How to Use C# to Create Excel Charts

The following How-To enables you to create an Excel chart programmatically in C# using IronXL.

Programmatically Create Excel Charts in .NET

Create Excel graphs programmatically
Add series with title and legend

How to Create Excel Chart in C#

Install Excel library to create Excel charts.
Load the existing Excel file into a Workbook object.
Create a chart with CreateChart.
Set the chart's title and legend
Call the Plot method.
Save the Workbook to the Excel file.

Step 1

1. Install IronXL

First, the easiest way to install IronXL is to make use of the NuGet Package manager in Visual Studio:

Select the Project menu
Manage NuGet Packages
Search for IronXL.Excel
Install

You could also enter the following command into the Developer Command Prompt:

Install-Package IronXL.Excel

Or Download from here: https://ironsoftware.com/csharp/excel/packages/IronXL.zip

How to Tutorial

2. Create Excel Chart for .NET

Now for the project!

Add the following details into a Excel Spreadsheet. This is shown below:

Figure 1 – Data to be used for charting

Add the Namespaces necessary to work with Excel charts in IronXL.

using IronXL;
using IronXL.Drawing.Charts;

using IronXL;
using IronXL.Drawing.Charts;

Imports IronXL
Imports IronXL.Drawing.Charts

VB C#

Add code to create the Excel graph programmatically with IronXL:

private void button1_Click(object sender, EventArgs e)
{
    WorkBook wb = WorkBook.Load("Chart_Ex.xlsx");
    WorkSheet ws = wb.DefaultWorkSheet;

    var chart = ws.CreateChart(ChartType.Column, 10, 15, 25, 20);

    const string xAxis = "A2:A7";

    var series = chart.AddSeries(xAxis, "B2:B7");
    series.Title = ws ["B1"].StringValue;

    series = chart.AddSeries(xAxis, "C2:C7");
    series.Title = ws ["C1"].StringValue;

    series = chart.AddSeries(xAxis, "D2:D7");
    series.Title = ws ["D1"].StringValue;

    chart.SetTitle("Column Chart");
    chart.SetLegendPosition(LegendPosition.Bottom);
    chart.Plot();
    wb.SaveAs("Exported_Column_Chart.xlsx");
}

private void button1_Click(object sender, EventArgs e)
{
    WorkBook wb = WorkBook.Load("Chart_Ex.xlsx");
    WorkSheet ws = wb.DefaultWorkSheet;

    var chart = ws.CreateChart(ChartType.Column, 10, 15, 25, 20);

    const string xAxis = "A2:A7";

    var series = chart.AddSeries(xAxis, "B2:B7");
    series.Title = ws ["B1"].StringValue;

    series = chart.AddSeries(xAxis, "C2:C7");
    series.Title = ws ["C1"].StringValue;

    series = chart.AddSeries(xAxis, "D2:D7");
    series.Title = ws ["D1"].StringValue;

    chart.SetTitle("Column Chart");
    chart.SetLegendPosition(LegendPosition.Bottom);
    chart.Plot();
    wb.SaveAs("Exported_Column_Chart.xlsx");
}

Private Sub button1_Click(ByVal sender As Object, ByVal e As EventArgs)
	Dim wb As WorkBook = WorkBook.Load("Chart_Ex.xlsx")
	Dim ws As WorkSheet = wb.DefaultWorkSheet

	Dim chart = ws.CreateChart(ChartType.Column, 10, 15, 25, 20)

	Const xAxis As String = "A2:A7"

	Dim series = chart.AddSeries(xAxis, "B2:B7")
	series.Title = ws ("B1").StringValue

	series = chart.AddSeries(xAxis, "C2:C7")
	series.Title = ws ("C1").StringValue

	series = chart.AddSeries(xAxis, "D2:D7")
	series.Title = ws ("D1").StringValue

	chart.SetTitle("Column Chart")
	chart.SetLegendPosition(LegendPosition.Bottom)
	chart.Plot()
	wb.SaveAs("Exported_Column_Chart.xlsx")
End Sub

VB C#

A Workbook object and a Worksheet object are created. The CreateChart method of the Worksheet object gets called to specify the chart type and chart location. The chart’s series gets added, with its Title and the Legend. This is shown below.