Chart Legend in Excel document

29 Oct 202413 minutes to read

Legends are visual pictorial hints that provide a viewer information that helps them understand an chart. Using XlsIO, you can customize the legend in the chart.

Add

The following code snippet illustrates how to add the legend.

C# [Cross-platform]

//Add the legend
chart.HasLegend = true;

C# [Windows-specific]

//Add the legend
chart.HasLegend = true;

VB.NET [Windows-specific]

'Add the legend
chart.HasLegend = False

Formatting

Border

The following code snippet illustrates how to format the border of the legend.

C# [Cross-platform]

//Set the border
chart.Legend.FrameFormat.Border.AutoFormat = false;
chart.Legend.FrameFormat.Border.IsAutoLineColor = false;
chart.Legend.FrameFormat.Border.LineColor = Color.Black;
chart.Legend.FrameFormat.Border.LinePattern = ExcelChartLinePattern.DashDot;
chart.Legend.FrameFormat.Border.LineWeight = ExcelChartLineWeight.Narrow;

C# [Windows-specific]

//Set the border
chart.Legend.FrameFormat.Border.AutoFormat = false;
chart.Legend.FrameFormat.Border.IsAutoLineColor = false;
chart.Legend.FrameFormat.Border.LineColor = Color.Black;
chart.Legend.FrameFormat.Border.LinePattern = ExcelChartLinePattern.DashDot;
chart.Legend.FrameFormat.Border.LineWeight = ExcelChartLineWeight.Narrow;

VB.NET [Windows-specific]

'Set the border
chart.Legend.FrameFormat.Border.AutoFormat = false
chart.Legend.FrameFormat.Border.IsAutoLineColor = false
chart.Legend.FrameFormat.Border.LineColor = Color.Black
chart.Legend.FrameFormat.Border.LinePattern = ExcelChartLinePattern.DashDot
chart.Legend.FrameFormat.Border.LineWeight = ExcelChartLineWeight.Narrow

Color

The following code snippet illustrates how to format the color of the legend.

C# [Cross-platform]

//Set the color
chart.Legend.TextArea.Color = ExcelKnownColors.Pink;

C# [Windows-specific]

//Set the color
chart.Legend.TextArea.Color = ExcelKnownColors.Pink;

VB.NET [Windows-specific]

'Set the color
chart.Legend.TextArea.Color = ExcelKnownColors.Pink

The following code snippet illustrates how to format the background color of the legend.

C# [Cross-platform]

//Set the background color
chart.Legend.FrameFormat.Fill.ForeColorIndex = ExcelKnownColors.Yellow;

C# [Windows-specific]

//Set the background color
chart.Legend.FrameFormat.Fill.ForeColorIndex = ExcelKnownColors.Yellow;

VB.NET [Windows-specific]

'Set the background color
chart.Legend.FrameFormat.Fill.ForeColorIndex = ExcelKnownColors.Yellow;

Font

The following code snippet illustrates how to format the font of the legend.

C# [Cross-platform]

//Set the font
chart.Legend.TextArea.Bold = true;
chart.Legend.TextArea.FontName = "Times New Roman";
chart.Legend.TextArea.Size = 10;
chart.Legend.TextArea.Strikethrough = false;

C# [Windows-specific]

//Set the font
chart.Legend.TextArea.Bold = true;
chart.Legend.TextArea.FontName = "Times New Roman";
chart.Legend.TextArea.Size = 10;
chart.Legend.TextArea.Strikethrough = false;

VB.NET [Windows-specific]

'Set the font
chart.Legend.TextArea.Bold = true
chart.Legend.TextArea.FontName = "Times New Roman"
chart.Legend.TextArea.Size = 10
chart.Legend.TextArea.Strikethrough = false

Set Position

The following code snippet illustrates how to set the position of the legend.

C# [Cross-platform]

//Set the position
chart.Legend.Position = ExcelLegendPosition.Bottom;

C# [Windows-specific]

//Set the position
chart.Legend.Position = ExcelLegendPosition.Bottom;

VB.NET [Windows-specific]

'Set the position
chart.Legend.Position = ExcelLegendPosition.Bottom

View horizontally

The following code snippet illustrates how to view the legend horizontally.

C# [Cross-platform]

//View legend horizontally
chart.Legend.IsVerticalLegend = false;

C# [Windows-specific]

//View legend horizontally
chart.Legend.IsVerticalLegend = false;

VB.NET [Windows-specific]

'View legend horizontally
chart.Legend.IsVerticalLegend = False

Layout Inclusion

The following code snippet illustrates how to prevent the legend from overlapping the chart.

C# [Cross-platform]

//Set Legend without overlapping the chart
chart.Legend.IncludeInLayout = true;

C# [Windows-specific]

//Set Legend without overlapping the chart
chart.Legend.IncludeInLayout = true;

VB.NET [Windows-specific]

'Set Legend without overlapping the chart
chart.Legend.IncludeInLayout = true

Remove

The following code snippet illustrates how to remove the legend.

C# [Cross-platform]

//Remove the legend
chart.Legend.LegendEntries[0].Delete();

C# [Windows-specific]

//Remove the legend
chart.Legend.LegendEntries[0].Delete();

VB.NET [Windows-specific]

'Remove the legend
chart.Legend.LegendEntries(0).Delete()

The complete code snippet illustrating the above options is shown below.

C# [Cross-platform]

using (ExcelEngine excelEngine = new ExcelEngine())
{
	IApplication application = excelEngine.Excel;
	application.DefaultVersion = ExcelVersion.Xlsx;
	FileStream inputStream = new FileStream(Path.GetFullPath(@"Data/InputTemplate.xlsx"), FileMode.Open, FileAccess.Read);
	IWorkbook workbook = application.Workbooks.Open(inputStream);
	IWorksheet worksheet = workbook.Worksheets[0];
	IChartShape chart = worksheet.Charts[0];

	//Add the legend
	chart.HasLegend = true;

	//Set the position
	chart.Legend.Position = ExcelLegendPosition.Bottom;

	//View legend horizontally
	chart.Legend.IsVerticalLegend = false;

	//Set the border
	chart.Legend.FrameFormat.Border.AutoFormat = false;
	chart.Legend.FrameFormat.Border.IsAutoLineColor = false;
	chart.Legend.FrameFormat.Border.LineColor = Color.Black;
	chart.Legend.FrameFormat.Border.LinePattern = ExcelChartLinePattern.DashDot;
	chart.Legend.FrameFormat.Border.LineWeight = ExcelChartLineWeight.Narrow;

	//Set the color
	chart.Legend.TextArea.Color = ExcelKnownColors.Pink;

	//Set the font
	chart.Legend.TextArea.Bold = true;
	chart.Legend.TextArea.FontName = "Times New Roman";
	chart.Legend.TextArea.Size = 10;
	chart.Legend.TextArea.Strikethrough = false;

	//Remove the legend
	chart.Legend.LegendEntries[0].IsDeleted = true;

	//Set Legend without overlapping the chart
	chart.Legend.IncludeInLayout = true;

	//Saving the workbook as stream
	FileStream outputStream = new FileStream(Path.GetFullPath("Output/Output.xlsx"), FileMode.Create, FileAccess.ReadWrite);
	workbook.SaveAs(outputStream);
	outputStream.Dispose();
	inputStream.Dispose();
}

C# [Windows-specific]

using (ExcelEngine excelEngine = new ExcelEngine())
{
    IApplication application = excelEngine.Excel;
    application.DefaultVersion = ExcelVersion.Xlsx;
    IWorkbook workbook = application.Workbooks.Open("InputTemplate.xlsx");
    IWorksheet sheet = workbook.Worksheets[0];
    IChartShape chart = sheet.Charts[0];

    //Add the legend
    chart.HasLegend = true;

    //Set the position
    chart.Legend.Position = ExcelLegendPosition.Bottom;

    //View legend horizontally
    chart.Legend.IsVerticalLegend = false;

    //Set the border
    chart.Legend.FrameFormat.Border.AutoFormat = false;
    chart.Legend.FrameFormat.Border.IsAutoLineColor = false;
    chart.Legend.FrameFormat.Border.LineColor = Color.Black;
    chart.Legend.FrameFormat.Border.LinePattern = ExcelChartLinePattern.DashDot;
    chart.Legend.FrameFormat.Border.LineWeight = ExcelChartLineWeight.Narrow;

    //Set the color
    chart.Legend.TextArea.Color = ExcelKnownColors.Pink;

    //Set the background color
    chart.Legend.FrameFormat.Fill.ForeColorIndex = ExcelKnownColors.Yellow;

    //Set the font
    chart.Legend.TextArea.Bold = true;
    chart.Legend.TextArea.FontName = "Times New Roman";
    chart.Legend.TextArea.Size = 10;
    chart.Legend.TextArea.Strikethrough = false;

    //Remove the legend
    chart.Legend.LegendEntries[0].Delete();

    //Set Legend without overlapping the chart
    chart.Legend.IncludeInLayout = true;

    //Saving the workbook
    workbook.SaveAs("Output.xlsx");
}

VB.NET [Windows-specific]

Using excelEngine As New ExcelEngine()
    Dim application As IApplication = excelEngine.Excel
    application.DefaultVersion = ExcelVersion.Xlsx
    Dim workbook As IWorkbook = application.Workbooks.Open("InputTemplate.xlsx")
    Dim sheet As IWorksheet = workbook.Worksheets(0)
    Dim chart As IChartShape = sheet.Charts(0)

    'Add the legend
    chart.HasLegend = True

    'Set the position
    chart.Legend.Position = ExcelLegendPosition.Bottom

    'View legend horizontally
    chart.Legend.IsVerticalLegend = False

    'Set the border
    chart.Legend.FrameFormat.Border.AutoFormat = False
    chart.Legend.FrameFormat.Border.IsAutoLineColor = False
    chart.Legend.FrameFormat.Border.LineColor = Color.Black
    chart.Legend.FrameFormat.Border.LinePattern = ExcelChartLinePattern.DashDot
    chart.Legend.FrameFormat.Border.LineWeight = ExcelChartLineWeight.Narrow

    'Set the color
    chart.Legend.TextArea.Color = ExcelKnownColors.Pink

    'Set the background color
    chart.Legend.FrameFormat.Fill.ForeColorIndex = ExcelKnownColors.Yellow

    'Set the font
    chart.Legend.TextArea.Bold = True
    chart.Legend.TextArea.FontName = "Times New Roman"
    chart.Legend.TextArea.Size = 10
    chart.Legend.TextArea.Strikethrough = False

    'Remove the legend
    chart.Legend.LegendEntries(0).Delete()

    'Set Legend without overlapping the chart
    chart.Legend.IncludeInLayout = True

    'Saving the workbook
    workbook.SaveAs("Output.xlsx")
End Using

A complete working example for the chart legend in C# is present on this GitHub page.