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.

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1.1 How to create a column chart

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

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1.2 How to insert pictures above column chart names

1. Right-click on the second series and click on "Change Series Chart Type...".
   
2. Change it to x y (scatter) and click "Scatter with only markers".
3. Remove axis and legend
   
4. Right click on x axis and click on "Format Axis..."
   
5. Change label distance to 500
   
6. Click 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.

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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. Click the "Column" chart button. A popup menu appears.
4. Click the "Clustered column" button.

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2.2 Add a second series

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

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2.3 Change chart type to scatter chart

1. Right-click on the second series shown on the chart. A popup menu appears.
2. Click on "Change Chart Type...". A dialog box shows up.
3. Change the second series to an x y scatter chart, see image above.
4. Click the OK button.

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2.4 Add pictures to markers

1. Doubleclick on the first dot to open the settings pane.
2. Click again on it to select it. You don't want the entire series selected.
3. Click "Fill & Line" button on the settings pane.
   
4. Click on "Marker Options" to expand settings.
5. Click radio button "Built-in".
6. Click drop-down list next to Type.
7. Click 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. Click "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.

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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. Click the "Insert column or bar chart" button. A pop-up menu appears.
4. Click the "Clustered column" button.
5. A chart appears, see image above.

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3.2 Add a second series

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

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

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

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3.4 Add x-axis values to series2

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

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3.5 Insert chart marker pictures

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

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3.6 Final adjustments

3.6.1 Remove major gridlines

1. Click on a horizontal gridline to select all grid lines.
2. Click the "Delete" key to remove them.

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3.6.2 Move y-axis to category 1

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

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3.6.3 Add y-axis line

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

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3.6.4 Remove 0 (zero) from chart axis

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

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4. How to add pictures to a bar chart axis

You can use the same technique with a bar chart.

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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

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