Colors

In the Chart control, colors can be used in different ways to enhance the chart's appearance, distinguish different series, point out or draw attention to data information such as averages, and more.

Color Palettes

The Chart control includes several pre-defined color palettes that can be used to automatically set the colors for data values in a series. The pre-defined palettes are as follows:

Cascade (default) A cascade of eight cool colors ranging from deep teal down through pale orchid.
Confetti A sprinkling of bright and pastel colors.
Iceberg A range of the soft blues and greys found in an iceberg.
Springtime The colors of spring, in deep green, two vivid colors and five pastels.
None All data is drawn using the same teal color.

These enumerated values are accessed through the Series class with code like the following.

' Visual Basic
Me.ChartControl1.Series(0).ColorPalette = Chart.ColorPalette.Iceburg

// C#
this.ChartControl1.Series[0].ColorPalette = DataDynamics.ActiveReports.Chart.
	ColorPalette.Iceburg;

Gradients

Gradients can be used in object backdrops to enhance the visual appearance of various chart items. Gradients can be used in the following chart sections:

Chart backdrop
Chart area backdrops
Wall backdrops
Title backdrops
Legend backdrops
Legend item backdrops (for custom legend items)
WallRange backdrops
Series backdrops
Data point backdrops
Marker backdrops
Marker label backdrops
Annotation TextBar backdrops

You can set gradients for a backdrop at run time by creating a BackdropItem, setting its Style property to Gradient, setting the GradientType, and setting the two colors to use for the gradient as shown in the following example.

' Visual Basic
Dim bItem As New DataDynamics.ActiveReports.Chart.BackdropItem
bItem.Style = Chart.Graphics.BackdropStyle.Gradient
bItem.Gradient = Chart.Graphics.GradientType.Vertical
bItem.Color = Color.Purple
bItem.Color2 = Color.White
Me.ChartControl1.Backdrop = bItem

// C#
DataDynamics.ActiveReports.Chart.BackdropItem bItem = new DataDynamics.ActiveReports.
	Chart.BackdropItem();
bItem.Style = Chart.Graphics.BackdropStyle.Gradient;
bItem.Gradient = GradientType.Vertical;
bItem.Color = Color.Purple;
bItem.Color2 = Color.White;
this.ChartControl1.Backdrop = bItem;