Version: Tested on Excel 2003.

Download: NanoCharts public beta 0.51 (downloaded 1168 times)

Just a quick heads-up about the latest version of the Nanocharts add-in. I have added some options such as highlighting the last data point, display the last data value and showing the x-axis. The user can also select and customize the colors used for the Nanocharts.

The data orientation is not yet implemented, nor can multiple charts be inserted at once, but these functions will make it into the next release.

A sample output can be seen in the image below.

The Nanocharts are by default set to include hidden cells, so by untilizing this and hiding columns you can make extremely readable report summaries, but that still contain the same information density:

Please don’t hesitate to leave feedback, requests and suggestions for the coming development of NanoCharts. See you soon!

Download: NanoCharts public beta 0.51 (downloaded 1168 times)

Download: NanoCharts public beta 0.50 (downloaded 416 times)

Some time ago I announced a mini-project called NanoCharts, which is  an implementation of Edward Tuftes Sparklines concept. Sparklines (and NanoCharts) are basically small, word sized graphics for high density visualization of data. I have been working to make available a sort of beta release of what will eventually be an Add-in for Excel. At present I have a working version that allow the user to insert some different NanoChart types and do some simple formatting selections. The current user form looks like this:

For now the user can insert only one chart at once, but this will probably change in the future. Also, data orientation and colors cannot be selected at the moment, but this will also likely be added to the next release. The resulting NanoCharts can be seen in the next picture.

To try this add-in, simply download the file, select any row of data and click “Insert NanoChart”, select the options you wamt in the User form and click OK. The NanoChart will be inserted in the cell immediately to the right of your selection.

Please give feedback and request features by posting comments to this post, or simply contact me via email. Enjoy.

Download: NanoCharts public beta 0.50 (downloaded 416 times)

• Three different types of charts; bar, line and dot
• Possibility to have data in rows or columns
• Selectable chart color
• Optional x-axis
• Option to display last value as number

I started creating a user form for these features (see below) on which I will base the add-in. I’d love to hear suggestions for features, what you would find useful or maybe less useful. Use the comment function.

To give an idea on what the end result may look like I include an example line chart in the picture below.

In this example the x-axis is visible, which detracts somewhat from the readability, but if your data have negative values it can be useful in the NanoLine graph for clarity. Another option would be to make markers for negative values a different color. What do you think?

Making the last marker red and slightly larger enhance readability in my opinion. Doing this in VBA is relatively simple:

ActiveChart.SeriesCollection(1).Select

With Selection
' Find and select the last marker in the graph
LastPoint = .Points.Count
.Points(LastPoint).Select
' Change color, size and style of the marker
With Selection.Border
.ColorIndex = 1
.Weight = xlHairline
.LineStyle = xlContinuous
End With

With Selection
.MarkerBackgroundColorIndex = 3
.MarkerForegroundColorIndex = 3
.MarkerStyle = xlCircle
.MarkerSize = 3
.Shadow = False
End With

Anyway, the project is moving forward and I hope to be able to upload a beta soon. Until then.