How to create a dot plot

Dot plots are a relatively new chart type; the American computer scientist William Cleveland created them in the 1990s. Dot plots show one or multiple dots on one line – with a connecting line, if you choose to. If your emphasis is on the gap between two dots rather than the dots, then a range plot is the better choice. If you want to show how a data point has changed over two years, then choose an arrow plot.

This guide will show you how to create and customize the following dot plot about the median age in different countries:

Preparing your data Copy link to this heading

Formatting your data Copy link to this heading

Here's what you'll need to create this chart:

• One header row containing labels.
• The first column containing main categories. Each one will appear as a line.
• At least one other column containing numeric values. Each of the numeric columns is represented by one dot on the line. Remember, you can have as many columns as you like, but the more dots you have on the lines, the harder it gets to read.

That's what the data looks like for the chart you see above.

In this case, we have 15 different categories, i.e. countries and territories. Each number will be represented by a dot.

You'll also notice two extras in our first column: The codes between colons, like ":jp:", turn into flags in the chart (more on that in the Labels panel below). And the <b> tags around "Japan" make that one label bold.

Uploading your data Copy link to this heading

Once you have prepared your data, create a new chart in Datawrapper. You can do so by going to our homepage and clicking on Start creating. In step 1: Upload, you can copy & paste your dataset, upload it as a .csv or Excel file, or connect to a Google Sheet. It will look like this:

Once you're done, click on Proceed in the lower right to go to step 2: Check & Describe.

Checking data and units Copy link to this heading

In step 2: Check & Describe, your data will automatically be arranged in columns and rows. You can see that Datawrapper correctly recognized your numbers as numbers (and not as text or dates) because they are colored in blue and are right-aligned. Learn more about Datawrapper's automatic recognition of data formats.

Make sure that the box First row as label is ticked so that Datawrapper correctly assigns the values to the labels.

To add a unit (like km/h, kg, inch, $, etc.) to your numbers, click on a column header and then add the unit of your choice to the Prepend/append options on the left. You can learn more about adding units to numbers here.

Click on Proceed and Datawrapper will take you to the next step.

Choosing a dot plot Copy link to this heading

Once you're in step 3: Visualize, choose Dot Plot and Datawrapper will create a first version of your chart.

Besides Chart type, you'll notice three more tabs in this step: Refine, Annotate, and Layout.

Resizing Copy link to this heading

In any tab of step 3: Visualize, you can click, hold, and drag the arrow in the lower right corner to scale the chart window or manually determine the dimension of the chart by entering values in the boxes below the chart (Size).

We recommend checking what the chart looks like on different screen sizes multiple times while designing it, by clicking on the little icons (mobile, tablet, and computer) below the chart.

Learn more about changing the width and height of your chart in this article.

Refining your chart Copy link to this heading

Let's continue with the Refine tab. Here, we see four panels: Labels, Horizontal axis, Appearance, and Sorting & Grouping.

Formatting labels Copy link to this heading

The Labels panel lets you decide what your row labels look like, which values your readers see, and whether there's a color legend.

• Alignment: shows the labels Left-aligned (the default) or Right-aligned. Right-aligned labels sit closer to the dots, which makes them easier to connect to their line, so we chose that for our chart.
• Show values on hover: shows the values when readers hover over the dots (on by default). Under Number format, you can decide how they look. We chose 0.[0], which shows one decimal place where there is one, like in "49.8". Learn more about all available number formats here.
• Replace country codes with flags: turns country codes between colons, like ":jp:" for Japan, into flags. That's why our data has these codes next to each country name. Under Style, you can choose rectangular 4×3 flags, square 1×1 flags, like in our chart, or round Circle flags. Learn more here.
• Show color legend: adds a legend above your chart that explains what each dot color stands for, like "Combined", "Female", and "Male" in our chart. With Stack labels, the names appear below each other instead of next to each other.

Changing the axis range Copy link to this heading

The Horizontal axis panel lets you change the range and look of the axis of your chart.

• Axis range: Round (the default) extends the axis to the next grid line, Exact ends it at your smallest and largest value, and Custom lets you type in your own range.
• Number format: decides how the numbers on the axis look. By default, they look the same as your values (Same as values).
• Custom grid lines: sets where your grid lines go. By default, Datawrapper decides where they go, but you can type in the values, separated by commas, like "35, 40, 45, 50, 55, 60" in our chart.
• Tick position: shows the axis labels Above or Below (the default) the chart. In our chart, they're above, so readers see the scale before they start reading the rows.

Changing colors and appearance Copy link to this heading

The Appearance panel lets you choose the colors of your dots and the lines between them.

• Dot color: sets one color for all dots.
• Customize colors: gives the dots of each column their own color. Click on a column in the list, like "Female", and pick a new color. All, none, and invert below the list help you select many columns at once, and Reset all changes undoes all your colors. In our chart, "Combined" is dark gray, "Female" is yellow, and "Male" is light blue.
• Highlight range between dots: draws a thicker line between the dots on each line, which makes the extend between the dots with the smallest and highest values easier to see.

Sorting and grouping rows Copy link to this heading

The Sorting & Grouping panel lets you decide in which order your lines appear and whether they're grouped.

• Sort bars: sorts your lines instead of showing them in the order of your dataset (the default). You can choose the column to sort by: With "Male", for example, the country with the highest median age for men comes first. Our data is already sorted by the "Combined" median age, so we don't need this.
• Reverse order: flips the order of your lines.
• Group bars by column: puts your lines into groups. For that, you need an extra text column in your data, for example with the continent of each country. Without such a column, the option is grayed out. Learn more about grouping here.

Annotating your chart Copy link to this heading

Adding a title and source Copy link to this heading

In the Annotate tab, you're first asked to give your visualization a title, description, notes, source, byline, and an alternative description for screen readers. You can find a detailed explanation of all these Annotate options here.

Highlighting categories Copy link to this heading

In the 2nd panel in the Annotate tab, you can emphasize the dots of certain columns/categories. To do so, select the one(s) you want to highlight. They'll get values next to them, and the rest of the dots will automatically tone down.

Adding text annotations Copy link to this heading

You can add annotations to your dot plot by clicking on Add text annotation. You can then style and move the text, add an arrow and circle to it, and adjust how it will appear on mobile. Here's an in-depth explanation of all the options.

Highlighting ranges Copy link to this heading

You can add a range or line highlight by clicking on Add range highlight and then dragging on the chart where you want the highlight to be. You can then change its position, color, opacity, and line width and style, or delete it again. Here's an in-depth explanation of all the options.

Publishing your chart Copy link to this heading

In the Layout tab, you can select an output locale, change the design theme and footer options, and enable social sharing. Find a detailed explanation of all the Layout options here.

In step 4: Publish & Embed, you can first publish your chart and then decide how it gets to your readers. We recommend pasting the embed code into your website or CMS, but you can also share the chart's URL. Learn more about both options here. To use your chart somewhere else, download it as a PNG (on any plan) or as an SVG or PDF (on paid plans). See what each plan includes on our pricing page.

And that's it! You've successfully created and customized a dot plot.