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You are here: Home / Design / Charts, tables & diagrams / Create a PowerPoint chart/graph with 2 Y-axes and 2 chart types

Create a PowerPoint chart/graph with 2 Y-axes and 2 chart types

April 23, 2012 by Ellen Finkelstein 21 Comments

READ LATER - DOWNLOAD THIS POST AS PDF >> CLICK HERE <<

How do you create a chart in PowerPoint that looks like this? It has:

  • 2 different Y-axes each with a different scale
  • 2  different chart types–column and line

powerpoint-tips-charts-with-2-types-and-axes-1

I learned this feature of PowerPoint charts recently from my friend and fellow PowerPoint MVP, Echo Swinford. She is one of the top experts in the world on PowerPoint and specifically PowerPoint charts.

Charts like this are very useful when you’re comparing 2 very different types of data. This chart is from a course of practitioners of the Transcendental Meditation technique that took place in 1993 in Washington, D.C. It compares police statistics of homicides, rapes and assaults during the course with the number of people who were on the course, which lasted 8 weeks.

Here’s what the data looks like in Excel.

powerpoint-tips-charts-with-2-types-and-axes-2

Note: I found the actual chart online and estimated the numbers from the chart. I didn’t have the actual numbers, so these numbers will be slightly different from the numbers used in the study.

Follow these steps to create a chart like this in PowerPoint 2007 or 2010:

1. In PowerPoint, right-click off the slide, choose Layout, and choose the Title & Content layout.

2. On the slide, click the Chart icon, which looks like a column/bar chart.

3. In the Insert Chart dialog box, choose one of the types of chart that you want. I chose Column. Click OK.

4. A temporary Excel spreadsheet opens with dummy data. Copy the data from your spreadsheet to the clipboard, switch to the temporary Excel spreadsheet, click in cell A1, and paste.

5. Drag the bottom-right corner of the blue border to fit your data.

Here’s what my data looks like.

powerpoint-tips-prseenter-view-3

 

6. Return to your PowerPoint slide to look at the chart. Here’s what mine looks like.

powerpoint-tips-prseenter-view-4

7. Oops! That’s not right. The weeks should be on the X -xis, along the bottom. You often have to switch the rows & columns. You do this on the Chart Tools Design tab; click the Switch Row/Column button in the Data group. Here’s the result.

powerpoint-tips-prseenter-view-5

That’s much better. Now, the weeks of the course are along the X-axis where they belong. Of course, the data, specifically for the % change in violence isn’t right and that’s what we’ll change.

8. Because the change in violence data is negative numbers, you can’t see that series.  But click along the X-axis  and you can select it, as you see here. Note the round “handles.”

powerpoint-tips-prseenter-view-6

9. First, we’ll change the scale for this series. Right-click the selected series and choose Format Data Series. In the Format Data Series dialog box, with the Series Options category selected, choose Secondary Axis, to plot that series on a secondary axis.

powerpoint-tips-prseenter-view-7

10. Now look at the chart in PowerPoint. All of a sudden, you can see the data!

powerpoint-tips-prseenter-view-8

11. But having both sets of data as columns is confusing. You can emphasize the difference — making the chart clearer — by turning one of the series into a line. Right-click the series again and choose Change Series Chart Type.

12. The Change Chart Type dialog box opens. It’s the same as the Insert Chart dialog box. Choose a different chart type. In this case, I chose a Line chart type. Click OK.

Make some minor adjustments and you have the slide I showed at the top of this post.

Do you have a use for this type of chart? Share your experiences with charts that have 2 chart types and 2 Y-axes.

 

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READ LATER - DOWNLOAD THIS POST AS PDF >> CLICK HERE <<

Related posts:

  1. How to Create a Chart-Graph in PowerPoint from Excel Data-Part III
  2. Changing the order of items in a chart
  3. Moving the axis labels when a PowerPoint chart/graph has both positive and negative values
  4. Adjust the location of the X (horizontal) chart axis in a PowerPoint chart

Filed Under: Charts, tables & diagrams Tagged With: charts, graphs, scale, Y axes

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Valary
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Valary

Hi Ellen,

I love this trick and I frequently use combined charts like this.

The next step I would usually take (when possible) is to adjust the scale on one or both axes to have the same number of divisions on each side. In your example there are nine markers on the primary axis and six on the secondary which causes the tick marks for the secondary axis to stick out at seemingly random places (based on the gridlines) and distracts from the clarity of the chart. I find simpler construction is visually easier to view and process.

Valary

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10 years ago
Ellen
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Ellen

Valary, that’s an excellent point!

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10 years ago
Sergio Cebrian
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Sergio Cebrian

is there a way, to make that 2 charts share same DATA in a powerpoint chart? (but in the same file and not by linking to an external excel file)

😀

btw very useful post 😀

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10 years ago
Ellen
Guest
Ellen

I’m not sure I understand. Would one chart have one piece of the data and another have another piece?

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10 years ago
Susan Hope
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Susan Hope

Exactly what I was looking – very useful!!!!

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10 years ago
Colin Z
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Colin Z

Wonderful! Thanks for the detailed instructions! This is exactly what I was looking for!

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10 years ago
Ellen
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Ellen

Glad to help!

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10 years ago
eEli
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eEli

Great help. Thanks. Is there a way I can put the exact numerical value at the end of each bar?

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10 years ago
Ellen
Guest
Ellen

Yes,using a data label. I can’t give you specific instructions without knowing which version of PowerPoint you use, but data labels aren’t hard to find.

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10 years ago
Eli
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Eli

Thanks Ellen! That was so quick and simple once I new what to call it.

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10 years ago
Tina
Guest
Tina

Is there a way to have more than 2 y-axes? In particular, I am trying to use 3 horizontal bars but each bar uses a different scale, the 1st one being percentage, the 2nd being a number range and the 3rd being dollar range… is this even possible in the same graph? Thanks!

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9 years ago
Ellen Finkelstein
Guest
Ellen Finkelstein

Tina,
I don’t think so. Perhaps you can put one on top of the other?

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9 years ago
Mary Jane
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Mary Jane

Thank you! I have been trying to figure this out for days!!!!

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8 years ago
Mehul
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Mehul

Thanx a lot for this tip. Has been very helpful

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8 years ago
Bobby Helpful
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Bobby Helpful

Tina, if you want three series of differently-scaled data in a single graphic, try using a 3D chart maybe. Not sure how scaling would work though –
Probably you’d have to re-scale manually, produce new data series: e.g. %s, #/55, $/300… whatever gets all three sets of numbers into same range.
Then ‘hand-make’ new axes (showing ‘true’ original value-scales for # and $) using text boxes) All a bit approximate but its do-able!

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8 years ago
Nidhi Negi
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Nidhi Negi

A great help!

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7 years ago
Edward
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Edward

I have a presentation tomorrow and got stuck with this. Well at least not anymore. thankyou very much!

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7 years ago
sumalathaeda
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sumalathaeda

Hi,

I Have two different x-axis series and 2 y-axis series so how can draw these two line in a single graph in powerpoint

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7 years ago
Renganathan Sekar
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Renganathan Sekar

Thank you very much. Your post was useful.

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6 years ago
trackback
Excel Error Bars Graph 2010

[…] Create a PowerPoint chart/graph with 2 Y-axes and 2 chart types – Create a PowerPoint chart/graph with 2. Follow these steps to create a chart like this in PowerPoint 2007 or 2010. I am trying to use 3 horizontal bars but. […]

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5 years ago
Niezaar
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Niezaar

Thanks so much! This really helped me secure a client!

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1 year ago
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