In charts it is useful to change the colour of the chart if a series goes negative. This is done easily in Excel, but the problem is that it may not look like you have a choice of what that colour is. So how do you change the ‘Invert if negative’ colour in Excel?
Table of contents
YouTube Change the colour of the Invert if negative chart option
Invert if negative in Excel charts
As shown below if you want to invert any part of a chart series that goes negative to another colour, you would
- Double click on the series to get the chart dialogue boxes
- Choose the Fill option
- Click on the ‘Invert if negative’ tick box
Note that the series items turns white and you don’t seem to be able to change this. Note as well that the Fill setting is the Automatic option (red box- this is important)
‘Invert if negative’ colour options in Excel
If you want to change the colour for the negative series items, you need to get off the Automatic option as this hides the colour options.
So to change the ‘Invert if negative’ colour options in Excel
- Double click the series to activate the Series dialogue options
- Change the colour option to be ‘Fill with Solid Colour’ (step 1 below)
- Now tick the ‘invert if negative’ option box (step 2)
- A new fill button appears which is where you choose the colour you want for negative numbers (step 3)
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