OmniDocExcel chart beautification skills: how to adjust color matching and style
No third-party beautification software is needed, just rely on Excel's own adjustment method to unify color matching, fonts and grid lines to make the chart clearer. The article provides color matching rules, an eight-step adjustment process, and a checklist before drawing.
Key points of this article
- It is recommended to use 3 to 4 colors for the same picture. The same color system should be distinguished by brightness differences, which is easier to read than stacking rainbow colors.
- When you only want to highlight one piece of data, use gray for the rest of the series and an accent color for the key series so that your eyes will fall directly on the key numbers.
- Use the same font for the title, axis, legend and data labels. The title can be slightly larger so that the whole picture looks unified.
- Lighten the color of the grid lines or delete them, retaining the horizontal lines that can help reading. The redundant borders and tick marks can also be removed.
- Check before printing or converting to black and white. If you only rely on color to distinguish between series, you may not be able to distinguish them in grayscale.
The data in the finished Excel chart may be completely correct, but it looks messy: the default color scheme dyes several series into rainbow colors, the grid lines are densely packed, and the titles, axes, and legends use several font sizes. This kind of picture is put into a weekly report, paper or report PPT, and readers will have to spend a lot of effort to understand the key points.
This article is written for people who need to make charts in Excel and don’t want to find third-party beautification software. You don't need to install additional tools. Just adjust the color, font and line settings that come with Excel to the appropriate state to make the chart clearer. The following will first give the judgment rules for color matching and style, then give an adjustment process that can be followed, and finally a checklist before drawing.
How to beautify Excel charts so they are clear? One sentence conclusion
For most charts, first determine the number of colors, then unify the fonts, and finally delete unnecessary lines, and the effect will be stable. The fewer colors there are, the less readers need to refer to the legend; the more uniform the fonts are, the more the whole picture looks like a whole.
| your situation | Recommended practices | reason |
|---|---|---|
| Only compare the size of a set of data | Use a single main color and different shades of the same color between the columns | There are few colors, so readers don’t have to look at the legend again and again. |
| Multiple series need to be distinguished | Choose 3 to 4 colors with obvious differences in brightness | It is difficult to distinguish when there are too many colors, and it is easy to see the wrong series |
| Want to highlight a certain piece of data | Use light gray for the rest of the series, and use accent colors for the target series | Your eyes will fall directly on the key figures |
| To print in black and white or convert to grayscale | Use brightness differences or fill patterns to differentiate series, not just color | Colors may become difficult to discern in grayscale |
| into a paper or formal report | The fonts are unified, the colors are restrained, and the grid lines are adjusted to very light | Be consistent with the formatting style of the main text |
# before you start: confirm these points first
Before you start beautifying, think clearly about the use of the chart and the data, otherwise it is easy to change it for a long time and have to rework.
- where is the chart used? the color on the screen, the projector and the printing paper vary greatly. If you want to project, choose a color with high contrast, and if you want to print, give priority to the grayscale effect. There are several data series. the number of series determines the color scheme. Two or three series can use the same color system, more than four should consider gray with emphasis color. - are there any ready-made format requirements? if there are color matching or font regulations in the company template, periodical contribution requirements or course assignment specifications, they should be followed first and should not be changed according to personal preference. - whether the data has been sorted out. if the contents of sorting, units and data labels have not been determined, process the data first, and then beautify it, otherwise the style will be adjusted repeatedly. - whether editability needs to be preserved. * beautification should be done in Excel. Do not take screenshots before changing them. The screenshot picture cannot modify the data, and it will be troublesome to update the numbers later.
# steps to adjust the color matching, font and gridlines of a bar chart
The following steps apply to common bar charts and line charts, and other chart types have the same idea.
- check the title and unit. Select the chart and first make sure that the title describes the content, time range and unit, such as "sales for each quarter of 2024 (RMB 10,000)". Readers no longer have to guess the meaning of the data.
- uniform font. * set the title, axis, legend and data label to the same font. The title is one or two times larger than other words, and there is no need to enlarge it too much.
- set the dominant color. Select the data series and select the same color system for the filling color. When there is only one series, you can use one main color.
- deal with multi-series color matching. For a long time, choose 3 or 4 colors with obvious brightness difference to avoid two similar blues or greens next to each other.
- highlight the key points. * change the non-key series to light gray, so that only the series that need to pay attention to retain the emphasis color, and the focus of the chart will be immediately clear.
- adjust the gridlines. * Select the gridlines and lighten the color or delete it directly. Horizontal gridlines help with readings and can be retained; vertical gridlines are usually not needed.
- simplify axes and legends. remove unnecessary borders and extra tick marks, and place the legend on the top or right side of the chart as close to the data as possible.
- only key data labels are marked. it is not necessary for each column to display a numerical value, but only a few data that the reader needs to remember. The rest can be seen by the coordinate axis.
When you are done, you can take another look at the width and spacing between the columns to make sure there is a clear gap between the columns and do not squeeze together.
# check item by item after completion
After adjusting the chart, don't copy it into the document in a hurry, check it item by item according to the table below.
| Check item | What do you think? | What if there's a problem? |
|---|---|---|
| Number of colors | Several colors appear in the picture at the same time. | Merge similar items or change the secondary series to gray when there are more than 4 |
| Font consistency | Whether the title, axis, legend and data label are the same font | Unify similar elements with format brushes, click and check one by one |
| The grayscale is discernible | Print a page of the chart or convert it to a black and white preview | Increase the brightness difference between the series, or switch to different hatch patterns |
| Grid line strength | See if the lines will rob the data itself. | Lighten the color, or delete lines that do not affect the reading |
| Accurate data | Check several key values against the original table | Modify the source data, and the chart will be updated accordingly, so you don't have to change the graph manually. |
| After putting it into the document | Copy to Word or PPT to see if the scale is out of shape. | Hold down and drag diagonally while zooming to keep the scale unchanged |
# frequently asked questions (FAQ)
1. Is it better to have as many colors as possible in the color version of excel chart?
No. The more colors you have, the more you need to compare the legend back and forth, and the harder it is to read the chart. In most scenes, three or four colors plus gray is enough to express the hierarchy.
2. How do you make a chart look professional instead of fancy?
The sense of professionalism mainly comes from restraint: uniform fonts, few colors, light lines, and labels retain only what is necessary. You can first remove all the decorations and then add back only the elements that really help with the reading.
3. After deleting the gridlines, will the reader not be able to see the value clearly?
If key data tags are retained, deleting gridlines usually does not affect reading. When there is a lot of chart data and accurate readings are needed, light-colored horizontal gridlines can be retained.
4. Can the charts intercepted from PDF be modified?
Screenshots or exported pictures cannot modify data and styles directly. The safe thing to do is to go back to the original Excel file to modify, and then re-export the chart.
# Summary
The core of chart beautification is less and clear: first set color rules, then unify fonts, and finally delete redundant lines and labels. Following the above steps and checklist adjustments, excel diagram beautification usually does not require additional tools and can be done in Excel.
