Visualizing the incremental impact of positive and negative values is essential for financial analysis, budgeting, and performance reporting. A Waterfall chart provides a clear, step‑by‑step view of how an initial value is affected by a series of intermediate changes. With Aspose.Cells for .NET you can create Waterfall charts programmatically in just a few lines of C# code—no manual Excel interaction required.
In this post you will learn:
- C# Excel Library to Create Waterfall Charts
- Create a Basic Waterfall Chart in Excel using C#
- Create a Customized Waterfall Chart (Colors & Totals)
- Get a Free License
- Free Resources
- Conclusion
- See Also
C# Excel Library to Create Waterfall Charts
Aspose.Cells for .NET is a feature‑rich Excel manipulation library that allows developers to create, modify, and render spreadsheets without requiring Microsoft Office. The library fully supports the Waterfall chart type ( ChartType.Waterfall ), enabling you to build professional financial visualizations directly from your data.
Key advantages of using Aspose.Cells for .NET:
- Comprehensive API – Access every Excel feature, from formulas to advanced chart types.
- Full .NET Standard support – Works on .NET Framework, .NET Core, and .NET 6/7.
- High performance – Handles large workbooks with minimal memory footprint.
- No COM or Office installation required – Ideal for server‑side or cloud environments.
Getting Started
Download the latest release from the Aspose.Cells .NET releases page.
Install via NuGet (recommended):
PM> Install-Package Aspose.CellsAdd a reference to
Aspose.Cellsin your C# project.
Now you are ready to create Waterfall charts.
Create a Basic Waterfall Chart in Excel using C#
The following example builds a simple Waterfall chart that displays quarterly profit changes.
Explanation of the steps
| Step | What the code does |
|---|---|
| 1 | Instantiates a new Workbook and accesses the first worksheet. |
| 2 | Writes the sample data (categories and amounts) into cells A1:B7. |
| 3 | Adds a Waterfall chart (ChartType.Waterfall) positioned below the table. |
| 4 | Links the series to the data range and sets the category (X‑axis) labels. |
| 5 | Saves the workbook as WaterfallChart_Basic.xlsx. |
Run the program; the generated Excel file contains a ready‑to‑use Waterfall chart visualizing the profit flow.
Get a Free License
Want to try Aspose.Cells without restrictions? Obtain a temporary free license from the Aspose temporary license page. The license removes evaluation watermarks and unlocks the full API set, enabling you to test the Waterfall chart features in production‑like environments.
// Example of applying a temporary license (place this before any Aspose.Cells usage)
var license = new Aspose.Cells.License();
license.SetLicense("Aspose.Total.lic"); // path to your temporary .lic file
Waterfall Chart Excel: Free Resources
Boost your Excel automation skills with these free resources:
- Developer’s Guide – Comprehensive API documentation: https://docs.aspose.com/cells/net/
- Online Apps – Try Aspose.Cells on the web without coding: https://products.aspose.app/cells/family
- API Reference – Detailed class and member descriptions: https://reference.aspose.com/cells/net/
- How‑to Articles – Practical examples and step‑by‑step tutorials: https://blog.aspose.com/categories/aspose.cells-product-family/
Conclusion
In this article we demonstrated how to generate Waterfall charts in Excel using Aspise.Cells for .NET:
- Basic chart –quick creation with minimal code.
- Customized chart – control colors, totals, and data labels to meet financial reporting standards.
Aspose.Cells empowers .NET developers to automate sophisticated visualizations without relying on Microsoft Office, making it ideal for server‑side reporting, SaaS platforms, and enterprise analytics.
If you have any questions or need further assistance, visit the Aspose.Cells support forum.