How to set shadows for plot area or axis in chart using XlsIO?

This article explains how to set shadow to plot area in chart using XlsIO.

What is Plot Area?

The plot area in a chart or graph refers to the area of the chart that graphically displays the data being charted. The plot area of a 2-D chart contains the data markers, gridlines, data labels, trendlines, and optional chart items placed in the chart area. Whereas the plot area of a 3-D chart contains all the above items along with walls, floor, axes, axis titles, and tick-mark labels in the chart.

Shadow for plot area set using XlsIO

Code snippet to set shadow to plot area in chart using XlsIO

Steps to add shadow to plot area in chart

1. Initialize chart

Create a chart object by calling the worksheet.Charts.Add method and specify the chart type to ExcelChartType.Line enum value.

2. Assign data

Set a range of data from the worksheet to chart’s DataRange property. To plot the series values in column and categories in row, set chart’s IsSeriesInRows property to false.

3. Apply chart elements

Add basic chart elements like chart title, legend and datalabels.

• ChartTitle of chart object.
• Set TRUE to chart’s HasLegend property, to show the legend.
• Set TRUE to chart’s HasLegend property, to show the legend.

4. Set shadow to plot area

Set shadow to plot area in chart using properties in IShadow.

Applicable properties for a shadow of plot area in chart

Basic properties applicable for a shadow of plot area in a chart

1.   Angle

2.   Blur

3.   Distance

4.   HasCustomShadowStyle

5.   ShadowColor

6.   ShadowInnerPresets

7.   ShadowOuterPresets

8.   ShadowPrespectivePresets

9.   Size

10. Transperency

Note : We can set shadow to plot area in chart using CustomShadowStyles method as well.

Download Complete Sample

Download input file with data

The following C#/VB complete code snippet explains how to set shadow to plot area in chart using XlsIO.

C#

VB