Do you want to learn how to create an Area chart in Power BI Desktop? In this Power BI tutorial, we will explore the Area chart, what it is, when to use it, and how to create an area chart in Power BI.
Here are the topics we are going to cover:
- What is an area chart in Power BI?
- Types of area charts in Power BI
- When to use a basic area chart in Power BI
- When to use the Stacked Area chart in Power BI
- How to create area charts in Power BI
What is an area chart in Power BI?
A Power BI area chart is a graphical representation where data points are connected by a line, and the area beneath the line is filled with color. This chart is beneficial for displaying continuous data such as temperature, stock prices, or monthly sales amounts.
Power BI enables the creation of area charts with multiple series and axes, enabling comparisons between two or more datasets within a single graph.
Types of area charts in Power BI
There are two types of area charts in Power BI.
- Basic Area chart
- Stacked Area chart
Basic Area chart
The basic area chart in Power BI, also known as a layered area chart, is derived from the line chart. It fills the area between the axis and the line with colors to represent volume.
Area charts highlight the magnitude of change over time and can be used to draw attention to the total value across a trend. For example, data that represents profit over time can be plotted in an area chart to emphasize the total profit.
Stacked Area chart
A stacked area chart in Power BI is a visual representation that depicts data trends over time by stacking multiple data series on top of each other. The stacked areas within the chart reflect the cumulative values of the data series, simplifying the tracking of trends in overall data size.
When to use a basic area chart in Power BI
Here we will see When to use a basic area chart in Power BI.
An area chart will be the best choice when we want to:
- Quickly understand overall trends in your data.
- Show how different components contribute to these trends.
- Identify patterns or anomalies.
- Compare multiple datasets side by side.
When to use the Stacked Area chart in Power BI
Here we will see when we can use a stacked area chart in Power BI.
A Stacked area chart will be the best choice when we want to:
- Visualize overall data trends while also seeing individual contributions of each data series.
- Spot patterns and identify factors contributing to trends.
- Compare data trends between multiple data series or categories.
- Make data-driven decisions and take action to improve business performance based on insights gained from the chart.
How to create area charts in Power BI
Here, we will see how to create these two area charts in Power BI Desktop.
We know we have two area charts in Power BI, i.e. Basic Area chart and Stacked Area chart.
To create these area charts in Power BI, we will use the Financial sample data, which will show Sales and Units sold based on Product.
Basic Area chart in Power BI
- Open Power BI Desktop, to load the Excel data, click on the Excel workbook from the ribbon.
- Then select the excel from your local system.
- The Navigator window will open, from here select the table and click on the Load button.
- From the visualization pane, select the Area chart, and you can see the blank area chart is added to the Canvas.
- Drag and drop the sales and Units sold to the Y-axis and Products to the X-axis in the Field pane.
- Now you can see the basic area chart display the Sum of sales and the Sum of units sold by Product.
This is how to create a basic area chart in Power BI Desktop.
Stacked area chart
- To create a stacked area chart in Power BI Desktop, from the visualization pane, select the Stacked Area chart.
- Now you can see the blank stacked area chart is added to the Canvas.
- Drag and drop the Sales and Units sold to the Y-axis and the Product to the X-axis.
- Now you can see the Power BI stacked area chart display the Sum of sales and the Sum of units sold by Product.
This is how to create a Stacked Area chart in Power BI Desktop.
Conclusion
In this Power BI tutorial, we saw how to create an Area chart in Power BI. Also, we have covered the topics listed below:
- What is an area chart in Power BI?
- Types of area charts in Power BI
- When to use a basic area chart in Power BI
- When to use the Stacked Area chart in Power BI
- How to create area charts in Power BI
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After working for more than 18 years in Microsoft technologies like SharePoint, Microsoft 365, and Power Platform (Power Apps, Power Automate, and Power BI), I thought will share my SharePoint expertise knowledge with the world. Our audiences are from the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, Australia, New Zealand, etc. For my expertise knowledge and SharePoint tutorials, Microsoft has been awarded a Microsoft SharePoint MVP (12 times). I have also worked in companies like HP, TCS, KPIT, etc.
