Create Trellis Chart in Tableau : Bijay Kumar

August 12, 2025 August 12, 2025

Create Trellis Chart in Tableau
by: Bijay Kumar
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### Summary of the Content The content discusses how to create a Trellis chart in Tableau, a data visualization tool, to analyze and compare monthly sales trends for different product sub-categories over five years. A Trellis chart displays multiple smaller charts arranged in a grid, allowing users to easily compare different subsets of data while maintaining the same scale and axes. **Key Steps to Create a Trellis Chart:** 1. **Connect to Data**: Use the Tableau Superstore dataset. 2. **Create Calculated Fields**: Define Rows and Columns using specific formulas. 3. **Custom Date Field**: Create a custom date field for sub-category sales based on the Order Date. 4. **Build the Chart**: Add the calculated fields and custom date to the Rows and Columns shelves. 5. **Configure Table Calculations**: Ensure dimensions are correctly positioned for accurate data representation. 6. **Synchronize Data**: Adjust the Month field to ensure continuous data lines. 7. **Labeling**: Change the details to labels for better readability. 8. **Final Adjustments**: Hide unnecessary headers and labels for a cleaner look. The tutorial emphasizes the importance of Trellis charts for visualizing complex datasets in a more digestible format, allowing users to identify trends and differences easily. ### Additional Context Trellis charts are particularly useful in sales analysis, as they help visualize performance across various product categories over time. By using a grid layout, analysts can quickly identify which products are performing well and which are not, facilitating better decision-making. ### Hashtags for SEO #Tableau #DataVisualization #TrellisChart #SalesAnalysis #BusinessIntelligence #DataAnalysis #TableauTutorial #SalesTrends #DataComparison #VisualizationTechniques

As a sales analyst, I analyzed the sales data in my company. In the data, I wanted to compare monthly sales trends for different product sub-categories across five years.

To visualize this data, I created a trellis chart in Tableau for an easy data comparison. In this chart, each panel in the grid represents a specific sub-category and shows its sales performance over time.

In this Tableau tutorial, I will explain the Trellis chart in Tableau and how to use it to visualize the data comparison.

What is a Trellis Chart in Tableau?

In Tableau, a trellis chart is used to display multiple smaller charts or graphs that are arranged in a grid to compare different subsets of data. These smaller charts share the same scale and axes, so it’s easy to compare them side by side. With this data visualization, we can spot patterns, trends, and differences between the grouped data.

Trellis charts are helpful when you want to visualize the same type of data information for different categories. With this, we can avoid showing all data in a single graph or chart, which would make it complex to understand.

Create a Trellis Chart in Tableau

To create the Tableau Trellis chart, we will use the Tableau Superstore dataset. Now, connect the data source with Tableau and follow the steps below to create the Trellis chart.

To define the panel of the chart, create the calculated fields Rows and Columns using the formulas below. After this, right-click on the calculated field and change its type to discrete.

//Columns
(index()-1)%(round(sqrt(size())))

//Rows
int( (index()-1)/(round(sqrt(size()))))

Create a custom date field for Sub-category sales using the Order Date. Click on Order date, and select Create > Custom Date. In the custom date, enter the label as Month, for Details select Months, and click OK.

To create the trellis chart view, add the calculated field Columns to Column and Rows to the Rows shelf. After this, add a custom date Month to the column and Sales to the rows. To represent sales by sub-category, add the sub-category to the details card.

To configure the table calculations, click on the calculated field Column and select Edit Table Calculation. In the table calculation, select Specific Dimension and check Sub-Category and Month, then also Level as Sub-Category.

Create a Custom Trellis Chart in Tableau

In the dimensions, ensure that the Sub-Category dimension is positioned above the Month field.

Configure the table calculation of the Rows in the same way, and ensure the dimension is placed before the date field.

On the chart, we can see some uneven data lines and points. It is because of the empty values in the datasource. For example, a product hasn’t had sales in the initial month, so the sales values will be null in those months.

To synchronize the data, press “Ctrl” and drag the custom date Month from the Column to the detail card in the Marks section. After this change, the type of Month in the Column to Attribute.

With this, lines in each section will show the sub-category sales data in continuous lines and a synchronized way.

To add the label for sub-categories, change the Sub-Category in the Marks section from Detail to Label.

For the alignment of label text, click on the Text card and select Line Ends >Label Start of Line. You can choose the position of the label in the Alignment as Top, Bottom, or Middle.

Finally, remove the labels in the columns. For this, right-click on the Columns in the chart and select Hide Field Labels for Columns.

To remove the headers from X and Y axes click on the axes and uncheck Show header. After this, the final output of the Trellis chart will be displayed as shown below.

In this Trellis chart, we can view the monthly sales trends over the years for each sub-category.

This way, we can create a Trellis chart in Tableau to visualize the data by displaying multiple smaller charts or graphs arranged in a grid to compare different subsets.

Conclusion

In this Tableau tutorial, we have learned about the Trellis chart and how to create one with the help of the above example. By creating a trellis chart in Tableau, we can break down large datasets into smaller, comparable datasets.

In this chart, by arranging multiple line charts in a grid format, we can easily spot trends, patterns, and differences across categories and regions.

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Create Trellis Chart in Tableau : Bijay Kumar

What is a Trellis Chart in Tableau?

Create a Trellis Chart in Tableau

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