Stacked Area chart is the type of visualization tool used to represent the cumulative contribution of data over time and across categories. Here the data series are stacked on the top of each other to show the cumulative contribution to the total.
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How to Proceed?
Step 1
Launch power BI desktop app and open the new report page and import the data required.
Step 2
In “Visualizations” pane click on “Stacked Area chart” which is highlighted in the given figure
Step 3
Drag the data fields into “Field Section “that we want to compare and analyze.
X axis: Represents the Top 10 Sports.
Y axis: Shows the Number of Medals.
Legend:
Identifies the different medal categories (Gold, Silver, and Bronze). Each colored area represents a separate category, allowing you to see both the total number of medals and the contribution of each medal type across the selected sports.
Step 4:
Filters in Power BI allows us to control and shape the data as per our needs. Here we are showing the page level filter where we can display only the data we want to show in reports or dashboards. By slicing and dicing the data we can gain insights from it.
Here, we used filters in medal (Filtered only Gold, Bronze and Silver) and in Sport (Top 10 Sports by medal count).
Step 5:
Customizing the Appearance of a Stacked Area Chart
You can customize the appearance of the visual. You can change Title, Font size, Style, Colors and Data labels. Click anywhere on the visual and set the below properties in the Format section.
In this visual, I chose background color as blue and gave 87% transparency which reduces the intensity of the color.
Give suitable title for the visual and customize the font size, color and position of the title.
Chose Colors for the line to show different categories.
To add data labels to the Stacked area chart, click on the “Data Labels” section under “Visual”. Here you can choose which data to display in the labels and adjust their position, font, and color.
In this visual, to place the position of data labels. Under formatting visuals, click on data labels and choose the desired options.
Here for this visual, we used “Inside Center” option to display the data.
We can also change the shape and
thickness of the line on the chart under the setting Visual-->Lines-->Shape.
Here for this visual we chose Solid line and thickness of the line as 3px
To Represent the shape of the data points in different style we have options under Visual-->Markers-->Shape
Step 6 Save the visual
Finally, your Stacked Area chart is ready. Save the Power BI report to preserve the visual and its formatting.
When to use Stacked Area chart?
Stacked Area charts are used in various scenarios like when we want to show how different components contribute to the whole and changes on their proportions over time and different categories and also, we can use this to showcase breakdown of categories where we can highlight the importance of categories and finally, we can also show cumulative data trends and pattens over time
Pros:
- We can clearly visualize the whole composition and with contribution of each individual component
- In stacked area chart we can easily recognize the pattern like area chart
Cons
- Like Area charts here in stacked area charts also become clumsier when used for large number of data points
Conclusion
The Stacked Area chart is an effective visual for displaying cumulative trends and showing how individual categories contribute to the overall total over time. By combining trend analysis with proportional comparisons, it helps users better understand changes in both overall values and category contributions.
Useful Information
| Tags | Power BI |
| Useful links | https://powerbi.tips/tools/layoutsg |
| MS Learn Modules | https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/power-bi/visuals/power-bi-line-chartg |
| Test Your Knowledge | Quiz |
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