Visuals/Pl. XXXIX

    Area Chart

    Area charts that show how the mix moves, not just how big it is

    Overlapping, stacked, 100 %, streamgraph, range and difference areas, and a ridgeline of the same series, with every series named where it ends.

    Read the documentationComing soon to Microsoft Marketplace
    Datasheet
    Status
    Coming soon to Microsoft Marketplace
    Price
    $1.99 /user/mo · $19 /user/yr
    Licensing
    Per user, assigned in the Microsoft 365 admin center. Unlicensed viewers see the free tier, never a blocked visual.
    Data
    Computed inside Power BI. No external calls, no API keys, no telemetry.
    Visuals API
    5.11.0
    Accessibility
    One tab stop with arrow keys, screen-reader live region, dash and marker shape per series, high contrast, Reduce Motion, focus outline and minimum text size
    Languages
    20: Chinese (simplified and traditional), Czech, Danish, Dutch, English, French, German, Hungarian, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Norwegian, Polish, Portuguese (Brazil and Portugal), Slovak, Spanish, Swedish, Turkish
    Views
    Area (overlapping, stacked, 100 %, streamgraph, range band, difference) and Ridgeline
    Data volume
    30,000 periods per window, up to 150,000; up to 60 legend values
    Network
    No external calls, no telemetry
    Works in
    Power BI Desktop, Service, Embedded
    Stacked area chart of monthly revenue by product line from 2022 to 2026, with Bikes, E-bikes, Components and Service labelled at the right edge with their last values
    Pl. XXXIX  ·  Area Chart  ·  Stacked areas with real names: every product line labelled where it ends.rendered from the shipped visual
    What it does

    SmartVisuals Area Chart draws the same date axis and measures as six area layouts and a ridgeline (joy plot). Stacked areas stack negatives downwards, the streamgraph uses the wiggle baseline with inside-out order, the difference layout shades the gap between two series by which one is higher, and every series carries its real name at the edge.

    Forecasts with prediction intervals, comparisons with last year, the Target or any measure, and the Mann-Kendall trend test are computed inside the visual. On stacked areas they follow the total; on 100 % areas the forecast shows where the mix is heading. Nothing leaves the report: no external calls, no telemetry.

    Documentation

    Find the answer in the Area Chart docs.

    Search all visuals

    Free and premium

    Where the line is, exactly.

    Report authors see the full premium set in edit mode, so you can evaluate every feature on your own data before assigning a single licence. Unlicensed viewers always get a working chart.

    Free tierevery viewer
    • Six area layoutsOverlapping, stacked (negatives stack downwards instead of hiding positives), 100 % stacked, streamgraph with the wiggle baseline, a range band from Low to High, and the difference between two series (or a series and its Target), with the gap shaded by which one is higher.
    • Ridgeline (joy plot)One ridge per series, overlapping, each scaled to its own peak or to a shared one, ordered by data, name, date of the peak or total.
    • Stack order and a line on topStack in data order, by total or inside-out, with a line along the top of each area.
    • Real names at the edgeEvery series labelled where it ends with its name, last value or both; a gradient or tint from the theme.
    • Trend, reference lines and bands, zoom, presetsA linear trend line (on the stacked layout, of the stack total), reference lines and bands, a range navigator and style presets.
    • Tooltips, cross-filter and drilldownTooltips with the change to the previous point and your Tooltips fields, report page tooltips, cross-filter, Ctrl multi-select, cross-highlight, drilldown, bookmarks and the context menu.
    • Formatting and localizationDynamic format strings honoured per value, data labels, legend, two value axes, four themes, and the visual localized in 20 languages.
    • AccessibilityOne keyboard tab stop with arrow keys along and between series, Enter or Space to filter, Escape to clear, a screen-reader live region, dash and marker shape per series, Windows high contrast, Reduce Motion, focus outline and minimum text size settings.
    • Never blockedReaders without a licence always see the free chart: no watermark, no broken report.
    Premium$1.99 /user/mo · first month free
    • Forecasts with prediction intervalsPer series, or of the stack total on stacked areas: exponential smoothing chosen by AICc, with 80 and 95 % bands. On 100 % areas, the forecast mix shows where the shares are heading.
    • This year against last yearThe same month a year back looked up by calendar from the data, the variance shaded and variance bars underneath; or against the Target or the Comparison field. On stacked areas the comparison is of the total.
    • Time-saversShow values as year to date, running total, index or % change; Top N + Others; trend types beyond linear with the equation and R²; reference lines for every series; the drawn smart caption; annotations from a measure.
    • Trend test, more axes, small multiplesMann-Kendall trend test with Sen's slope, value axes 3 and 4, and small multiples.
    In depth

    Area Chart in Power BI, explained.

    What does an area chart show that a line chart does not?

    A line chart answers "how big is each series". An area chart answers "how big is the whole, and what is it made of": stacked areas add the series up, so the top edge is the total and each band is one part of it. SmartVisuals Area Chart draws six layouts over the same fields (overlapping, stacked, 100 % stacked, streamgraph, a range band and the difference between two series) and a ridgeline (joy plot) of the same series, switched in Format pane > View > Chart.

    Every series is labelled with its real name where it ends, so a four-band stack reads without a legend. Hover any period for a tooltip with each series, its change to the previous point and your Tooltips fields.

    How do I set up an area chart in Power BI?

    Put a date column or a date hierarchy on Axis (date) and one measure on Values; that already draws a labelled area with a correctly formatted date axis. Add a field such as Product line to Legend for one area per value, or put several measures on Values. Then choose Format pane > Area > Layout.

    Target, Comparison, Low and High are optional measures: Target is the base for the difference layout, Low and High draw a range band, and Comparison is a previous-year or any other series from your model. Trend Line, Reference Lines, Reference Bands, Forecast, Compare and Trend Test sit in the Analytics pane, where the native charts keep them.

    Stacked, 100 % or streamgraph: which layout answers which question?

    Stacked answers "how big is the total and which part drives it"; negatives stack downwards from zero instead of hiding positive bands. 100 % stacked answers "how is the share shifting", with every period scaled to the same height. The streamgraph answers "how is the mix moving" when the bands matter more than the baseline: it centres the stack on a wiggle baseline (Byron and Wattenberg) and orders the series inside-out, so the shape of each band is easier to follow.

    Area > Stack Order stacks in data order, by total or inside-out. On the stacked layout the trend line, forecast and comparison follow the stack total, drawn from the top of the stack, and the footnote says so. On 100 % and streamgraph the total is constant or has no meaningful baseline, so the trend line and the comparison cards hide; on 100 % the forecast is drawn as the forecast mix: each series forecast on its own values and shown as a share of their sum, without intervals.

    How do I shade the gap between actual and plan, or show a range?

    Area > Layout > Difference between two series draws the first two series (or the first series and the Target, set in Difference Fill > Compare With) as lines and shades the space between them in two colours by which one is higher; Higher Is Better decides which colour is good. Nothing is filled down to the axis in this layout, because the axis does not start at zero there.

    Range band (Low to High) draws the band between the Low and High measures, such as a minimum and maximum or a normal range from the model. The ridgeline puts one ridge per series under each other, overlapping, each scaled to its own peak or to a shared one, which shows when each series peaks better than a stack does.

    What data does the area chart expect?

    A date axis gives true time spacing: gaps in the data stay visible, ticks fall on calendar steps, and the grain (day, week, month, quarter, year) is detected from the dates and sets the forecast step and the season. Text periods and date hierarchy levels such as "Qtr 1" are drawn one slot per value in data order. Without anything on Axis the visual says "Add a date or period to Axis".

    Blanks follow Lines > Missing Values: leave a gap, treat as zero, connect across, interpolate or repeat the previous value. The 100 % layout uses the share of the sum of absolute values, and the streamgraph counts negative values as zero, because a stream has no sign.

    What are the limits?

    The visual reads 30,000 periods per data window and asks Power BI for more up to 150,000; if the data is cut, the host's warning icon says so. A Legend draws up to 60 series, the first 60 Power BI sends; filter the Legend to see others. With more points than the width can show, lines are simplified for drawing and the footnote says that statistics still use every point.

    Forecasts are computed for at most 12 series per visual and need at least six periods. End-of-Line Labels show up to 8 series by default (Up To N Series); with more, the legend takes over. Everything is computed inside the visual: no external calls, no telemetry.

    Use cases

    Where Area Chart earns its place.

    Revenue by product line

    A sales controller puts the month on Axis (date), Revenue on Values and Product line on Legend, then sets Area > Layout to Stacked. Bikes, E-bikes, Components and Service stack into the monthly total, each labelled with its name and last value at the right edge, and the Trend Line in the Analytics pane follows the total from the top of the stack.

    Mix by site, now and next

    A finance team maps Revenue to Values and Site to Legend and chooses 100 % stacked. Every month has the same height, so the reader sees whether the share of Chicago, Hamburg or Manchester is growing. Turning on Forecast draws the forecast mix after a dashed rule: each site forecast on its own values and shown as a share of their sum.

    Output against plan at a plant

    An operations analyst at the Milwaukee plant puts weekly output on Values and the plan on Target, chooses Difference between two series and sets Difference Fill > Compare With to The Target field. Weeks above plan are shaded in the better colour, weeks below in the worse one, split exactly where the lines cross.

    When each product peaks

    A planning team switches View > Chart to Ridgeline (joy plot) with Product line on Legend and sets Ridgeline > Order to Date of the peak. One ridge per product line, each scaled to its own peak, shows which lines peak before the holiday season and which after it.

    Getting started

    From empty canvas to first chart.

    1. 01

      Add a date column or date hierarchy to Axis (date) and a measure such as Revenue to Values.

    2. 02

      Add a field such as Product line to Legend for one area per value, or put several measures on Values.

    3. 03

      Choose Format pane > Area > Layout (Overlapping, Stacked, 100 % stacked, Streamgraph, Range band or Difference) and Stack Order; for the joy plot set View > Chart to Ridgeline (joy plot).

    4. 04

      Add Target for the difference layout, or Low and High for a range band.

    5. 05

      Open the Analytics pane for Trend Line, Reference Lines, Reference Bands, Forecast and Compare.

    Get Area Chart

    On its way.

    Installation instructions for both paths are on the download page.

    Microsoft Marketplace (recommended)

    The offer is prepared for Microsoft Marketplace and not published yet. This page will link to the listing the moment it is live.

    Coming soon
    Accessibility

    Readable and usable for everyone.

    Tab
    Moves into the chart. The chart is one tab stop; focus starts on the first point of the first series.
    Left / Right arrow
    Moves to the previous or next period of the same series.
    Up / Down arrow
    Moves to the same period of the previous or next series. In the ridgeline every arrow key moves between ridges.
    Home / End
    Jumps to the first point of the first series or the last point of the last series.
    Page Up / Page Down
    Jumps ten series up or down; with fewer series, to the first or last point.
    Enter or Space
    Selects the focused point (in the ridgeline, the focused series) and cross-filters the page. Hold Ctrl to add it to the selection.
    Esc
    Clears the selection.

    • Screen readers

      The chart has one accessible name: a sentence about the data, such as how the first series changed over the period and where it peaked. A polite live region reads the focused point as series, period and value, for example "Bikes, Mar 2026: $2.2M"; in the ridgeline it reads each ridge's name and peak. On very long series the keyboard steps over evenly spaced periods so a walk stays manageable.

    • Not colour alone

      Accessibility > Distinguish Series Without Colour gives each series its own dash pattern and marker shape, also in the legend. Every series can be labelled with its name where it ends (End-of-Line Labels), and tooltips mark the change to the previous point with an up or down arrow as well as the number.

    • High contrast

      In Windows high contrast mode the visual uses the system colours only: series, text, axes and marks take the foreground colour on the system background, markers are hollow, gridlines are dropped and axis lines are drawn, Distinguish Series Without Colour is switched on and the focus outline uses the system's selection colour.

    • Reduced motion

      The chart draws without animation. Accessibility > Reduce Motion, or the operating system's reduced-motion setting, switches off any transition.

    • Focus outline

      Accessibility > Focus Outline Colour and Focus Outline Width set the ring around the focused point (empty colour = the theme's focus colour; 2.5 px by default). High contrast always uses the system colour.

    • Minimum text size

      Accessibility > Minimum Text Size (0 = off) draws every label, axis, legend, caption and footnote at least this large.

    • Context menu

      Right-clicking a point opens the Power BI context menu for that point; right-clicking empty space opens it for the visual.

    • Languages

      The format pane and every text the visual draws are available in 20 languages: Chinese (simplified and traditional), Czech, Danish, Dutch, English, French, German, Hungarian, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Norwegian, Polish, Portuguese (Brazil and Portugal), Slovak, Spanish, Swedish and Turkish. Dates and numbers follow the report's locale.

    Questions

    Asked before you did.

    More questions? See support or write to hello@smartvisuals.io.

    Free: all six area layouts, the ridgeline, stack order, end labels, a linear trend line, reference lines and bands, the range navigator, presets, themes, tooltips, cross-filtering, drilldown, dynamic format strings and every accessibility feature. Premium ("Forecast & Compare") adds forecasts with prediction intervals (including the forecast mix on 100 % areas), comparisons with last year, the Target or a measure with variance bars, the Mann-Kendall trend test, show values as, Top N + Others, trend types beyond linear, reference lines for every series, the drawn smart caption, annotations from a measure, value axes 3 and 4 and small multiples. Premium is a per-user licence at $1.99 per user per month or $19 per user per year, with the first month free. Every premium feature previews in full in Power BI Desktop and edit mode, and readers without a licence always see the free chart, never a watermark or a blocked visual.

    The visual has been prepared for Microsoft Marketplace and is not published yet; this page will link to the listing once it is live.

    No. The visual declares no network privileges and makes no external calls; every statistic, including forecasts and the trend test, is computed inside the visual in your report. There is no telemetry, and the licence check uses Power BI's own licence service.

    Axis (date) and one measure in Values. Optional: Legend (one area per value), more measures in Values, Secondary axis values (right-hand axis), Target (plan or budget, the base for the difference layout), Comparison (previous year or any series from your model), Low and High (a range band), Annotation (a text measure that pins a note on a period), Small multiples and Tooltips.

    Stacked when the total matters and you want to see which part drives it. 100 % stacked when only the shares matter, for example the share of each region in revenue. Streamgraph when you want to follow how each band grows and shrinks; it has no meaningful baseline, so do not read totals from it. Switch in Format pane > Area > Layout; the fields stay the same.

    Put the plan measure on Target and choose Area > Layout > Difference between two series, then set Difference Fill > Compare With to The Target field. The space between the two lines is shaded in a better and a worse colour, split exactly where the lines cross; turn off Higher Is Better for costs. With two measures in Values and no Target, the layout compares the first and the second series, which must share an axis.

    A forecast or trend of one series drawn on a stacked chart would float below its own band and mislead. On the stacked layout the trend line, forecast and comparison therefore belong to the stack total, drawn from the top of the stack and named Total in the legend and tooltip; the footnote says so. On 100 % and streamgraph the Trend Line and Compare cards hide, and the 100 % layout forecasts the mix instead.

    30,000 periods per data window, with more requested from Power BI up to 150,000; if the data is cut, the host's warning icon appears. Up to 60 legend values are drawn. Forecasts run for up to 12 series and need at least six periods. Dense lines are simplified for drawing only; statistics use every point.

    Yes. The chart is one tab stop: Left and Right move along a series, Up and Down move to the same period of the neighbouring series, Home and End jump to the first and last point, Enter or Space cross-filters and Escape clears. A live region reads each point, such as "Bikes, Mar 2026: $2.2M", and the chart's accessible name is a sentence describing the change of the first series. Distinguish Series Without Colour gives each series its own dash and marker shape, and Windows high contrast switches it on.

    20: Chinese (simplified and traditional), Czech, Danish, Dutch, English, French, German, Hungarian, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Norwegian, Polish, Portuguese (Brazil and Portugal), Slovak, Spanish, Swedish and Turkish, for the format pane and every text the visual draws. Dates and numbers follow the report's locale.

    SmartVisuals Time Series holds the area and ridgeline views of this visual plus line, combo, sparklines and candlestick views over the same fields, with one engine and the same premium layer. For area charts alone, Area Chart is the smaller choice; if you need three or more chart types or want to switch views over one set of fields, see SmartVisuals Time Series. Microsoft licenses each offer separately, so a licence for one does not unlock the other.

    Post it on the public board at smartvisuals.io/feedback, where other users can vote and comment, use the Report a bug block on smartvisuals.io/support, or email hello@smartvisuals.io. A screenshot, the fields you bound and the layout you chose help most.
    Troubleshooting

    When it does not look right.

    Found a bug or missing something? Post it on the requests board or vote for what others asked; the developer answers within two business days.

    The chart says "Add a date or period to Axis".
    Axis (date) is empty. Add a date column, a date hierarchy or text periods to it; without a time axis there is no time series to draw. Measures alone are not enough.
    My areas have holes, or a band drops to zero.
    Blank values follow Lines > Missing Values, which defaults to Leave a gap. Choose Interpolate or Connect across to bridge single missing periods, Treat as zero when a blank really means nothing was sold, or Repeat previous value for stock levels. Interpolated points are drawn as hollow markers and the footnote says so.
    The difference layout draws ordinary areas instead of a shaded gap.
    The layout needs two series on the same axis, or one series and a Target. With one measure and no Target, or with the second series on another axis, the visual falls back to overlapping areas and the footnote says "The difference layout needs two series or a Target". Add the plan to Target and set Difference Fill > Compare With to The Target field, or move both series to one axis in Series Axes.
    I cannot find the Trend Line or the Compare settings.
    Trend Line, Reference Lines, Reference Bands, Forecast, Compare and Trend Test are in the Analytics pane, not the Format pane. On the 100 % stacked and streamgraph layouts the Trend Line and Compare cards hide, because the total is constant or has no meaningful baseline; on the streamgraph Forecast hides as well.
    Some legend values are missing.
    Power BI sends up to 60 legend values to the visual; the rest are not drawn. Filter the Legend field, for example with a Top N filter in the Filters pane, to choose which ones you see. If end labels disappear instead, the chart has more series than End-of-Line Labels > Up To N Series (8 by default) and the legend takes over.
    A reader sees the chart without the forecast or comparison I set up.
    A feature marked Premium on the landing page is drawn for readers with a licence and previews in full in Power BI Desktop and edit mode. In reading view without a licence, the visual draws the free chart from the same fields and Power BI shows its own licence notice once; nothing is blocked or watermarked. Assign a licence in the Microsoft 365 admin center.
    Further reading
    For developers & AI agents

    Add this visual programmatically.

    Use the GUID and data roles below to add Area Chart to a Power BI report via PBIR or the Report Authoring agent. Full catalog (JSON)

    GUID available after the visual is published on Microsoft Marketplace.

    RoleDisplay nameKind
    axisAxis (date)Grouping
    legendLegendGrouping
    valuesValuesMeasure
    secondarySecondary axis valuesMeasure
    targetTargetMeasure
    comparisonComparisonMeasure
    highHighMeasure
    lowLowMeasure
    annotationAnnotationMeasure
    facetSmall multiplesGrouping
    tooltipsTooltipsMeasure
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