Home > Designing and creating databases > Creating and managing layouts and reports > Working with charts > Formatting charts

Formatting charts

FileMaker Pro gives you many ways to customize your charts. For example, in line, bar, and area charts, you can change the scale of the vertical axis so your data fills the chart. You can add a legend to the chart and label the X-and Y-axes (Label Data and Value Data series in pie charts). When you make changes, the chart preview in the Format Chart dialog box updates to show how your change affects the final chart.

To change the format of a chart:

1.	In Layout mode, double-click the chart you want to reformat.

2.	In the Chart Setup dialog box, click Format Chart.

You see the Format Chart dialog box.

3.	Select Chart Appearance, then change one or more of the following:

 

For:	Choose:
Font	A different font for the labels in your chart.
Chart Title	A different point size and color for the chart title.
Chart Style	A style for the data series elements.
Color Scheme	A color theme for the data series elements.
Background	A fill style for the background. If you choose a gradient style, choose the colors you want to blend in the background.

4.	Select Legend, then Include Legend, and change one or more of the following:

 

For:	Choose:
Background	A fill style for the background. If you choose a gradient style, choose the colors you want to blend in the background.
Border Style	A style for the border around the legend, then choose a color for the border. To hide the border, choose No Border.
Legend Text	A different point size for text in the legend, then choose a color for legend text.

5.	For pie charts, select Label Data and choose a point size for the data series labels, then choose a color for the title.

For bar, line, or area charts, do one or more of the following:

•	Select Horizontal (X) Axis and change one or more of the following.

Note  For horizontal bar charts, the horizontal axis is the Y-axis and the vertical axis is the X-axis.

 

For:	Do This:
X-Axis Title	Type a title or click and choose Specify Field Name or Specify Calculation to enter a title. For more information on defining calculations, see Specify Calculation dialog box.
Title Text	Choose a point size for the X-axis title, then choose a color for the title.
Labels	Choose a point size for the data series labels on the X-axis, then choose a color for the labels.
Label Angle	Choose an angle measurement for data series labels on the X-axis. Changing the angle of labels makes them more legible when labels are long.

•	Select Vertical (Y) Axis and change one or more of the following:

 

For:	Do This:
Y-Axis Title	Type a title or click and choose Specify Field Name or Specify Calculation to enter a title.
Title Text	Choose a point size for the Y-axis title, then choose a color for the title.
Labels	Choose a point size for the data series labels on the Y-axis, then choose a color for the labels.

•	To change the scale of the vertical axis data series, select Set Y-Axis, then enter minimum and maximum values.

Tip  Changing the maximum value to a figure close to your highest valued data point causes the data elements to fill your chart and make it easier to read.

•	Select (Y) Series 1, then type a title or click and choose Specify Field Name or Specify Calculation to enter a title. For more information on defining calculations, see Specify Calculation dialog box.

6.	Click OK, Save Layout, then Exit Layout in the layout bar to switch to Browse mode and view the modified chart.

Note  If you specified custom values for the vertical Y-Axis (for example, you changed the maximum value to 300), but the chart does not display these values in Browse, Find, or Preview mode, try resizing the chart in Layout mode to make it larger. Then recheck the chart in Browse, Find, or Preview mode.