Another five medium sized and 10 small special revenue funds have been combined into a single category to avoid cluttering the graphs with small segments, which could neither be easily interpreted nor individually affect the decisions of a reader. The line graph is used primarily to show trends or changes in trends over time. The line graph is a very efficient graph in that it can present large amounts of quantitative information in a form that allows the reader to quickly see trends and relationships. Because of the detailed nature and the significant amount of information often reported in line graphs, their use should be limited to situations where other forms of presentation are less effective. A series of complex line graphs is likely to aggravate rather than relieve information overload.
Line graphs are quite flexible and have many variations.
Graph 5 contains three plotted lines. This allows the reader to see both the separate trends and the relationship between these trends. This a very efficient presentation technique, but it must be used cautiously. To avoid potential misinterpretation, the number of plotted lines on a single graph should not exceed five and normally should be limited to three. Great care should be taken when a graph containing more than one vertical scale is prepared.