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Create your first chart
Updated over a week ago

This article explains the basic tools that you need to start creating charts in DataTile. We offer a wide selection of charts and customization options so that you can always find the perfect way to visualize your data.

Switch to chart mode

Once you have created a crosstab table, click the CHART button to switch to chart mode. A default bar chart will be automatically created for you, which you can customize.

Switching to the CHART mode

To go back to the table just click the CROSSTAB button.

Customize your chart

Once in chart mode, you will see a chart customization panel on the left-hand side of the screen. All chart settings are placed on two tabs: Chart and Series.

The chart menu displays all general chart customization options, whereas the series menu contains options that specifically relate to the data series of the chart.

Chart settings pane

Chart style

The default chart type is a bar chart, however, you can change the chart type easily by clicking the bar graph icon under ‘chart style’ to explore all of the different available chart options.

Chart style and chart type sections

  • To change whether the rows or columns populate the series of the chart, click the button next to ‘Series in’.

  • To choose the background color of the chart, click the box and select a color. Likewise, you can choose an ‘alternative color’ as a secondary background color for your chart.

  • The spacing allows you to set indents from the window edge to the chart content - tick the checkbox and set a number of pixels.

Apply significance testing

Expand the Comparison menu to apply significance testing to your chart. There are multiple options for comparison, with the most commonly used being Significance. You can alter the comparisons between columns or rows, or indicate the visual format of how you want the significant information to be flagged (for example; arrows or dots).

Comparison chart settings

Columns and Data labels

The column settings mostly define column widths, spacing, adding borders and background colors. Try these options to find the best option for your chart.

If you switch on Data labels, you can customize the visual output of your data labels by selecting any of the following boxes: ‘Show data markers’, ‘Allow overlap labels’, or ‘Abbreviate thousands’. You can also define their position (horizontal and vertical alignment) using the icons below.

Position adjustment

To add a % or another metric to the end of your data labels, simply type it into the box underneath ‘Value suffix’ and click Enter.

To alter the text view of Data Labels (as well as any other text elements) select the Font edit icon next to any section title.

Legend, X-axis & Y-axis

Customize the visual output of the Legend by selecting the following boxes: ‘Show legend only’, ‘Legend in reverse order’, or ‘Width’. To define the position (horizontal and vertical alignment) or direction of your data labels select from the icons below.

For X-axis following boxes to customise the visibility or parameters are available: Images, Labels, Margin, Custom label step, Hide line, Notches, Omit zeros. Also you can adjust labels slops here.

For Y-axis adjustment of margins and abbreviation thousands are availiable on CHART tab. More y-axis settings are under the SERIES menu.

Customize your chart: Series Menu

To view the Series menu of the chart customization panel select the SERIES tab. This is where you can edit the visualization of your charts Series, Y AXIS, and add layers or levels.

Series tab

In the initial series menu, you can choose to hide variables, move their position or change their colors. To change their colors click on the color icon next to each variable and either type in a new Hex code or select another from the color palette. You can also choose a color regime as a general strategy within a database.

If you have turned Data Labels on in the CHART menu you may now have a double y-axis. You can switch off the y-axis by clicking on Y AXIS then deselect the checkbox next to Visible.

Download, Export or Share your chart

When you finished with all settings, to download your chart as PowerPoint, PDF, Excel, PNG or JPEG Image, click the 'download as' icon on the top-right toolbar:

You can also export your chart to a new or existing dashboard by clicking the 'export to dashboard' icon:

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