Small Multiples

Small multiples (also called panel charts or trellis charts) split a dataset by a categorical field and render one chart panel per category. All panels share the same scale and axes, making it easy to compare patterns across groups.

BTA visuals that support small multiples expose the settings below through the format pane.

Settings

Columns

The number of columns in the panel grid. Panels fill left-to-right, then wrap to the next row. Adjust this to fit the number of categories and the available visual width.

Spacing

The gap between adjacent panels, in pixels. This applies to both horizontal (column) and vertical (row) gaps. Increase spacing to make panel boundaries clearer; decrease it to fit more panels in the same area.

Show Title

Toggles the panel title label above each small-multiples cell. The title text is the category value for that panel (e.g., the region name or product line).

Title Font Size

Font size for the panel title, in points. Setting a value of 0 enables automatic sizing.

Title Spacing

Gap between the panel title and the chart content below it, in pixels. Increase this if the title descenders visually merge with the top of the chart.

Defaults

columns:       2
spacing:       36
showTitle:     true
titleFontSize: 14
titleSpacing:  25

Tips

• Start with columns: 2 and increase to 3 or 4 for datasets with many categories on wide displays.
• For executive summary dashboards, columns: 1 stacks panels vertically for a clean single-column layout that reads top-to-bottom.
• If category names are long, set titleFontSize smaller (e.g., 11) to prevent titles from wrapping.
• Set showTitle: false only when the category is already identified by a slicer or header element outside the visual.
• Larger spacing values (50+) work well when you want panels to feel like distinct cards. Smaller values (12–20) are better when you want panels to read as a unified matrix.