Overview

Column and bar charts are the most common chart types in business presentations. The pptx.dev API supports single series, clustered, stacked, and 100% stacked variants for both vertical (column) and horizontal (bar) orientations.

Column Chart Types

Bar Chart Types (Horizontal)

Example: Revenue by Quarter

{
  "layout": "chart-1x-title-center",
  "content": {
    "heading": "Quarterly Revenue",
    "chart": {
      "type": "COLUMN",
      "categories": ["Q1", "Q2", "Q3", "Q4"],
      "series": [
        { "name": "Revenue ($K)", "values": [320, 480, 540, 620] }
      ]
    }
  }
}

Example: Year-Over-Year Comparison

Use CLUSTERED_COLUMN to compare two years:

{
  "layout": "chart-1x-title-center",
  "content": {
    "heading": "Revenue: 2025 vs. 2026",
    "chart": {
      "type": "CLUSTERED_COLUMN",
      "categories": ["Q1", "Q2", "Q3", "Q4"],
      "series": [
        { "name": "2025", "values": [280, 350, 420, 510] },
        { "name": "2026", "values": [320, 480, 540, 620] }
      ]
    }
  }
}

Example: Stacked Revenue Breakdown

Use STACKED_COLUMN_3X to show how revenue breaks down by segment:

{
  "layout": "chart-1x-title-center",
  "content": {
    "heading": "Revenue by Segment",
    "chart": {
      "type": "STACKED_COLUMN_3X",
      "categories": ["Q1", "Q2", "Q3", "Q4"],
      "series": [
        { "name": "Enterprise", "values": [180, 220, 260, 300] },
        { "name": "Mid-Market", "values": [100, 160, 180, 200] },
        { "name": "SMB", "values": [40, 100, 100, 120] }
      ]
    }
  }
}

Example: Horizontal Bar Chart

Horizontal bars work better when category labels are long:

{
  "layout": "chart-1x",
  "content": {
    "heading": "Customer Satisfaction by Department",
    "chart": {
      "type": "BAR",
      "categories": ["Engineering", "Customer Success", "Sales", "Marketing", "Operations"],
      "series": [
        { "name": "CSAT Score", "values": [92, 88, 85, 82, 79] }
      ]
    }
  }
}

When to Use Each Type

Next Steps

• Create line charts for trends
• Add pie and doughnut charts for composition
• See all chart types