How to create Excel 3D column chart in C#, VB.NET?

3 mins read

This article explains how to create 3D column chart in Excel using Syncfusion Excel (XlsIO) library.

What is a 3D column chart?

3-D column charts use three axes (horizontal axis, vertical axis and depth axis), and they compare data points along the horizontal and the depth axes. This chart can be used to compare data across both the categories and the data series.

Create 3D Column Chart in Excel

3D Column Chart

To create a 3D column chart in Excel using XlsIO, you need to do the following steps.

Steps to create 3D column chart:

Step 1: Initialize chart

Create a chart object by calling the worksheet.Charts.Add method and specify the chart type to ExcelChartType.Column_3D enum value.

            //Create the chart
            IChartShape chart = worksheet.Charts.Add();
 
            //Set chart type to Column_3D
            chart.ChartType = ExcelChartType.Column_3D;

Step 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.

            //Set region of Chart data
            chart.DataRange = worksheet["A1:D6"];
 
            //Set chart series in column for assigned data region
            chart.IsSeriesInRows = false;

Step 3: Apply basic chart elements

Add the basic elements like chart title and legend.

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

              //Apply chart elements
              //Set Chart Title
              chart.ChartTitle = "3D Column Chart";
 
              //Set datalabels
              IChartSerie serie1 = chart.Series[0];
              serie1.DataPoints.DefaultDataPoint.DataLabels.IsValue = true;
 
              //Set Legend
              chart.HasLegend = true;
              chart.Legend.Position = ExcelLegendPosition.Bottom;

Step 4: Apply 3D chart elements

Add the 3D chart elements like Rotation and Elevation.

Rotation and Elevation of chart object.

              //Set Rotation and Elevation
              chart.Rotation = 20;
              chart.Elevation = 15;
              chart.Perspective = 0;

Applicable properties for 3D column chart

Below is the list of other common properties applicable for 3D column/bar chart.

GapWidth
GapDepth
BarShapeBase & BarShapeTop (to change the shape of the 3D column / bar)
PrimarySerieAxis (Depth Axis)
Note:
Applying properties apart from the mentioned list might throw exception or the changes will not be reflected in the output document because those properties are not related to column/bar chart.

Download Complete Sample

Download input file with data

To know more about creating charts with various settings using Syncfusion Excel (XlsIO) library, please refer the documentation.

The following C#/ VB.NET complete code snippet shows the creation of 3D column chart using XlsIO.

using Syncfusion.XlsIO;
using System.Reflection;
using System.IO;
 
namespace ChartSample
{
    class Program
    {
        static void Main(string[] args)
        {
            using (ExcelEngine excelEngine = new ExcelEngine())
            {
                IApplication application = excelEngine.Excel;
                application.DefaultVersion = ExcelVersion.Excel2016;
 
                //Open existing workbook with data entered
                Assembly assembly = typeof(Program).GetTypeInfo().Assembly;
                Stream fileStream = assembly.GetManifestResourceStream("ChartSample.InputTemplate.xlsx");
                IWorkbook workbook = application.Workbooks.Open(fileStream);
                IWorksheet worksheet = workbook.Worksheets[0];
 
                //Initialize chart
                IChartShape chart = worksheet.Charts.Add();
                chart.ChartType = ExcelChartType.Column_3D;
 
                //Assign data
                chart.DataRange = worksheet["A1:D6"];
                chart.IsSeriesInRows = false;
 
                //Apply chart elements
                //Set Chart Title
                chart.ChartTitle = "3D Column Chart";
 
                //Set Legend
                chart.HasLegend = true;
                chart.Legend.Position = ExcelLegendPosition.Bottom;
 
                //Set datalabels
                IChartSerie serie1 = chart.Series[0];
                IChartSerie serie2 = chart.Series[1];
                IChartSerie serie3 = chart.Series[2];
 
                serie1.DataPoints.DefaultDataPoint.DataLabels.IsValue = true;
                serie2.DataPoints.DefaultDataPoint.DataLabels.IsValue = true;
                serie3.DataPoints.DefaultDataPoint.DataLabels.IsValue = true;
 
                //Set Rotation and Elevation
                chart.Rotation = 20;
                chart.Elevation = 15;
                chart.Perspective = 0; 
 
                //Positioning the chart in the worksheet
                chart.TopRow = 8;
                chart.LeftColumn = 1;
                chart.BottomRow = 23;
                chart.RightColumn = 8;
 
                //Saving and closing the workbook
                Stream stream = File.Create("Output.xlsx");
                workbook.SaveAs(stream);
            }
        }
    }
}

VB.NET

Imports Syncfusion.XlsIO
Imports System.Reflection
Imports System.IO
 
Namespace ChartSample
 
    Class Program
 
        Public Shared Sub Main(ByVal args As String())
            Using excelEngine As ExcelEngine = New ExcelEngine()
                Dim application As IApplication = excelEngine.Excel
                application.DefaultVersion = ExcelVersion.Excel2016
 
                'Open existing workbook with data entered
                Dim assembly As Assembly = GetType(Program).GetTypeInfo().Assembly
                Dim fileStream As Stream = assembly.GetManifestResourceStream("ChartSample.InputTemplate.xlsx")
                Dim workbook As IWorkbook = application.Workbooks.Open(fileStream)
                Dim worksheet As IWorksheet = workbook.Worksheets(0)
 
                'Initialize chart
                Dim chart As IChartShape = worksheet.Charts.Add()
                chart.ChartType = ExcelChartType.Column_3D
 
                'Assign data
                chart.DataRange = worksheet("A1:D6")
                chart.IsSeriesInRows = False
 
                'Apply chart elements
                'Set Chart Title
                chart.ChartTitle = "3D Column Chart"
 
                'Set Legend
                chart.HasLegend = True
                chart.Legend.Position = ExcelLegendPosition.Bottom
 
                'Set datalabels
                IChartSerie serie1 = chart.Series(0)
                IChartSerie serie2 = chart.Series(1)
                IChartSerie serie3 = chart.Series(2)
 
                serie1.DataPoints.DefaultDataPoint.DataLabels.IsValue = True
                serie2.DataPoints.DefaultDataPoint.DataLabels.IsValue = True
                serie3.DataPoints.DefaultDataPoint.DataLabels.IsValue = True
 
                'Set Rotation and Elevation
                chart.Rotation = 20;
                chart.Elevation = 15;
                chart.Perspective = 0;
 
                'Positioning chart in the worksheet
                chart.TopRow = 8
                chart.LeftColumn = 1
                chart.BottomRow = 23
                chart.RightColumn = 8
 
                'Saving and closing the workbook
                Dim stream As Stream = File.Create("Output.xlsx")
                workbook.SaveAs(stream)
            End Using
        End Sub
    End Class
End Namespace