when you create a chart or other visualization in tableau nine, the program applies its built-in formatting to your creation. As with most every other aspect of a tableau visualization, you can format your charts elements to emphasize particular aspects of your data or just provide the appearance that you want.
- [Instructor] When you create your chart or other visualizations in Tableau, the program applies its built-in formatting to your creation. As with most every other aspect of Tableau visualizations, you can format your chart's elements to emphasize particular aspects of your data, or just provide the appearance you want. In this movie, I will show you how to format chart elements. My sample file is the FormatElements workbook, and you can find it in the Chapter11 folder of your exercise files collection. The first thing you need to do is identify the element you want to change.
I have a very simple visualization here. And what I want to do is to change the color of my line, and also other aspects of it, so I will click the line to select it, and you notice that the closest data point was selected as well, that's fine. Then I'll go to the Marks card and click Color. Doing so displays a color palate, and from there I can select the color that I want to apply. Let's say that I'll go for a medium gray, so I'll go to the bottom of the left-hand column here, under gray, and when I click on it, you can see that Tableau has changed the color of the line.
If I want, I can also display labels related to the data points on the line, so if I click the line again, and then go to Label, I see that I have a number of options, I can check this box to show marked labels, they appear, and then I can format the text as well. So for example, because the numbers are a little bit closer together, if I want to make them smaller, then I can click Font, and go from say, nine point down to eight point.
And click away. I can also change other parts of the formatting, such as making it bold, changing color, and so on. I can also edit the axes of my visualization. So for example, the vertical axis shows total expenses. If I right click the axis, then I see a shortcut menu, and I can click Edit Axis. That gives me the Edit Axis dialogue box, and the name of the field is in square brackets, so I know I did it right.
There are a number of ways that I can change the range of the axis, in other words, the way that it displays its data. I can force the axis to include zero by making sure the Include Zero box is check. I can also have the same axis range for all rows and columns, or select to have independent axis ranges for each row or column. I can also select Fixed so that I have a fixed start and a fixed end. If you have ever seen a chart that doesn't start at zero on the vertical axis, that's what we're doing here.
None of my values are below 15,000, so rather than starting at zero, I will start at 15,000. So I'll type that into the box on the left hand side, press Tab, that looks good. And I will go ahead and click OK. When I do, you see that rather than starting at zero, I now have my data in a range starting at 15,000. If your values are close together, then starting the vertical axis at a value other than zero can amplify those differences, so that's a rhetorical point to watch out for.
If you want to emphasize the differences, then make sure that the values in your chart are close together, and not starting at zero can make sense. Do be aware, though, that doing so amplifies and, in fact, exaggerates the differences among your values, where if you started at zero, as we saw earlier, the differences would be much less significant. Modifying your chart is extremely useful if you find that the basic visualization is exactly what you need, that's fine, but if you want to change your axes, or perhaps change the appearance of your data, you can do that as well.
Author
Updated
5/10/2017Released
10/13/2016- Managing data sources and visualizations
- Managing Tableau worksheets and workbooks
- Creating custom calculations and fields
- Analyzing data using statistical tools
- Sorting and filtering Tableau data
- Defining groups and sets
- Creating and pivoting crosstabs
- Formatting Tableau visualizations
- Creating basic charts
- Annotating and formatting charts
- Mapping geographic data
- Creating dashboard and actions
Skill Level Intermediate
Duration
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Q. This course was updated 5/10/2017. What topics were part of the update?
A. Topics related to version 10.1 and 10.2 were part of the course update.
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Introduction
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Welcome59s
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1. Introducing Tableau
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Downloading Tableau2m 36s
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Installing Tableau drivers2m 15s
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Getting help in Tableau2m 2s
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2. Managing Data Sources and Visualizations
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Connecting to a data source1m 56s
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Joining related data sources3m 27s
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Cleaning up source data2m 37s
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3. Managing Tableau Worksheets and Workbooks
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Saving your changes2m 24s
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Creating a packaged workbook1m 33s
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4. Creating Custom Calculations and Fields
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Creating a calculated field3m 21s
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Adding a table calculation3m 46s
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5. Analyzing Data Using Statistical Tools
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Displaying the Summary Card2m 30s
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Forecasting future values3m 58s
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6. Sorting and Filtering Tableau Data
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Creating a selection filter2m 58s
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Creating a wildcard filter3m 50s
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Creating a condition filter2m 53s
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Creating a top filter2m 46s
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7. Defining Groups and Sets
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Defining a group1m 55s
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Defining a set2m 14s
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Combining sets3m 31s
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Editing and deleting sets1m 37s
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8. Creating and Pivoting Crosstabs
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Creating a crosstab3m 20s
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Unpivoting a crosstab1m 50s
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9. Formatting Tableau Visualizations
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Resizing a visualization3m 39s
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10. Creating Basic Charts
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Creating pie charts3m 45s
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Creating scatter plots3m 19s
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Identifying data clusters3m 54s
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Creating histograms3m 6s
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Creating a treemap3m 26s
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11. Annotating and Formatting Charts
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Adding a text box to a chart2m 25s
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12. Mapping Geographic Data
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Creating a basic map4m 24s
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Setting map options3m 46s
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Defining custom regions3m 57s
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13. Creating Dashboards and Actions
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Creating a dashboard3m 54s
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Defining a filter action2m 40s
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Defining a highlight action3m 44s
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Defining a URL action2m 36s
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14. What's New in Tableau 10.1 and 10.2
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Export data to CSV files1m 20s
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Scale maps dynamically1m 34s
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Conclusion
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Further resources1m 17s
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Video: Formatting chart elements