Skip to main content
TeeChart legends provide visual keys to identify series and data points in your charts. The legend system is highly customizable with support for symbols, checkboxes, scrolling, and multiple legends.

​
Overview

The TChartLegend class controls all legend properties and appearance. Access it through Chart1.Legend. Location: TeeProcs.pas

​
Key Properties

​
Position and Layout

// Position
Chart1.Legend.Alignment := laRight;  // laLeft, laRight, laTop, laBottom
Chart1.Legend.HorizMargin := 10;
Chart1.Legend.VertMargin := 10;

// Custom position
Chart1.Legend.CustomPosition := True;
Chart1.Legend.Left := 100;
Chart1.Legend.Top := 50;
Source: Legend_CustomPos.pas

​
Visibility and Style

// Show/hide
Chart1.Legend.Visible := True;

// Legend style
Chart1.Legend.LegendStyle := lsSeries;     // One item per series
Chart1.Legend.LegendStyle := lsValues;     // One item per point
Chart1.Legend.LegendStyle := lsLastValues; // Show last value only
Chart1.Legend.LegendStyle := lsSeriesGroups; // Group series
Source: Legend_Series.pas, Legend_SeriesGroups.pas

​
Symbol Customization

​
Symbol Properties

Control the appearance of legend symbols: 
// Symbol size
Chart1.Legend.Symbol.Width := 30;
Chart1.Legend.Symbol.DefaultPen := True;

// Symbol position
Chart1.Legend.Symbol.Position := spLeft;  // spLeft, spRight

// Continuous gradient for contour/surface series
Chart1.Legend.Symbol.Continuous := True;
Source: Legend_Symbol.pas:49

​
Symbol Border and Shadow

// Symbol border
Chart1.Legend.Symbol.Pen.Visible := True;
Chart1.Legend.Symbol.Pen.Width := 2;
Chart1.Legend.Symbol.Pen.Color := clBlack;

// Symbol shadow
Chart1.Legend.Symbol.Shadow.Visible := True;
Chart1.Legend.Symbol.Shadow.Width := 3;
Chart1.Legend.Symbol.Shadow.HorizSize := 2;
Chart1.Legend.Symbol.VertSize := 2;
Source: Legend_SymbolBorder.pas, Legend_SymbolsShadow.pas

​
Symbol Gradient

Chart1.Legend.Symbol.Gradient.Visible := True;
Chart1.Legend.Symbol.Gradient.StartColor := clWhite;
Chart1.Legend.Symbol.Gradient.EndColor := clBlue;
Source: Legend_SymbolsGradient.pas

​
Interactive Features

​
Checkboxes

Enable interactive show/hide of series: 
Chart1.Legend.CheckBoxes := True;
When enabled, clicking checkboxes automatically toggles series visibility. Source: Legend_CheckBox.pas:42

​
Legend Scrolling

​
Basic Scrolling

// Manual scrolling
Chart1.Legend.FirstValue := 10;  // Start showing from item 10
Chart1.Legend.MaxRows := 5;      // Show maximum 5 rows
Source: Legend_Scroll.pas, Legend_MaxRows.pas

​
Scrollbar Tool

Add an interactive scrollbar to the legend: 
uses TeeLegendScrollBar;

var
  LegendScrollBar: TLegendScrollBar;
begin
  LegendScrollBar := TLegendScrollBar.Create(Self);
  LegendScrollBar.ParentChart := Chart1;
end;
Handle scroll events: 
procedure TForm1.LegendScrollBarScrolled(Sender: TObject);
begin
  Label1.Caption := 'First Value: ' + IntToStr(Chart1.Legend.FirstValue);
end;
Source: Legend_Scrollbar.pas:47

​
Text Formatting

​
Font and Color

// Legend font
Chart1.Legend.Font.Name := 'Arial';
Chart1.Legend.Font.Size := 10;
Chart1.Legend.Font.Color := clBlack;
Chart1.Legend.Font.Style := [fsBold];

// Individual item colors
Chart1.Legend.FontSeriesColor := True;  // Use series color for text
Source: Legend_FontColor.pas

​
Text Style

// Text alignment
Chart1.Legend.TextStyle := ltsPlain;      // Plain text
Chart1.Legend.TextStyle := ltsLeftValue;  // Value on left
Chart1.Legend.TextStyle := ltsRightValue; // Value on right
Chart1.Legend.TextStyle := ltsLeftPercent; // Percentage on left
Chart1.Legend.TextStyle := ltsRightPercent; // Percentage on right
Chart1.Legend.TextStyle := ltsValue;      // Value only
Chart1.Legend.TextStyle := ltsPercent;    // Percentage only
Source: Legend_TextStyle.pas

​
Custom Text

Add custom items to the legend: 
// Add text item
Chart1.Legend.DividingLines.Add(5);  // Add dividing line at position 5
Source: Legend_AddText.pas

​
Spacing and Layout

​
Spacing Properties

// Vertical spacing
Chart1.Legend.VertSpacing := 5;  // Pixels between items

// Gap between symbol and text
Chart1.Legend.TextSymbolGap := 10;

// Column widths
Chart1.Legend.ColumnWidthAuto := False;
Chart1.Legend.ColumnWidths[0] := 100;
Source: Legend_VertSpa.pas, Legend_TextSymbolGap.pas, Legend_Widths.pas

​
Multi-Column Layout

Chart1.Legend.MaxNumRows := 10;  // Maximum rows before new column
Chart1.Legend.HorizMargin := 20;  // Spacing between columns

​
Advanced Features

​
Multiple Legends

Draw separate legends for different series: 
procedure TForm1.Chart1AfterDraw(Sender: TObject);
begin
  with Chart1.Legend do
  begin
    // Draw first legend for Series1
    CustomPosition := False;
    Series := Series1;
    
    // Draw second legend for Series2
    Top := 125;
    Series := Series2;
    DrawLegend;
    
    // Reset for next paint
    CustomPosition := False;
    Series := Series1;
  end;
end;
Source: Legend_Multi.pas:32

​
Legend Title

Chart1.Legend.Title.Text.Add('Sales Data');
Chart1.Legend.Title.Font.Style := [fsBold];
Chart1.Legend.Title.Font.Size := 12;
Chart1.Legend.Title.Visible := True;
Source: Legend_Title.pas

​
Current Page Display

Show current page information: 
Chart1.Legend.CurrentPage := True;
Source: Legend_CurrentPage.pas

​
Custom Legend Items

Manually control legend item display: 
// Show/hide specific items
Chart1.Legend.Items[0].Visible := False;

// Custom item text
Chart1.Legend.Items[0].Text := 'Custom Label';

// Custom item color
Chart1.Legend.Items[0].Color := clRed;
Source: Legend_Items.pas

​
Common Use Cases

​
Minimal Legend (High Performance)

// For real-time charts, hide legend to improve speed
Chart1.Legend.Visible := False;
// OR
Chart1.Legend.Hide;

​
Series Groups

Organize related series: 
Chart1.Legend.LegendStyle := lsSeriesGroups;
Series1.Title := 'Group A - Sales';
Series2.Title := 'Group A - Costs';
Series3.Title := 'Group B - Sales';
Source: Legend_SeriesGroups.pas

​
Image in Legend

Display custom images: 
Chart1.Legend.Symbol.Visible := False;
// Use OnGetLegendRect and OnDrawLegend events to draw custom images
Source: Legend_Image.pas

​
Position as Percentage

Position legend relative to chart size: 
Chart1.Legend.CustomPosition := True;
Chart1.Legend.LeftPercent := 10;  // 10% from left
Chart1.Legend.TopPercent := 5;    // 5% from top
Source: Legend_PositionPercent.pas

Series Types

Different chart series types

Annotations

Add text and callouts to charts

Build docs developers (and LLMs) love

Get started for freeTalk to us