You can format legends on charts in a variety of ways to clarify the data presented. Choose where to display the chart legend. Customize the spacing of legend symbols. Alter the distance between items in your legend. Change label formats in the Chart Data table. Customize with borders, fills and more!
Show chart legends
The chart legend option is at the bottom of the Chart Properties panel. Use the slider to choose whether or not to show a legend.
If you are displaying a legend, you can choose the placement to have the legend at the Top, Bottom, Left, or Right of your chart. You can also reverse the order of the items in your legend using the Reverse Order slider in the Chart Properties panel.
Legend spacing options
To adjust legend spacing options:
- 1
- Right-click and choose Chart Properties. Scroll to the bottom of the panel. Use the input field to add more Padding if you'd like to increase the space between the legend and the chart itself.
- 2
- Use the input field for Symbol Width to adjust space available for the markers. Use the Force Symbol Width setting to have legend markers fill the available space. For example, squares will display as rectangles.
- 3
- You can further customize your chart by setting the Item Distance between items in your legend.
Legend label formats
To break a legend label onto two lines:
- 1
- Click on the Chart Data icon in the Edit toolbar.
- 2
- Place your cursor in the appropriate cell in the first column of the table where you want the title to break.
- 3
- Use CTRL+Enter for Windows or CMD+Enter for MAC to move part of the text onto a second line in the cell. This will move the same text onto a second line in the legend label.
Hide a series in a chart legend
To hide a chart series from the legend:
- 1
- Select the series in the Series section in the Chart Properties panel.
- 2
- Use the slider to disable Show in Legend at the bottom of the Series section. The series will still appear in the chart, but not in the legend.
Add a border and fill to a legend
You can add a border or fill to your chart legend using the options in the chart's Edit toolbar.
- 1
- Click on the legend to select.
- 2
- Use the Line Color icon drop down to select a color for the border.
- 3
- Use the Background Color icon to select a background color.