Charts & Visualization
Visualize your spreadsheet data with bar charts, line charts, pie charts, and scatter plots — use charts for quick inspection, not just presentation.
Overview
Charts in SheetTool are designed for quick data inspection as much as presentation. A chart can reveal outliers, missing categories, or wrong units faster than scanning rows. SheetTool automatically detects whether columns are numeric or categorical and suggests appropriate axis assignments. All charts are interactive with hover tooltips showing exact values. Create charts from your current data or filtered subsets to focus on specific segments.
Syntax & Reference
- Bar chart — grouped or stacked
- Best for categorical comparisons. Use grouped bars to compare values side by side, or stacked bars to show part-to-whole relationships within categories.
- Line chart
- Best for trends over a continuous axis like dates, months, or sequential values. Reveals patterns, growth, and anomalies over time.
- Pie chart
- Best for showing proportional distribution across a small number of categories. Most effective with 2-7 segments.
- Scatter plot
- Best for exploring correlation between two numeric columns. Each row becomes a point, revealing clusters, outliers, and relationships.
- Interactive tooltips
- Hover over any data point to see its exact value, category, and any additional context. Tooltips update in real time as you move across the chart.
- Automatic axis detection
- SheetTool analyzes column data types and suggests whether each axis should be numeric or categorical, reducing setup time.
Examples
Spot missing reporting periods
Plot sales by month as a line chart. A gap or sudden drop to zero reveals a missing month in the source data before you send the report.
Inspect price vs. margin correlation
Use a scatter plot with Price on the X axis and Margin on the Y axis. Outlier points highlight products with unusual pricing that may need review.
Verify data cleanup results
Chart category counts before and after a consolidation cleanup. A bar chart quickly shows whether similar categories were merged correctly.
Compare regional distribution
Create a pie chart of order counts by region to see if the distribution matches expectations, or if a region is underrepresented in the data.
Tips & Best Practices
- Filter rows before charting when you only need one segment, region, or time period — this keeps the chart focused and readable.
- Use charts as a sanity check before exporting a summarized report. Visual anomalies are often easier to spot than numeric ones.
- Choose the right chart type: bar for comparisons, line for trends, pie for proportions, scatter for correlations.
- Combine charts with pivot tables: build a summary with pivot tables first, then chart the aggregated results for cleaner visualizations.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can I export or save charts as images?+
Charts are rendered interactively in the browser. You can use your browser's screenshot or print functionality to capture them. The underlying data can be exported as CSV or Excel.
How many data points can a chart handle?+
Charts work well with hundreds to a few thousand data points. For very large datasets, consider filtering or aggregating with pivot tables first, then charting the summary.
Can I chart data from multiple columns?+
Yes. You can assign different columns to the X axis, Y axis, and grouping. For bar charts, you can use stacked or grouped modes to compare multiple value columns.