PrettyChart User Guide

Getting Started

Create beautiful charts in minutes

PrettyChart transforms your data into stunning, customizable charts. No account needed, no data stored—everything happens right in your browser.

Adding Your Data

Four ways to bring data into PrettyChart

📝 Spreadsheet Editor

Create or edit data directly in PrettyChart, just like a real spreadsheet.

• New — Start with a blank grid
• Edit — Modify your current data
• Copy/paste from Excel or Google Sheets
• Supports US (1,234.56) and EU (1.234,56) number formats
• Changes update your chart instantly

📁 Upload a File

Drag & drop or click to upload. Supported formats:

✏️ Draw a Chart

Don't have data? Just draw it! Sketch a bar chart and our AI will convert it into real data.

• Click "Draw a Chart" to open the drawing canvas
• Sketch bars of different heights
• Click ✨ Generate Chart
• AI analyzes your drawing and extracts the data

🖼️ Extract from Image

Have an existing chart as an image? Upload it and let AI extract the data!

• Supports JPG, PNG, WebP, GIF
• Works with bar charts, line charts, pie charts, and more
• AI reads values and labels from the image
• Creates a fully editable, restyled chart

Chart Types

18 chart types for every visualization need

📊 Comparison Charts

Compare values across categories

📈 Trends Charts

Show changes over time or sequence

🧩 Composition Charts

Show parts of a whole

🔬 Relationship Charts

Explore correlations between variables

KPI Cards

Display key metrics at a glance with beautiful dashboard cards

📊 What are KPI Cards?

KPI (Key Performance Indicator) Cards are compact visual elements designed to display important business metrics instantly. Unlike traditional charts, KPI Cards focus on what matters now — the current value, how it's trending, and whether you're on track.

• Display up to 6 cards per dashboard
• Show metric title, current value, and change indicator
• Add optional sparklines or progress bars
• Perfect for executive dashboards and reports

✨ Features

• Ambient Sparklines — Beautiful background sparklines that show trends
• Progress Bars — Visualize goal completion with animated indicators
• Trend Indicators — Automatic positive/negative/neutral styling
• Custom Styling — Per-card colors, icons, and typography
• Drag & Drop — Reorder cards to prioritize what matters

🛠️ Creating Cards

To create KPI cards:

1. Select KPI from the chart type dropdown
2. Click + Add Card or Load Sample Data
3. Click a card to edit its title, value, and visual settings
4. Drag cards to reorder them
5. Export as PNG, SVG, or PDF like any other chart

Slides Editor

Turn your charts into presentation-ready slide decks

🎬 What is Slides?

The Slides Editor lets you create professional presentations directly from your charts. No more copying screenshots into PowerPoint — design your deck right here and export as PDF.

• Drag & drop — Arrange charts on any slide
• Premium layouts — Hero, Summary, Comparison, Deep Dive templates
• Asset Library — Store charts for reuse across slides
• Auto-create — Generate starter deck from your charts in one click
• PDF export — Print-ready output with consistent styling

📐 Slide Layouts

Choose from 4 professional layout types:

• Hero — Full-width chart with title overlay
• Summary — Multiple charts in a balanced grid
• Comparison — Side-by-side charts for contrast
• Deep Dive — Chart + text for detailed analysis

📦 Asset Library

The Asset Library stores your charts for easy reuse across slides.

• Click "Add to Slides" from any chart to capture it
• Assets appear in the right sidebar
• Drag assets onto any slide
• Charts maintain their styling and themes
• KPI cards work as assets too!

📄 Export PDF

Export your entire slide deck as a high-quality PDF:

• Click "Export PDF" in the Slides Editor
• All slides are rendered with consistent 16:9 aspect ratio
• High-resolution rendering for clear results
• Perfect for printing, sharing, or archiving

🎛️ Custom Theme

Create a fully customized theme with complete control over fonts, colors, and visual effects for your slides.

• Font Family: Choose from 20+ Google Fonts
• Text & Heading Colors: Pick any color for text and headings
• Slide Background: Set a custom background color (50 curated colors)
• Scenic Background: Layer a scenic image (130+ options)
• Pattern Overlay: Add subtle patterns (65+ options)
• Light Effect: Apply atmospheric lighting (45 options)
• Shadow Styling: Enable card shadows with custom colors

Styling Your Chart

Endless combinations for unique results

🎨 Templates (30)

Templates define the overall look—bar shapes, borders, effects, and decorations.

🌈 Color Themes (30)

Themes control your chart's color palette. Dark themes for drama, light themes for clarity.

Dark Themes (18)

Light Themes (12)

✨ Bar & Slice Effects

Toggle effects to enhance bars, pie slices, and other chart elements. Combine multiple effects!

🎭 Backgrounds & Patterns

Layer patterns and scenic backgrounds for unique visuals.

• Background Patterns (65+): Dots, grids, lines, crosshatch, hexagons, hearts, snowflakes, and more
• Scenic Backgrounds (130+): Space, mountains, city skylines, underwater, fantasy landscapes, luxury textures

💡 Light Effects (45)

Add cinematic depth with atmospheric lighting overlays.

Fine-Tune Controls

Adjust every detail to perfection

🎨 Legend Colors

For grouped, stacked, and pie charts, customize the color of each data series:

• Click any color in the legend panel
• Use the color picker to choose a new color
• Colors update instantly on the chart

🔘 Toggle Options

• Show Grid: Toggle background grid lines on bar, line, area, scatter, bubble, and lollipop charts
• Show Bar Tracks: Display light background bars behind data bars
• Show Values: Display data values on scatter, bubble, waffle, and lollipop charts
• Area Opacity: Adjust fill transparency on area charts (0-100%)

🔢 Number Formatting

Choose how numbers are displayed:

• US Format: 1,234.56
• EU Format: 1.234,56
• Percent: 85%
• Currency (USD): $1,234
• Currency (EUR): €1.234

🔤 Typography

• Font Family: 20+ Google Fonts (Sans, Serif, Mono, Display)
• Font Sizes: Adjust title, subtitle, labels, and values independently
• Text Color: Override theme defaults with custom colors
• Background Color: Set a custom background color

Export Your Chart

Download in multiple formats or share with others

Export Formats

• PNG: High-resolution image, perfect for presentations and social media
• SVG: Scalable vector graphics, ideal for web and editing
• PDF: High-resolution PDF for documents and print

Share URL

Click the Share button to generate a unique URL for your chart. Anyone with the link can view your chart (but not edit it). Perfect for sharing with colleagues or on social media!

Scaling Options

• Fit to Page: Chart scales to fit entirely within the export area (max 100%)
• Fill Page: Chart fills the entire export area, scaling 50-150%
• Manual: You control the exact scale with a slider

Aspect Ratios

Tips & Best Practices

Get the most out of PrettyChart

Data Preparation

• Include a header row with column names
• Keep value columns numeric (decimals supported)
• Remove empty rows before uploading
• For grouped charts, use 2-5 value columns

Data Limits

For optimal chart readability, PrettyChart has these limits:

• Maximum 15 columns — Keep your data focused
• Maximum 50 rows — Charts become hard to read with too many data points

Design Recommendations

• 🎲 Try the Surprise Me button for instant inspiration!
• Pair dark templates with neon/metallic themes for impact
• Use light themes for print-friendly outputs
• Combine bar effects—Glow + Shadow looks great

Export Tips

• 16:9 for presentations and slides
• 1:1 for Instagram posts
• 9:16 for Stories, TikTok, Reels
• 2:3 for Pinterest pins

Privacy & Security

Local-first design, your data stays with you

• Browser-Based Processing: All chart rendering happens in your browser. Files you upload are processed locally.
• Local Storage: Your chart data and settings are saved in your browser's localStorage—not on our servers.
• AI Features: When using image extraction or "Draw a Chart", your image is sent securely to AI services (OpenAI) for processing only—never stored permanently.
• Share URL: When you create a shareable link, your chart data is saved to our server so others can view it. Only shared charts are stored.
• No Account Required: Start creating immediately without signup.

Troubleshooting

Quick solutions to common issues

Chart Not Showing

• Check that both Label and Value columns are selected
• Click "Generate Chart" after selecting columns
• Ensure your value column contains numbers, not text

Image Extraction Not Working

• Use higher resolution images (screenshots work best)
• Make sure the image contains a clear chart with visible values
• Try cropping to just the chart area

Export Problems

• Make sure your chart is visible in the preview
• Try a different browser if export fails
• Disable pop-up blockers

File Upload Issues

• Check that your file has a header row
• Try saving as CSV if Excel files don't work
• Remove special characters from column names