Vba for charts in excel

Charts and graphs are one of the best features of Excel; they are very flexible and can be used to make some very advanced visualization. However, this flexibility means there are hundreds of different options. We can create exactly the visualization we want but it can be time-consuming to apply. When we want to apply those hundreds of settings to lots of charts, it can take hours and hours of frustrating clicking. This post is a guide to using VBA for Charts and Graphs in Excel.

The code examples below demonstrate some of the most common chart options with VBA. Hopefully you can put these to good use and automate your chart creation and modifications.

While it might be tempting to skip straight to the section you need, I recommend you read the first section in full. Understanding the Document Object Model (DOM) is essential to understand how VBA can be used with charts and graphs in Excel.

In Excel 2013, many changes were introduced to the charting engine and Document Object Model. For example, the AddChart2 method replaced the AddChart method. As a result, some of the code presented in this post may not work with versions before Excel 2013.

Adapting the code to your requirements

It is not feasible to provide code for every scenario you might come across; there are just too many. But, by applying the principles and methods in this post, you will be able to do almost anything you want with charts in Excel using VBA.

Understanding the Document Object Model

The Document Object Model (DOM) is a term that describes how things are structured in Excel. For example:

• A Workbook contains Sheets
• A Sheet contains Ranges
• A Range contains an Interior
• An Interior contains a color setting

Therefore, to change a cell color to red, we would reference this as follows:

ActiveWorkbook.Sheets("Sheet1").Range("A1").Interior.Color = RGB(255, 0, 0)

Charts are also part of the DOM and follow similar hierarchical principles. To change the height of Chart 1, on Sheet1, we could use the following.

ActiveWorkbook.Sheets("Sheet1").ChartObjects("Chart 1").Height = 300

Each item in the object hierarchy must be listed and separated by a period ( . ).

Knowing the document object model is the key to success with VBA charts. Therefore, we need to know the correct order inside the object model. While the following code may look acceptable, it will not work.

ActiveWorkbook.ChartObjects("Chart 1").Height = 300

In the DOM, the ActiveWorkbook does not contain ChartObjects, so Excel cannot find Chart 1. The parent of a ChartObject is a Sheet, and the Parent of a Sheet is a Workbook. We must include the Sheet in the hierarchy for Excel to know what you want to do.

ActiveWorkbook.Sheets("Sheet1").ChartObjects("Chart 1").Height = 300

With this knowledge, we can refer to any element of any chart using Excel’s DOM.

Chart Objects vs. Charts vs. Chart Sheets

One of the things which makes the DOM for charts complicated is that many things exist in many places. For example, a chart can be an embedded chart on the face of a worksheet, or as a separate chart sheet.

• On the worksheet itself, we find ChartObjects. Within each ChartObject is a Chart. Effectively a ChartObject is a container that holds a Chart.
• A Chart is also a stand-alone sheet that does not have a ChartObject around it.

This may seem confusing initially, but there are good reasons for this.

To change the chart title text, we would reference the two types of chart differently:

• Chart on a worksheet:
  Sheets(“Sheet1”).ChartObjects(“Chart 1”).Chart.ChartTitle.Text = “My Chart Title”
• Chart sheet:
  Sheets(“Chart 1”).ChartTitle.Text = “My Chart Title”

The sections in bold are exactly the same. This shows that once we have got inside the Chart, the DOM is the same.

Writing code to work on either chart type

We want to write code that will work on any chart; we do this by creating a variable that holds the reference to a Chart.

Create a variable to refer to a Chart inside a ChartObject:

Dim cht As Chart
Set cht = Sheets("Sheet1").ChartObjects("Chart 1").Chart

Create a variable to refer to a Chart which is a sheet:

Dim cht As Chart
Set cht = Sheets("Chart 1")

Now we can write VBA code for a Chart sheet or a chart inside a ChartObject by referring to the Chart using cht:

cht.ChartTitle.Text = "My Chart Title"

OK, so now we’ve established how to reference charts and briefly covered how the DOM works. It is time to look at lots of code examples.

Inserting charts

In this first section, we create charts. Please note that some of the individual lines of code are included below in their relevant sections.

Create a chart from a blank chart

Sub CreateChart()

'Declare variables
Dim rng As Range
Dim cht As Object

'Create a blank chart
  Set cht = ActiveSheet.Shapes.AddChart2

'Declare the data range for the chart
  Set rng = ActiveSheet.Range("A2:B9")

'Add the data to the chart
  cht.Chart.SetSourceData Source:=rng

'Set the chart type
  cht.Chart.ChartType = xlColumnClustered

End Sub

Reference charts on a worksheet

In this section, we look at the methods used to reference a chart contained on a worksheet.

Active Chart

Create a Chart variable to hold the ActiveChart:

Dim cht As Chart
Set cht = ActiveChart

Chart Object by name

Create a Chart variable to hold a specific chart by name.

Dim cht As Chart
Set cht = Sheets("Sheet1").ChartObjects("Chart 1").Chart

Chart object by number

If there are multiple charts on a worksheet, they can be referenced by their number:

• 1 = the first chart created
• 2 = the second chart created
• etc, etc.

Dim cht As Chart
Set cht = Sheets("Sheet1").ChartObjects(1).Chart

Loop through all Chart Objects

If there are multiple ChartObjects on a worksheet, we can loop through each:

Dim chtObj As ChartObject

For Each chtObj In Sheets("Sheet1").ChartObjects

    'Include the code to be applied to each ChartObjects
    'refer to the Chart using chtObj.cht.

Next chtObj

Loop through all selected Chart Objects

If we only want to loop through the selected ChartObjects we can use the following code.

This code is tricky to apply as Excel operates differently when one chart is selected, compared to multiple charts. Therefore, as a way to apply the Chart settings, without the need to repeat a lot of code, I recommend calling another macro and passing the Chart as an argument to that macro.

Dim obj As Object

'Check if any charts have been selected
If Not ActiveChart Is Nothing Then

    Call AnotherMacro(ActiveChart)

Else
    For Each obj In Selection

    'If more than one chart selected
    If TypeName(obj) = "ChartObject" Then

        Call AnotherMacro(obj.Chart)

    End If
Next

End If

Reference chart sheets

Now let’s move on to look at the methods used to reference a separate chart sheet.

Active Chart

Set up a Chart variable to hold the ActiveChart:

Dim cht As Chart
Set cht = ActiveChart

Note: this is the same code as when referencing the active chart on the worksheet.

Chart sheet by name

Set up a Chart variable to hold a specific chart sheet

Dim cht As Chart 
Set cht = Sheets("Chart 1")

Loop through all chart sheets in a workbook

The following code will loop through all the chart sheets in the active workbook.

Dim cht As Chart

For Each cht In ActiveWorkbook.Charts

    Call AnotherMacro(cht)

Next cht

Basic chart settings

This section contains basic chart settings.

All codes start with cht., as they assume a chart has been referenced using the codes above.

Change chart type

'Change chart type - these are common examples, others do exist.
cht.ChartType = xlArea
cht.ChartType = xlLine
cht.ChartType = xlPie
cht.ChartType = xlColumnClustered
cht.ChartType = xlColumnStacked
cht.ChartType = xlColumnStacked100
cht.ChartType = xlArea
cht.ChartType = xlAreaStacked
cht.ChartType = xlBarClustered
cht.ChartType = xlBarStacked
cht.ChartType = xlBarStacked100

Create an empty ChartObject on a worksheet

'Create an empty chart embedded on a worksheet.
Set cht = Sheets("Sheet1").Shapes.AddChart2.Chart

Select the source for a chart

'Select source for a chart
Dim rng As Range
Set rng = Sheets("Sheet1").Range("A1:B4")
cht.SetSourceData Source:=rng

Delete a chart object or chart sheet

'Delete a ChartObject or Chart sheet
If TypeName(cht.Parent) = "ChartObject" Then

    cht.Parent.Delete

ElseIf TypeName(cht.Parent) = "Workbook" Then

    cht.Delete

End If

Change the size or position of a chart

'Set the size/position of a ChartObject - method 1
cht.Parent.Height = 200
cht.Parent.Width = 300
cht.Parent.Left = 20
cht.Parent.Top = 20

'Set the size/position of a ChartObject - method 2
chtObj.Height = 200
chtObj.Width = 300
chtObj.Left = 20
chtObj.Top = 20

Change the visible cells setting

'Change the setting to show only visible cells
cht.PlotVisibleOnly = False

Change the space between columns/bars (gap width)

'Change the gap space between bars
cht.ChartGroups(1).GapWidth = 50

Change the overlap of columns/bars

'Change the overlap setting of bars
cht.ChartGroups(1).Overlap = 75

Remove outside border from chart object

'Remove the outside border from a chart
cht.ChartArea.Format.Line.Visible = msoFalse

Change color of chart background

'Set the fill color of the chart area
cht.ChartArea.Format.Fill.ForeColor.RGB = RGB(255, 0, 0)

'Set chart with no background color
cht.ChartArea.Format.Fill.Visible = msoFalse

Chart Axis

Charts have four axis:

• xlValue
• xlValue, xlSecondary
• xlCategory
• xlCategory, xlSecondary

These are used interchangeably in the examples below. To adapt the code to your specific requirements, you need to change the chart axis which is referenced in the brackets.

All codes start with cht., as they assume a chart has been referenced using the codes earlier in this post.

Set min and max of chart axis

'Set chart axis min and max
cht.Axes(xlValue).MaximumScale = 25
cht.Axes(xlValue).MinimumScale = 10
cht.Axes(xlValue).MaximumScaleIsAuto = True
cht.Axes(xlValue).MinimumScaleIsAuto = True

Display or hide chart axis

'Display axis
cht.HasAxis(xlCategory) = True

'Hide axis
cht.HasAxis(xlValue, xlSecondary) = False

Display or hide chart title

'Display axis title
cht.Axes(xlCategory, xlSecondary).HasTitle = True

'Hide axis title
cht.Axes(xlValue).HasTitle = False

Change chart axis title text

'Change axis title text
cht.Axes(xlCategory).AxisTitle.Text = "My Axis Title"

Reverse the order of a category axis

'Reverse the order of a catetory axis
cht.Axes(xlCategory).ReversePlotOrder = True

'Set category axis to default order
cht.Axes(xlCategory).ReversePlotOrder = False

Gridlines

Gridlines help a user to see the relative position of an item compared to the axis.

Add or delete gridlines

'Add gridlines
cht.SetElement (msoElementPrimaryValueGridLinesMajor)
cht.SetElement (msoElementPrimaryCategoryGridLinesMajor)
cht.SetElement (msoElementPrimaryValueGridLinesMinorMajor)
cht.SetElement (msoElementPrimaryCategoryGridLinesMinorMajor)

'Delete gridlines
cht.Axes(xlValue).MajorGridlines.Delete
cht.Axes(xlValue).MinorGridlines.Delete
cht.Axes(xlCategory).MajorGridlines.Delete
cht.Axes(xlCategory).MinorGridlines.Delete

Change color of gridlines

'Change colour of gridlines
cht.Axes(xlValue).MajorGridlines.Format.Line.ForeColor.RGB = RGB(255, 0, 0)

Change transparency of gridlines

'Change transparency of gridlines
cht.Axes(xlValue).MajorGridlines.Format.Line.Transparency = 0.5

Chart Title

The chart title is the text at the top of the chart.

All codes start with cht., as they assume a chart has been referenced using the codes earlier in this post.

Display or hide chart title

'Display chart title
cht.HasTitle = True

'Hide chart title
cht.HasTitle = False

Change chart title text

'Change chart title text
cht.ChartTitle.Text = "My Chart Title"

Position the chart title

'Position the chart title
cht.ChartTitle.Left = 10
cht.ChartTitle.Top = 10

Format the chart title

'Format the chart title
cht.ChartTitle.TextFrame2.TextRange.Font.Name = "Calibri"
cht.ChartTitle.TextFrame2.TextRange.Font.Size = 16
cht.ChartTitle.TextFrame2.TextRange.Font.Bold = msoTrue
cht.ChartTitle.TextFrame2.TextRange.Font.Bold = msoFalse
cht.ChartTitle.TextFrame2.TextRange.Font.Italic = msoTrue
cht.ChartTitle.TextFrame2.TextRange.Font.Italic = msoFalse

Chart Legend

The chart legend provides a color key to identify each series in the chart.

Display or hide the chart legend

'Display the legend
cht.HasLegend = True

'Hide the legend
cht.HasLegend = False

Position the legend

'Position the legend
cht.Legend.Position = xlLegendPositionTop
cht.Legend.Position = xlLegendPositionRight
cht.Legend.Position = xlLegendPositionLeft
cht.Legend.Position = xlLegendPositionCorner
cht.Legend.Position = xlLegendPositionBottom

'Allow legend to overlap the chart.
'False = allow overlap, True = due not overlap
cht.Legend.IncludeInLayout = False
cht.Legend.IncludeInLayout = True

'Move legend to a specific point
cht.Legend.Left = 20
cht.Legend.Top = 200
cht.Legend.Width = 100
cht.Legend.Height = 25

Plot Area

The Plot Area is the main body of the chart which contains the lines, bars, areas, bubbles, etc.

All codes start with cht., as they assume a chart has been referenced using the codes earlier in this post.

Background color of Plot Area

'Set background color of the plot area
cht.PlotArea.Format.Fill.ForeColor.RGB = RGB(255, 0, 0)


'Set plot area to no background color
cht.PlotArea.Format.Fill.Visible = msoFalse

Set position of Plot Area

'Set the size and position of the PlotArea. Top and Left are relative to the Chart Area.
cht.PlotArea.Left = 20
cht.PlotArea.Top = 20
cht.PlotArea.Width = 200
cht.PlotArea.Height = 150

Chart series

Chart series are the individual lines, bars, areas for each category.

All codes starting with srs. assume a chart’s series has been assigned to a variable.

Add a new chart series

'Add a new chart series
Set srs = cht.SeriesCollection.NewSeries
srs.Values = "=Sheet1!$C$2:$C$6"
srs.Name = "=""New Series"""

'Set the values for the X axis when using XY Scatter
srs.XValues = "=Sheet1!$D$2:$D$6"

Reference a chart series

Set up a Series variable to hold a chart series:

• 1 = First chart series
• 2 = Second chart series
• etc, etc.

Dim srs As Series
Set srs = cht.SeriesCollection(1)

Referencing a chart series by name

Dim srs As Series
Set srs = cht.SeriesCollection("Series Name")

Delete a chart series

'Delete chart series
srs.Delete

Loop through each chart series

Dim srs As Series
For Each srs In cht.SeriesCollection

    'Do something to each series
    'See the codes below starting with "srs."

Next srs

Change series data

'Change series source data and name
srs.Values = "=Sheet1!$C$2:$C$6"
srs.Name = "=""Change Series Name"""

Changing fill or line colors

'Change fill colour
srs.Format.Fill.ForeColor.RGB = RGB(255, 0, 0)

'Change line colour
srs.Format.Line.ForeColor.RGB = RGB(255, 0, 0)

Changing visibility

'Change visibility of line
srs.Format.Line.Visible = msoTrue

Changing line weight

'Change line weight
srs.Format.Line.Weight = 10

Changing line style

'Change line style
srs.Format.Line.DashStyle = msoLineDash
srs.Format.Line.DashStyle = msoLineSolid
srs.Format.Line.DashStyle = msoLineSysDot
srs.Format.Line.DashStyle = msoLineSysDash
srs.Format.Line.DashStyle = msoLineDashDot
srs.Format.Line.DashStyle = msoLineLongDash
srs.Format.Line.DashStyle = msoLineLongDashDot
srs.Format.Line.DashStyle = msoLineLongDashDotDot

Formatting markers

'Changer marker type
srs.MarkerStyle = xlMarkerStyleAutomatic
srs.MarkerStyle = xlMarkerStyleCircle
srs.MarkerStyle = xlMarkerStyleDash
srs.MarkerStyle = xlMarkerStyleDiamond
srs.MarkerStyle = xlMarkerStyleDot
srs.MarkerStyle = xlMarkerStyleNone

'Change marker border color
srs.MarkerForegroundColor = RGB(255, 0, 0)

'Change marker fill color
srs.MarkerBackgroundColor = RGB(255, 0, 0)

'Change marker size
srs.MarkerSize = 8

Data labels

Data labels display additional information (such as the value, or series name) to a data point in a chart series.

All codes starting with srs. assume a chart’s series has been assigned to a variable.

Display or hide data labels

'Display data labels on all points in the series
srs.HasDataLabels = True

'Hide data labels on all points in the series
srs.HasDataLabels = False

Change the position of data labels

'Position data labels
'The label position must be a valid option for the chart type.
srs.DataLabels.Position = xlLabelPositionAbove
srs.DataLabels.Position = xlLabelPositionBelow
srs.DataLabels.Position = xlLabelPositionLeft
srs.DataLabels.Position = xlLabelPositionRight
srs.DataLabels.Position = xlLabelPositionCenter
srs.DataLabels.Position = xlLabelPositionInsideEnd
srs.DataLabels.Position = xlLabelPositionInsideBase
srs.DataLabels.Position = xlLabelPositionOutsideEnd

Error Bars

Error bars were originally intended to show variation (e.g. min/max values) in a value. However, they also commonly used in advanced chart techniques to create additional visual elements.

All codes starting with srs. assume a chart’s series has been assigned to a variable.

Turn error bars on/off

'Turn error bars on/off
srs.HasErrorBars = True
srs.HasErrorBars = False

Error bar end cap style

'Change end style of error bar
srs.ErrorBars.EndStyle = xlNoCap
srs.ErrorBars.EndStyle = xlCap

Error bar color

'Change color of error bars
srs.ErrorBars.Format.Line.ForeColor.RGB = RGB(255, 0, 0)

Error bar thickness

'Change thickness of error bars
srs.ErrorBars.Format.Line.Weight = 5

Error bar direction settings

'Error bar settings
srs.ErrorBar Direction:=xlY, _
    Include:=xlPlusValues, _
    Type:=xlFixedValue, _
    Amount:=100
'Alternatives options for the error bar settings are
'Direction:=xlX
'Include:=xlMinusValues
'Include:=xlPlusValues
'Include:=xlBoth
'Type:=xlFixedValue
'Type:=xlPercent
'Type:=xlStDev
'Type:=xlStError
'Type:=xlCustom

'Applying custom values to error bars
srs.ErrorBar Direction:=xlY, _
    Include:=xlPlusValues, _
    Type:=xlCustom, _
    Amount:="=Sheet1!$A$2:$A$7", _
    MinusValues:="=Sheet1!$A$2:$A$7"

Data points

Each data point on a chart series is known as a Point.

Reference a specific point

The following code will reference the first Point.

1 = First chart series
2 = Second chart series
etc, etc.

Dim srs As Series 
Dim pnt As Point

Set srs = cht.SeriesCollection(1)
Set pnt = srs.Points(1)

Loop through all points

Dim srs As Series 
Dim pnt As Point

Set srs = cht.SeriesCollection(1)

For Each pnt In srs.Points

    'Do something to each point, using "pnt."

Next pnt

Point example VBA codes

Points have similar properties to Series, but the properties are applied to a single data point in the series rather than the whole series. See a few examples below, just to give you the idea.

Turn on data label for a point

'Turn on data label 
pnt.HasDataLabel = True

Set the data label position for a point

'Set the position of a data label
pnt.DataLabel.Position = xlLabelPositionCenter

Other useful chart macros

In this section, I’ve included other useful chart macros which are not covered by the example codes above.

Make chart cover cell range

The following code changes the location and size of the active chart to fit directly over the range G4:N20

Sub FitChartToRange()

'Declare variables
Dim cht As Chart
Dim rng As Range

'Assign objects to variables
Set cht = ActiveChart
Set rng = ActiveSheet.Range("G4:N20")

'Move and resize chart
cht.Parent.Left = rng.Left
cht.Parent.Top = rng.Top
cht.Parent.Width = rng.Width
cht.Parent.Height = rng.Height

End Sub

Export the chart as an image

The following code saves the active chart to an image in the predefined location

Sub ExportSingleChartAsImage()

'Create a variable to hold the path and name of image
Dim imagePath As String
Dim cht As Chart

imagePath = "C:UsersmarksDocumentsmyImage.png"
Set cht = ActiveChart

'Export the chart
cht.Export (imagePath)

End Sub

Resize all charts to the same size as the active chart

The following code resizes all charts on the Active Sheet to be the same size as the active chart.

Sub ResizeAllCharts()

'Create variables to hold chart dimensions
Dim chtHeight As Long
Dim chtWidth As Long

'Create variable to loop through chart objects
Dim chtObj As ChartObject

'Get the size of the first selected chart
chtHeight = ActiveChart.Parent.Height
chtWidth = ActiveChart.Parent.Width

For Each chtObj In ActiveSheet.ChartObjects

    chtObj.Height = chtHeight
    chtObj.Width = chtWidth

Next chtObj

End Sub

Bringing it all together

Just to prove how we can use these code snippets, I have created a macro to build bullet charts.

This isn’t necessarily the most efficient way to write the code, but it is to demonstrate that by understanding the code above we can create a lot of charts.

The data looks like this:

The chart looks like this:

The code which achieves this is as follows:

Sub CreateBulletChart()

Dim cht As Chart
Dim srs As Series
Dim rng As Range

'Create an empty chart
Set cht = Sheets("Sheet3").Shapes.AddChart2.Chart

'Change chart title text
cht.ChartTitle.Text = "Bullet Chart with VBA"

'Hide the legend
cht.HasLegend = False

'Change chart type
cht.ChartType = xlBarClustered

'Select source for a chart
Set rng = Sheets("Sheet3").Range("A1:D4")
cht.SetSourceData Source:=rng

'Reverse the order of a catetory axis
cht.Axes(xlCategory).ReversePlotOrder = True

'Change the overlap setting of bars
cht.ChartGroups(1).Overlap = 100

'Change the gap space between bars
cht.ChartGroups(1).GapWidth = 50

'Change fill colour
Set srs = cht.SeriesCollection(1)
srs.Format.Fill.ForeColor.RGB = RGB(200, 200, 200)

Set srs = cht.SeriesCollection(2)
srs.Format.Fill.ForeColor.RGB = RGB(150, 150, 150)

Set srs = cht.SeriesCollection(3)
srs.Format.Fill.ForeColor.RGB = RGB(100, 100, 100)

'Add a new chart series
Set srs = cht.SeriesCollection.NewSeries
srs.Values = "=Sheet3!$B$7:$D$7"
srs.XValues = "=Sheet3!$B$5:$D$5"
srs.Name = "=""Actual"""

'Change chart type
srs.ChartType = xlXYScatter

'Turn error bars on/off
srs.HasErrorBars = True

'Change end style of error bar
srs.ErrorBars.EndStyle = xlNoCap

'Set the error bars
srs.ErrorBar Direction:=xlY, _
    Include:=xlNone, _
    Type:=xlErrorBarTypeCustom

srs.ErrorBar Direction:=xlX, _
    Include:=xlMinusValues, _
    Type:=xlPercent, _
    Amount:=100

'Change color of error bars
srs.ErrorBars.Format.Line.ForeColor.RGB = RGB(0, 0, 0)

'Change thickness of error bars
srs.ErrorBars.Format.Line.Weight = 14

'Change marker type
srs.MarkerStyle = xlMarkerStyleNone

'Add a new chart series
Set srs = cht.SeriesCollection.NewSeries
srs.Values = "=Sheet3!$B$7:$D$7"
srs.XValues = "=Sheet3!$B$6:$D$6"
srs.Name = "=""Target"""

'Change chart type
srs.ChartType = xlXYScatter

'Turn error bars on/off
srs.HasErrorBars = True

'Change end style of error bar
srs.ErrorBars.EndStyle = xlNoCap

srs.ErrorBar Direction:=xlX, _
    Include:=xlNone, _
    Type:=xlErrorBarTypeCustom

srs.ErrorBar Direction:=xlY, _
    Include:=xlBoth, _
    Type:=xlFixedValue, _
    Amount:=0.45

'Change color of error bars
srs.ErrorBars.Format.Line.ForeColor.RGB = RGB(255, 0, 0)

'Change thickness of error bars
srs.ErrorBars.Format.Line.Weight = 2

'Changer marker type
srs.MarkerStyle = xlMarkerStyleNone

'Set chart axis min and max
cht.Axes(xlValue, xlSecondary).MaximumScale = cht.SeriesCollection(1).Points.Count
cht.Axes(xlValue, xlSecondary).MinimumScale = 0

'Hide axis
cht.HasAxis(xlValue, xlSecondary) = False

End Sub

Using the Macro Recorder for VBA for charts and graphs

The Macro Recorder is one of the most useful tools for writing VBA for Excel charts. The DOM is so vast that it can be challenging to know how to refer to a specific object, property or method. Studying the code produced by the Macro Recorder will provide the parts of the DOM which you don’t know.

As a note, the Macro Recorder creates poorly constructed code; it selects each object before manipulating it (this is what you did with the mouse after all). But this is OK for us. Once we understand the DOM, we can take just the parts of the code we need and ensure we put them into the right part of the hierarchy.

Conclusion

As you’ve seen in this post, the Document Object Model for charts and graphs in Excel is vast (and we’ve only scratched the surface.

I hope that through all the examples in this post you have a better understanding of VBA for charts and graphs in Excel. With this knowledge, I’m sure you will be able to automate your chart creation and modification.

Have I missed any useful codes? If so, put them in the comments.

Looking for other detailed VBA guides? Check out these posts:

• VBA for Tables & List Objects
• VBA for PivotTables
• VBA to insert, move, delete and control pictures

• 

Excel charts are one of the awesome tools available to represent the data in rich visualized graphs. Here are the most frequently used Excel Chart VBA Examples and Tutorials. You can access chart objects, properties and dealing with the methods.

Here are the top most Excel Chart VBA Examples and Tutorials, show you how to deal with chart axis, chart titles, background colors,chart data source, chart types, series and many other chart objects.

Excel Chart VBA Examples and Tutorials – Learning Path

• Example tutorials on Creating Charts using Excel VBA:
• Example tutorials on Chart Type using Excel VBA:
• Example Tutorials on Formatting Chart Objects using Excel VBA:
• Example Tutorials on Chart Collection in Excel VBA:
• Other useful Examples and tutorials on Excel VBA Charting:
• Excel VBA Charting Constants and Enumerations:
• Example File for Free Download:

Creating Charts using Excel VBA

We can create the chart using different methods in Excel VBA, following are the various Excel Chart VBA Examples and Tutorials to show you creating charts in Excel using VBA.

1. Adding New Chart for Selected Data using Sapes.AddChart Method in Excel VBA

The following Excel Chart VBA Examples works similarly when we select some data and click on charts from Insert Menu and to create a new chart. This will create basic chart in an existing worksheet.

Sub ExAddingNewChartforSelectedData_Sapes_AddChart_Method()
Range("C5:D7").Select
ActiveSheet.Shapes.AddChart.Select
End Sub

2. Adding New Chart for Selected Data using Charts.Add Method : Creating Chart Sheet in Excel VBA

The following Excel Chart VBA Examples method will add new chart into new worksheet by default. You can specify a location to embedded in a particular worksheet.

'Here is the other method to add charts using Chart Object. It will add a new chart for the selected data as new chart sheet.
Sub ExAddingNewChartforSelectedData_Charts_Add_Method_SheetChart()
Range("C5:D7").Select
Charts.Add
End Sub

3. Adding New Chart for Selected Data using Charts.Add Method : In Existing Sheet using Excel VBA

We can use the Charts.Add method to create a chart in existing worksheet. We can specify the position and location as shown below. This will create a new chart in a specific worksheet.

Sub ExAddingNewChartforSelectedData_Charts_Add_Method_InSheet()

Range("C5:D7").Select
Charts.Add
ActiveChart.Location Where:=xlLocationAsObject, Name:="Sheet1"

End Sub

4. Difference between embedded Chart and Chart Sheet in Excel:

Both are similar except event handlers, Chart Sheets will have the event handlers,we can write event programming for Chart Sheets. And the other type embedded charts can not support the event handlers. We can write classes to handle the events for the embedded chart, but not recommended.

We have seen multiple methods to create charts, but we cant set the chart at particular position using the above codes. You can use the ChartObjects.Add method to specify the position of the chart.

5. Adding New Chart for Selected Data using ChartObjects.Add Method in Excel VBA

ChartObjects.Add method is the best method as it is very easy to play with the chart objects to change the settings.

Sub ExAddingNewChartforSelectedData_ChartObjects_Add_Method()
With ActiveSheet.ChartObjects.Add(Left:=300, Width:=300, Top:=10, Height:=300)
.Chart.SetSourceData Source:=Sheets("Temp").Range("C5:D7")
End With
End Sub

6. Assigning Charts to an Object in Excel VBA

Here is another Excel Chart VBA Examples with ChartObjects, here we will assign to an Object and play with that.

Sub ExAddingNewChartforSelectedData_ChartObjects_Object()
Dim cht As Object
Set cht = ActiveSheet.ChartObjects.Add(Left:=300, Width:=300, Top:=10, Height:=300)
cht.Chart.SetSourceData Source:=Sheets("Temp").Range("C5:D7")
End Sub

7. Changing the Chart Position in Excel VBA

The following VBA example will show you how to change the chart position.

Sub ExAddingNewChartforSelectedData_Object_Position()
Dim cht As Object
Set cht = ActiveSheet.ChartObjects.Add(Left:=300, Width:=300, Top:=10, Height:=300)
cht.Chart.SetSourceData Source:=Sheets("Temp").Range("C5:D7")
cht.Left = 350
cht.Width = 400
cht.Top = 30
cht.Height = 200
End Sub

8. Align Chart Object at a Particular Range or Cell in Excel VBA

You can set the top,left, height and width properties of a chart object to align in a particular position.

Sub AlignChartAtParticularRange()
' Chart Align

With ActiveSheet.ChartObjects(1)
.Left = Range("A6").Left
.Top = Range("A7").Top
.Width = Range("D6").Left
.Height = Range("D16").Top - Range("D6").Top
End With

End Sub

9. Use with statement while dealing with Charts and avoid the accessing the same object repeatedly in Excel VBA

If you are dealing with the same object, it is better to use with statement. It will make the program more clear to understand and executes faster.

Sub ExChartPostion_Object_Position()
Dim cht As Object
Set cht = ActiveSheet.ChartObjects.Add(Left:=300, Width:=300, Top:=10, Height:=300)
With cht
.Chart.SetSourceData Source:=Sheets("Temp").Range("C5:D7")
.Left = 350
.Width = 400
.Top = 30
.Height = 200
End With
End Sub

10. You can use ActiveChart Object to access the active chart in Excel VBA

Active chart is the chart which is currently selected or activated in your active sheet.

Sub ExChartPostion_ActiveChart()
ActiveSheet.ChartObjects.Add(Left:=300, Width:=300, Top:=10, Height:=300).Activate
With ActiveChart
.SetSourceData Source:=Sheets("Temp").Range("C5:D7")
.Parent.Left = 350
.Parent.Width = 400
.Parent.Top = 30
.Parent.Height = 200
End With
End Sub

Top

Setting Chart Types using Excel VBA

We have verity of chart in Excel, we can use VBA to change and set the suitable chart type based on the data which we want to present. Below are the Excel Chart VBA Examples and Tutorials to change the chart type.

We can use Chart.Type property to set the chart type, here we can pass Excel chart constants or chart enumerations to set the chart type. Please refer the following table to understand the excel constants and enumerations.

11. Example to Change Chart type using Excel Chart Enumerations in Excel VBA

This Excel Chart VBA Example will use 1 as excel enumeration to plot the Aria Chart. Please check here list of enumerations available for Excel VBA Charting

Sub Ex_ChartType_Enumeration()
Dim cht As Object
Set cht = ActiveSheet.ChartObjects.Add(Left:=300, Width:=300, Top:=10, Height:=300)
With cht
.Chart.SetSourceData Source:=Sheets("Temp").Range("C5:D7")
.Chart.Type = 1 ' for aria chart
End With
End Sub

12. Example to Change Chart type using Excel Chart Constants in VBA

This Excel Chart VBA Example will use xlArea as excel constant to plot the Aria Chart. Please check here for list of enumerations available in Excel VBA Charting

Sub Ex_ChartType_xlConstant()
Dim cht As Object
Set cht = ActiveSheet.ChartObjects.Add(Left:=300, Width:=300, Top:=10, Height:=300)
With cht
.Chart.SetSourceData Source:=Sheets("Temp").Range("C5:D7")
.Chart.Type = xlArea
End With
End Sub

xlConstants is recommended than Excel Enumeration, as it is easy to understand and remember. Following are frequently used chart type examples:

13. Example to set the type as a Pie Chart in Excel VBA

The following VBA code using xlPie constant to plot the Pie chart. Please check here for list of enumerations available in Excel VBA Charting

Sub Ex_ChartType_Pie_Chart()
Dim cht As Object
Set cht = ActiveSheet.ChartObjects.Add(Left:=300, Width:=300, Top:=10, Height:=300)
With cht
.Chart.SetSourceData Source:=Sheets("Temp").Range("C5:D7")
.Chart.Type = xlPie
End With
End Sub

14. Example to set the chart type as a Line Chart in Excel VBA

The following VBA code using xlLine constant to plot the Pie chart. Please check here for list of enumerations available in Excel VBA Charting

Sub Ex_ChartType_Line_Chart()
Dim cht As Object
Set cht = ActiveSheet.ChartObjects.Add(Left:=300, Width:=300, Top:=10, Height:=300)
With cht
.Chart.SetSourceData Source:=Sheets("Temp").Range("C5:D7")
.Chart.Type = xlLine
End With
End Sub

15. Example to set the chart type as a Bar Chart in Excel VBA

The following VBA code using xlBar constant to plot the Pie chart. Please check here for list of enumerations available in Excel VBA Charting

Sub Ex_ChartType_Bar_Chart()
Dim cht As Object
Set cht = ActiveSheet.ChartObjects.Add(Left:=300, Width:=300, Top:=10, Height:=300)
With cht
.Chart.SetSourceData Source:=Sheets("Temp").Range("C5:D7")
.Chart.Type = xlBar
End With
End Sub

16. Example to set the chart type as a XYScatter Chart in Excel VBA

The following code using xlXYScatter constant to plot the Pie chart. Please check here for list of enumerations available in Excel VBA Charting

Sub Ex_ChartType_XYScatter_Chart()
Dim cht As Object
Set cht = ActiveSheet.ChartObjects.Add(Left:=300, Width:=300, Top:=10, Height:=300)
With cht
.Chart.SetSourceData Source:=Sheets("Temp").Range("C5:D7")
.Chart.Type = xlXYScatter
End With
End Sub

Here is the complete list of Excel Chart Types, Chart Enumerations and Chart Constants:

Top

Formatting Chart Objects using Excel VBA

Below are Excel Chart VBA Examples to show you how to change background colors of charts, series and changing the different properties of charts like Chart Legends, Line Styles, Number Formatting. You can also find the examples on Chart Axis and Chart Axes Setting and Number Formats.

17. Changing Chart Background Color – Chart Aria Interior Color in Excel VBA

The following VBA code will change the background color of the Excel Chart.

Sub Ex_ChartAriaInteriorColor()
Dim cht As Object
Set cht = ActiveSheet.ChartObjects.Add(Left:=300, Width:=300, Top:=10, Height:=300)
With cht
.Chart.SetSourceData Source:=Sheets("Temp").Range("C5:D7")
.Chart.ChartArea.Interior.ColorIndex = 3
End With
End Sub

18. Changing PlotAria Background Color – PlotAria Interior Color in Excel VBA

The following code will change the background color of Plot Area in Excel VBA.

Sub Ex_PlotAriaInteriorColor()
Dim cht As Object
Set cht = ActiveSheet.ChartObjects.Add(Left:=300, Width:=300, Top:=10, Height:=300)
With cht
.Chart.SetSourceData Source:=Sheets("Temp").Range("C5:D7")
.Chart.PlotArea.Interior.ColorIndex = 5
End With
End Sub

19.Changing Chart Series Background Color – Series Interior Color in Excel VBA

The following code is for changing the background color of a series using Excel VBA.

Sub Ex_SeriesInteriorColor()
Dim cht As Object
Set cht = ActiveSheet.ChartObjects.Add(Left:=300, Width:=300, Top:=10, Height:=300)
With cht
.Chart.SetSourceData Source:=Sheets("Temp").Range("C5:D7")
.Chart.SeriesCollection(1).Format.Fill.ForeColor.RGB = rgbRed
.Chart.SeriesCollection(2).Interior.ColorIndex = 5

End With
End Sub

20. Changing Chart Series Marker Style in Excel VBA

Here is the code to change the series marker style using Excel VBA, you can change to circle, diamond, square,etc. Check the excel constants and enumerations for more options available in excel vba.

Sub Ex_ChangingMarkerStyle()
Dim cht As Object
Set cht = ActiveSheet.ChartObjects.Add(Left:=300, Width:=300, Top:=10, Height:=300)
With cht
.Chart.SetSourceData Source:=Sheets("Temp").Range("C5:D7")
.Chart.Type = xlLine
.Chart.SeriesCollection(1).MarkerStyle = 7
End With
End Sub

21. Changing Chart Series Line Style in Excel VBA

Here is the code to change the line color using Excel VBA, it will change the line style from solid to dash. Check the excel constants for more options.

Sub Ex_ChangingLineStyle()
Dim cht As Object
Set cht = ActiveSheet.ChartObjects.Add(Left:=300, Width:=300, Top:=10, Height:=300)
With cht
.Chart.SetSourceData Source:=Sheets("Temp").Range("C5:D7")
.Chart.Type = xlLine
.Chart.SeriesCollection(1).Border.LineStyle = xlDash
End With
End Sub

22. Changing Chart Series Border Color in Excel VBA

Here is the code for changing series borders in Excel VBA.

Sub Ex_ChangingBorderColor()
Dim cht As Object
Set cht = ActiveSheet.ChartObjects.Add(Left:=300, Width:=300, Top:=10, Height:=300)
With cht
.Chart.SetSourceData Source:=Sheets("Temp").Range("C5:D7")
.Chart.Type = xlBar
.Chart.SeriesCollection(1).Border.ColorIndex = 3
End With
End Sub

23. Change Chart Axis NumberFormat in Excel VBA

This code will change the chart axis number format using excel vba.

Sub Ex_ChangeAxisNumberFormat()
Dim cht As Object
Set cht = ActiveSheet.ChartObjects.Add(Left:=300, Width:=300, Top:=10, Height:=300)
With cht
.Chart.SetSourceData Source:=Sheets("Temp").Range("C5:D7")
.Chart.Type = xlLine
.Chart.Axes(xlValue).TickLabels.NumberFormat = "0.00"
End With
End Sub

24. Formatting Axis Labels: Changing Axis Font to Bold using Excel VBA

The following example is for formating Axis labels using Excel VBA.

Sub Ex_ChangeAxisFormatFontBold()
Dim cht As Object
Set cht = ActiveSheet.ChartObjects.Add(Left:=300, Width:=300, Top:=10, Height:=300)
With cht
.Chart.SetSourceData Source:=Sheets("Temp").Range("C5:D7")
.Chart.Type = xlLine
.Chart.Axes(xlCategory).TickLabels.Font.FontStyle = "Bold"
End With
End Sub

25. Two Y-axes Left and Right of Charts(Primary Axis and Secondary Axis) using Excel VBA

This code will set the series 2 into secondary Axis using Excel VBA.

Sub Ex_ChangeAxistoSecondary()
Dim cht As Object
Set cht = ActiveSheet.ChartObjects.Add(Left:=300, Width:=300, Top:=10, Height:=300)
With cht
.Chart.SetSourceData Source:=Sheets("Temp").Range("C5:D7")
.Chart.Type = xlLine
.Chart.SeriesCollection(2).AxisGroup = 2
End With
End Sub

Top

Chart Collection in Excel VBA

You can use ChartObject Collection to loop through the all charts in worksheet or workbook using Excel VBA. And do whatever you want to do with that particular chart. Here are Excel Chart VBA Examples to deal with Charts using VBA.

26. Set equal widths and heights for all charts available in a Worksheet using Excel VBA

Following is the Excel VBA code to change the chart width and height.

Sub Ex_ChartCollections_Change_widths_heights()
Dim cht As Object
For Each cht In ActiveSheet.ChartObjects
cht.Width = 400
cht.Height = 200
Next

End Sub

27. Delete All Charts in a Worksheet using Excel VBA

Following is the Excel VBA example to delete all charts in worksheet.

Sub Ex_DeleteAllCharts()
Dim cht As Object
For Each cht In ActiveSheet.ChartObjects
cht.Delete
Next

End Sub

Top

Other useful Examples and tutorials on Excel VBA Charting

28. Set Chart Data Source using Excel VBA

Below is the Excel Chart VBA Example to set the chart data source. You can set it by using .SetSourceData Source property of a chart

Sub Ex_ChartDataSource()

Dim cht As Chart

'Add new chart
ActiveSheet.Shapes.AddChart.Select
With ActiveChart
'Specify source data and orientation
.SetSourceData Source:=Sheet1.Range("A1:C5")
End With

End Sub

29. Swap or Switch Rows and Columns in Excel Charts using VBA

Here is the excel VBA code to swap the Rows to Columns.

Sub Ex_SwitchRowsColumns()

Dim cht As Chart

'Add new chart
ActiveSheet.Shapes.AddChart.Select
With ActiveChart
'Specify source data and orientation
.SetSourceData Source:=Sheets("Temp").Range("C5:D7"), PlotBy:=xlRows ' you can use xlColumns to swith it
End With

End Sub

30. Set Chart Data Labels and Legends using Excel VBA

You can set Chart Data Labels and Legends by using SetElement property in Excl VBA

Sub Ex_AddDataLabels()

Dim cht As Chart

'Add new chart
ActiveSheet.Shapes.AddChart.Select
With ActiveChart
'Specify source data and orientation
.SetSourceData Source:=Sheet1.Range("A1:B5"), PlotBy:=xlColumns
'Set Chart type
.ChartType = xlPie
'set data label at center
.SetElement (msoElementDataLabelCenter)
'set legend at bottom
.SetElement (msoElementLegendBottom)
End With
End Sub

31. Changing Axis Titles of a Chart in Excel VBA

Following is the code to change the chart Axis titles using Excel VBA..

Sub Ex_ChangeAxisTitles()
activechart.chartobjects(1).activate
ActiveChart.Axes(xlCategory).HasTitle = True
ActiveChart.Axes(xlCategory).AxisTitle.Text = "Quarter"

ActiveChart.Axes(xlValue).HasTitle = True
ActiveChart.Axes(xlValue).AxisTitle.Text = "Sales"

End Sub

32. Change Titles of a Chart using Excel VBA

Following is the code to change the chart titles using Excel VBA..

Sub Ex_ChangeChartTitles()
ActiveSheet.ChartObjects(1).Activate
ActiveChart.HasTitle = True
ActiveChart.ChartTitle.Text = "Overal Summary"

End Sub

33. Send an Excel Chart to an Outlook email using VBA

Download Example File:
ANALYSIS TABS – SendExcelChartToOutLook.xlsm

Following is the code to Send an Excel Chart to an Outlook email using VBA.

Sub SendChartThroughMail()
'Add refernce to Microsoft Outlook object Library

Dim olMail As MailItem
Dim objOL As Object
Dim sImgPath As String

Dim sHi As String
Dim sBody As String
Dim sThanks As String

' Saving chart as image
sImgPath = ThisWorkbook.Path & "Temp_" & Format(Now(), "DD_MM_YY_HH_MM_SS") & ".bmp"
Sheets("Sheet1").ChartObjects(1).Chart.Export sImgPath

'creating html body with image
sHi = "<font size='3' color='black'>" & "Hi," & "<br> <br>" & "Here is the required solution: " & "<br> <br> </font>"

sBody = "<p align='Left'><img src=""cid:" & Mid(sImgPath, InStrRev(sImgPath, "") + 1) & """ width=400 height=300 > <br> <br>"

sThanks = "<font size='3'>" & "Many thanks - ANALYSISTABS.COM <br>The Complete Reference For Analyst <br> website:<A HREF=""https://www.analysistabs.com""> analysistabs.com</A>" & "<br> <br> </font>"

'sending the email

Set objOL = CreateObject("Outlook.Application")
Set olMail = objOL.CreateItem(olMailItem)

With olMail
.To = "youremail@orgdomain.com"
.Subject = "ANALYSISTABS.COM: Test Mail with chart"
.Attachments.Add sImgPath
.HTMLBody = sHi & sBody & sThanks
.Display
End With

'Delete the saved chart
Kill sImgPath

'Free-up the objects
Set olMail = Nothing
Set olApp = Nothing

End Sub

Top

Excel VBA Chart Constants and Enumerations

Chart Types, Constants and Enumerations

CHART TYPE	VBA CONSTANT	VALUE
AREA Charts
AREA	xlArea	1
STACKED AREA	xlAreaStacked	76
100% STACKED AREA	xlAreaStacked100	77
3D AREA	xl3DArea	-4098
3D STACKED AREA	xl3DAreaStacked	78
3D 100% STACKED AREA	xl3DAreaStacked100	79
BAR Charts
3D CLUSTERED BAR	xl3DBarClustered	60
3D STACKED BAR	xl3DBarStacked	61
3D 100% STACKED BAR	xl3DBarStacked100	62
CLUSTERED BAR	xlBarClustered	57
STACKED BAR	xlBarStacked	58
100% STACKED BAR	xlBarStacked100	59
CLUSTERED CONE BAR	xlConeBarClustered	102
STACKED CONE BAR	xlConeBarStacked	103
100% STACKED CONE BAR	xlConeBarStacked100	104
CLUSTERED CYLINDER BAR	xlCylinderBarClustered	95
STACKED CYLINDER BAR	xlCylinderBarStacked	96
100% STACKED CYLINDER BAR	xlCylinderBarStacked100	97
CLUSTERED PYRAMID BAR	xlPyramidBarClustered	109
STACKED PYRAMID BAR	xlPyramidBarStacked	110
100% STACKED PYRAMID BAR	xlPyramidBarStacked100	111
BUBBLE Charts
3D BUBBLE, BUBBLE WITH 3D EFFECTS	xlBubble3DEffect	87
BUBBLE	xlBubble	15
COLUMN Charts
3D CLUSTERED COLUMN	xl3DColumnClustered	54
3D COLUMN	xl3DColumn	-4100
3D CONE COLUMN	xlConeCol	105
3D CYLINDER COLUMN	xlCylinderCol	98
3D PYRAMID COLUMN	xlPyramidCol	112
3D STACKED COLUMN	xl3DColumnStacked	55
3D 100% STACKED COLUMN	xl3DColumnStacked100	56
CLUSTERED COLUMN	xlColumnClustered	51
STACKED COLUMN	xlColumnStacked	52
100% STACKED COLUMN	xlColumnStacked100	53
CLUSTERED CONE COLUMN	xlConeColClustered	99
STACKED CONE COLUMN	xlConeColStacked	100
100% STACKED CONE COLUMN	xlConeColStacked100	101
CLUSTERED CYLINDER COLUMN	xlCylinderColClustered	92
STACKED CYLINDER COLUMN	xlCylinderColStacked	93
100% STACKED CYLINDER COLUMN	xlCylinderColStacked100	94
CLUSTERED PYRAMID COLUMN	xlPyramidColClustered	106
STACKED PYRAMID COLUMN	xlPyramidColStacked	107
100% STACKED PYRAMID COLUMN	xlPyramidColStacked100	108
DOUGHNUT Charts
DOUGHNUT	xlDoughnut	-4120
EXPLODED DOUGHNUT	xlDoughnutExploded	80
LINE Charts
3D LINE	xl3DLine	-4101
LINE	xlLine	4
LINE WITH MARKERS	xlLineMarkers	65
STACKED LINE	xlLineStacked	63
100% STACKED LINE	xlLineStacked100	64
STACKED LINE WITH MARKERS	xlLineMarkersStacked	66
100% STACKED LINE WITH MARKERS	xlLineMarkersStacked100	67
PIE Charts
3D PIE	xl3DPie	-4102
3D EXPLODED PIE	xl3DPieExploded	70
BAR OF PIE	xlBarOfPie	71
EXPLODED PIE	xlPieExploded	69
PIE	xlPie	5
PIE OF PIE	xlPieOfPie	68
RADAR Charts
RADAR	xlRadar	-4151
FILLED RADAR	xlRadarFilled	82
RADAR WITH DATA MARKERS	xlRadarMarkers	81
SCATTER Charts
SCATTER	xlXYScatter	-4169
SCATTER WITH LINES	xlXYScatterLines	74
SCATTER WITH LINES AND NO DATA MARKERS	xlXYScatterLinesNoMarkers	75
SCATTER WITH SMOOTH LINES	xlXYScatterSmooth	72
SCATTER WITH SMOOTH LINES AND NO DATA MARKERS	xlXYScatterSmoothNoMarkers	73
STOCK Charts
STOCK HLC (HIGH-LOW-CLOSE)	xlStockHLC	88
STOCK OHLC (OPEN-HIGH-LOW-CLOSE)	xlStockOHLC	89
STOCK VHLC (VOLUME-HIGH-LOW-CLOSE)	xlStockVHLC	90
STOCK VOHLC (VOLUME-OPEN-HIGH-LOW-CLOSE)	xlStockVOHLC	91
SURFACE Charts
3D SURFACE	xlSurface	83
3D SURFACE WIREFRAME	xlSurfaceWireframe	84
SURFACE TOP VIEW	xlSurfaceTopView	85
SURFACE TOP VIEW WIREFRAME	xlSurfaceTopViewWireframe	86

Marker Styles, Constants and Enumerations

Marker Styles	Name	Value
Automatic markers	xlMarkerStyleAutomatic	-4105
Circular markers	xlMarkerStyleCircle	8
Long bar markers	xlMarkerStyleDash	-4115
Diamond-shaped markers	xlMarkerStyleDiamond	2
Short bar markers	xlMarkerStyleDot	-4118
No markers	xlMarkerStyleNone	-4142
Picture markers	xlMarkerStylePicture	-4147
Square markers with a plus sign	xlMarkerStylePlus	9
Square markers	xlMarkerStyleSquare	1
Square markers with an asterisk	xlMarkerStyleStar	5
Triangular markers	xlMarkerStyleTriangle	3
Square markers with an X	xlMarkerStyleX	-4168

Line Styles, Constants and Enumerations

Line Style	Value
xlContinuous	1
xlDash	-4115
xlDashDot	4
xlDashDotDot	5
xlDot	-4118
xlDouble	-4119
xlLineStyleNone	-4142
xlSlantDashDot	13

Example file to Download

You can download the example file and have a look into the working codes.
ANALYSISTABS- Chart VBA Examples

Reference:
MSDN

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Related Posts

• • Excel Chart VBA Examples and Tutorials – Learning Path
  • Creating Charts using Excel VBA
    • 1. Adding New Chart for Selected Data using Sapes.AddChart Method in Excel VBA
    • 2. Adding New Chart for Selected Data using Charts.Add Method : Creating Chart Sheet in Excel VBA
    • 3. Adding New Chart for Selected Data using Charts.Add Method : In Existing Sheet using Excel VBA
    • 4. Difference between embedded Chart and Chart Sheet in Excel:
    • 5. Adding New Chart for Selected Data using ChartObjects.Add Method in Excel VBA
    • 6. Assigning Charts to an Object in Excel VBA
    • 7. Changing the Chart Position in Excel VBA
    • 8. Align Chart Object at a Particular Range or Cell in Excel VBA
    • 9. Use with statement while dealing with Charts and avoid the accessing the same object repeatedly in Excel VBA
    • 10. You can use ActiveChart Object to access the active chart in Excel VBA
  • Setting Chart Types using Excel VBA
    • 11. Example to Change Chart type using Excel Chart Enumerations in Excel VBA
    • 12. Example to Change Chart type using Excel Chart Constants in VBA
    • 13. Example to set the type as a Pie Chart in Excel VBA
    • 14. Example to set the chart type as a Line Chart in Excel VBA
    • 15. Example to set the chart type as a Bar Chart in Excel VBA
    • 16. Example to set the chart type as a XYScatter Chart in Excel VBA
  • Formatting Chart Objects using Excel VBA
    • 17. Changing Chart Background Color – Chart Aria Interior Color in Excel VBA
    • 18. Changing PlotAria Background Color – PlotAria Interior Color in Excel VBA
    • 19.Changing Chart Series Background Color – Series Interior Color in Excel VBA
    • 20. Changing Chart Series Marker Style in Excel VBA
    • 21. Changing Chart Series Line Style in Excel VBA
    • 22. Changing Chart Series Border Color in Excel VBA
    • 23. Change Chart Axis NumberFormat in Excel VBA
    • 24. Formatting Axis Labels: Changing Axis Font to Bold using Excel VBA
    • 25. Two Y-axes Left and Right of Charts(Primary Axis and Secondary Axis) using Excel VBA
  • Chart Collection in Excel VBA
    • 26. Set equal widths and heights for all charts available in a Worksheet using Excel VBA
    • 27. Delete All Charts in a Worksheet using Excel VBA
  • Other useful Examples and tutorials on Excel VBA Charting
    • 28. Set Chart Data Source using Excel VBA
    • 29. Swap or Switch Rows and Columns in Excel Charts using VBA
    • 30. Set Chart Data Labels and Legends using Excel VBA
    • 31. Changing Axis Titles of a Chart in Excel VBA
    • 32. Change Titles of a Chart using Excel VBA
    • 33. Send an Excel Chart to an Outlook email using VBA
  • Excel VBA Chart Constants and Enumerations
    • Chart Types, Constants and Enumerations
    • Marker Styles, Constants and Enumerations
    • Line Styles, Constants and Enumerations
  • Example file to Download

VBA Reference

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30 Comments

1. Tim
   December 18, 2013 at 11:33 PM — Reply

   HI there PNRao,

   This is a really great reference – in the past, I’ve beat around the object browser as well. I use MS Graph in an MS Access application (currently A2007 in process of being upgraded from A2003). I have numerous controls to do some of the tasks you’ve identified here and others as well. I also have a button for the very few advanced users UI have to be able to actually open MS Graph in a separate window and do formatting there. What I’m trying to figure out how to do is enumerate through ALL properties of a chart and save them as an array or tab delimited string in a database (Oracle in this case) field.

   Is there anyway to do this? I’ve done lots of the sorts of enumeration that you show show excellently here. What I would very much like to do is to be able to enumerate all formatting properties of a chart to be able to store it (above) and retrieve.

   Do you have any ideas? Thanks in advance,
   —
   Tim

2. PNRao
   December 19, 2013 at 11:30 AM — Reply

   Hi Tim,
   It is good idea to store all properties as enumerations in a field and draw the charts based on the requirement. You can consider the following things to save in the data base.
   1. Chart Type
   2. Data Source
   3. Axes (Primary/Secondary)
   4. Border
   5. Number Format
   6. Legend Alignment
   7. Data Labels
   8. Chart title

   You can make all the above properties as dynamic and the other things like Colors and minimum and maximum axis should be automatic.

   And you can provide UI to format the charts using drop-down lists and Text boxes. For example, you can show different chart types in drop-down and chart type can be changed based on the user selection. You can provide text box to enter the chart title, it should save in your database for chart titles enumeration to reflect on your chart.

   Hope this helps, let me know if you need any help on this.

   Thanks
   PNRao!

3. kamran
   February 28, 2014 at 3:44 PM — Reply

   One of the best Tutorial for VBA macro.

4. Antoni
   April 23, 2014 at 9:02 PM — Reply

   Hi,

   My boss has asked me to do many graphics chars, i love the example and explanations that have left at this web, I would like to do what our friend says PNRao, please have you any example of how to do it?

   Thank you very much.
   Antoni.

5. PNRao
   April 24, 2014 at 8:48 PM — Reply

   Hi Antoni,

   We can automate charting using VBA. We have provided some examples in download page. You can download and see the examples, let us know if you need any help.

   Thanks-PNRao!

6. Antoni
   April 25, 2014 at 8:15 PM — Reply

   Hi PNRao,

   I can’t found examples in the Download section, can you help me please?, or can you send me a links?

   Thank you.

7. PNRao
   April 26, 2014 at 12:08 AM — Reply

   Hi Antoni,
   I have added the example file at end of the post. Please download and see the code.

   Thanks-PNRao!

8. Sam
   May 4, 2014 at 9:32 AM — Reply

   Hi,
   I am having a task, in which i need to copy chart from one excel sheet to another excel sheet.
   So can you please help me in this.
   Thanks,
   Sam

9. PNRao
   May 4, 2014 at 11:40 AM — Reply

   Hi Sam,

   You can use the Copy method as shown below:
   [vb]
   Sub sbVBA_Chart_Copy()
   Sheet1.ChartObjects(«Chart 1»).Copy ‘Sheet name and Chart Object name to be copied
   Sheet2.Activate ‘Activate your destination Sheet
   Range(«G1»).Select ‘Select your destination cell
   ActiveSheet.Paste ‘Now Paste
   End Sub
   [/vb]

   Thanks-PNRao!

10. Ross
    December 29, 2014 at 9:02 PM — Reply

    Hi PNRao,

    Thanks for the above it’s really helpful, although I’m still stuck!

    Is there a way to so that when making a graph it has a certain destination within the sheet so it’s not pasted over my data?

    Thank you!!

11. เสื้อคู่
    May 25, 2015 at 3:43 PM — Reply

    Hi, this weekend is pleasant in favor of me, since this moment i am reading
    this great informative post here at my residence.

12. Nkhoma Kenneth
    October 4, 2015 at 1:27 PM — Reply

    Thanks very much for the tutorial, it is a great one indeed and very helpful.

    Thanks to you, i have learn’t something.

13. Richard
    December 1, 2015 at 4:59 PM — Reply

    Hi Guys
    Great info – Thanks

    I’m trying to automate some graph formatting, and whilst I’ve worked out how to change the range for a xlTimeScale based graph, I want an easy way for the user to define which graphs need to be scaled to current month rather than all year.

    I thought of putting a text string into the Alt Text Description box (found under / but how do I read that field from a macro?

    If it were a shape I could use something like shapeDesc = sheet(1).Shapes(1).AlternativeText but that doesn’t work for ChartObjects.

    Any ideas?
    Thanks
    Richard

    Always learning …

14. Richard
    December 1, 2015 at 7:44 PM — Reply

    Hah! Got it guys.
    I’ve decided to scroll through each sheet. In each sheet scroll through each Shape. If the Shape.Type = msoChart Then I can pick up the Alternative Text and act accordingly.

    Code extract:
    For lShtCtr = 1 To ThisWorkbook.Sheets.Count
    Debug.Print “Checking worksheet ” & lShtCtr & ” ” & Sheets(lShtCtr).Name & “. Detected ” & ThisWorkbook.Sheets(lShtCtr).Shapes.Count & ” shapes.”
    For lShapeCtr = 1 To ThisWorkbook.Sheets(lShtCtr).Shapes.Count
    If ThisWorkbook.Sheets(lShtCtr).Shapes(lShapeCtr).Type = msoChart Then
    myText = ThisWorkbook.Sheets(lShtCtr).Shapes(lShapeCtr).AlternativeText
    Debug.Print “Alt Text in ” & ThisWorkbook.Sheets(lShtCtr).Shapes(lShapeCtr).Name & ” =:” & myText
    If InStr(1, myText, “#AutoScale”, vbTextCompare) > 0 Then
    Debug.Print “Scaling axes on ” & ThisWorkbook.Sheets(lShtCtr).Shapes(lShapeCtr).Name
    Call ScaleAxes(ThisWorkbook.Sheets(lShtCtr), ThisWorkbook.Sheets(lShtCtr).Shapes(lShapeCtr).Name)
    End If ‘myText contains #AutoScale
    End If ‘Shape.Type = msoChart
    Next lShapeCtr
    Next lShtCtr

    The debug.print allow you to see what is going on. I’ve used the magic key phrase ‘#AutoScale’ as my command

    Thanks
    Richard

    Always learning

15. Krishnaprasad Menon
    January 2, 2016 at 10:45 AM — Reply

    Very nice tutorial.. Chart creating example file is not available on download… Kindly make it available

16. PNRao
    January 2, 2016 at 11:38 PM — Reply

    Thanks for your valuable feedback and reporting an issue, we have fixed it.

    Thanks-PNRao!

17. HS
    March 19, 2016 at 5:12 PM — Reply

    Very quickly this site will be famous amid all blogging and site-building
    users, due to it’s good posts

18. chris
    May 9, 2016 at 1:05 AM — Reply

    i want to explode on a pie chart the piece with the max value. How can i do this? Also what if I have on a pie two pieces with the same max value? Thank you.

19. Nagaraju
    July 1, 2016 at 12:17 PM — Reply

    Hi All,

    I’m trying to open website through Vba code….It was done…I need small information that if need code how to search search any information in google and display.

    Regards,
    Nagu

20. Salty
    August 25, 2016 at 11:12 PM — Reply

    Hi
    This comment relates to your Example 13, above, but may apply to all of the Chart.Type examples.
    Using Excel 2016 on Windows 8, I had to change one line as follows:
    From > Chart.Type = xlPie
    To > Chart.Chart.Type = xlPie

21. Salty
    August 29, 2016 at 9:01 AM — Reply

    Hi
    Sorry, I sent you a typo in my August 25 2016 comment. It should have said:
    It should have said
    To > Chart.ChartType = xlPie

22. Raspreet Singh Jaggi
    October 21, 2016 at 3:22 PM — Reply

    Your codes are very much helpful Mr.PNRao.

23. Dwayne
    November 29, 2016 at 10:01 AM — Reply

    Hi all,
    That was quite a read! I’ve come away with many ideas for future spreadsheets..

    I do have one quick query, I’m using the following script to change the data range for a chart I’m using;

    Sub RECPLINE()
    ActiveSheet.ChartObjects(“Chart 1”).Activate
    ActiveChart.SeriesCollection(1).Select
    ActiveChart.SetSourceData Source:=Range(“=Data!$AR$3:$AW$31”)
    End Sub

    Instead of having 6 charts crammed into one screen, I aim to have one chart and 6 buttons to change the data range in the chart.
    Everything works fine, but I have formatted the visual aspects of the chart to be more appealing. After saving and re-opening the spreadsheet, the first chart has kept the formatting, but all the other charts adopt the standard formatting when the data range is changed..

    Is there any way I can force the existing visual changes, or will I have to code the changes into the VBA script each time I change the data range?

    Any help would be greatly appreciated!

    Cheers,
    Dwayne.

24. Rommel Pastidio
    January 29, 2018 at 1:47 PM — Reply

    Hi PNrao,

    The codes here is very useful, for now I am creating excel with VBA for charting. can you help me with below inquiry?
    1. if I plot a chart using VBA how can I add comment on the point (if out of specs)?

25. anil reddy
    March 28, 2019 at 5:47 PM — Reply

    hi PNrao

    how to do data validation using vba

26. paulus
    May 20, 2019 at 12:21 PM — Reply

    how can i specify range for x-axis and for y-axis when coding for a line graph, and all my data in rows. for example row 1 is my x-axis and row 2 is my y-axis?

27. amol
    June 3, 2019 at 4:29 PM — Reply

    sBody = ” ”

    Can you please explain above code…

28. amol
    June 3, 2019 at 4:30 PM — Reply

    Mid(sImgPath, InStrRev(sImgPath, “) + 1)

    kindly explain the above code…

29. PNRao
    July 4, 2019 at 6:10 PM — Reply

    
Sub ttt()

    'Let us say, you have the file path and name asigned to the variable
    sImgPath = "C:MainFolderSubFolderYourFileName.xlsm"

    'You can extract the filename using the given code
    Filename = Mid(sImgPath, InStrRev(sImgPath, ") + 1)

    'Explaination
    'InStrRev function checks find the fist finding posing of the given string (") in the sImgPath from the right
    'i.e; InStrRev(sImgPath, ") expression results the value 24 in the above code
    'And the mid function will return the substing from the given starting positions
    '.ie;Mid(sImgPath,24+1) returns the substing of sImgPath from the 25th position
    '="YourFileName.xlsm"

    End Sub


30. PNRao
    July 4, 2019 at 6:12 PM — Reply

    This will assign blank space to the sBody variable.

Excel charts and graphs are used to visually display data. In this tutorial, we are going to cover how to use VBA to create and manipulate charts and chart elements.

You can create embedded charts in a worksheet or charts on their own chart sheets.

Creating an Embedded Chart Using VBA

We have the range A1:B4 which contains the source data, shown below:

You can create a chart using the ChartObjects.Add method. The following code will create an embedded chart on the worksheet:

Sub CreateEmbeddedChartUsingChartObject()

Dim embeddedchart As ChartObject

Set embeddedchart = Sheets("Sheet1").ChartObjects.Add(Left:=180, Width:=300, Top:=7, Height:=200)
embeddedchart.Chart.SetSourceData Source:=Sheets("Sheet1").Range("A1:B4")

End Sub

The result is:

You can also create a chart using the Shapes.AddChart method. The following code will create an embedded chart on the worksheet:

Sub CreateEmbeddedChartUsingShapesAddChart()

Dim embeddedchart As Shape

Set embeddedchart = Sheets("Sheet1").Shapes.AddChart
embeddedchart.Chart.SetSourceData Source:=Sheets("Sheet1").Range("A1:B4")

End Sub

Specifying a Chart Type Using VBA

We have the range A1:B5 which contains the source data, shown below:

You can specify a chart type using the ChartType Property. The following code will create a pie chart on the worksheet since the ChartType Property has been set to xlPie:

Sub SpecifyAChartType()

Dim chrt As ChartObject

Set chrt = Sheets("Sheet1").ChartObjects.Add(Left:=180, Width:=270, Top:=7, Height:=210)
chrt.Chart.SetSourceData Source:=Sheets("Sheet1").Range("A1:B5")
chrt.Chart.ChartType = xlPie

End Sub

The result is:

These are some of the popular chart types that are usually specified, although there are others:

• xlArea
• xlPie
• xlLine
• xlRadar
• xlXYScatter
• xlSurface
• xlBubble
• xlBarClustered
• xlColumnClustered

Adding a Chart Title Using VBA

We have a chart selected in the worksheet as shown below:

You have to add a chart title first using the Chart.SetElement method and then specify the text of the chart title by setting the ChartTitle.Text property.

The following code shows you how to add a chart title and specify the text of the title of the Active Chart:

Sub AddingAndSettingAChartTitle()

ActiveChart.SetElement (msoElementChartTitleAboveChart)
    ActiveChart.ChartTitle.Text = "The Sales of the Product"
    
End Sub

The result is:

Note: You must select the chart first to make it the Active Chart to be able to use the ActiveChart object in your code.

Changing the Chart Background Color Using VBA

We have a chart selected in the worksheet as shown below:

You can change the background color of the entire chart by setting the RGB property of the FillFormat object of the ChartArea object. The following code will give the chart a light orange background color:

Sub AddingABackgroundColorToTheChartArea()

ActiveChart.ChartArea.Format.Fill.ForeColor.RGB = RGB(253, 242, 227)

End Sub

The result is:

You can also change the background color of the entire chart by setting the ColorIndex property of the Interior object of the ChartArea object. The following code will give the chart an orange background color:

Sub AddingABackgroundColorToTheChartArea()

ActiveChart.ChartArea.Interior.ColorIndex = 40

End Sub

The result is:

Note: The ColorIndex property allows you to specify a color based on a value from 1 to 56, drawn from the preset palette, to see which values represent the different colors, click here.

Changing the Chart Plot Area Color Using VBA

We have a chart selected in the worksheet as shown below:

You can change the background color of just the plot area of the chart, by setting the RGB property of the FillFormat object of the PlotArea object. The following code will give the plot area of the chart a light green background color:

Sub AddingABackgroundColorToThePlotArea()

ActiveChart.PlotArea.Format.Fill.ForeColor.RGB = RGB(208, 254, 202)
    
End Sub

The result is:

Adding a Legend Using VBA

We have a chart selected in the worksheet, as shown below:

You can add a legend using the Chart.SetElement method. The following code adds a legend to the left of the chart:

Sub AddingALegend()

ActiveChart.SetElement (msoElementLegendLeft)

End Sub

The result is:

You can specify the position of the legend in the following ways:

• msoElementLegendLeft – displays the legend on the left side of the chart.
• msoElementLegendLeftOverlay – overlays the legend on the left side of the chart.
• msoElementLegendRight – displays the legend on the right side of the chart.
• msoElementLegendRightOverlay – overlays the legend on the right side of the chart.
• msoElementLegendBottom – displays the legend at the bottom of the chart.
• msoElementLegendTop – displays the legend at the top of the chart.

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Adding Data Labels Using VBA

We have a chart selected in the worksheet, as shown below:

You can add data labels using the Chart.SetElement method. The following code adds data labels to the inside end of the chart:

Sub AddingADataLabels()

ActiveChart.SetElement msoElementDataLabelInsideEnd

End Sub

The result is:

You can specify how the data labels are positioned in the following ways:

• msoElementDataLabelShow – display data labels.
• msoElementDataLabelRight – displays data labels on the right of the chart.
• msoElementDataLabelLeft – displays data labels on the left of the chart.
• msoElementDataLabelTop – displays data labels at the top of the chart.
• msoElementDataLabelBestFit – determines the best fit.
• msoElementDataLabelBottom – displays data labels at the bottom of the chart.
• msoElementDataLabelCallout – displays data labels as a callout.
• msoElementDataLabelCenter – displays data labels on the center.
• msoElementDataLabelInsideBase – displays data labels on the inside base.
• msoElementDataLabelOutSideEnd – displays data labels on the outside end of the chart.
• msoElementDataLabelInsideEnd – displays data labels on the inside end of the chart.

Adding an X-axis and Title in VBA

We have a chart selected in the worksheet, as shown below:

You can add an X-axis and X-axis title using the Chart.SetElement method. The following code adds an X-axis and X-axis title to the chart:

Sub AddingAnXAxisandXTitle()

With ActiveChart
.SetElement msoElementPrimaryCategoryAxisShow
.SetElement msoElementPrimaryCategoryAxisTitleHorizontal
End With


End Sub

The result is:

Adding a Y-axis and Title in VBA

We have a chart selected in the worksheet, as shown below:

You can add a Y-axis and Y-axis title using the Chart.SetElement method. The following code adds an Y-axis and Y-axis title to the chart:

Sub AddingAYAxisandYTitle()

With ActiveChart
.SetElement msoElementPrimaryValueAxisShow
.SetElement msoElementPrimaryValueAxisTitleHorizontal
End With
End Sub

The result is:

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Changing the Number Format of An Axis

We have a chart selected in the worksheet, as shown below:

You can change the number format of an axis. The following code changes the number format of the y-axis to currency:

Sub ChangingTheNumberFormat()

ActiveChart.Axes(xlValue).TickLabels.NumberFormat = "$#,##0.00"

End Sub

The result is:

Changing the Formatting of the Font in a Chart

We have the following chart selected in the worksheet as shown below:

You can change the formatting of the entire chart font, by referring to the font object and changing its name, font weight, and size. The following code changes the type, weight and size of the font of the entire chart.

Sub ChangingTheFontFormatting()

With ActiveChart


.ChartArea.Format.TextFrame2.TextRange.Font.Name = "Times New Roman"
.ChartArea.Format.TextFrame2.TextRange.Font.Bold = True
.ChartArea.Format.TextFrame2.TextRange.Font.Size = 14

End With

The result is:

Deleting a Chart Using VBA

We have a chart selected in the worksheet, as shown below:

We can use the following code in order to delete this chart:

Sub DeletingTheChart()

ActiveChart.Parent.Delete

End Sub

Referring to the ChartObjects Collection

You can access all the embedded charts in your worksheet or workbook by referring to the ChartObjects collection. We have two charts on the same sheet shown below:

We will refer to the ChartObjects collection in order to give both charts on the worksheet the same height, width, delete the gridlines, make the background color the same, give the charts the same plot area color and make the plot area line color the same color:

Sub ReferringToAllTheChartsOnASheet()

Dim cht As ChartObject

For Each cht In ActiveSheet.ChartObjects
cht.Height = 144.85
cht.Width = 246.61

cht.Chart.Axes(xlValue).MajorGridlines.Delete
cht.Chart.PlotArea.Format.Fill.ForeColor.RGB = RGB(242, 242, 242)
cht.Chart.ChartArea.Format.Fill.ForeColor.RGB = RGB(234, 234, 234)
cht.Chart.PlotArea.Format.Line.ForeColor.RGB = RGB(18, 97, 172)

Next cht

End Sub

The result is:

Inserting a Chart on Its Own Chart Sheet

We have the range A1:B6 which contains the source data, shown below:

You can create a chart using the Charts.Add method. The following code will create a chart on its own chart sheet:

Sub InsertingAChartOnItsOwnChartSheet()

Sheets("Sheet1").Range("A1:B6").Select
Charts.Add

End Sub

The result is:

See some of our other charting tutorials:

Charts in Excel

Create a Bar Chart in VBA

Программное создание графика (диаграммы) в VBA Excel с помощью метода Charts.Add на основе данных из диапазона ячеек на рабочем листе. Примеры.

Метод Charts.Add

В настоящее время на сайте разработчиков описывается метод Charts.Add2, который, очевидно, заменил метод Charts.Add. Тесты показали, что Charts.Add продолжает работать в новых версиях VBA Excel, поэтому в примерах используется именно он.

Синтаксис

Charts.Add ([Before], [After], [Count])

Charts.Add2 ([Before], [After], [Count], [NewLayout])

Параметры

Параметры методов Charts.Add и Charts.Add2:

Параметр	Описание
Before	Имя листа, перед которым добавляется новый лист с диаграммой. Необязательный параметр.
After	Имя листа, после которого добавляется новый лист с диаграммой. Необязательный параметр.
Count	Количество добавляемых листов с диаграммой. Значение по умолчанию – 1. Необязательный параметр.
NewLayout	Если NewLayout имеет значение True, диаграмма вставляется с использованием новых правил динамического форматирования (заголовок имеет значение «включено», а условные обозначения – только при наличии нескольких рядов). Необязательный параметр.

Если параметры Before и After опущены, новый лист с диаграммой вставляется перед активным листом.

Примеры

Таблицы

В качестве источников данных для примеров используются следующие таблицы:

Пример 1

Программное создание объекта Chart с типом графика по умолчанию и по исходным данным из диапазона «A2:B26»:

Sub Primer1() Dim myChart As Chart ‘создаем объект Chart с расположением нового листа по умолчанию Set myChart = ThisWorkbook.Charts.Add     With myChart         ‘назначаем объекту Chart источник данных         .SetSourceData (Sheets(«Лист1»).Range(«A2:B26»))         ‘переносим диаграмму на «Лист1» (отдельный лист диаграммы удаляется)         .Location xlLocationAsObject, «Лист1»     End With End Sub

Результат работы кода VBA Excel из первого примера:

Пример 2

Программное создание объекта Chart с двумя линейными графиками по исходным данным из диапазона «A2:C26»:

Sub Primer2() Dim myChart As Chart Set myChart = ThisWorkbook.Charts.Add     With myChart         .SetSourceData (Sheets(«Лист1»).Range(«A2:C26»))         ‘задаем тип диаграммы (линейный график с маркерами)         .ChartType = xlLineMarkers         .Location xlLocationAsObject, «Лист1»     End With End Sub

Результат работы кода VBA Excel из второго примера:

Пример 3

Программное создание объекта Chart с круговой диаграммой, разделенной на сектора, по исходным данным из диапазона «E2:F7»:

Sub Primer3() Dim myChart As Chart Set myChart = ThisWorkbook.Charts.Add     With myChart         .SetSourceData (Sheets(«Лист1»).Range(«E2:F7»))         ‘задаем тип диаграммы (пирог — круг, разделенный на сектора)         .ChartType = xlPie         ‘задаем стиль диаграммы (с отображением процентов)         .ChartStyle = 261         .Location xlLocationAsObject, «Лист1»     End With End Sub

Результат работы кода VBA Excel из третьего примера:

Примечание

В примерах использовались следующие методы и свойства объекта Chart:

Компонент	Описание
Метод SetSourceData	Задает диапазон исходных данных для диаграммы.
Метод Location	Перемещает диаграмму в заданное расположение (новый лист, существующий лист, элемент управления).
Свойство ChartType	Возвращает или задает тип диаграммы. Смотрите константы.
Свойство ChartStyle	Возвращает или задает стиль диаграммы. Значение нужного стиля можно узнать, записав макрос.

---

Chart Elements in Excel VBA (Part 1) — Chart Title, Chart Area, Plot Area, Chart Axes, Chart Series, Data Labels, Chart Legend

Contents:

Chart Title

Chart Area

Plot Area

Chart Axis

This chapter discusses some important chart elements contained on a chart, which include: chart area (ChartArea object); chart title (ChartTitle object); plot area (PlotArea object); chart series (Series object — single series in a chart, SeriesCollection object — a collection of all the Series objects in a chart, Error Bars, Leader Lines, Trendlines, Point object — single points, Points object — collection of all Point objects in a series); chart axis (Axis Object — a single axis, Axes Object  — collection of all the Axis objects in a chart, Gridlines object — major & minor gridlines, TickLabels Object — tick marks on an axis); chart Legend (Legend object, LegendEntry object — a single legend entry, LegendEntries object — a collection of legend entries, LegendKey object); data labels (DataLabel object — a single data label, DataLabels object — all data labels in a chart or series).

Individual chart elements can be formatted & manipulated in vba code, such as: Chart Area (A 2-D chart’s chart area contains: the axes, the chart title, the axis titles & the legend. A 3-D chart’s chart area contains the chart title & the legend, without including the plot area); Plot Area (area where chart data is plotted — the Plot Area is surrounded by the Chart Area. A 2-D chart’s plot area contains: the data markers, gridlines, data labels, trendlines & optional chart items placed in the chart area. A 3-D chart’s plot area additionally contains: the walls, floor, axes, axis titles & tick-mark labels in the chart.); Data Series (chart series are related data points plotted in a chart, each series having a distinct color or pattern and is represented in the chart legend); Chart Axis (the plot area is bordered by a line that is used as a frame of reference for measurement — axis which displays categories is referred as the x-axis, axis which displays values is referred as y-axis, for 3-D charts the z-axis represents depth of the chart); Chart or Axis Title (descriptive text displaying title for chart or axis, by default centered at the chart top or aligned to an axis); Tick Marks (small lines of measurement which intersect an axis, equated to divisions on a ruler); Gridlines (tick marks are extended by Gridlines from horizontal or vertical axis across the chart’s plot area which enables easier display & readability of chart data); Data Labels (applied to a chart series, a label provides additional information about a data marker or a point in a series — you can apply data labels to each or all points of a data series to display the series name / category names / data values / percentages / bubble size), Chart Legend (a graphic visually linking a legend entry with its associated series or trendline so that any formatting change in one automatically changes the other’s formatting).

This Chapter illustrates Chart Title, Chart Area, Plot Area & Chart Axes. Chart Elements — Chart Series, Data Labels & Chart Legend — are illustrated in Part 2.

Chart Title

Use the ChartTitle Property of the Chart object to return a ChartTitle object which represents the chart title — Syntax: objChart.ChartTitle. The chart title is accessed & manipulated through the properties & methods of the ChartTitle object, some of which are detailed below. The ChartTitle object exists and can be used only if the HasTitle property (of the Chart object) is True — Set (or return) to True for the chart title to be visible viz. objChart.HasTitle = True.

Commonly used Properties of the ChartTitle object:
Property	Syntax	Description
AutoScaleFont Property	objChartTitle.AutoScaleFont	Set (or returns) True where the chart title’s text font size will change whenever the chart size changes. False setting will keep the chart title font at the same size even when there is a change in chart size.
		Sheets(«Sheet1»).Activate ActiveSheet.ChartObjects(1).Activate ActiveChart.ChartTitle.Select Selection.AutoScaleFont = True
Caption Property	objChartTitle.Caption	Sets or returns the text for the chart title, as a string value.
Text Property	objChartTitle.Text	Sets or returns the text for the chart title, as a string value.
Characters Property	objChartTitle.Characters(Start, Length)	Use the Characters property which returns a Characters object representing a range of characters within the text string of chart title, and this will enable formatting these specific characters. Both arguments are optional — the Start argument specifies the first character for the range of characters where 1 is the default value which means that omitting the argument will start the range of characters returned from the first character. The Length argument specifies the number of characters & omitting it will return all characters after the character specified in the Start argument.
With Sheets(«Sheet1»).ChartObjects(1).Chart.ChartTitle ‘set the text for chart title .Caption = «Yr-Qtr« ‘format chart title text .Font.Name = «Arial» .Font.Size = 16 .Font.Bold = True ‘format characters within a text string — starting at 4th character & a length of 3 characters — representing the word «Qtr» With .Characters(4, 3) .Font.Italic = True .Font.Color = RGB(255, 0, 0) End With End With
Format Property	objChartTitle.Format	Returns a ChartFormat object which contains the line, fill & effect formatting for a chart element. The ChartFormat object provides access to the new Office Art formatting options that are available in Excel 2007 so that by using this object you can apply many new graphics to chart elements using vba formatting.
Left Property	objChartTitle.Left	Sets or returns the distance, in points, from the chart title’s left edge to the left edge of the chart area
Top Property	objPlotArea.Top	Sets or returns the distance, in points, from the chart title’s top edge to the top edge of the chart area.
HorizontalAlignment Property	objChartTitle.HorizontalAlignment	Sets or returns a value (xlCenter, xlDistributed, xlJustify, xlLeft or xlRight) for the horizontal alignment of the chart title.
VerticalAlignment Property	objChartTitle.VerticalAlignment	Sets or returns a value (xlBottom, xlCenter, xlDistributed, xlJustify or xlTop) for the vertical alignment of the chart title.
Shadow Property	objChartTitle.Shadow	Sets or returns a Boolean value determining if the chart title has a shadow or not . Use True to add a shadow: Sheets(«Sheet1»).ChartObjects(1).Chart.ChartTitle.Shadow = True
Orientation Property	objChartTitle.Orientation	Sets or returns a value [xlDownward (-4170), xlHorizontal (-4128), xlUpward (-4171), xlVertical (-4166), or an integer value from -90 to 90 degrees] that determines the text orientation. The constants indicate whether Text runs downward / Horizontal / Upward / Downward & is Centered in the cell, respectively.
Name Property	objChartTitle.Name	returns the name of the ChartTitle object, as a string value.
Parent Property	objChartTitle.Parent	returns the parent object for the chart title viz. returns the chart name: MsgBox Sheets(«Sheet1»).ChartObjects(1).Chart.ChartTitle.Parent.Name
Position Property	objChartTitle.Position	Sets or returns the chart title’s position on the chart, wherein the constant xlChartElementPositionCustom (-4114) specifies a specific position for the chart title & the constant xlChartElementPositionAutomatic (-4105) automatically sets the chart title’s position.
Commonly used Methods of the ChartTitle object:
Method	Syntax	Description
Delete Method	objChartTitle.Delete	deletes the ChartTitle object
Select Method	objChartTitle.Select	selects the ChartTitle object

Child Objects for the ChartTitle Object: Above we have discussed: the ChartFormat object — use the Format Property — objChartTitle.Format — to return the ChartFormat object which contains the line, fill & effect formatting for the chart title; the Characters Object — use the Characters property — objChartTitle.Characters(Start, Length) — to return a Characters object representing a range of characters within the text string of chart title, and this will enable formatting these specific characters. Some other child objects which are often used with the ChartTitle Object include: ChartFillFormat Object — use the Fill Property — objChartTitle.Fill — to return a ChartFillFormat object (valid only for charts), to manipulate fill formatting for chart elements; Interior Object — use the Interior property — objChartTitle.Interior — to return the Interior object, to manipulate the chart element’s interior (inside area); Border Object — use the Border Property — objChartTitle.Border — to return a Border object, to manipulate a chart element’s border; Font Object — use the Font Property — objChartTitle.Font — to return a Font object, to manipulate the font attributes viz. font name, font size, font color, … The difference between ChartFillFormat object & the Interior object may be somewhat blurred, but seemingly the ChartFillFormat object emphasises gradient & texture fills, whereas the Interior object emphasises solid fills & pattern fills (though ChartFillFormat object also has a Pattern property).

Example: Part 2 of 8 — Manipulate Chart Title — refer Image 1.2

Sub EmbChart_ChartTitle_2()
‘manipulate Chart Title — refer Image 1.2

Dim wsChart As Worksheet

‘declare a ChartObject object

Dim oChObj As ChartObject

Set wsChart = Sheets(«Sheet19»)

‘set ChartObject object by index number

Set oChObj = wsChart.ChartObjects(1)

‘using the Chart Property of the ChartObject returns a Chart object which refers to a chart

With oChObj.Chart

‘the ChartTitle object represents the chart title

With .ChartTitle

‘set the text for the chart title, using the Text Property of the ChartTitle object

.Text = «Sales-Profit-Mktg Exp«

‘set the font to Bold Arial 12 point

.Font.Name = «Arial«

.Font.Size = 12

.Font.Bold = True

‘dark blue

.Font.Color = RGB(0, 30, 90)

‘Format property of the ChartTitle returns returns the ChartFormat object — using the Fill Property of the ChartFormat object to return a FillFormat object (which contains fill formatting properties), to set the foreground fill color &

gradient for the ChartTitle

.Format.Fill.ForeColor.RGB = RGB(228, 109, 10)

‘the OneColorGradient Method of the FillFormat object, sets a one-color gradient for the specified fill — specifying the style for a gradient fill with the MsoGradientStyle Enumeration ‘msoGradientHorizontal’ for a Gradient running

horizontally across the shape.

‘gradient variant of 2 & gradient degree of 1 (lightest)

.Format.Fill.OneColorGradient msoGradientHorizontal, 2, 1

‘use the Border property to return a Border object — use the LineStyle Property of the Border object to set a line style for the border — use the XlLineStyle Enumeration of xlDot to set a dotted line

.Border.LineStyle = xlDot

‘use the Weight Property of the Border object to set the border weight — use the XlBorderWeight Enumeration of xlThin for specifying the weight of the border as Thin

.Border.Weight = xlThin

‘set border color with Color Property of the Border object

.Border.Color = RGB(0, 30, 90)

End With

End With

End Sub

Chart Area

The area where chart data is plotted is the Plot Area — the Plot Area is surrounded by the Chart Area. A 2-D chart’s chart area contains: the axes, the chart title, the axis titles & the legend. A 3-D chart’s chart area contains the chart title & the legend, without including the area where the data is plotted within the chart area (ie. the plot area). The ChartArea object is used to format the chart area. You will use the chart area fill separately, which is distinct from the fill for plot area.

Use the ChartArea Property of the Chart object to return a ChartArea object which refers to the chart area in a chart. Syntax: objChart.ChartArea.

Commonly used Properties of the ChartArea object:
Property	Syntax	Description
Format Property	objChartArea.Format	Returns a ChartFormat object which contains the line, fill & effect formatting for a chart element. The ChartFormat object provides access to the new Office Art formatting options that are available in Excel 2007 so that by using this object you can apply many new graphics to chart elements using vba formatting.
Height Property	objChartArea.Height	Sets or returns the height, in points, of the chart area
Width Property	objChartArea.Width	Sets or returns the width, in points, of the chart area
Left Property	objChartArea.Left	Returns the distance, in points, from the left edge of the chart area to the left edge of the chart. To set the distance, in points, from the left edge of the embedded chart to the left edge of column A on a worksheet use the Left property of the ChartObject object viz objChartObject.Left.
Top Property	objChartArea.Top	Returns the distance, in points, from the top edge of the chart area to the top of the chart. To set the distance, in points, from the top edge of the embedded chart to the top of row 1 on a worksheet, use the Top property of the ChartObject object viz objChartObject.Top.
Name Property	objChartArea.Name	returns the name of the ChartArea object, as a string value.
Parent Property	objChartArea.Parent	returns the parent object for the chart area
RoundedCorners Property	objChartArea.RoundedCorners	sets or returns a Boolean value determining if the chart area has rounded corners or not — True indicates rounded corners.
Shadow Property	objChartArea.Shadow	sets or returns a Boolean value determining if the chart area has a shadow or not
Commonly used Methods of the ChartArea object:
Method	Syntax	Description
ClearContents Method	objChartArea.ClearContents	clears all data from the chart area but does not clear the formatting which remains intact.
ClearFormats Method	objChartArea.ClearFormats	clears all formatting from the chart area
Clear Method	objChartArea.Clear	clears the Chart Area — clears all, including data and the formatting.
Select Method	objChartArea.Select	selects the chart area
Copy Method	objChartArea.Copy	copies chart area to clipboard

Child Objects for the ChartArea Object: Above we have discussed: the ChartFormat object — use the Format Property — objChartArea.Format — to return the ChartFormat object which contains the line, fill & effect formatting for the chart area. Some other child objects which are often used with the ChartArea Object include: ChartFillFormat Object — use the Fill Property — objChartArea.Fill — to return a ChartFillFormat object (valid only for charts), to manipulate fill formatting for chart elements; Interior Object — use the Interior property — objChartArea.Interior — to return the Interior object, to manipulate the chart element’s interior (inside area); Border Object — use the Border Property — objChartArea.Border — to return a Border object, to manipulate a chart element’s border; Font Object — use the Font Property — objChartArea.Font — to return a Font object, to manipulate the font attributes viz. font name, font size, font color, … The difference between ChartFillFormat object & the Interior object may be somewhat blurred, but seemingly the ChartFillFormat object emphasises gradient & texture fills, whereas the Interior object emphasises solid fills & pattern fills (though ChartFillFormat object also has a Pattern property).

Example: Part 3 of 8 — Manipulate Chart Area — refer Image 1.3

Sub EmbChart_ChartArea_3()
‘manipulate Chart Area — refer Image 1.3

Dim wsChart As Worksheet

‘declare a ChartObject object

Dim oChObj As ChartObject

Set wsChart = Sheets(«Sheet19»)

‘set ChartObject object by name

Set oChObj = wsChart.ChartObjects(«QtrlySalesProfitChart»)

‘using the Chart Property of the ChartObject returns a Chart object which refers to a chart

With oChObj.Chart

‘using the ChartArea Property of the Chart object returns the ChartArea object which represents the chart area

With .ChartArea

‘the Format Property of the ChartArea object returns the ChartFormat object, and the Line Property of the ChartFormat object returns a LineFormat object that contains line formatting properties for the specified Chart Area — for a chart with a border, the LineFormat object represents the border

‘turn on the border for the chart area

.Format.Line.Visible = True

‘using the Weight Property of the LineFormat object, to set the weight for the border

.Format.Line.Weight = 2

‘using the Fill Property of the ChartFormat object returns a FillFormat object, that contains fill formatting properties for the for the ChartArea object. Then use the ForeColor Property to return a ColorFormat object to specify the

foreground fill or solid color to green

.Format.Fill.ForeColor.RGB = RGB(0, 255, 0)

‘use the ColorIndex Property of the Border object to set the border color: to set no line color use ColorIndex = xlNone, or use ColorIndex 3 for red, 5 for blue, 4 for green, 6 for yellow, and so on.

.Border.ColorIndex = 3

‘use the LineStyle Property of the Border object to set a line style for the Border — continuous line

.Border.LineStyle = xlContinuous

End With

End With

End Sub

Plot Area

The area where chart data is plotted is the Plot Area — the Plot Area is surrounded by the Chart Area. A 2-D chart’s plot area contains: the data markers, gridlines, data labels, trendlines & optional chart items placed in the chart area. A 3-D chart’s plot area additionally contains: the walls, floor, axes, axis titles & tick-mark labels in the chart. You will use the chart area fill separately, which is distinct from the fill for plot area. The PlotArea Object is used to format the plot area.

Use the PlotArea property of the Chart object to return a PlotArea object which refers to the plot area of a chart. Syntax: objChart.PlotArea.

Commonly used Properties of the PlotArea object:
Property	Syntax	Description
Format Property	objPlotArea.Format	Returns a ChartFormat object which contains the line, fill & effect formatting for a chart element. The ChartFormat object provides access to the new Office Art formatting options that are available in Excel 2007 so that by using this object you can apply many new graphics to chart elements using vba formatting.
Height Property	objPlotArea.Height	Sets or returns the height, in points, of the plot area — the axis labels are included within the bounding rectangle for determining the height.
InsideHeight Property	objPlotArea.InsideHeight	Sets or returns the inside height, in points, of the plot area without including the axis labels.
Width Property	objPlotArea.Width	Sets or returns the width, in points, of the plot area — the axis labels are included within the bounding rectangle for determining the width.
InsideWidth Property	objPlotArea.InsideWidth	Sets or returns the inside width, in points, of the plot area without including the axis labels.
Left Property	objPlotArea.Left	Sets or returns the distance, in points, from the left edge of the chart area to the left edge of the plot area — the axis labels are included within the bounding rectangle for determining the distance.
InsideLeft Property	objPlotArea.InsideLeft	Sets or returns the distance, in points, from the left edge of the chart area to the inside left edge of the plot area without including the axis labels.
Top Property	objPlotArea.Top	Sets or returns the distance, in points, from the top edge of the chart area to the top edge of the plot area — the axis labels are included within the bounding rectangle for determining the distance.
InsideTop Property	objPlotArea.InsideTop	Sets or returns the distance, in points, from the top edge of the chart area to the inside top edge of the plot area without including the axis labels.
Name Property	objPlotArea.Name	returns the name of the PlotArea object, as a string value.
Parent Property	objPlotArea.Parent	returns the parent object for the plot area viz. returns the chart name: MsgBox Sheets(«Sheet1»).ChartObjects(1).Chart.PlotArea.Parent.Name
Position Property	objPlotArea.Position	Sets or returns the plot area’s position on the chart, wherein the constant xlChartElementPositionCustom (-4114) specifies a specific position for the plot area & the constant xlChartElementPositionAutomatic (-4105) automatically sets the plot area’s position.
Commonly used Methods of the PlotArea object:
Method	Syntax	Description
ClearFormats Method	objPlotArea.ClearFormats	clears all formatting from the plot area
Select Method	objPlotArea.Select	selects the plot area
		Sheets(«Sheet1»).ChartObjects(1).Chart.PlotArea.Select MsgBox Selection.Name

Child Objects for the PlotArea Object: Above we have discussed: the ChartFormat object — use the Format Property — objPlotArea.Format — to return the ChartFormat object which contains the line, fill & effect formatting for the plot area. Some other child objects which are often used with the PlotArea Object include: ChartFillFormat Object — use the Fill Property — objPlotArea.Fill — to return a ChartFillFormat object (valid only for charts), to manipulate fill formatting for chart elements; Interior Object — use the Interior property — objPlotArea.Interior — to return the Interior object, to manipulate the chart element’s interior (inside area); Border Object — use the Border Property — objPlotArea.Border — to return a Border object, to manipulate a chart element’s border. The difference between ChartFillFormat object & the Interior object may be somewhat blurred, but seemingly the ChartFillFormat object emphasises gradient & texture fills, whereas the Interior object emphasises solid fills & pattern fills (though ChartFillFormat object also has a Pattern property).

Example: Illustrating the chart’s plot area / inside plot area — using Left / InsideLeft, Top / InsideTop, Width / InsideWidth, Height / InsideHeight properties — refer Image 1

Sub BoundingRectangle_PlotArea_InsidePlotArea()
‘illustrating the inside of chart’s plot area / the chart’s plot area, within bounding rectangles — refer Image 1

‘create a text box representing the inside of chart’s plot area without including the axis labels within the bounding rectangle (red lines of round dots)

With Sheets(«Sheet1»).ChartObjects(1).Chart

With .Shapes.AddTextbox(msoTextOrientationDownward, .PlotArea.InsideLeft, .PlotArea.InsideTop, .PlotArea.InsideWidth, .PlotArea.InsideHeight)

.Line.Weight = 4

.Line.DashStyle = msoLineRoundDot

.Line.ForeColor.RGB = RGB(255, 0, 0)

End With

‘create a text box representing the chart’s plot area by including the axis labels within the bounding rectangle (green lines of long dashes)

With .Shapes.AddTextbox(msoTextOrientationDownward, .PlotArea.Left, .PlotArea.Top, .PlotArea.Width, .PlotArea.Height)

.Line.Weight = 2

.Line.DashStyle = msoLineLongDash

.Line.ForeColor.RGB = RGB(0, 255, 0)

End With

End With

End Sub

Example: PlotArea Alignment  with VBA — Centering a PlotArea

Sub PlotArea_Center()
‘center Plot Area within the Chart

Dim wsChart As Worksheet

Dim objChartObj As ChartObject

Dim sChartTitleWidth As Single

Set wsChart = Sheets(«Sheet1»)

Set objChartObj = wsChart.ChartObjects(1)

‘center PlotArea within the Chart Area

With objChartObj.Chart

‘center vertically

.PlotArea.Top = (.ChartArea.Height — .PlotArea.Height) / 2

‘center horizontally

.PlotArea.Left = (.ChartArea.Width — .PlotArea.Width) / 2

End With

End Sub

Example: ChartTitle Alignment  with VBA — Centering a ChartTitle Horizontally

Sub ChartTitle_HorizontalCenterInChart()
‘horizontally center the chart title in a chart
‘the ChartTitle does not have a Width property so that you cannot determine its width, which would have made horizontal centering easier

Dim wsChart As Worksheet

Dim objChartObj As ChartObject

Dim sChartTitleWidth As Single

Set wsChart = Sheets(«Sheet1»)

Set objChartObj = wsChart.ChartObjects(1)

‘—————————

‘OPTION 1 — default position of ChartTitle aligns it top-center in the chart

With objChartObj.Chart

‘if the ChartTitle is presently not centered because its position has been changed, you can first remove & then show because the default position of ChartTitle aligns it top-center in the chart

.HasTitle = False

.HasTitle = True

End With

‘—————————

‘OPTION 2 — center ChartTitle, within the chart area

With objChartObj.Chart

If .HasTitle Then

‘move the chart title to the extreme right of the chart area — the title will touch the right edge of the chart

.ChartTitle.Left = .ChartArea.Width

‘center the ChartTitle, within the chart area

.ChartTitle.Left = .ChartTitle.Left / 2

End If

End With

‘—————————

‘OPTION 3 — center ChartTitle, within the chart area

With objChartObj.Chart

If .HasTitle Then

‘move the chart title to the extreme right of the chart area — the title will touch the right edge of the chart

.ChartTitle.Left = .ChartArea.Width

‘calculate the ChartTitle width

sChartTitleWidth = .ChartArea.Width — .ChartTitle.Left

‘center the ChartTitle, within the chart area

.ChartTitle.Left = (.ChartArea.Width — sChartTitleWidth) / 2

End If

End With

End Sub

Example: ChartTitle Alignment  with VBA — Center ChartTitle, both horizontally & vertically, wrt Plot Area.

Sub ChartTitle_CenterInPlotArea()
‘center ChartTitle, both horizontally & vertically, wrt plot area
‘note that the ChartTitle does not have a Width or Height property

Dim wsChart As Worksheet

Dim objChartObj As ChartObject

Dim sChartTitleWidth As Single, sChartTitleHeight As Single

Set wsChart = Sheets(«Sheet1»)

Set objChartObj = wsChart.ChartObjects(1)

‘center ChartTitle, both horizontally & vertically, wrt plot area

With objChartObj.Chart

‘move the chart title to the extreme right of the chart area — the title will touch the right edge of the chart

.ChartTitle.Left = .ChartArea.Width

‘calculate the ChartTitle width

sChartTitleWidth = .ChartArea.Width — .ChartTitle.Left

‘horizontally center the ChartTitle, within the plot area’s inside

.ChartTitle.Left = .PlotArea.InsideLeft + (.PlotArea.InsideWidth — sChartTitleWidth) / 2

‘move the chart title to the extreme bottom of the chart area — the title will touch the bottom edge of the chart

.ChartTitle.Top = .ChartArea.Height

‘calculate the ChartTitle height

sChartTitleHeight = .ChartArea.Height — .ChartTitle.Top

‘vertically center the ChartTitle, in the top area ‘within Plot Area Top’ & ‘Chart Area Top’

.ChartTitle.Top = (.PlotArea.Top — sChartTitleHeight) / 2

‘to vertically center the ChartTitle in top area within ‘Plot Area Inside Top’ & ‘Chart Area Top’, use:

‘.ChartTitle.Top = (.PlotArea.InsideTop — sChartTitleHeight) / 2

End With

End Sub

Example: AxisTitle Alignment  with VBA — horizontally / vertically center the Axis Title with re to Plot Area

Sub AxisTitle_Center()
‘center the axis title in a chart

Dim wsChart As Worksheet

Dim objChartObj As ChartObject

Dim sChartTitleWidth As Single, sAxisTitleHeight As Single

Set wsChart = Sheets(«Sheet1»)

Set objChartObj = wsChart.ChartObjects(1)

‘horizontally center the primary category axis title with re to plot area

With objChartObj.Chart

‘move the axis title to the extreme right of the chart area

.Axes(xlCategory, xlPrimary).AxisTitle.Left = .ChartArea.Width

‘determine width of axis title

sAxisTitleWidth = .ChartArea.Width — .Axes(xlCategory, xlPrimary).AxisTitle.Left

‘horizontally center axis title between plot area

.Axes(xlCategory, xlPrimary).AxisTitle.Left = .PlotArea.InsideLeft + (.PlotArea.InsideWidth — sAxisTitleWidth) / 2

End With

‘vertically center the primary value axis title with re to plot area

With objChartObj.Chart

‘move the axis title to the bottom edge of the chart area

.Axes(xlValue, xlPrimary).AxisTitle.Top = .ChartArea.Height

‘determine height of axis title

sAxisTitleHeight = .ChartArea.Height — .Axes(xlValue, xlPrimary).AxisTitle.Top

‘vertically center axis title between plot area

.Axes(xlValue, xlPrimary).AxisTitle.Top = .PlotArea.InsideTop + (.PlotArea.InsideHeight — sAxisTitleHeight) / 2

End With

End Sub

Example: Legend Alignment  with VBA — position the legend to align in the bottom left corner within the plot area

Sub Legend_Position_BottomLeftCorner()
‘position the legend — align the chart legend in the bottom left corner within the plot area

Dim wsChart As Worksheet

Dim objChartObj As ChartObject

Set wsChart = Sheets(«Sheet1»)

Set objChartObj = wsChart.ChartObjects(1)

‘—————————

‘ignoring border / line thickness for legend placement

‘position the legend — align the chart legend in the bottom left corner within the plot area, without considering borders’ thickness or axis’ line thickness

With objChartObj.Chart

If .HasLegend = True Then

‘aligns the legend’s left edge to the inside left of the plot area

.Legend.Left = .PlotArea.InsideLeft

‘aligns the legend’s top to the inside top of the plot area by ADDING (i) plot area’s inside top & (ii) plot area’s inside height & then DEDUCTING (i) legend’s height

.Legend.Top = .PlotArea.InsideTop + .PlotArea.InsideHeight — .Legend.Height

End If

End With

‘—————————

‘border / line thickness can affect the legend placement, if the thickness is significant

‘position the legend — align the chart legend in the bottom left corner within the plot area, taking into account the legend’s border thickness & plot area border’s thickness & primary value axis’ line thickness & category axis’ line thickness

With objChartObj.Chart

If .HasLegend = True And .Legend.Border.LineStyle <> xlLineStyleNone And .PlotArea.Border.LineStyle <> xlLineStyleNone And .Axes(xlValue, xlPrimary).Border.LineStyle <> xlLineStyleNone Then

‘aligns the legend’s left edge to the inside left of the plot area by ADDING (i) plot area’s inside left & (ii) half of legend’s border thickness & (iii) half of the — maximum of (a) Value Axis line thickness & (b) plot area border’s thickness

.Legend.Left = .PlotArea.InsideLeft + .Legend.Format.Line.Weight / 2 + WorksheetFunction.Max(.PlotArea.Format.Line.Weight, .Axes(xlValue, xlPrimary).Format.Line.Weight) / 2

‘aligns the legend’s top to the inside top of the plot area by ADDING (i) plot area’s inside top & (ii) plot area’s inside height & (iii) half of legend’s border thickness & then DEDUCTING (i) legend’s height & (ii) half of the — maximum of

(a) Category Axis line thickness & (b) plot area border’s thickness

.Legend.Top = .PlotArea.InsideTop + .PlotArea.InsideHeight — .Legend.Format.Line.Weight / 2 — .Legend.Height — WorksheetFunction.Max(.PlotArea.Format.Line.Weight, .Axes(xlCategory, xlPrimary).Format.Line.Weight) / 2

End If

End With

End Sub

Example: Legend Alignment  with VBA — position the legend to align in the top right corner within the plot area, taking into account borders / lines thickness

Sub Legend_Position_TopRightPlotArea()
‘align the chart Legend in the top right corner within the plot area
‘this code takes into account the legend’s border thickness & plot area border’s thickness & the secondary value axis’ line thickness, which might affect the legend placement if the thickness is significant
‘this code also takes into account whether, legend’s border or plot area’s border or the secondary value axis, exist or not

Dim wsChart As Worksheet

Dim objChartObj As ChartObject

Set wsChart = Sheets(«Sheet8»)

Set objChartObj = wsChart.ChartObjects(1)

‘position the Legend — align the chart Legend in the top right corner within the plot area — you dont know if chart elements have a border / line or not, & if yes then what is their thickness

With objChartObj.Chart

If .HasLegend = False Then

MsgBox «Legend does not exist, exit sub»

Exit Sub

Else

‘if secondary value axis exists

If .HasAxis(xlValue, xlSecondary) = True Then

‘legend border & plot area border & axis border exist

If .Legend.Border.LineStyle <> xlLineStyleNone And .PlotArea.Border.LineStyle <> xlLineStyleNone And .Axes(xlValue, xlSecondary).Border.LineStyle <> xlLineStyleNone Then

.Legend.Left = .PlotArea.InsideLeft + .PlotArea.InsideWidth — .Legend.Width — .Legend.Format.Line.Weight / 2 — WorksheetFunction.Max(.PlotArea.Format.Line.Weight, .Axes(xlValue, xlSecondary).Format.Line.Weight) / 2

.Legend.Top = .PlotArea.InsideTop + .Legend.Format.Line.Weight / 2 + .PlotArea.Format.Line.Weight / 2

‘only plot area border & axis border exist

ElseIf .Legend.Border.LineStyle = xlLineStyleNone And .PlotArea.Border.LineStyle <> xlLineStyleNone And .Axes(xlValue, xlSecondary).Border.LineStyle <> xlLineStyleNone Then

.Legend.Left = .PlotArea.InsideLeft + .PlotArea.InsideWidth — .Legend.Width — WorksheetFunction.Max(.PlotArea.Format.Line.Weight, .Axes(xlValue, xlSecondary).Format.Line.Weight) / 2

.Legend.Top = .PlotArea.InsideTop + .PlotArea.Format.Line.Weight / 2

‘only legend border & axis border exist

ElseIf .Legend.Border.LineStyle <> xlLineStyleNone And .PlotArea.Border.LineStyle = xlLineStyleNone And .Axes(xlValue, xlSecondary).Border.LineStyle <> xlLineStyleNone Then

.Legend.Left = .PlotArea.InsideLeft + .PlotArea.InsideWidth — .Legend.Width — .Legend.Format.Line.Weight / 2 — .Axes(xlValue, xlSecondary).Format.Line.Weight / 2

.Legend.Top = .PlotArea.InsideTop + .Legend.Format.Line.Weight / 2

‘only legend border & plot area border exist

ElseIf .Legend.Border.LineStyle <> xlLineStyleNone And .PlotArea.Border.LineStyle <> xlLineStyleNone And .Axes(xlValue, xlSecondary).Border.LineStyle = xlLineStyleNone Then

.Legend.Left = .PlotArea.InsideLeft + .PlotArea.InsideWidth — .Legend.Width — .Legend.Format.Line.Weight / 2 — .PlotArea.Format.Line.Weight / 2

.Legend.Top = .PlotArea.InsideTop + .Legend.Format.Line.Weight / 2 + .PlotArea.Format.Line.Weight / 2

‘only axis border exists

ElseIf .Legend.Border.LineStyle = xlLineStyleNone And .PlotArea.Border.LineStyle = xlLineStyleNone And .Axes(xlValue, xlSecondary).Border.LineStyle <> xlLineStyleNone Then

.Legend.Left = .PlotArea.InsideLeft + .PlotArea.InsideWidth — .Legend.Width — .Axes(xlValue, xlSecondary).Format.Line.Weight / 2

.Legend.Top = .PlotArea.InsideTop

‘only plot area border exists

ElseIf .Legend.Border.LineStyle = xlLineStyleNone And .PlotArea.Border.LineStyle <> xlLineStyleNone And .Axes(xlValue, xlSecondary).Border.LineStyle = xlLineStyleNone Then

.Legend.Left = .PlotArea.InsideLeft + .PlotArea.InsideWidth — .Legend.Width — .PlotArea.Format.Line.Weight / 2

.Legend.Top = .PlotArea.InsideTop + .PlotArea.Format.Line.Weight / 2

‘only legend border exists

ElseIf .Legend.Border.LineStyle <> xlLineStyleNone And .PlotArea.Border.LineStyle = xlLineStyleNone And .Axes(xlValue, xlSecondary).Border.LineStyle = xlLineStyleNone Then

.Legend.Left = .PlotArea.InsideLeft + .PlotArea.InsideWidth — .Legend.Width — .Legend.Format.Line.Weight / 2

.Legend.Top = .PlotArea.InsideTop + .Legend.Format.Line.Weight / 2

‘NO legend border OR plot area border OR axis border — none exist

ElseIf .Legend.Border.LineStyle = xlLineStyleNone And .PlotArea.Border.LineStyle = xlLineStyleNone And .Axes(xlValue, xlSecondary).Border.LineStyle = xlLineStyleNone Then

.Legend.Left = .PlotArea.InsideLeft + .PlotArea.InsideWidth — .Legend.Width

.Legend.Top = .PlotArea.InsideTop

End If

‘if secondary value axis does NOT exist

Else

‘only legend border & plot area border exist

If .Legend.Border.LineStyle <> xlLineStyleNone And .PlotArea.Border.LineStyle <> xlLineStyleNone Then

.Legend.Left = .PlotArea.InsideLeft + .PlotArea.InsideWidth — .Legend.Width — .Legend.Format.Line.Weight / 2 — .PlotArea.Format.Line.Weight / 2

.Legend.Top = .PlotArea.InsideTop + .Legend.Format.Line.Weight / 2 + .PlotArea.Format.Line.Weight / 2

‘only plot area border exists

ElseIf .Legend.Border.LineStyle = xlLineStyleNone And .PlotArea.Border.LineStyle <> xlLineStyleNone Then

.Legend.Left = .PlotArea.InsideLeft + .PlotArea.InsideWidth — .Legend.Width — .PlotArea.Format.Line.Weight / 2

.Legend.Top = .PlotArea.InsideTop + .PlotArea.Format.Line.Weight / 2

‘only legend border exists

ElseIf .Legend.Border.LineStyle <> xlLineStyleNone And .PlotArea.Border.LineStyle = xlLineStyleNone Then

.Legend.Left = .PlotArea.InsideLeft + .PlotArea.InsideWidth — .Legend.Width — .Legend.Format.Line.Weight / 2

.Legend.Top = .PlotArea.InsideTop + .Legend.Format.Line.Weight / 2

‘NO legend border OR plot area border OR axis border — none exist

ElseIf .Legend.Border.LineStyle = xlLineStyleNone And .PlotArea.Border.LineStyle = xlLineStyleNone Then

.Legend.Left = .PlotArea.InsideLeft + .PlotArea.InsideWidth — .Legend.Width

.Legend.Top = .PlotArea.InsideTop

End If

End If

End If

End With

End Sub

Example: Part 6 of 8 — Manipulate Plot Area — refer Image 1.6

Sub EmbChart_PlotArea_6()
‘manipulate Plot Area — refer Image 1.6

Dim wsChart As Worksheet

‘declare a ChartObject object

Dim oChObj As ChartObject

‘an embedded chart is active if selected or if the ChartObject object (in which it is contained) is activated using the Activate method

wsChart.ChartObjects(1).Activate

‘use the ActiveChart property to refer to a chart which is the active object

With ActiveChart

‘using the PlotArea Property of the Chart object returns the PlotArea object which represents the plot area

With .PlotArea

‘for InsideLeft (or InsideWidth / InsideHeight) property, the plot area excludes the axis labels, whereas using the Left (or Width / Height) property uses the bounding rectangle which includes the axis labels.

‘set the distance from the chart edge to the left edge of the plot area, in points

.Left = 30

‘set plot area width

.Width = ActiveChart.ChartArea.Width — .Left — ActiveChart.Legend.Width — 10

‘set plot area height

.Height = ActiveChart.ChartArea.Height — 55

‘remove fill color from Plot Area

.Fill.Visible = False

‘add fill color to Plot Area — set the interior color for the plot area to Yellow

.Fill.Visible = True

.Interior.Color = vbYellow

‘alternatively:

‘.Interior.ColorIndex = 6

‘Format property of the PlotArea returns returns the ChartFormat object — using the Fill Property of the ChartFormat object to return a FillFormat object (which contains fill formatting properties), to set the foreground fill color &

gradient for the plot area

‘the OneColorGradient Method of the FillFormat object, sets a one-color gradient for the specified fill — specifying the style for a gradient fill with the MsoGradientStyle Enumeration ‘msoGradientDiagonalUp’ for a Diagonal gradient

moving from a bottom corner up to the opposite corner, gradient variant of 4 & gradient degree of 1 (lightest)

.Format.Fill.OneColorGradient msoGradientDiagonalUp, 4, 1

‘use the Border property to return a Border object — use the ColorIndex Property of the Border object to set the border color: to set no line color use ColorIndex = xlNone, or use ColorIndex 3 for red, 5 for blue, 4 for green, 6 for

yellow, and so on.

.Border.ColorIndex = 5

‘set border width to 2 points

.Border.Weight = xlMedium

End With

End With

End Sub

Example: Part 7 of 8 — Align chart elements — display unit label, value axis title, secondary value axis title, category axis title, chart title & chart legend — refer Image 1.7

To download Excel file with live code, click here.

Sub EmbChart_Align_7()
‘align chart elements — display unit label, value axis title, secondary value axis title, category axis title, chart title & chart legend — refer Image 1.7

Dim wsChart As Worksheet

‘declare a ChartObject object

Dim oChObj As ChartObject

Set wsChart = Sheets(«Sheet19»)

‘set ChartObject object by name

Set oChObj = wsChart.ChartObjects(«QtrlySalesProfitChart»)

‘using the Chart Property of the ChartObject object returns a Chart object which refers to a chart

With oChObj.Chart

‘top align display unit label, of primary value axis, with the axis top

.Axes(xlValue, xlPrimary).DisplayUnitLabel.Top = .PlotArea.Top

‘left alignment of display unit label (of primary value axis)

Dim sDisplayUnitLabelWidth As Single

‘move the display unit label to the extreme right of the chart area

.Axes(xlValue, xlPrimary).DisplayUnitLabel.Left = .ChartArea.Width

‘calculate width of display unit label

sDisplayUnitLabelWidth = .ChartArea.Width — .Axes(xlValue, xlPrimary).DisplayUnitLabel.Left

‘left align display unit label next to the primary value axis

.Axes(xlValue, xlPrimary).DisplayUnitLabel.Left = .PlotArea.Left — sDisplayUnitLabelWidth

‘horizontal / left alignment of axis title, of primary value axis

Dim sPrimaryAxisTitleWidth As Single

‘move the axis title to the extreme right of the chart area

.Axes(xlValue, xlPrimary).AxisTitle.Left = .ChartArea.Width

‘calculate width of axis title

sPrimaryAxisTitleWidth = .ChartArea.Width — .Axes(xlValue, xlPrimary).AxisTitle.Left

‘align axis title — horizontally center between plot area left & chart area left edge

.Axes(xlValue, xlPrimary).AxisTitle.Left = (.PlotArea.Left — sPrimaryAxisTitleWidth) / 2

‘distance between secondary axis title left edge & plot area right edge equated with distance between primary axis title left edge & chart area left edge

.Axes(xlValue, xlSecondary).AxisTitle.Left = .PlotArea.Left + .PlotArea.Width + .Axes(xlValue, xlPrimary).AxisTitle.Left

‘vertical alignment of primary value axis title

Dim sPrimaryAxisTitleHeight As Single

‘move the axis title to the bottom edge of the chart area

.Axes(xlValue, xlPrimary).AxisTitle.Top = .ChartArea.Height

‘calculate height of axis title

sPrimaryAxisTitleHeight = .ChartArea.Height — .Axes(xlValue, xlPrimary).AxisTitle.Top

‘vertically center axis title between plot area

.Axes(xlValue, xlPrimary).AxisTitle.Top = .PlotArea.InsideTop + (.PlotArea.InsideHeight — sPrimaryAxisTitleHeight) / 2

‘vertical alignment of secondary value axis title

Dim sSecAxisTitleHeight As Single

‘move the axis title to the bottom edge of the chart area

.Axes(xlValue, xlSecondary).AxisTitle.Top = .ChartArea.Height

‘calculate height of axis title

sSecAxisTitleHeight = .ChartArea.Height — .Axes(xlValue, xlSecondary).AxisTitle.Top

‘vertically center axis title between plot area

.Axes(xlValue, xlSecondary).AxisTitle.Top = .PlotArea.InsideTop + (.PlotArea.InsideHeight — sSecAxisTitleHeight) / 2

‘vertical alignment of category primary axis title

Dim sCategoryAxisTitleHeight As Single

‘move the axis title to the bottom edge of the chart area

.Axes(xlCategory, xlPrimary).AxisTitle.Top = .ChartArea.Height

‘calculate height of axis title

sCategoryAxisTitleHeight = .ChartArea.Height — .Axes(xlCategory, xlPrimary).AxisTitle.Top

‘vertically center axis title between plot area bottom & chart area bottom

.Axes(xlCategory, xlPrimary).AxisTitle.Top = .PlotArea.Top + .PlotArea.Height + (.ChartArea.Height — .PlotArea.Top — .PlotArea.Height — sCategoryAxisTitleHeight) / 2

‘horizontally center the category primary axis title

Dim sCatAxisTitleWidth As Single

‘move the axis title to the extreme right of the chart area

.Axes(xlCategory, xlPrimary).AxisTitle.Left = .ChartArea.Width

‘calculate width of axis title

sCatAxisTitleWidth = .ChartArea.Width — .Axes(xlCategory, xlPrimary).AxisTitle.Left

‘horizontally center axis title between plot area

.Axes(xlCategory, xlPrimary).AxisTitle.Left = .PlotArea.InsideLeft + (.PlotArea.InsideWidth — sCatAxisTitleWidth) / 2

‘horizontally center the chart title, within the plot area

Dim sChartTitleWidth As Single

‘move the chart title to the extreme right of the chart area — the title will touch the right edge of the chart

.ChartTitle.Left = .ChartArea.Width

‘calculate the ChartTitle width

sChartTitleWidth = .ChartArea.Width — .ChartTitle.Left

‘horizontally center the ChartTitle, within the plot area

.ChartTitle.Left = .PlotArea.InsideLeft + (.PlotArea.InsideWidth — sChartTitleWidth) / 2

‘vertically center the chart title, in the top area

Dim sChartTitleHeight As Single

‘move the chart title to the extreme bottom of the chart area — the title will touch the bottom edge of the chart

.ChartTitle.Top = .ChartArea.Height

‘calculate the ChartTitle height

sChartTitleHeight = .ChartArea.Height — .ChartTitle.Top

‘vertically center the ChartTitle, in the top area ‘within Plot Area Top’ & ‘Chart Area Top’

.ChartTitle.Top = (.PlotArea.Top — sChartTitleHeight) / 2

‘vertical alignment of chart legend

.Legend.Position = xlLegendPositionRight

‘move the legend to the bottom edge of the chart area

.Legend.Top = .ChartArea.Height

‘raise legend 50 points from the bottom

.Legend.Top = .Legend.Top — 50

End With

End Sub

Chart Axis

Axes Object (Axes collection) refers to a collection of all the Axis objects in a chart. Axis Object refers to a single axis & is a member of of the Axes collection.

Chart.Axes Method. Use the Axes Method of the Chart object to return a single Axis or Axes collection (collection of all Axis objects) in a chart. Syntax: objChart.Axes(Type, AxisGroup). Both arguments are optional to specify. Specify the axis to be returned in the Type argument — you can use any of the 3 constants for this argument: xlCategory (value 1) — Axis displays categories, also referred as the x-axis; xlValue (value 2) — Axis displays values, also referred as y-axis; xlSeriesAxis (value 3) — Axis displays data series for 3-D charts, also referred as the z-axis representing depth of the chart. Specify the axis group in the AxisGroup argument — xlPrimary (value 1) — primary axis (default axis); xlSecondary (value 2) — secondary axis. The axis group can either be xlPrimary which is the default, or it can be xlSecondary where the chart has multiple series. 3-D charts cannot have secondary axis.

Axes.Item Method. To refer to a single Axis (ie. Axis object) from Axes collection, use the the Item Method of the Axes object. Syntax: objAxes.Item(Type, AxisGroup), where the Type argument is necessary to specify. To return a primary category axis: ActiveChart.Axes(1,1) or ActiveChart.Axes(1) or ActiveChart.Axes(xlCategory, xlPrimary) or ActiveChart.Axes(xlCategory) or ActiveChart.Axes.Item(xlCategory). To return a secondary value axis: ActiveChart.Axes(xlValue, xlSecondary) or ActiveChart.Axes(2, 2). Use the Count Property of the Axes object to return the number of Axis objects in an Axes collection viz. MsgBox Sheets(«Sheet1»).ChartObjects(1).Chart.Axes.Count.

Sub AxesCollectionObj_AxisObj()
‘axes collection & axis object

Dim objAxis As Axis

’embedded chart

With Sheets(«Sheet1»).ChartObjects(1).Chart

‘refer single axis (axis object) — primary category axis — you can alternatively use: With .Axes(xlCategory)

With .Axes.Item(xlCategory)

‘set the axis title to be visible

.HasTitle = True

‘set text for axis title

.AxisTitle.Caption = «Dates«

End With

‘refer axes collection using the Chart.Axes method- each axis object in the axes collection

For Each objAxis In .Axes

‘if axis object has title

If objAxis.HasTitle = True Then

‘return axis title for a an axis object which has a title

MsgBox objAxis.AxisTitle.Caption

End If

Next objAxis

‘returns the number of Axis objects in the Axes Collection

MsgBox .Axes.Count

End With

End Sub

HasAxis Property. Syntax: objChart.HasAxis(Index1, Index2). This property sets (or returns) the axes which will be displayed for a chart. Atleast one argument is required to be specified. The Index1 argument specifies the axis Type as defined in the XlAxisType Enumeration: xlCategory (value 1), xlValue (value 2), or xlSeriesAxis (value 3). The Index2 argument specifies the Axis Group as defined in the XlAxisGroup Enumeration: xlPrimary (value 1), or xlSecondary (value 2). To turn on the primary x-axis for a chart: Sheets(«Sheet1»).ChartObjects(1).Chart.HasAxis(xlCategory) = True. 

Tick Marks & Gridlines. Tick marks are small lines of measurement which intersect an axis (equated to divisions on a ruler), and these tick marks are extended by Gridlines from horizontal or vertical axis across the chart’s plot area which enables easier display & readability of chart data. Using the Gridlines object, you can manipulate / format all gridlines together (not single gridline at a time) and turn on or off either all or none, and these gridlines can exist only for the primary axis group.

Commonly used Properties of the Axis object:
Property	Syntax	Description
AxisGroup Property	objAxis.AxisGroup	Returns a value per XlAxisGroup Enumeration (value 1 for xlPrimary, or value 2 for xlSecondary), specifying the AxisGroup for the Axis object.
Type Property	objAxis.Type	Returns a value per XlAxisType Enumeration (value 1 for xlCategory, value 2 for xlValue, or value 3 for xlSeriesAxis), specifying the Axis Type for the Axis object. Note that for the horizontal axis of scatter charts, Axis Type returned will be xlCategory.
HasTitle Property	objAxis.HasTitle	This property uses a Boolean value — the AxisTitle object exists and can be used only if the HasTitle property (of the Axis object) is True viz. set to True for the axis title to be visible: objAxis.HasTitle = True. To add an axis label to the secondary value axis of a chart: Sheets(«Sheet1»).ChartObjects(1).Chart.Axes(xlValue, xlSecondary).HasTitle = True.
AxisTitle Property	objAxis.AxisTitle	Returns a AxisTitle object which represents the axis title. The title for a specified chart axis is accessed & manipulated through the properties & methods of the AxisTitle object. The AxisTitle object exists and can be used only if the HasTitle property (of the Axis object) is True viz. set to True for the axis title to be visible: objAxis.HasTitle = True. Refer below for summarized Properties & Methods of the AxisTitle object.
Format Property	objAxis.Format	Returns a ChartFormat object which contains the line, fill & effect formatting for a chart element. The ChartFormat object provides access to the new Office Art formatting options that are available in Excel 2007 so that by using this object you can apply many new graphics to chart elements using vba formatting.
Border Property	objAxis.Border	Returns a Border object, to manipulate a chart element’s border (ie. Axis border).
Left Property	objAxis.Left	Returns the distance (Read-only), in points, from the left edge of the chart area to the left edge of the Axis.
Top Property	objAxis.Top	Returns the distance (Read-only), in points, from the top edge of the Axis to the top edge of the chart area.
Height Property	objAxis.Height	Returns the height (Read-only), in points, of the Axis object.
Width Property	objAxis.Width	Returns the width (Read-only), in points, of the Axis object.
Parent Property	objAxis.Parent	returns the parent object for the Axis viz. returns the chart name: MsgBox Sheets(«Sheet1»).ChartObjects(1).Chart.Axes(xlValue, xlPrimary).Parent.Name
CategoryNames Property	objAxis.CategoryNames	Using this property the category names for a category axis, are set or returned as a text array. You can set the category names for a chart to the values contained in a range of cells (ie. Range object) or to a text array containing category names.
TickLabels Property	objAxis.TickLabels	Returns a TickLabels Object representing the tick-mark labels associated with tick marks on an axis, and with this object you can manipulate / format all tick-mark labels together as a unit (not single tick-mark label at a time). Refer below for summarized Properties & Methods of the TickLabels object.
TickLabelPosition Property	objAxis.TickLabelPosition	Sets or returns the tick-mark labels position on a chart axis, where the position is specified using XlTickLabelPosition constants —  xlTickLabelPositionNone (value -4142) indicates no tick marks; xlTickLabelPositionLow (value -4134) indicates tick marks position at bottom or left side of the chart; xlTickLabelPositionHigh (value -4127) indicates tick marks position at top or right side of the chart; xlTickLabelPositionNextToAxis (value 4) indicates tick marks position at next to axis when axis is not at either side of the chart.
TickLabelSpacing Property	objAxis.TickLabelSpacing	For the category & series axes, this property sets or returns the interval between tick-mark lables (ie. the number of categories or series between tick-mark labels), using a long value between 1 & 31999. For the value axis, Excel automatically calculates the tick-mark label spacing.
TickLabelSpacingIsAuto Property	objAxis.TickLabelSpacingIsAuto	Sets or returns a Boolean value for this property where a True value (Default) enables Excel to automatically set the tick label spacing (Read-write). To return the current setting for tick label spacing & if it is automatic or not, use the the TickLabelSpacing property.
Sub AxisTickLabels() ‘tickmark labels for category & value axis — refer Images 1a & 1b With Sheets(«Sheet1»).ChartObjects(1).Chart.Axes(xlCategory) ‘REFER IMAGE 1a ‘returns 1 — no interval or categories between tick-mark labels MsgBox .TickLabelSpacing ‘returns True — tick label spacing is automatic MsgBox .TickLabelSpacingIsAuto ‘REFER IMAGE 1b .TickLabelSpacing = 2 ‘returns 2 which is an interval of 2 meaning every alternate category will have tick-mark labels MsgBox .TickLabelSpacing ‘returns False — tick label spacing is not automatic MsgBox .TickLabelSpacingIsAuto ‘for category axis, use the TickLabels Property to return a TickLabels object & manipulate its font .TickLabels.Font.Color = vbRed .TickLabels.Font.Bold = True ‘change number format of tick labels for value axis Sheets(«Sheet1»).ChartObjects(1).Chart.Axes(xlValue).TickLabels.NumberFormat = «#,##0.0« End With End Sub
HasDisplayUnitLabel Property	objAxis.HasDisplayUnitLabel	This property uses a Boolean value — True (Default) indicates that a unit label for the axis (a DisplayUnitLabel object) is displayed. For a value axis whose DisplayUnit property has been set, & unless the HasDisplayUnitLabel property is set to False, the DisplayUnitLabel (or DisplayUnitCustom) property returns the DisplayUnitLabel object with whose properties & methods you can manipulate the unit label.
DisplayUnit Property	objAxis.DisplayUnit	For the value axis, this property sets or returns a numeric scale used for axis values, as per constants defined in XlDisplayUnit Enumeration — xlNone (Default); xlHundreds (value -2); xlThousands (value -3); xlTenThousands (value -4); xlHundredThousands (value -5); xlMillions (value -6); xlTenMillions (value -7); xlHundredMillions (value -8); xlThousandMillions (value -9); xlMillionMillions (value -10); xlCustom. When you set this property, a DisplayUnitLabel object is added which represents a unit label for that axis. Using numeric scaling makes tick mark labels for value axis more readable because smaller numeric values will be used instead of large numbers at all tick marks on the axis. Example. objAxis.DisplayUnit = xlThousands sets the units displayed on a value axis to thousands — this numerically scales axis values to thousands so that a value of 50,000 will display as 50 (Refer Image 2b).
DisplayUnitLabel Property	objAxis.DisplayUnitLabel	For a value axis whose DisplayUnit property has been set, & unless the HasDisplayUnitLabel property is set to False, this property returns the DisplayUnitLabel object which represents a unit label on the specified axis, & using the object’s properties & methods you can manipulate the unit label.
‘refer Image 2b With Sheets(«Sheet1»).ChartObjects(1).Chart.Axes(xlValue, xlPrimary) ‘using the DisplayUnit Property of the Axis object, to set the unit label for the primary value axis ‘set the units displayed on the primary value axis to thousands — this numerically scales axis values to thousands so that a value of 600,000 will display as 600 .DisplayUnit = xlThousands ‘using the DisplayUnitLabel property of the Axis object, to return the DisplayUnitLabel object which represents a unit label on the specified axis With .DisplayUnitLabel ‘set the label caption to «‘000» for the primary value axis .Caption = «‘000« ‘turn off automatic font scaling — text font size of the DisplayUnitLabel object will not changes when the DisplayUnitLabel size changes .AutoScaleFont = False End With End With
DisplayUnitCustom Property	objAxis.DisplayUnitCustom	Use the DisplayUnitCustom property to set or return the unit for the numeric scale wherein DisplayUnit property of a value axis is set to xlCustom. You can set the unit value as Double data type, between 0 to 1e+308. Example. to set the units displayed on the value axis to a scale of 5000 & in this case a value of 50,000 will be scaled & displayed as 10 (refer Image 2c).
‘refer Image 2c With Sheets(«Sheet1»).ChartObjects(1).Chart.Axes(xlValue, xlPrimary) .DisplayUnit = xlCustom ‘set the units displayed on the value axis to a scale of 5000 .DisplayUnitCustom = 5000 With .DisplayUnitLabel .Caption = «‘5000« End With End With
AxisBetweenCategories Property	objAxis.AxisBetweenCategories	Uses a Boolean value — True setting will have the value axis to cross the category axis between categories. This property is valid only for category axes, & does not apply to value axis or to 3-D charts.
Crosses Property	objAxis.Crosses	Sets or returns the point on an axis (category or value axes) where the other axis crosses, as per specified XlAxisCrosses constants — xlMinimum (value 4: other axis crosses at the minimum value, & for category axis the value axis — which is the other axis — crosses at the first category); xlMaximum (value 2: other axis crosses at the maximum value, & for category axis the other value axis crosses at the last category); xlAxisCrossesCustom (value -4114: the axis crossing point is specified by CrossesAt property); xlAxisCrossesAutomatic (value -4105: the axis crossing point is set by Excel). We have noticed that using xlMinimum for value axis may not always be reliable in determining the crossing point at the minimum axis value — refer below example. This property is not valid for for radar charts, & is applicable only to a value axis in 3-D charts, wherein it refers to where the plane (defined by the category axes) crosses the value axis.
CrossesAt Property	objAxis.CrossesAt	For a value axis, this property sets or returns the point (Double value) where the category axis crosses. When this property is set, the Crosses property automatically gets set to xlAxisCrossesCustom. This property is not valid for for radar charts, & is applicable only to a value axis in 3-D charts, wherein it refers to where the plane (defined by the category axes) crosses the value axis.
Sub AxisCrosses() ‘Axis object Crosses & CrossesAt Properties — refer Images 3a to 3c With Sheets(«Sheet1»).ChartObjects(1).Chart ‘sets the value axis to cross the category axis where the axis crossing point is set by Excel — refer Image 3a .Axes(xlCategory).Crosses = xlAxisCrossesAutomatic .Axes(xlValue).Crosses = xlAxisCrossesAutomatic ‘format value axis border — medium thickness & green color .Axes(xlValue).Border.Weight = xlMedium .Axes(xlValue).Border.Color = vbGreen ‘format category axis border — medium thickness & green color .Axes(xlCategory).Border.Weight = xlMedium .Axes(xlCategory).Border.Color = vbBlue ‘sets the value axis to cross the category axis at the last category  — refer Image 3b .Axes(xlCategory).Crosses = xlMaximum ‘turn off legend .HasLegend = False ‘sets the value axis to cross the category axis at the first category — refer Image 3a .Axes(xlCategory).Crosses = xlMinimum ‘turn on legend .HasLegend = True ‘position legend to the right .Legend.Position = xlLegendPositionRight ‘sets the category axis to cross where the value axis’ value is minimum — using xlMinimum for value axis may not always be reliable, & here the category axis crosses at 0 even though value axis has negative numbers — refer Image 3a .Axes(xlValue).CrossesAt = xlMinimum ‘when «Crosses At» property is set, the Crosses property automatically gets set to xlAxisCrossesCustom ‘change the «Crosses At» value to the «MinumumScale» value, so that the category axis crosses at the minimum value of the value axis — the actual minimum is the highest negative number — refer Image 3c .Axes(xlValue).CrossesAt = .Axes(xlValue).MinimumScale End With End Sub
MajorTickMark Property / MinorTickMark Property	objAxis.MajorTickMark / objAxis.MinorTickMark	Sets or returns the type of major / minor tick mark used for an axis, per defined XlTickMark constants — xlTickMarkNone (value -4142: no tickmark), xlTickMarkInside (value 2: tickmark is inside the axis), xlTickMarkOutside (value 3: tickmark is outside the axis), xlTickMarkCross (value 4: tickmark crosses the axis).
MajorGridlines Property / MinorGridlines Property	objAxis.MajorGridlines / objAxis.MinorGridlines	Use the MajorGridlines Property to return a Gridlines object representing the major gridlines for an axis, whereas the MinorGridlines property returns a GridLines object representing the minor gridlines. Using the Gridlines object, you can manipulate / format all gridlines together (not a single gridline at a time) and turn on or off either all or none, and these gridlines can exist only for the primary axis group.
HasMajorGridlines Property	objAxis.HasMajorGridlines	This property uses a Boolean value — True displays the major gridlines for an axis (Read-write). Note that gridlines can exist only for the primary axis group.
HasMinorGridlines Property	objAxis.HasMinorGridlines	This property uses a Boolean value — True displays the minor gridlines for an axis (Read-write). Note that gridlines can exist only for the primary axis group.
Sub Axis_TickMarks_Gridlines() ‘Set TickMarks & Gridlines for Value & Category Axis — refer Image 4 ‘Embedded Chart With Sheets(«Sheet1»).ChartObjects(1).Chart ‘Value Axis With .Axes(xlValue) ‘display MajorGridlines for value axis .HasMajorGridlines = True ‘ColorIndex = xlNone, or use ColorIndex 3 for red, 5 for blue, 4 for green, 6 for yellow, and so on. ‘color red .MajorGridlines.Border.ColorIndex = 3 ‘XlLineStyle Enumeration: xlContinuous (Continuos Line), xlDash (Dashed line), … ‘set a dashed line .MajorGridlines.Border.LineStyle = xlDash ‘turn off MinorGridlines .HasMinorGridlines = False ‘major tickmark is outside the value axis .MajorTickMark = xlTickMarkOutside ‘no minor tick mark for value axis .MinorTickMark = xlTickMarkNone End With ‘Category Axis With .Axes(xlCategory) ‘display MajorGridlines for category axis .HasMajorGridlines = True ‘MajorGridlines line is a dash-dot pattern .MajorGridlines.Format.Line.DashStyle = msoLineDashDot ‘set line thickness for MajorGridlines of category axis .MajorGridlines.Format.Line.Weight = 2.5 ‘MajorGridlines line for category axis is green color .MajorGridlines.Border.ColorIndex = 4 ‘display MinorGridlines for category axis .HasMinorGridlines = True ‘single line .MinorGridlines.Format.Line.Style = msoLineSingle ‘set line thickness for MinorGridlines of category axis .MinorGridlines.Format.Line.Weight = 2.5 ‘MinorGridlines line for category axis is yellow color .MinorGridlines.Border.ColorIndex = 6 ‘major tickmark crosses the category axis .MajorTickMark = xlTickMarkCross ‘minor tickmark is inside the category axis .MinorTickMark = xlTickMarkInside End With End With End Sub
CategoryType Property	objAxis.CategoryType	Sets or returns the type of category axis (not valid for value axis), per XlCategoryType Enumeration: xlCategoryScale (value 2) — data is grouped in Axis by an arbitrary set of categories; xlTimeScale (value 3) — data is grouped in Axis on a time scale; xlAutomaticScale (value -4105) — axis type is controlled by Excel.
BaseUnit Property	objAxis.BaseUnit	Use this property to set or return a category axis’ base unit of time, except when category axis type is specified as xlCategoryScale. Use the XlTimeUnit Enumeration to specify base unit of time: xlDays (value 0) to set unit of time to Days, xlMonths (value 1) to set unit of time to Months, xlYears (value 2) to set Years as the base unit of time.
BaseUnitIsAuto Property	objAxis.BaseUnitIsAuto	This property uses a Boolean value — a True value (Default) enables Excel to automatically choose a base unit of time for a category axis.
TickMarkSpacing Property	objAxis.TickMarkSpacing	For the category & series axes, this property sets or returns the interval between tick marks (ie. the number of categories or series between tick marks), using a long value between 1 & 31999. To set the interval between tick marks for the value axis, use the MajorUnit Property & MinorUnit Property.
MajorUnit Property	objAxis.MajorUnit	Sets or returns the major units, which is the interval between tick marks, for the value axis. The MajorUnitIsAuto property is automatically set to False when you set the MajorUnit property. Use the TickMarkSpacing Property to set the interval (ie. the number of categories) between tick marks on the category axis.
MajorUnitScale Property	objAxis.MajorUnitScale	When the CategoryType property is set to xlTimeScale, use this property to set or return the category axis’ major unit scale value (ie. the interval between tick marks), as per the XlTimeUnit constants — xlDays, xlMonths, xlYears.
MajorUnitIsAuto Property	objAxis.MajorUnitIsAuto	A True value (Default) enables Excel to automatically calculate the major units for the value axis. This property is automatically set to False when you set the MajorUnit property.
MinorUnit Property	objAxis.MinorUnit	Sets or returns the minor units, which is the interval between minor tick marks, for the value axis. The MinorUnitIsAuto property is automatically set to False when you set the MinorUnit property. Use the TickMarkSpacing Property to set the interval (ie. the number of categories) between tick marks on the category axis.
MinorUnitScale Property	objAxis.MinorUnitScale	When the CategoryType property is set to xlTimeScale, use this property to set or return the category axis’ minor unit scale value (ie. the interval between tick marks), as per the XlTimeUnit constants — xlDays, xlMonths, xlYears.
MinorUnitIsAuto Property	objAxis.MinorUnitIsAuto	This property uses a Boolean value — a True value (Default) enables Excel to automatically calculate the minor units for the value axis. This property is automatically set to False when you set the MinorUnit property.
MaximumScale Property / MinimumScale Property	objAxis.MaximumScale / objAxis.MinimumScale	Sets or returns the maximum / minimum value (Double data type), for the value axis. The MaximumScaleIsAuto Property /  MinimumScaleIsAuto Property, is automatically set to False when you set the maximum / minimum value.
MaximumScaleIsAuto Property / MinimumScaleIsAuto Property	objAxis.MaximumScaleIsAuto / objAxis.MinimumScaleIsAuto	A True value (Default) enables Excel to automatically calculate the maximum / minimum value for the value axis. This property is automatically set to False when you set the  MaximumScale / MinimumScale Property.
Sub CategoryAxis_TimeScale() ‘Category Axis set to Time Scale & Value Axis settings — refer Image 5a ‘Embedded Chart With Sheets(«Sheet1»).ChartObjects(1).Chart ‘sets the category axes to display .HasAxis(xlCategory) = True ‘primary category axis With .Axes(xlCategory) ‘set the axis title to be visible .HasTitle = True ‘set text for axis title .AxisTitle.Caption = «Dates« ‘set the category names for a category axis, to the values contained in a range of cells (ie. Range object) .CategoryNames = Sheets(«Sheet12»).Range(«A2:A6») ‘set the type of category axis where data is grouped on a time scale .CategoryType = xlTimeScale ‘set a base unit of time for the category axis .BaseUnit = xlMonths ‘set the major units, which is the interval between tick marks .MajorUnit = 3 ‘set the category axis’ major unit scale value, ie. the time interval between tick marks, to months .MajorUnitScale = xlMonths ‘set the minor units, which is the interval between minor tick marks .MinorUnit = 1 ‘set the category axis’ minor unit scale value, ie. the time interval between tick marks, to months .MinorUnitScale = xlMonths ‘use the TickLabels property to return a TickLabels Object representing the tick-mark labels associated with tick marks, & then use this object to format all tick labels as a unit: ‘set the format code for tick lables .TickLabels.NumberFormat = «mmm yy« ‘set the text orientation for tick lables .TickLabels.Orientation = 45 End With ‘secondary value axis With .Axes(xlValue, xlSecondary) ‘set the minimum and maximum values for the value axis .MaximumScale = 4000 .MinimumScale = 500 ‘set the major units, which is the interval between tick marks .MajorUnit = 500 ‘set the format code for tick lables .TickLabels.NumberFormat = «$#,###« End With End With End Sub
Sub CategoryAxis_AutomaticScale_ValueAxis() ‘Category Axis set to Automatic Scale, TickLabels object & Value Axis settings — refer Image 5b ‘Embedded Chart With Sheets(«Sheet1»).ChartObjects(1).Chart ‘sets the category axes to display .HasAxis(xlCategory) = True ‘category axis With .Axes(xlCategory) ‘set the category names for a category axis, to a text array .CategoryNames = Array(«2008», «2009», «2010», «2011», «2012») ‘set the axis title to be visible .HasTitle = True ‘set text for axis title .AxisTitle.Caption = «Dates« ‘set the type of category axis where axis type is controlled by Excel .CategoryType = xlAutomaticScale ‘use the TickLabels property to return a TickLabels Object representing the tick-mark labels, and with this object you can format all tick-mark labels together as a unit With .TickLabels ‘set the text orientation for tick lables .Orientation = 45 ‘set spacing between the axis labels and the axis line, relative to the axis label’s font size .Offset = 50 ‘set tick labels text to bold .Font.Bold = True ‘set tick labels text to green color .Font.Color = RGB(0, 255, 0) End With ‘set the interval between tick marks ie. the number of categories or series between tick marks .TickMarkSpacing = 1 ‘set the interval between tick-mark lables ie. the number of categories between tick-mark labels .TickLabelSpacing = 2 End With ‘secondary value axis With .Axes(xlValue, xlSecondary) ‘set the minimum and maximum values for the secondary value axis .MaximumScale = 4000 .MinimumScale = 500 ‘set the major units, which is the interval between tick marks .MajorUnit = 500 ‘set the format code for tick lables .TickLabels.NumberFormat = «$#,###« End With End With End Sub
Commonly used Methods of the Axis object:
Method	Syntax	Description
Delete Method	objAxis.Delete	deletes the axis object
Select Method	objAxis.Select	selects the axis object

Properties & Methods of the AxisTitle object, summarized: Caption Property — objAxisTitle.Caption — sets or returns the axis title text; Text Property — objAxisTitle.Text — sets or returns the axis title text; Characters Property — objAxisTitle.Characters(Start, Length) — represents a range of characters within the text string of axis title & enables formatting these specific characters by specifying the first (Start) character & the number of characters (Length); Format Property — objAxisTitle.Format — returns a ChartFormat object which contains the line, fill & effect formatting for a chart element; HorizontalAlignment Property — objAxisTitle.HorizontalAlignment — sets or returns the horizontal alignment of axis title using constants xlLeft, xlRight, xlCenter, xlJustify, xlDistributed; VerticalAlignment Property — objAxisTitle.VerticalAlignment — sets or returns the vertical alignment of axis title using constants xlTop, xlBottom, xlCenter, xlJustify, xlDistributed; ReadingOrder Property — objAxisTitle.ReadingOrder — sets or returns the reading order per the constants — xlRTL (right-to-left), xlLTR (left-to-right), or xlContext; IncludeInLayout Property — objAxisTitle.IncludeInLayout — use a Boolean value to determine whether a layout space is occupied by axis title during a chart layout wherein True is the default value; Left Property — objAxisTitle.Left — sets or returns the distance, in points, from the left edge of the chart area to the left edge of the Axis Title; Top Property — objAxisTitle.Top — sets or returns the distance, in points, from the top edge of the chart area to the top edge of the Axis Title; Orientation Property — objAxisTitle.Orientation — sets or returns the axis title’s text orientation as an integer value from -90 to 90 degrees or per the constants xlDownward, xlUpward, xlHorizontal, xlVertical. Position Property — objAxisTitle.Position — sets or returns the position of the axis title on the chart as per constants xlChartElementPositionAutomatic (-4105), xlChartElementPositionCustom (-4114). Shadow Property — objAxisTitle.Shadow — sets or returns a Boolean value determining a shadow for the axis title. The AxisTitle has 2 methods: Delete Method — objAxisTitle.Delete — deletes the axis title; Select Method — objAxisTitle.Select — selects the axis title.

Properties & Methods of the TickLabels object, summarized: Alignment Property — objTickLabels.Alignment — sets or returns (long value) the alignment for tick-mark labels; Depth Property — objTickLabels.Depth — returns the number of levels of category tick labels; MultiLevel Property — objTickLabels.MultiLevel — use a boolean value to set an axis as multilevel; Font Property — objTickLabels.Font — returns a Font object, to manipulate tick labels’ font attributes viz. font name, font size, font color, …; Format Property — objTickLabels.Format — returns a ChartFormat object which contains the line, fill & effect formatting for a chart element; NumberFormat Property — objTickLabels.NumberFormat — sets or returns the format code (similar to the Format Codes option in the Format Cells dialog box) using a String value; NumberFormatLinked Property — objTickLabels.NumberFormatLinked — Boolean, read-write, use the True setting to link the number format to the cells so that the number format in the labels changes when changes are made in the cells; NumberFormatLocal Property — objTickLabels.NumberFormatLocal — sets or returns the format code as a String in the language of the user; Offset Property — objTickLabels.Offset — sets or returns the distance as a long value (between 0 to 1000 percent, relative to the axis label’s font size) between the levels of axis’ labels, and the distance between the axis line & the first level — the default distance between the axis labels & the axis line is 100 percent;  ReadingOrder Property — objTickLabels.ReadingOrder — sets or returns the reading order per the constants — xlRTL (right-to-left), xlLTR (left-to-right), or xlContext; Orientation Property — objTickLabels.Orientation — sets or returns the tick-mark labels’ text orientation as an integer value from -90 to 90 degrees or per the constants xlTickLabelOrientationAutomatic, xlTickLabelOrientationDownward, xlTickLabelOrientationUpward, xlTickLabelOrientationHorizontal, xlTickLabelOrientationVertical. The TickLabels object has 2 methods: Delete Method — objTickLabels.Delete — deletes the tick-mark labels; Select Method — objTickLabels.Select — selects the tick-mark labels.

Child Objects for the Axis Object: Above we have discussed: the ChartFormat object — use the Format Property — objAxis.Format — to return the ChartFormat object which contains the line, fill & effect formatting for the chart axis. Some other child objects discussed above are: AxisTitle Object; DisplayUnitLabel Object; Gridlines Object; TickLabels Object. Other child objects often used with chart axis include the Border Object — use the Border Property — objAxis.Border — to return a Border object, to manipulate a chart element’s border.

Example: refer to & manipulate chart axis, create new series & axis — refer Images 6a (source data range), 6b (existing chart before running code) & 6c (chart after running this code)

Sub ChartAxis_1()
‘refer to & manipulate chart axis, create new series & axis
‘refer Images 6a (source data range), 6b (existing chart before running code) & 6c (chart after running this code)

With Sheets(«Sheet2»).ChartObjects(1).Chart

‘refers to primary value axis

If .HasAxis(2) Then

MsgBox .Axes(2).AxisTitle.Text

End If

‘use the NewSeries Method of the SeriesCollection object, to create a new series and add to the chart as a member of its SeriesCollection

With .SeriesCollection.NewSeries

‘set the axis group (Secondary axis group) for the specified series using the Series.AxisGroup Property

‘the Secondary Value axis is displayed without using the HasAxis property of the Chart object

.AxisGroup = xlSecondary

‘name the series

.Name = Sheets(«Sheet1»).Range(«E1»)

‘using the Values property of the Series object, set Y values for new series

.Values = Sheets(«Sheet1»).Range(«E2:E9»)

End With

‘refer the Axis object — Value axis in the Secondary axis group — Axis object is a member of the Axes collection

With .Axes(xlValue, xlSecondary)

‘set the minimum and maximum values for the value axis

.MinimumScale = 40000

.MaximumScale = 80000

.MajorUnit = 5000

‘the AxisTitle object exists and can be used only if the HasTitle property (of the Axis object) is True

.HasTitle = True

‘the AxisTitle Object represents an axis title for the chart — set the text for axis title

.AxisTitle.Caption = «Profit«

End With

‘refers to primary category axis

If .HasAxis(1) Then

MsgBox .Axes(1).AxisTitle.Text

Else

MsgBox «primary category axis does not exist»

‘turn on / display category axis

.HasAxis(xlCategory, xlPrimary) = True

With .Axes(xlCategory, xlPrimary)

.CategoryNames = Sheets(«Sheet1»).Range(«A2:B9»)

.TickLabels.Font.Bold = True

‘the AxisTitle object exists and can be used only if the HasTitle property (of the Axis object) is True

.HasTitle = True

‘the AxisTitle Object represents an axis title for the chart — set the text for axis title, set the font to Bold Arial 10 point & red color

With .AxisTitle

.Caption = «Yr-Qtr«

.Font.Name = «Arial«

.Font.Size = 10

.Font.Bold = True

.Font.Color = RGB(255, 0, 0)

End With

End With

End If

‘refers to secondary category axis

If .HasAxis(1, 2) Then

MsgBox .Axes(1, 2).AxisTitle.Text

‘turn off the secondary category axis ie. the category axis will no exist / display

.HasAxis(xlCategory, xlSecondary) = False

MsgBox «secondary category axis turned off»

Else

MsgBox «secondary category axis does not exist»

End If

End With

End Sub

Example: Custom NumberFormat for Chart Axis Tick Lables, Data Labels — refer Image 7

Sub ChartAxis_CustomNumberFormat()
‘Custom NumberFormat for Chart Axis Tick Lables, Data Labels — refer Image 7

With Sheets(«Sheet1»).ChartObjects(1).Chart

‘primary value axis

With .Axes(xlValue)

.TickLabels.NumberFormat = «[Cyan][<=60000]Low #,##0;[Magenta][>100000]High #,##0;Avg #,##0;«

.TickLabels.Font.Bold = True

End With

‘secondary value axis

With .Axes(xlValue, xlSecondary)

.TickLabels.Font.Bold = True

.TickLabels.NumberFormat = «[Red][<2000]$#,##0;[Green][>=2000]$#,##0«

End With

‘category axis

With .Axes(xlCategory)

.TickLabels.Font.Color = vbBlue

.TickLabels.Font.Bold = True

.TickLabels.Font.Italic = True

End With

‘data labels for series no 2

With .SeriesCollection(2)

.DataLabels.Font.Bold = True

.DataLabels.NumberFormat = «[Red][<2000]$#,##0;[Green][>=2000]$#,##0«

End With

End With

End Sub

Example: Part 4 of 8 — Manipulate Chart Axis & Axis Title — refer Image 1.4

Sub EmbChart_ChartAxis_AxisTitle_4()
‘manipulate Chart Axis & Axis Title — refer Image 1.4

Dim wsData As Worksheet, wsChart As Worksheet

‘declare a ChartObject object

Dim oChObj As ChartObject

Set wsData = Sheets(«Sheet18»)

Set wsChart = Sheets(«Sheet19»)

‘set ChartObject object by index number
Set oChObj = wsChart.ChartObjects(1)

‘using the Chart Property of the ChartObject returns a Chart object which refers to a chart

With oChObj.Chart

‘—————————————

‘VERTICAL Y-AXIS, PRIMARY:

‘refer the Axis object — Value axis in the Primary axis group — Axis object is a member of the Axes collection

With .Axes(xlValue, xlPrimary)

‘set the minimum and maximum values for the value axis

.MaximumScale = WorksheetFunction.RoundUp(WorksheetFunction.Max(wsData.Range(«C2:C9»)) * 1, -5)

.MinimumScale = WorksheetFunction.RoundDown(WorksheetFunction.Min(wsData.Range(«E2:E9»)) * 1, -5)

‘set the major units, which is the interval between tick marks, for the value axis

.MajorUnit = 100000

‘set a numeric scale used for axis values — using unit labels for charting large values will make tick mark labels more readable by using a single unit label smaller numeric values will be used instead of large numbers at the tick marks

‘using the DisplayUnit Property of the Axis object, to set the unit label for the primary value axis — set the units displayed on the primary value axis to thousands

.DisplayUnit = xlThousands

.HasDisplayUnitLabel = True

‘using the DisplayUnitLabel property of the Axis object, to return the DisplayUnitLabel object which represents a unit label on the specified axis

‘set the label caption to «‘000s» for the primary value axis, & turn off automatic font scaling

With .DisplayUnitLabel

.Caption = «‘000s«

.AutoScaleFont = False

‘set font color to red

.Font.Color = RGB(255, 0, 0)

End With

‘the AxisTitle object exists and can be used only if the HasTitle property (of the Axis object) is True

.HasTitle = True

‘the AxisTitle Object represents an axis title for the chart

With .AxisTitle

‘set the text for axis title, set the font to Bold Arial 10 Point

.Caption = «Sales-Mktg«

.Font.Name = «Arial«

.Font.Size = 10

.Font.Bold = True

‘Format property of the ChartTitle returns returns the ChartFormat object — using the Fill Property of the ChartFormat object to return a FillFormat object (which contains fill formatting properties), to set the foreground fill color &

gradient for the axis title
.Format.Fill.ForeColor.RGB = RGB(255, 0, 0)

‘the OneColorGradient Method of the FillFormat object, sets a one-color gradient for the specified fill — specifying the style for a gradient fill with the MsoGradientStyle Enumeration ‘msoGradientFromCenter’ for a Gradient running

from the center out to the corners, gradient variant of 2 & gradient degree of 1 (lightest)

.Format.Fill.OneColorGradient msoGradientFromCenter, 2, 1

‘set Shadow Property to True which determines a shadow for the AxisTitle object

.Shadow = True

End With

‘set the HasMajorGridlines property (of the Axis object) to True, to display the major gridlines for an axis (primary axis group)

.HasMajorGridlines = True

‘using the MajorGridlines Property of the Axis object returns the Gridlines object which represents the major gridlines for that axis — either all gridlines for an axis can be turned on or all of them be turned off, but not a single gridline

at a time

With .MajorGridlines

‘set gridlines color to dark red

.Border.ColorIndex = 9

‘set gridlines line style — XlLineStyle Enumeration: xlContinuous (Continuos Line), xlDash (Dashed line), …

.Border.LineStyle = xlContinuous

End With

‘the TickLabels property returns a TickLabels Object representing the tick-mark labels associated with tick marks on an axis, and with this object you can manipulate / format all tick-mark labels together as a unit (not single tick-mark

label at a time).

With .TickLabels

.Font.Bold = True

.Font.Color = RGB(255, 0, 0)

End With

End With

‘—————————————

‘VERTICAL Y-AXIS, SECONDARY:

‘refer the Axis object — Value axis in the Secondary axis group — Axis object is a member of the Axes collection

With .Axes(xlValue, xlSecondary)

‘set the minimum and maximum values for the value axis

.MaximumScale = 0.095

.MinimumScale = 0.065

‘set the major units, which is the interval between tick marks, for the value axis

.MajorUnit = 0.005

‘set the minor units, which is the interval between minor tick marks, for the value axis

.MinorUnit = 0.001

.HasTitle = True

With .AxisTitle

.Caption = «Profit«

.Font.Name = «Arial«

.Font.Size = 10

.Font.Bold = True

.Format.Fill.ForeColor.RGB = RGB(0, 0, 255)

.Format.Fill.OneColorGradient msoGradientFromCenter, 2, 1

.Shadow = True

End With

With .TickLabels

.Font.Bold = True

.Font.Color = RGB(0, 0, 255)

‘set number format for tick-mark labels

.NumberFormat = «0.0%«

End With

End With

‘—————————————

‘HORIZONTAL X-AXIS, PRIMARY:

‘refer the Axis object — category axis

With .Axes(xlCategory, xlPrimary)

‘use the CategoryNames property for setting the category names for a category axis, as a text array, to the values contained in a range of cells (ie. Range object) or to a text array containing category names.

.CategoryNames = wsData.Range(«A2:B9»)

‘using the Offset Property of the TickLabels object to set the distance between the levels of axis labels, and the distance between the axis line & the first level — the default distance between the axis labels & the axis line is 100

percent

.TickLabels.Offset = 10

.TickLabels.Font.Bold = True

.HasTitle = True

With .AxisTitle

.Caption = «Yr-Qtr«

.Font.Name = «Arial«

.Font.Size = 10

.Font.Bold = True

‘format the word «Qtr» as italic — format characters within a text string, starting at 4th character & a length of 3 characters, representing the word «Qtr»

.Characters(4, 3).Font.Italic = True

.Format.Fill.OneColorGradient msoGradientHorizontal, 1, 1

.Shadow = False

End With

‘set the HasMinorGridlines property (of the Axis object) to True, to display the minor gridlines for an axis (primary axis group)

.HasMinorGridlines = True

‘using the MinorGridlines Property of the Axis object returns the Gridlines object which represents the minor gridlines for that axis — either all gridlines for an axis can be turned on or all of them be turned off, but not a single gridline

at a time

With .MinorGridlines

‘set gridlines color to dark red

.Border.ColorIndex = 9

‘set gridlines line style — XlLineStyle Enumeration: xlContinuous (Continuos Line), xlDash (Dashed line), …

.Border.LineStyle = xlContinuous

End With

End With

End With

End Sub

VBA stands for Visual Basic for Applications and it is developed by Microsoft. MS Excel and many other Microsoft applications like word, access, etc have this language integrated into them using which one can do various things. VBA can be used in MS Excel through the code editor in its developer tab through which one can generate various types of charts and user-defined functions, connect to windows APIs, and much more. 

Enabling the Developer Tab in Excel

To use VBA in excel first of all we will need to make the developer tab visible as it is not visible as default when it is installed. We can do this by following the steps below:

Step 1: Click on the file option in the top left corner.

Step 2: Click on the options tab in the bottom left corner which will take you to excel options.

Step 3: Then click on the customize ribbon option and check the developer tab in the options available.

Table of Data for Charts

The table of data that I used for generating the chart is a small table containing the marks of students in different subjects. The table is shown below:

Programming Charts in Excel VBA

To produce charts from the data table present in our sheet first we need to create a command button by clicking which we will generate the desired chart that we programmed in the VBA. To do so just select the developer tab and then select insert then from ActiveX Controls choose the command button then place it anywhere in the sheet.

After placing the button in the sheet double click the button, if it doesn’t work then click the design mode option in the developer tab and then double-click on the button. It will take you to the VBA Editor where it will open starting with the function that handles the click function of the button you just created.

To increase the font size in the VBA Editor go to the tools tab and then the options tab and then to the editor format tab and increase the font size to your desired size. After we got our button and adjusted the font size its time to write some programs to create charts using those buttons and data tables in the sheet. Below is a VBA Code that runs when the user clicks the command Button. Remember to change to design mode to go to the editor when you click the button and turn off the design mode when you want to see the click function in action.

Private Sub CommandButton1_Click()

Dim bar_graph As ChartObject

Set bar_graph = ActiveSheet.ChartObjects.Add(Top:=Range(“E4”).Top, Left:=Range(“E4”).Left, Width:=400, Height:=300)

bar_graph.Chart.SetSourceData Worksheets(“Sheet1”).Range(“A2:C8”)

bar_graph.Chart.ChartType = xl3DColumn // Here you can choose from a variety of chart types

Worksheets(“Sheet1”).Cells(1, 1).Select // Optional

End Sub

Let’s Understand the code written above in Excel VBA:

• In the above code Lines from Private Sub CommandButton1_Click to End Sub defines the Click function on the button.
• Dim refers to Dimension and it is used to declare variables in Excel VBA. 
• Above we used variable bar_graph as type ChartObject. ChartObject contains all the sheets in the workbook (i.e, both chart sheets and worksheets).
• We then set the ActiveSheet where the chart will be drawn such that its left and top corner is the E4 cell just to make sure the chart appears as close to the button and data table as possible.
• The width and Height define the width and height of the chart that will be generated.
• The chart is the function that helps create and change the type of chart in the ActiveSheet.
• We set the source data for the chart with the help of SetSourceData and give it the data from Range A2 to C8 from Sheet1.
• Using the ChartType function we can choose any kind of chart that we want to generate from the number of charts available in the list. The list of charts pops up automatically when one writes “Chart.ChartType =” in the VBA Editor.
• The last line of code is optional and selects the A1 cell after completing the function which is just the Title of the table.

There are many other ways to write the same code in Excel VBA and I have shown just a single way. With the help of variables for every function and using the keyword to change their attributes can be learned easily if one learns how to write VBA in a better way. 

Output of Chart Function

When the command button is pressed outside the design mode, the chosen chart is displayed in the cell range mentioned in the code above like the picture shown below.