Line Charts

Line charts are useful for showing trends over time and comparing many data series.

Line charts plot data at regular points connected by lines.

It is best not to use stacked line charts because they are difficult to distinguish from unstacked line charts when there are multiple data series.

The following example shows a revenue trend that peaked in 2012 in every territory.

Figure 1. An example line chart
a line chart showing revenue by sales region by order year that rises from 2010 to 2012, then declines in 2013

Line charts can plot data using standard, stacked, 100 percent stacked, and three-dimensional configurations.