Changing the colors used in graphs

Graphs, such as bar charts and Tornado graphs are often generated with a default set of colors. This article demonstrates how to change the colors from the default to colors of your choice.

These instructions are created for editing the bars on Tornado graphs but the same instructions would work for other graphs.

Once you have generated your graph:

1. Select the Edit Chart dialogue from the top right hand side. A dialogue will open and there are three tabs across the top: Select Chart Type, Select Data and Format Chart.

2. Select the Format Chart tab.

3. On the Left Hand Side there is a Heading "Series", which may have a number of "Value Y Series" listed below. Select the "Series" heading (and not one of the series which are listed underneath).

4. In the main area of the tab, details are shown for each of the Series and at the bottom (you may need to scroll down the page) there is a button called "Series Palette". Click on the Series Palette button.

5. The Series Palette will open. Dependent on your graph, there may be a number of palettes for different Series. Select the Series where the colors match your graph and use the drop down arrow next to each color bar to change the color.

6. Once you have finished changing the colors, close the Series Palette by closing the window (the "X" in the corner).

7. In the Edit Chart dialogue, select "Apply" and then "Finish" from the bottom and the new colors should be reflected in your graph.

There is no default way to set all the colors for a specific category, for example for Costs or Probabilities.