A chart is used when you want to analyze and explain the relationship of each part of a whole and provide a graphical representation of a complex process. Having a hard time creating your own printable chart, flow chart or Gantt chart? Get started with our free to download Ready-Made PDF Basic Templates and instantly design your own chart for whatever important purpose. Some of the basic chart templates you can find here are Free Project Timeline, Free Price Chart, Free Company Flow Chart, Free Reward Chart, and others. We’ve included suggestive content and headlines as well as minimal and on-point graphics to these templates. Download any of our ready to print Ready-Made PDF Basic Templates for free now!
How To Make A Basic Chart In PDF
Walk into some company conference and at a certain point, you'll see what they're talking about. What is that? It's either a graph or a chart that describes the company. It might be a graph that shows the progress of a group that is working on a large project. Or it might be a chart displaying the company's revenue and comparing it to the competition's revenues. Either way, such graphs, and charts make the data visualization easier to understand.Â
A chart is a graphical representation of information in which such information is represented by symbols, including bars in a bar chart, lines in a line chart, or pie chart slices. Â A chart can show numerical data, features some qualitative framework and offers distinct information. According to the Journal of Wrist Surgery, the basic requirement of a chart is that it should be clear and readable. Not only the font size and symbols, but the sort of graph itself determines this. Providing a clear and concise legend for each chart is essential. We have prepared simple steps below to make a basic chart.Â
1. Choose the Right Chart
Without discussing chart choices, we can't speak about an elegant chart design. If you are like most individuals, you likely choose your charts depending on how simple it is to build the diagram in a fundamental diagram tool. Standard tools such as Excel provide easier access to some of the most basic types of charts, such as the pie chart, bar chart, and line chart. Gantt chart is also a good choice for project planners who want to show the timing of some tasks.
2. Don't Use Legends
By default, most devices such as Excel and Google Sheets provide graphs and charts with a legend. These legends can be used to show readers which colors, shapes, or symbols portray the data series in the chart. Most of the time, legends actually complicate the readers in understanding charts.Â
Readers are encouraged to scan back and forth between the legend and the chart itself to fully understand a graph with a legend. They use some of their limited memory resources every time they make that switch to maintain the information of the legend in mind.
3. Highlight Some Details
There should be a clear focus on each chart. It should be developed with a particular objective in mind – to convey or support a particular argument. The chart's visual focus should strengthen that objective directly.
4. Keep it Minimal
Keep the structural components of your editable chart as minimal as possible. Remember to illustrate the content, not the frame. To maintain your focus on the data, try to remove unnecessary chart elements such as outlines, gridlines, and backgrounds. Make your important elements clear but inconspicuous.
5. Don't Oversimplify your Data
Structural chart elements must be simplified, but not oversimplify your data. Basic charts and infographics comparing various data series could be much more compelling than over-simplified graphs or isolated numbers. Letting readers create their own visual comparisons could nurture the strong "a-ha" moment that we are all waiting for.
