Formatting Legends in a Chart

In a chart, the legend identifies values according to the color-coded data values that display. The legend typically displays on the right side of the chart, but you can change the location using the formatting options. You can format a legend in any of the following ways:

• Turn the Legend On, Off, or set it to Auto.
• Change the font features of the legend (for example, bold or a larger font size).
• Change the format of the title of the legend.
• Access options to change background options, including setting the background color and setting the border line width, size, and color.
• Set the display options for the legend.

To access the legend formatting options, click the Format tab. From the quick access list at the top of the tab, select Legend. The Legend formatting options display in the following image.

Use the On, Off, and Auto buttons to control how the Legend appears on your chart. You can optionally select On or Off, depending on whether you want to display the legend in your chart. The legend display setting is set to Auto, by default, which displays the legend only if there are multiple series in the chart.

Note: Occasionally, charts are large and require additional real estate. Hiding the legend, or turning it off, enables you to preserve additional room as required by the chart.

Under Labels, you can format the font used for the label text in your legend. These options include Font type, Style, Size, and Color.

Depending on the type of chart you use, adding data to a specific field automatically generates a title for the chart legend. For example, the following image displays a matrix marker chart that allows you to compare the differences between values by circle size. Since the measure Gross Profit has been added to the Size bucket, the legend title for this chart shows as Gross Profit, which is highlighted in the following image.

Under Titles on the Format tab, you can choose to show or hide the legend title with the Show Titles check box. You can also choose the font style and formatting of the legend title.

Under Other on the Format tab, you can perform tasks such as changing the position, setting the background color, and setting the border line width, size, and color. You also have options to display the legend options in reverse order and set it as collapsible.