click Chart Options Axes X axis Category
xl2007: Select X axis Right click Format axis Axis Options Text

Cheers
Andy

--

Andy Pope, Microsoft MVP - Excel
http://www.andypope.info
"bowfin" wrote in message
...
When I create a stacked column chart, the columns appear as thin coloured
lines. How do I make them into normal size coloured vertical bars, please

To change the width of stacked columns in Excel 2007, you can follow these steps:

1. Select the stacked column chart that you want to modify.
2. Click on the "Format" tab in the ribbon.
3. In the "Current Selection" group, click on the drop-down arrow and select "Series".
4. Click on the "Format Selection" button.
5. In the "Format Data Series" dialog box, go to the "Series Options" tab.
6. Adjust the
   Formula:

   "Gap Width" 

   slider to increase or decrease the width of the columns. You can preview the changes in the chart preview area.
7. Click "OK" to apply the changes.

If the columns still appear as thin coloured lines after adjusting the gap width, you may need to adjust the chart's scaling. To do this, right-click on the chart and select "Format Chart Area". In the "Format Chart Area" dialog box, go to the "Axes" tab and adjust the scaling as needed. This should make the columns appear as normal size coloured vertical bars.