Ravindra BagaleCourses & study guides

14. Visuals and Their Formatting

14.6 Line and Column Combo Charts

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Line and stacked column and Line and clustered column show two measures with different scales on one chart.

  • Field wells: X-axis, Column y-axis, Line y-axis, Column legend, Small multiples, Tooltips.
  • Example: X-axis = Order Hour; Column y-axis = Total Orders; Line y-axis = Avg Delivery Time (mins). This shows whether deliveries slow down during the 7–10 pm rush.
  • Avoid when both measures use the same unit (use a normal clustered chart), or when viewers may compare column height with line height as if they shared a scale.
  • Formatting: Y-axis and Secondary y-axis (titles!, range), Lines and Markers, Columns colours, data labels per series.

Ravindra Bagale's Tip

Mitrano, dhyan dya: not labelling the secondary axis is the combo-chart mistake I see most. Readers can't tell which line belongs to which scale. Nehmi turn on both axis titles, udaharan mhanje "Orders" and "Avg mins", and use contrasting colours for the column and line. Chuk karu naka!