Select the first set of values and add a sparkline. Here is a bunch of quick tips & tricks for those of you starting on sparklines. Adding them to pivot tables is a bit tricky but adding sparklines to tables is fairly straightforward and scales nicely. You can add sparklines to tables and pivot tables too. Data in hidden rows / columns: If data has some hidden rows / columns, the values are neglected (unless you enable “Show data in hidden cells” option).Zeros: If data has zeros, zero value is plotted.Errors & #NA values: If data has some #NA values, they are neglected.Non-numeric data: If the sparkline source data contains non-numeric data, they are neglected while plotting the sparklines.Sparklines & Missing Data – How does it work? Group / un-group a bunch of sparklines (you can change formatting options, axis settings en-masse when you group sparklines).Set axis options (show / hide axis, set min and max value for vertical axis, set axis type to date axis etc.).Set different colors for first point, last point, highest & lowest points (applicable for column and line chart types).Change the source data / target cells of sparkline.Change the sparkline type – between line, column and win/loss.Some of the key formatting / customization options available are, This is where all the formatting options for sparklines are included. Whenever you select a cell with sparkline in it, you will find a new ribbon called as “Sparklines – Design” ribbon. Sparkline Formatting and Options – Explored Win-loss chart (useful for showing a bunch of wins & losses denoted by 1s and -1s).There are 3 basic types of sparklines in Excel 2010. Here is a short screen-cast showing you how a sparkline is created. Optional: Format the sparkline if you want.Specify a target cell where you want the sparkline to be placed.
This page provides a complete tutorial on Excel sparklines along with 5 secret tips. Sparklines (often called as micro-charts) add rich visualization capability to tabular data without taking too much space. Intense, simple, word-sized graphics Edward Tufte Edward Tufte coined the term sparkline and defined it as, These bite-sized graphs can fit in a cell and show powerful insights. Of all the charting features in Excel, Sparklines are my absolute favorite.