PowerPoint Charts in C# and VB.NET

Chart elements are drawings used for graphical data representation. GemBox.Presentation provides a support for working with charts with a help of GemBox.Spreadsheet component.

  • With GemBox.Spreadsheet, GemBox.Presentation is able to create and update charts in PowerPoint presentations. It's also able to export presentations with charts to PDF, XPS or image format.
  • Without GemBox.Spreadsheet, GemBox.Presentation is only able to preserve charts in PowerPoint presentations.

Create chart

To enable GemBox.Presentation's chart support and work with Chart objects, you'll need to add a reference to GemBox.Spreadsheet library and call its SpreadsheetInfo.SetLicense method.

Note, if you don't have a GemBox.Spreadsheet license you can use its Free mode.

The following example shows how you can create a presentation with a chart element.

PDF document with chart element
Screenshot of PDF document with chart
using GemBox.Presentation;
using GemBox.Spreadsheet;
using GemBox.Spreadsheet.Charts;

class Program
{
    static void Main()
    {
        // If using Professional version, put your GemBox.Presentation serial key below.
        ComponentInfo.SetLicense("FREE-LIMITED-KEY");

        // If using Professional version, put your GemBox.Spreadsheet serial key below.
        SpreadsheetInfo.SetLicense("FREE-LIMITED-KEY");

        var presentation = new PresentationDocument();

        // Add new PowerPoint presentation slide.
        var slide = presentation.Slides.AddNew(SlideLayoutType.Custom);

        // Add simple PowerPoint presentation title.
        var textBox = slide.Content.AddTextBox(ShapeGeometryType.Rectangle,
            116.8, 20, 105, 10, GemBox.Presentation.LengthUnit.Millimeter);

        textBox.AddParagraph().AddRun("New presentation with chart element.");

        // Create PowerPoint chart and add it to slide.
        var chart = slide.Content.AddChart(GemBox.Presentation.ChartType.Bar,
            49.3, 40, 240, 120, GemBox.Presentation.LengthUnit.Millimeter);

        // Get underlying Excel chart.
        ExcelChart excelChart = (ExcelChart)chart.ExcelChart;
        ExcelWorksheet worksheet = excelChart.Worksheet;

        // Add data for Excel chart.
        worksheet.Cells["A1"].Value = "Name";
        worksheet.Cells["A2"].Value = "John Doe";
        worksheet.Cells["A3"].Value = "Fred Nurk";
        worksheet.Cells["A4"].Value = "Hans Meier";
        worksheet.Cells["A5"].Value = "Ivan Horvat";

        worksheet.Cells["B1"].Value = "Salary";
        worksheet.Cells["B2"].Value = 3600;
        worksheet.Cells["B3"].Value = 2580;
        worksheet.Cells["B4"].Value = 3200;
        worksheet.Cells["B5"].Value = 4100;

        // Select data.
        excelChart.SelectData(worksheet.Cells.GetSubrange("A1:B5"), true);

        presentation.Save("Created Chart.%OutputFileType%");
    }
}

Imports GemBox.Presentation
Imports GemBox.Spreadsheet
Imports GemBox.Spreadsheet.Charts

Module Program

    Sub Main()

        ' If using Professional version, put your GemBox.Presentation serial key below.
        ComponentInfo.SetLicense("FREE-LIMITED-KEY")

        ' If using Professional version, put your GemBox.Spreadsheet serial key below.
        SpreadsheetInfo.SetLicense("FREE-LIMITED-KEY")

        Dim presentation As New PresentationDocument()

        ' Add new PowerPoint presentation slide.
        Dim slide = presentation.Slides.AddNew(SlideLayoutType.Custom)

        ' Add simple PowerPoint presentation title.
        Dim textBox = slide.Content.AddTextBox(ShapeGeometryType.Rectangle,
            116.8, 20, 105, 10, GemBox.Presentation.LengthUnit.Millimeter)

        textBox.AddParagraph().AddRun("New presentation with chart element.")

        ' Create PowerPoint chart and add it to slide.
        Dim chart = slide.Content.AddChart(GemBox.Presentation.ChartType.Bar,
            49.3, 40, 240, 120, GemBox.Presentation.LengthUnit.Millimeter)

        ' Get underlying Excel chart.
        Dim excelChart As ExcelChart = DirectCast(chart.ExcelChart, ExcelChart)
        Dim worksheet As ExcelWorksheet = excelChart.Worksheet

        ' Add data for Excel chart.
        worksheet.Cells("A1").Value = "Name"
        worksheet.Cells("A2").Value = "John Doe"
        worksheet.Cells("A3").Value = "Fred Nurk"
        worksheet.Cells("A4").Value = "Hans Meier"
        worksheet.Cells("A5").Value = "Ivan Horvat"

        worksheet.Cells("B1").Value = "Salary"
        worksheet.Cells("B2").Value = 3600
        worksheet.Cells("B3").Value = 2580
        worksheet.Cells("B4").Value = 3200
        worksheet.Cells("B5").Value = 4100

        ' Select data.
        excelChart.SelectData(worksheet.Cells.GetSubrange("A1:B5"), True)

        presentation.Save("Created Chart.%OutputFileType%")

    End Sub

End Module

For more information about charts, visit the Chart Components and Chart Formatting examples.

Update chart

The following example shows how you can update chart element's data in a PowerPoint presentation.

PowerPoint presentation with updated chart element
Screenshot of PowerPoint presentation with updated chart
using System.Linq;
using GemBox.Presentation;
using GemBox.Spreadsheet;
using GemBox.Spreadsheet.Charts;

class Program
{
    static void Main()
    {
        // If using Professional version, put your GemBox.Presentation serial key below.
        ComponentInfo.SetLicense("FREE-LIMITED-KEY");

        // If using Professional version, put your GemBox.Spreadsheet serial key below.
        SpreadsheetInfo.SetLicense("FREE-LIMITED-KEY");

        // Load input file and save it in selected output format
        var presentation = PresentationDocument.Load("%#Chart.pptx%");

        // Get PowerPoint chart.
        var chart = ((GraphicFrame)presentation.Slides[0].Content.Drawings[0]).Chart;

        // Get underlying Excel chart and cast it as LineChart.
        var lineChart = (LineChart)chart.ExcelChart;

        // Add new line series which has doubled values from the first series.
        lineChart.Series.Add("Series 3", lineChart.Series.First()
            .Values.Cast<double>().Select(val => val * 2));

        presentation.Save("Updated Chart.%OutputFileType%");
    }
}

Imports System.Linq
Imports GemBox.Presentation
Imports GemBox.Spreadsheet
Imports GemBox.Spreadsheet.Charts

Module Program

    Sub Main()

        ' If using Professional version, put your GemBox.Presentation serial key below.
        ComponentInfo.SetLicense("FREE-LIMITED-KEY")

        ' If using Professional version, put your GemBox.Spreadsheet serial key below.
        SpreadsheetInfo.SetLicense("FREE-LIMITED-KEY")

        ' Load input file and save it in selected output format
        Dim presentation = PresentationDocument.Load("%#Chart.pptx%")

        ' Get PowerPoint chart.
        Dim chart = DirectCast(presentation.Slides(0).Content.Drawings(0), GraphicFrame).Chart

        ' Get underlying Excel chart and cast it as LineChart.
        Dim lineChart = DirectCast(chart.ExcelChart, LineChart)

        ' Add new line series which has doubled values from the first series.
        lineChart.Series.Add("Series 3", lineChart.Series.First() _
            .Values.Cast(Of Double)().Select(Function(val) val * 2))

        presentation.Save("Updated Chart.%OutputFileType%")

    End Sub

End Module

Some chart types are not supported through an API (like 3D charts) and won't be represented with Chart object.

You can find a list of supported chart types on GemBox.Spreadsheet's Charts help page.

Want more?

Next example GitHub

Check the next example or select an example from the menu. You can also download our examples from the GitHub.

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Download Buy

If you want to try the GemBox.Presentation yourself, you can download the free version. It delivers the same performance and set of features as the professional version, but with some operations limited. To remove the limitation, you need to purchase a license.