Charts

Bar Chart

A classical bar chart with a scientific twist. Simple, readable, & elegant.

What is a bar chart?

A bar chart represents data using rectangular bars, where the height of each bar corresponds to the value of interest. A bar chart is one of the most versatile charts available for visualizing your data.

Bar charts excel at comparing discrete categories of data, allowing readers to easily visualize rankings, trends, and comparisons between groups.

Differences in length are easier to perceive, than, differences in size making bar plots one of the most popular charts types.

Default vertical bar plot
Includes error bars and an overlay of the individual points representing the distribution of the data
A vertical bar chart with Graphmatik's default styling applied.

Why Graphmatik combines bars with a dot plot

While classical bar charts are widely used, they effectively obscure the underlying spread of the data. This limitation means identical-looking bars can infact represent vastly different distributions (e.g. skewed, bimodal, normal, etc).

Graphmatik helps avoid this pitfall by adding error bars and individual data points by default. This way viewers can easily see the sample size, any outliers, and the shape of the data.

Tips for creating beautiful column and row charts

It's easy to build charts that perfectly suit your data in Graphmatik

Sort your data
For simpler comparisons and improved clarity, arrange your data in ascending or descending order.
An unsorted bar chart of four groups (A, B, C, and D). Group B, the largest, is highlighted in purple.
Bar chart of four groups (C, A, D, B) ordered by size from smallest to largest. Group B, the largest, is highlighted in purple.
Tell a story with color
Use color sparingly and to communicate ideas. Grouping categories by color is an effective way to draw attention to important insights.
Bar chart showing nine groups from smallest to largest, comparing the three smallest (sky blue) against the three largest (red).
Filters and Thresholds
Leverage thresholds to emphasize specific data and clearly convey key indicators/metrics to your audience.
Bar chart of five groups ordered by value, with an average line. Two groups stand out in green, indicating they are above average.
Easily swap directions
Alternate between vertical and horizontal bar charts by switching types within the data workspace.
A horizontal bar chart of five groups in descending order. The largest group (on top) is highlighted in purple.

Chart properties

PropDefaultDescription
central tendencymean
mean
The sum of a set of values divided by the number of values in the set.
median
The middlemost value of a sorted set of numbers.
error barsSEM
standard error of the mean (SEM) mean
How much the sample means vary from the population mean.
standard deviation (SD) mean
A measure of the variation of a set of values around their mean.
95% confidence interval (95% CI) mean or median
95% probability that the population parameter lies within this range.
range mean or median
The difference between the highest and lowest values within a set.
Interquartile range (IQR) median
The middle 50% of a set of values (i.e. 3rd quartile - 1st quartile).
sortnone
none
The dataset is arranged in insertion order.
ascending
The dataset is arranged from the smallest to largest aggregate measure.
descending
The dataset is arranged from the largest to smallest aggregate measure.

Chart Workspace

Learn how to create beautiful data visualizations with Graphmatik.

Spread Plot

A clean & minimalist alternative to the bar chart.