Bar chart maker
Type one label and one number per line, add a title and the chart is drawn at once. Choose whether to print the values above the bars and whether each bar gets its own colour, then download the picture as a PNG for homework, a slide or a report. Nothing is uploaded.
Runs in your browser: nothing you enter is sent anywhere.
How to use it
- Type or paste your data, one bar per line: a label, then a number.
- Add a title if you want one.
- Turn the value labels and the colour-per-bar option on or off.
- Press Download PNG to save the chart.
How it works
Each line is split at the last number, so the label can contain spaces and commas. The tallest bar sets the top of the axis, which is rounded up to a multiple of a step of 1, 2 or 5 times a power of ten. Every bar’s height is its value divided by that top. Long labels, or more than eight bars, are tilted so they do not overlap.
Worked example
The default data is Mon 12, Tue 19, Wed 8, Thu 15 and Fri 22. The largest value is 22, so one fifth of it is 4.4, which rounds up to a step of 5, and the axis runs 0, 5, 10, 15, 20, 25. The Friday bar reaches 22 out of 25, or 88% of the plot height.
Tips
- Keep labels short; the first 18 characters are shown.
- Sort your lines from largest to smallest before drawing to make the ranking easy to read.
- For shares of a whole, use the pie chart maker instead.
Frequently asked questions
How do I enter my data?
Write one bar per line: the label first, then the number, separated by a comma, a colon, a tab or just a space. The number is whatever comes last on the line, so “New York, 12” and “New York 12” are the same. Decimals use a dot, for example 2.5.
How is the vertical axis chosen?
The axis always starts at zero and stops at a round number above your largest value. The tool picks a step of 1, 2 or 5 times a power of ten, aiming for about five steps, so a largest value of 18 gives an axis up to 20 in steps of 5.
Can I use negative numbers?
Not in this chart. Bars grow up from zero, so a negative value is reported as an error with its line number. Use values of zero or more.
How do I save the chart?
Press Download PNG. The picture is drawn on a white background at twice the on-screen size, so it stays sharp on slides and printed pages. It is created in your browser; no data is sent anywhere.
When should I use a bar chart and not a pie chart?
Use a bar chart to compare separate amounts, such as counts per day or scores per team. A pie chart suits parts of one whole, like the shares of a total. If you want shares, try the pie chart maker with the same data.