Using crosshatch fills in PowerPoint 2007 graphs

In PowerPoint 2007, the ability to fill a column, bar, or pie wedge with a crosshatch pattern was removed. That feature is very useful to many people who need to print graphs in black and white. If you print a graph filled with different colors on a black and white printer, the shades of grey are hard to distinguish from one another. With different crosshatch patterns, it is easy to distinguish the different segments of a graph.

The way to fill graph segments with a crosshatch pattern is to use the feature in PowerPoint that allows you to fill a graph segment with a picture. I have created seven crosshatch images that you can use to fill columns, bars or pie wedges in PowerPoint graphs. You can see the patterns and download the image files by using the links below.

Boxes Crosshatch boxes pattern Right-click here to download the Boxes crosshatch image file.
Diamonds Diamonds crosshatch pattern Right-click here to download the Diamonds crosshatch image file.
Dots Dost crosshatch pattern Right-click here to download the Dots crosshatch image file.
Horizontal lines Horizontal lines crosshatch pattern Right-click here to download the Horizontal Lines crosshatch image file.
Lines up to the left Lines up to the left crosshatch pattern Right-click here to download the Lines up to the left crosshatch image file.
Lines up to the right Lines up to the right crosshatch pattern Right-click here to download the Lines up to the right crosshatch image file.
Vertical lines Vertical lines crosshatch pattern Right-click here to download the Vertical lines crosshatch image file.

 

Filling a column or bar graph with crosshatch images

To fill a column or bar with one of these images, first select the column or bar (or series of columns or bars). On the Format ribbon, click on the Format Selection button in the Current Selection section. In the Fill section of the dialog box, use the Picture or texture fill option and select the crosshatch image file you want to use. I have found it looks best if you select the option to stack the image instead of stretching it in the column/bar. Here is what the dialog box will look like when these options are selected.

dialog box screen shot

Here is what a column chart looks like when using these crosshatch fill images.

column graph with crosshatch fill

Filling a pie wedge with a crosshatch image

To fill a pie wedge, select the pie wedge and on the Format ribbon, click on the Format Selection button in the Current Selection section. In the Fill section of the dialog box, use the Picture or texture fill option and select the crosshatch image file you want to use. I have found it looks best if you select the option to Tile the picture as a texture and set the X and Y scale for tiling to 50%. By setting these options, the fill looks best and the legend is easy to understand. Here is what the dialog box will look like when these options are selected.

Pie chart screen shot

Here is what a pie chart looks like when using these crosshatch fill images.

Pie chart example

By Dave Paradi

Dave Paradi has over twenty-two years of experience delivering customized training workshops to help business professionals improve their presentations. He has written ten books and over 600 articles on the topic of effective presentations and his ideas have appeared in publications around the world. His focus is on helping corporate professionals visually communicate the messages in their data so they don't overwhelm and confuse executives. Dave is one of fewer than ten people in North America recognized by Microsoft with the Most Valuable Professional Award for his contributions to the Excel, PowerPoint, and Teams communities. His articles and videos on virtual presenting have been viewed over 4.8 million times and liked over 17,000 times on YouTube.