Bar-Line charts (also known as Combination charts) combine some of the strengths of bar charts with the advantages of line charts. Solid bars can be used for the most important data against which other dimensions are represented in lines. In this way, emphasis is give to a portion of data based on its importance. A combination chart is especially useful for comparing two numeric values, such as amount and units of sales.
A combination chart is most effective when the y axis contains only two value items. It represents one value as bars and the other value as a line. When more than two values are present, the chart alternates between bars and lines in depicting the values (1st, 3rd, 5th items are bars; 2nd, 4th, 6th items are lines). |