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plot.tools

Bar chart maker

Compare amounts side by side. Paste your numbers, choose upright or sideways bars, and download the picture.

What this page does

  • Grouped bars for several series
  • Vertical or horizontal bars
  • Sort by value
  • Value labels and number formats
  • Axis starts at zero, with round tick marks
Bar chart: Orders per quarter. 2 series (This year and Last year) across 4 categories, from Q1 to Q4. This year: highest 580 (Q4), lowest 420 (Q1). Last year: highest 495 (Q4), lowest 380 (Q1).Orders per quarterSample data: this year against last yearThis yearLast year0100200300400500600Q1Q2Q3Q4420510465580380430470495
PNG scale

SVG 1600 × 900 px · PNG 3200 × 1800 px · 16:9

No account and no watermark. The file has the Inter font embedded, named layers and the chart’s alt text, so it looks the same in a slide, a document or a browser. Not every app reads alt text stored in a file, so also paste it into the image’s alt text field.

Alt text: Bar chart: Orders per quarter. 2 series (This year and Last year) across 4 categories, from Q1 to Q4. This year: highest 580 (Q4), lowest 420 (Q1). Last year: highest 495 (Q4), lowest 380 (Q1).

Your data

First column: labels. Other columns: one series each. The file is read in your browser and is not uploaded.

Table

4 × 2

Label
Remove row

Design

Chart type

Direction
Series

Text

Numbers

Colours

Output

Proportion

320 to 4000 px. PNG multiplies it by the scale.

Background
  1. Step 1: Pick a chart typeBar, line, pie, scatter, area or radar. You can switch at any time.
  2. Step 2: Put in your numbersPaste cells from Excel or Google Sheets, load a file, or type in the table.
  3. Step 3: Download the pictureA PNG for slides and documents, or an SVG you can edit.

Start from an example

Click one to load it in the editor, then replace the sample numbers with yours.

Other chart makers

Each page opens the editor on that chart, with a short guide to reading and drawing it well.

Paste two columns or ten: each extra column becomes a series next to the first. Download the bar graph as SVG or PNG with no account and no watermark.

How to make a bar graph

  1. Put the names in the first column and the numbers in the second. Add a column for each extra series you want to compare.
  2. Paste the cells in the Data panel, or type over the sample table.
  3. Choose vertical or horizontal bars, and whether several series stand side by side or stacked.
  4. Turn on value labels if the exact numbers matter, set the number format, and download.

One series or several

A single column of numbers gives one bar per label, all in the same colour. That is deliberate: the labels already tell the bars apart, and a different colour for each bar would suggest a difference that is not in the data.

Two columns give a double bar graph, the usual way to set this year against last year or plan against result. Each series gets a colour and a legend entry. Past four series the groups become crowded; at that point stacked bars or a line graph usually reads better.

Details that make a bar chart readable

  • Start at zero. The bar’s length is the message, so the axis always includes zero here.
  • Sort when the order is yours to choose. Products, countries and survey answers have no natural order, so sort them by value. Months and age groups do have one: leave them as they are.
  • Go horizontal for long names. Tilted labels are harder to read than a horizontal bar with the name beside it.
  • Label the bars or keep the grid. With value labels on every bar, the grid lines add little and can be switched off.
  • Format the numbers. 1,250,000 is easier to read as 1.3M, and a share is clearer with a percent sign.

When a bar chart is the wrong choice

For a trend across many dates, bars turn into a fence; use a line graph. For the relation between two measures, use a scatter plot. For a single whole split into three or four parts, a pie chart says “parts of a whole” at a glance, although sorted bars are still easier to compare.

Why use Plot Tools

What you can check for yourself, without taking our word for it.

No account, no watermark
The download buttons work straight away. The exported file holds your chart, your text and the font, and nothing else.
Your data stays in the browser
Pasted cells and loaded files are parsed and drawn on this page. There is no upload step, and the site’s security policy only allows connections to itself.
The PNG matches the screen
The Inter font is embedded in the SVG before it is rasterised, so the labels in the PNG sit exactly where you saw them.
Decimal comma understood
1.234,56 and 3,5 are read correctly: the separator and the decimal mark are detected from the data, and you can override both.
Defaults a data editor would accept
Round axis marks, solid fills, one colour per series, bars that start at zero, and a square background that can be transparent.
Colour-blind-safe by default
The default palette is Okabe-Ito. A test in the code simulates red-green colour blindness and checks that its colours stay apart.
A link that carries the chart
“Copy link” packs the data and settings into the part of the address after #, which browsers do not send to servers.
Alt text written for you
A description is generated from the data and stored in the SVG and the PNG. Line and area charts also say how each of the first four series ends compared with its start. It is shown under the chart with a button to copy it.

Questions and answers

How do I make a double bar graph?

Give the table two value columns, for example “This year” and “Last year”. Each column is a series, and the bars of the two series are drawn side by side for every label. A third column makes a triple bar graph.

When should the bars be horizontal?

When the labels are long, or when there are more than about ten bars. Horizontal bars leave room to read each name on one line. Set Direction to Horizontal in the Design panel.

Why do the bars always start at zero?

The length of a bar is what the eye compares. If the axis started at 50, a bar for 60 would look twice as long as a bar for 55. Bar and area charts here always include zero; line and scatter charts can leave it out.

Why are all my bars the same colour?

With one series, colour would add nothing: the labels already tell the bars apart. A second series gets a second colour, and the legend names both.

Can I sort the bars?

Yes. Order in the Design panel sorts from largest to smallest or the reverse. With several series the first one decides the order; stacked bars are sorted by their total.