Liven Up Your Presentations by Using Graphs and Charts

Learn how to add dimension to your presentations.

In many business presentations, charts and graphs are used to help display sets of data. But sometimes the “same old pie chart” just doesn’t have the flair that might be necessary to really get the client's attention. Illustrator has graphing tools built right in, so you can easily make and customize graphs in Illustrator. You can access the different graph options by hovering over the Graph Tool in the Tools panel.



Here we will make a pie graph by simply selecting the Pie Graph Tool and dragging out a box on our art board to the size of the graph. Import, paste or type the data into the cells (with a pie graph, your categories need to be along the top with the values underneath). Click the Apply (check mark) in the upper right of the dialog box to apply the changes, and then close the dialog.



Right click or Control + click on the graph and choose Type to customize the look of the graph. Here I moved the legends to the wedges on the graph by selecting Standard Legend from the Legend dropdown menu. Using the Selection Tool, select the graph and remove the stroke from the pie graph. Then, using the Direct Selection Tool, pick each individual section of the graph to change its color and give the graph a much bolder look.



To add some extra flair, select your graph and click Effect > 3D > Extrude & Bevel. Using the 3D dialog box, adjust the rotation and the depth of the graph. This alone gives your graph an original look. You can also use the Direct Selection Tool to pick individual sections of the graph to break them away to highlight a certain category.





Since the 3D Extrude & Bevel is a Live Effect, the graph is still linked to the values that were originally entered. Therefore adjustments to the values can still be made. Just right click or Control + click the graph and choose Data to adjust the data values. You can even add or eliminate a category and your 3D rotated graph will automatically update.



Again, because the Extrude & Bevel is a Live Effect, that too can be adjusted. Just select your graph and open the Appearance Panel. You will see a 3D Extrude & Bevel effect. Just double click on the name and the Extrude & Bevel dialog box will reopen. You can make your adjustments from there.



By using Illustrator's graphing tools along with Live Effects, you can create dynamic graphs that you can easily modify later.