A line chart is a built-in Excel chart type, with each data series plotted as a separate line. Line charts are a good way to show change or trends over time. In contrast to column or bar charts, line charts can handle more categories and more data points without becoming too cluttered. Line charts can be customized to show or hide data markers of various shapes and sizes.
Pros
- Simple presentation; easy to read and create
- Clean presentation of multiple data series with many data points
- Good for showing trends over periods of time
- Can handle positive and negative values
Cons
- Harder to read when lines overlap frequently
- Line can imply more data than actually available (compared to bar or column chart)
An area chart is a primary Excel chart type, with data series plotted using lines with a filled area below. Area charts are a good way to show change over time with one data series. They offer a simple presentation that is easy to interpret at a glance.
Pros
- Simple presentation; easy to read and create
- Good for showing trends over periods of time
- Can handle positive and negative values
Cons
- Don’t usually work well for multiple data series
- Line can imply more data than actually available (compared to bar or column chart)
