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Y-axis bar segmentation

Posted April 7th, 2008 by Dan Gerena

I saw this technique in a magazine and found it very useful in presenting a bar chart with many columns. It helps the user to inuitively figure out how high the bar is relative to the Y axis, without trying to drag their finger across the screen or printout horizontally.

I recreated it in Excel, as an example of what I'd like to see. Essentially the Y axis ticks go across the chart and are not behind but in front of the bars.

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On April 7th, 2008 Erin Easter said:

Hey Dan,

So you're right, your example of grid lines can make it easier to match the bars to the y-axis in a wide view. While Tableau doesn't currently support a feature like this you may find the following two features useful:

1. Drop Lines: You can turn on drop lines that will draw a line from the selected mark to to the x or y axis. You can set drop lines to always be on or to only show when a mark is selected. Turn on drop lines by right-clicking the view and selecting Drop Lines. You can then right-click the view again and select Edit Drop Lines to specify how you want them to behave.

2. Reference Lines: You can also use reference lines without a label. However, this way you'd have to add them at fixed values along the axis. Add a reference line by right-clicking the axis and selecting Add Reference Line. You can then format the reference lines to whatever color you'd like.