Add pictures to a chart axis

This article demonstrates how to insert pictures to a chart axis, the picture above shows a column chart with country names and their corresponding flags below each column.

1. How to insert pictures above column chart item names

Watch this video to learn how to build the above chart or follow the instructions below the video.

Back to top

1.1 How to create a column chart

1. Select a data range
   
2. Go to tab "Insert" on the ribbon.
3. Press with left mouse button on the "Column" button, a pop-up menu appears. See the image below.
   
4. Press with mouse on the "Clustered column" button.

Back to top

1.2 How to insert pictures above column chart names

1. Press with right mouse button on on the second series and press with left mouse button on "Change Series Chart Type...".
   
2. Change it to x y (scatter) and press with left mouse button on "Scatter with only markers".
3. Remove axis and legend
   
4. Press with right mouse button on on x axis and press with left mouse button on "Format Axis..."
   
5. Change label distance to 500
   
6. Press with left mouse button on a x y scatter data point
   
7. Paste a picture. I resized the picture to 25 px width first.
   
8. Repeat step 7 and 8 with the remaining pictures.

Back to top

2. How to add pictures above chart columns

The image above shows pictures above each column, I will below describe how I built this chart.

2.1 Insert column chart

1. Select cell range B3:C7.
2. Go to tab "Insert" on the ribbon.
3. Press with left mouse button on the "Column" chart button. A popup menu appears.
4. Press with left mouse button on the "Clustered column" button.

Back to top

2.2 Add a second series

1. Press with right mouse button on on the chart. A popup menu shows up.
2. Press with mouse on "Select data...". A dialog box appears.
3. Press with left mouse button on "Add" button. Another smaller dialog box is now visible on the screen, see image above.
4. Press with left mouse button on "up pointing arrow" next to "Series values:".
5. Select cell range D3:D7.
6. Press with left mouse button on the OK button.
7. Press with left mouse button on the OK button again.

Back to top

2.3 Change chart type to scatter chart

1. Press with right mouse button on on the second series shown on the chart. A popup menu appears.
2. Press with mouse on "Change Chart Type...". A dialog box shows up.
3. Change the second series to an x y scatter chart, see image above.
4. Press with left mouse button on the OK button.

Back to top

2.4 Add pictures to markers

1. Doublepress with left mouse button on the first dot to open the settings pane.
2. Press with left mouse button on again on it to select it. You don't want the entire series selected.
3. Press with left mouse button on "Fill & Line" button on the settings pane.
   
4. Press with mouse on "Marker Options" to expand settings.
5. Press with left mouse button on radio button "Built-in".
6. Press with left mouse button on drop-down list next to Type.
7. Press with mouse on image button located at the very end of the drop down-list, see image above.
8. Select "From a File".
9. A dialog box appears, select a file name.
10. Press with left mouse button on "Open".

Repeat above steps with remaining images.

Change the values in cell range D3:D7 so the images appear above the columns. You can also use the same value in all cells to align images above all columns if you prefer that.

Back to top

3. How to add pictures next to y-axis values

The image above shows pictures next to the y-axis in a column chart. I will below describe how I built this chart, basically, it is two different chart types combined into a combo chart.

3.1 Create a column chart

1. Select cell range B3:C7.
2. Go to tab "Insert" on the ribbon.
3. Press with left mouse button on the "Insert column or bar chart" button. A pop-up menu appears.
4. Press with left mouse button on the "Clustered column" button.
5. A chart appears, see image above.

Back to top

3.2 Add a second series

1. Press with right mouse button on on the chart. A context menu appears.
2. Press with mouse on "Select Data...". A dialog box shows up.
3. Press with left mouse button on the "Add" button. Another smaller dialog box appears, see image above.
4. Press with left mouse button on the "Arrow pointing up" button next to "Series values:".
5. Select cell rage F3:F7.
6. Press with left mouse button on "OK" button.
7. Press with left mouse button on "OK" button again to dismiss the larger dialog box.
   The chart now looks like the one above.

Back to top

3.3 How to change the chart type of the secondary series?

1. Press with right mouse button on on the second series. A popup menu shows up.
2. Press with left mouse button on "Change Series Chart Type...". A dialog box appears, see image above.
3. Press with left mouse button on the "drop-down" button that corresponds to "Series2".
4. Press with left mouse button on the "Scatter" chart button to select it.
5. Press with left mouse button on the "OK" button.

Back to top

3.4 Add x-axis values to series2

1. Press with right mouse button on on the red dots.
2. Press with left mouse button on "Select data...". A dialog box appears.
3. Press with mouse on "Series2" to select it.
4. Press with mouse on the "Edit" button.
5. Press with left mouse button on the "Arrow pointing up" next to Series X values:".
6. Select cell range G3:G7.
7. Press with left mouse button on "OK" button.
   The chart now looks like the one shown in the above image.

Back to top

3.5 Insert chart marker pictures

1. Press with mouse on a red dot twice to select it.
2. Press with right mouse button on on the selected dot. A popup menu appears.
3. Press with mouse on "Format Data Point...". A settings pane appears probably on the right side of your screen.
4. Press with mouse on the "Fill & Line" button, see the image below.
   
5. Press with mouse on "Marker Options" to expand settings.
6. Press with mouse on the radio button "Built-in".
7. Press with mouse on the drop-down list to expand it.
8. Press with mouse on the image button located at the very bottom.
9. A dialog box appears.
10. Press with mouse on "From a File". A dialog box shows up.
11. Select the image you want to use.
12. Press with left mouse button on "Open" to use it.
    The image appears on the chart where the dot was located.

Repeat the above steps with the remaining dots and images you want to use.

Back to top

3.6 Final adjustments

3.6.1 Remove major gridlines

1. Press with mouse on a horizontal gridline to select all grid lines.
2. Press with left mouse button on the "Delete" key to remove them.

Back to top

3.6.2 Move y-axis to category 1

1. Doublepress with left mouse button on the x-axis to open the settings pane.
2. Press with mouse on the "Axis Options" button.
   
3. Press with mouse on "Axis Options" to expand settings.
4. Press with mouse on the radio button "At category number", type 1.
5. Press with mouse on the worksheet to apply settings.

Back to top

3.6.3 Add y-axis line

1. Double press with left mouse button on y-axis values to open the settings pane.
2. Press with mouse on "Fill & Line" button.
3. Press with left mouse button on "Line" to expand settings.
   
4. Press with left mouse button on "Solid Line"
5. Pick a line color.

Back to top

3.6.4 Remove 0 (zero) from chart axis

1. Double-press with left mouse button on y-axis values to open the settings pane.
   
2. Press with mouse on the "Axis Options" button.
3. Press with mouse on "Number" to expand settings.
4. Press with mouse on the drop-down list below "Category".
5. Select "Custom".
6. Change type to 0;;
7. Press with mouse on the worksheet to apply settings.

Back to top

4. How to add pictures to a bar chart axis

You can use the same technique with a bar chart.

Back to top

Other interesting chart techniques

•  An animated bar chart
• Highlight a group of chart bars
• Format fill color on a column chart based on cell color
• Use drop down lists to compare data series in an excel chart
• Highlight a data series in a line chart
• Use a map in an excel chart
• Custom data labels in a chart

Get the Excel file

Add-pictures-to-a-chart-axis-youtube.xlsx

Back to top

Related articles

Build a comparison table/chart
I found a chart that I wanted to show you how to build. It contains values both horizontally and vertically, […]