Sreenivas Maddu
3 min readJun 16, 2023

Line chart, Area Chart and Stacked Area Chart explained in a simple way!

1.line chart:

A line chart is like connecting the dots on a graph. It shows how things change over time or across different categories. Each dot represents a value, and the dots are connected with lines.

Here’s how you can understand a line chart:

Values over Time: If you have data that changes over time, such as sales figures for years, a line chart can help you visualize the trend. You would plot the values on the vertical axis (y-axis) and time intervals on the horizontal axis (x-axis). The line then connects the points, showing the ups and downs in the values over time.

Comparison across Categories: In addition to time, you can use a line chart to compare different categories. Let’s say you have multiple product categories, and you want to see how their sales compare. You would plot the categories on the x-axis and the sales figures on the y-axis. Each line in the chart represents a different category, connecting the points for each category.

2. Area Chart: An area chart is like coloring the space between that line and the x-axis. The colored area helps you see the magnitude or value of the data at each point. You can use this chart to see how the values change over time or compare different categories.

3. Stacked Area Chart: Now, imagine that instead of just one line, you have multiple lines stacked on top of each other. Each line represents a different category or segment. In a stacked area chart, the areas between the lines and the x-axis are filled in with different colors to show the contribution of each category to the total at each point.

What’s the difference between area chart and stacked area chart?

In simple terms, an area chart colors the space under a line to show the overall values, while a stacked area chart stacks multiple lines on top of each other to show how different categories contribute to the total values at each point.

I hope this explanation helps you understand Line chart, Area Chart and Stacked Area Chart in Power BI.