How to add notes, lines and zones to a chart

Kenya's line passes Nigeria's in 2017 and keeps climbing. A note at the turn tells the reader why, so nobody has to guess.

The note sits on the point it explains. The chart marks the point with a number and prints the words under the plot, so the lines stay clear.

Five steps on the chart above. Each picture shows the control to use, ringed in gold.

1. 1

   The drawing tools sit left of the chart: Info box, Horizontal line, Zone and Event flag. Press one, then click the chart.

   
2. 2

   Press Info box and click a point on a line. Type a title on the first line and the note below it. The point gets a number, and the note prints under the plot.

   
3. 3

   To mark a level, press the magnet so the mark stops snapping to the data, press Horizontal line and click the chart at the value, here 50 percent.

   
4. 4

   Press Zone and drag across the plot to shade a stretch of years, here 2015 to 2020.

   
5. 5

   Every note, line and zone joins Layers on the right. The pencil renames it, the eye hides it, the bin removes it, and the handle drags it into a new order.

   

TipOne note on the turn the title talks about beats a note on every bump.

Use an info box for a cause or an exception, a horizontal line for a target, an average or a threshold, and a zone for something that lasted years, such as a crisis or a programme.

For one year with a name, mark an event instead. It draws a rule at the year and needs no number.

Write a short title and one sentence. A reader looks at a note for a second, then goes back to the line.

The bar under a note sets its colour, bold type and the leader to its point. Use the colour of the series it talks about, or grey.