Customizing the Color Palette of a Chart

You can use the chart palette to control the colors or patterns used in the columns, lines, data markers, or areas in a chart.

For example, if "Telephone" is the first in a data series of order methods, and you want it to appear in blue, use the palette to make the first item in the series blue.

You can also apply background effects to chart objects or change the colors of specific objects.

If specified, the default color is used for outputs that do not support the palette definition. For example, if the palette is defined to use a radial rectangle gradient and you run the report as PDF output, the default color is used because radial rectangle gradients are not supported in PDF output.

Note: Progressive charts have a separate set of steps.

Procedure

Select the chart object. For combination charts, select the bar, line, or area objects.
To choose a preset color palette, on the style toolbar, click the chart palette presets button , and then click a palette.
To change the existing color palette, do the following:
1. In the Properties pane, click Palette.
2. On the Entries tab, click the palette entry that you want to change.
3. Under Fill, select fill type, color, transparency, and other fill settings. The options in the Fill type list depend on the chart type you are using.
  Linear Gradient displays a gradient that changes color horizontally. You can specify the position of each color in the gradient and add or remove colors from the gradient.
  
  Radial Line Gradient displays a gradient that changes color outwards from a central point, or focus. You can specify the position of each color in the gradient and the size and position of the focus. You can also add or remove colors from the gradient.
  
  Radial Rectangle Gradient displays a gradient that changes color outwards from a rectangle. You can specify the position of each color in the gradient and the size of the rectangle. You can also add or remove colors from the gradient.
  
  Pattern displays a colored pattern that you choose from a preset list. You can specify the foreground and background colors.
  
  Color displays a solid color. You can specify the transparency.
  
  Image displays an image. You can specify the image to use.
Under Style, depending on the chart type you are customizing and the fill type you chose in step 2, you can change the marker shape, line style, default color, and line weight.
To add a new palette entry, click the new button and specify the new palette settings.
To customize the data markers, on the Properties tab, depending on the chart type you are customizing and the fill type you chose in step 2, you can specify whether data markers are shown and change their color and size.
To change the order in which the colors, gradients, or patterns appear in the chart, use the arrow buttons under the Palette box to change their position.
To copy and paste a palette in the Microsoft Internet Explorer Web browser, click the copy button to copy the palette definition to the clipboard. Close the palette dialog box. Select another chart, open the palette dialog box, and click the paste button to paste the palette definition from the clipboard.