Bar graph assistance in Excel

[Ignition1]

Hi

I have a bar graph which displays bars for A, B, C, D, E and F

A and B come under 1.

C and D come under 2.

E and F come under 3.

A, B, C etc have strong coloured bars, what I would like is to add bars in the background (transparent in colour) for 1, 2 and 3. So you can compare bars for the letters, and behind that have bars comparing 1, 2 and 3 - naturally these would have to be 70 or 80% transparent so it's not too confusing.

I've simplified everything in the above example but the solution can apply to my spreadsheet.

Any help greatly appreciated!

 

[Steve=True]

This can be done, but you have to fudge the data layout a little:

Is this what you are looking for?

http://www.4shared.com/document/i7UE90Ue/Grouping_and_Banding_Bar_Chart.html

Steve=True

 

[Jon Peltier]

Instead of hiding some bars behind other bars, why not put the stacks side by side? Fancy effects only confuse people trying to read the data.