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Choosing the Right Chart Type: Line Charts vs. Area Charts
The Line and Area charts appear to be very similar. They even facilitate the same type of analysis, but their functions are not interchangeable.
In this post, you’ll learn how to choose the right chart type for your chart type, and how a graph maker made by fusioncharts can help you create the chart you need.
An area chart does the same except that the area below the plotted line is filled with color.
Let’s understand the scenarios where these charts shine through in their own right.
However, we cannot clearly show multiple data sets in area charts as the upper layer hides the layers below (occlusion). This issue becomes especially bad when you have more than two data categories.
You can minimize occlusion by increasing the transparency of the different layers, but it persists.
Increasing the transparency works best for up to two data sets.
From this chart, we can get an approximate idea of the profits for the period by visually subtracting the expenses from the revenue.
There is no visual element (a colored area) in a line chart to support such cognitive relationships.
Using a stacked area chart, you can get an idea of the total sales for a month and the contribution of each region. It is, however, difficult to interpret the area of each region precisely. This issue is because the height of each region is affected by the pattern below it.
On the other hand, a line chart is more effective in facilitating an understanding of your monthly region-wise sales trend.
However, the trend for the total sales has to be obtained manually (by adding the monthly region-wise values and then plotting it as a separate line).
If the user does not refer to the chart legend, there is room for misinterpretation of the total sales line as another regional sales line. To avoid this, make your total sales line visually distinct from the regional sales lines.
While both the line and the area charts facilitate trend analysis, it is better to use the area chart when there is a summation relationship between the data sets or when you want to show a part-to-whole relationship (along with trend).
For more insights on charting best practices, check out this space.