> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://cubed3-igor-cub-2940-docs-small-multiples.mintlify.site/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Small multiples

> Split a chart into a grid of panels, one per value of a dimension, for side-by-side comparison across segments.

**Small multiples** repeat one chart once per value of a dimension, laying the copies out in a grid. Instead of a single plot with a dozen overlapping series, you get a dozen small panels that can be read and compared at a glance.

It is a setting on an existing chart, not a chart type of its own: a bar, line, area, or scatter chart stays that chart and simply gets drawn per panel.

## Splitting a chart into panels

The **Small multiples** section appears in the Fields tab for bar, line, area, and scatter charts.

Pick a dimension in **Split by** and the chart is replaced by one panel per value of that dimension. Clearing the picker returns the chart to a single plot.

Only dimensions are offered. Splitting by a measure is not supported — a measure has no discrete values to make panels from.

## Options

These options appear once a **Split by** dimension is chosen.

| Option                | What it does                                                                                                       |
| --------------------- | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ |
| **Columns**           | Panels per row, from 1 to 6. The grid wraps and reflows to fit the chart's width.                                  |
| **Axis scales**       | Whether every panel is drawn against the same scale (**Shared**) or each scales to its own data (**Independent**). |
| **Sort panels by**    | Orders the panels by the dimension's own values (**Value**) or by a measure (**Measure**).                         |
| **Sort order**        | **Ascending** or **Descending**.                                                                                   |
| **Show panel titles** | Whether each panel is labelled with its dimension value.                                                           |
| **Max panels**        | The largest number of panels to draw. Defaults to 12.                                                              |

### Shared vs. independent axis scales

Every panel is labelled with its own x and y axis either way. What the setting changes is the scale those axes are drawn against.

**Shared** is the default, and it is usually what makes small multiples worth using: every panel is drawn against the same scale, so the panels are directly comparable and a taller bar really does mean a bigger number.

Switch to **Independent** when the question is about the *shape* of each series rather than its magnitude — "what does each warehouse's weekly pattern look like", where one high-volume warehouse would otherwise flatten every other panel to a straight line.

### Max panels

Splitting by a high-cardinality dimension would otherwise draw hundreds of panels, each too small to read. **Max panels** bounds that, defaulting to 12.

When a dimension has more values than the cap, the chart draws the first N in the current sort order and reports how many are hidden. Raising the cap draws more panels; the underlying query is unaffected either way, so no data is lost.

Sorting interacts with the cap: with **Sort panels by** set to a measure and a descending order, the cap keeps the top N by that measure — which is usually the more useful set than the first N alphabetically.

## Interaction with other settings

Every other chart setting continues to apply, and applies to all panels at once — axis titles and formats, colors and palettes, data labels, tooltips, and reference lines are configured once and drawn in each panel.

A legend is shared across the grid rather than repeated per panel. Clicking a legend entry hides that series in every panel.

## Limitations

* **One split dimension.** A single grid axis, wrapped into rows by the **Columns** setting. Splitting by two dimensions at once (a row × column matrix) is not supported.
* **Cartesian charts only.** Bar, line, area, and scatter. Pie, table, KPI, heatmap, map, and HTML charts cannot be split.
* **Panel title styling** is a visibility toggle; font, size, and color are not configurable.