Here’s a question from Alvaro:
I need to create to create a bar chart off some data that IT has pulled from a database into a Google Sheets spreadsheet. Any ideas on whether i can use Google Sheets in order to create a professional looking chart that i can then export to a slide?
Create stacked bar charts in Google Sheets
Follow the steps outlined below to create a two column column chart in Google Sheets.
Step 1: Acquire your chart data
- Import or manually create your data in your Google Sheets spreadsheet.
- In our case we will create a chart that displays the signups vs capacity for a few courses we are running.
- Arrange the data in a table format as show below:
- Optionally create a named range for your table.
Step 2: Create your bar chart
- Highlight your table cells and hit Insert.
- Hit Chart.
- Google Sheets will automatically render a chart which fits your data.
Step 3: Customize the chart look and feel
- Hit the 3 points button at the top right side of your chart.
- Hit Edit Chart.
- In the Setup tab select Column Chart as your Chart Type.
- In the Stacking filed select None.
- Here’s our chart – as you can see the chart labels and legend are autogenerated.
Step 4: Change default Chart color, labels and legend location
- Hit the right hand side 3 point button.
- Select Edit Chart
- Open the Customize tab.
- Modify the Chart Title text and font type as needed.
- Still under Customize, use the Series section to define a fill color for every series.
- Use the Legend section’ position filed to position the legend at the bottom of the chart.
Step 5: Export the chart
Optionally, you can generate a link to your chart that can be embedded in any web application or simple copy and paste the chart into a Google Slide presentation which is shown below:
