[Deep Dive]

[Creating Home Page Assets: Graphs with Mat Helme]

So we have a request to add an accurate graph into the homepage.

You’re probably thinking we have to get out the ruler and start measuring.

Not at all. We have the graph tools to do this for us.

They can get a bit complex though. So pay close attention.

With our file open, let’s take a look at creating a graph

for our homepage layout.

Illustrator offers graph tools.

Graphs let us communicate statistical information in a visual way.

You can find these tools in the tools panel

near the bottom next to the symbolism tools.

So let’s go ahead and pull all these tools out.

As you can see, we have 9 different types of graph tools.

Before we create our graph,

let’s first understand the different types of graphs Illustrator offers.

Our first type of graph is the Column Graph,

which is a graph that has vertical columns of data.

Next, we have the Stacked Column Graph,

which is stacked data in vertical columns.

Next, we have the Bar Graph, which is a graph

that has horizontal columns of data.

Then we have the Stacked Bar Graph,

which has stacked data in horizontal columns.

After that, we have the Line Graph.

A Line Graph is a graph of connected information.

After the Line Graph, we have the Area Graph,

which allows us to combine the features of

Line Graph and Stacked Bar Graphs.

Next, we have the Scattered Graph,

which is a plotted point graph

that shows the relationship between two sets of data.

Our next graph is the Pie Graph,

which is a circular chart divided into sectors.

And finally, we have the Radar Graph,

which is a graphical method of displaying multivariate data

in the form of two-dimensional chart.

For our homepage, we’re going to create a Pie Graph,

but before we do that let’s take a look at the options

and how to access them for the pie graph

as well as all the other graphs.

There are three ways on how to do this.

The first is by double clicking on the tool

or by going to Object, Graph, and selecting Type,

and finally the third way to get to this panel

is by simply right clicking on the graph itself,

but since we don’t have one, we can’t do that just yet.

Also, take note of the shortcut key for the Column Graph,

which is simply the letter J.

So when double clicking on the tool,

we get the popup box that is labeled graph type.

This mainly deals with the appearance of the graph.

We’re not going to go through each option.

We’re simply getting the gist of the graph type options.

At the top, you can see there’s a drop down that’s faded out.

This is because we don’t have a graph on the canvass just yet.

Under the drop down, we have the type option.

This is where we can toggle between the different types of graphs.

As you can see here, we have the Column graph, Stacked column graph,

Bar, Stacked bar, Line, Area, Scattered, Pie,

which is what we’re going to be using, and Radar.

And noticed when we click through this, some of the options change.

And notice in most of these graph types such as the column, stacked column,

bar, stacked bar, line, area, scattered, all of these have value access

where we’re able to switch the value between the left side or both sides

and these all vary between the different types of graphs.

Below type, we have style with the following options.

Add drop shadow, which simply adds a drop shadow to our graph.

Add legend across the top.

This display the legend horizontally across the top of the graph

instead of on the right side of the graph.

First row in front, which controls how the categories

or clusters of data in a graph overlap

when the cluster width is greater than 100%.

Then we have the first column in the front, which places the column bar

or line that corresponds to the first column of data in the graph data window on top.

And below type, we have options.

These options are all different per graph type.

However, most of the bar and column graphs have the same options.

They have column width, which is simply the width of the bar or column.

Cluster width, which is the total space the bar sits in as in seen in this example.

If the column width is 50% and the cluster width is 100%,

this means the bar will be 50% of the total cluster center

with 25% padding on each side.

Now let’s select the pie graph.

Here we can see we have the option to where we want to place

the legend also sort and positioning.

We’re just going to leave these options to default.

So let’s go ahead and select OK.

Now with the pie graph tool selected,

let’s go ahead and scroll over on the canvas,

and let’s click, drag, and hold shift and create our pie graph.

When we release, we also have this pop up. This is where we can input our data.

At the very top left, where there’s the number one, this is the entry text box.

This is where we simply input our data for our graph.

Then we have a cluster of buttons on the right. First, we have import data.

We can import a text document from something like an excel spreadsheet

or spreadsheet from google docs.

Next to that we have transpose row and column.

If you accidentally enter graph data backwards,

that would be in rows instead of columns or vice versa.

Click the transpose button to switch the columns and rows of data.

Next to that we have switch x and y.

This is for the scattered graphs, and on the right of that we have cell style.

This is where you can enter a value between 0 and 10

in the number of decimals for the text box.

On the right of that we have revert, which is simply an undo button.

And finally all the way to the right we have apply,

which simply renders out our data to the graph,

and below all of these options, we have our cells.

The cells are comprised of rows and columns.

Each graph has its own layout of data sets.

We’re going to cover the pie graph.

If you ever need a reference of other graphs,

simply type in the search bar Graph tool

all the way to the top right in the applications bar,

the reference, the proper format.

This search button will simply open up your default browser

and go to Adobe’s help section.

Per pie charts, we place all of our labels in the first column

then all of the data below the labels.

For our example, let’s create three labels.

The first label will be desktop,

our second label will be mobile,

and our third label will be tablet.

Then in the second column, let’s input the data

For our pie chart, we’re going to use percentage,

but we don’t need to use the percent symbol.

We’re simply going to use the numbers.

So say for desktop we’ll put 70 as in 70 percent, mobile we’ll put 20 percent,

and tablet we’ll put 10 percent.

Now as you can see in our graph, we don’t have any changes.

Well that’s because we haven’t hit the apply button yet.

So let’s go ahead and hit the apply button,

and there we have an accurate representation of

desktop, mobile, and tablet at 70%, 20%, and 10%

and on the right you can see we have our legend,

which simply indicates desktop in black,

mobile in the lighter gray,

and tablet in the darker gray--perfect.

Now let’s close the data panel,

and now let’s right click on the graph, and let’s select type,

and with our pie graph selected,

let’s select add legend across the top,

select OK,

and now you can see our legend is across the top of our graph.

Now let’s open the type panel again by right clicking, selecting type.

And again, this can also be done by going to object,

graph, and then selecting type.

So let’s go ahead and take off the add legend across top

and in the options below where it says legend and it says standard legend,

which we’ll place it on the right side.

Let’s select legends in wedges and select OK,

and now you can see the legend is inside of the wedges of the pie graph.

And say if we wanted to change the character to a font called omness medium,

we can select it and then we can actually increase the font size

and we can left align it or keep it centered.

Also, we’re able to change the color by simply double clicking on the text,

we’re able to change the color.

Now for my homepage, I don’t want any legends at all.

I just want a simple presentation of a graph.

So I’m going to hide my legend information.

I can do this by right clicking on the graph going to type.

In the legend drop down, select no legend, and then select OK,

and now we simply just have our graph.

Now with the graph selected, you’ll notice there’s no bounding box,

and I’m unable to resize it.

So let’s try our transform tool. Well, that doesn’t work either.

So how do I resize this graph?

With my selection tool selected,

I can simply go to object, transform, and select scale.

Select preview, so I can view the size change,

and say if I want to drop the size down, say 20%

with uniform selected, I’ll bring it down to 80% then select OK.

We would do the same thing if we want to move, rotate,

reflect, or share our graph.

So let’s go ahead and reflect it

and what this will do is visually pull the eye in

into the right as we read left to right on our homepage.

So vertical 90 degrees. Select OK. Perfect.

So now let’s move this in to our homepage

where it’s truly understand your target market.

So again by this darker color being on the left and bottom,

it visually pulls your eye into the page.

Now if we want to change the colors,

we can simply use the direct selection tool to alter each piece.

So when we select the direct selection tool of the graph,

we’re then able to change the fill color in stroke color.

Now for our graph, I’m going ahead and get rid of

all these stroke colors and just leave the fill.

Also with the direct selection tool and we select a certain wedge.,

we can also use the eye drop tool to get a specific color

already on the screen.

And say if something were to change

like say if I wanted to drop our desktop information down to say 60%

and bump our mobile up to say 30,

I can simply right click on the graph, go to data,

make the changes, select apply,

and you can see our graph changes automatically,

and this comes in handy whenever we want to just change information.

Say if we’re creating something for a client and something changes.

If we didn’t make this by hand,

we don’t’ have to actually get out our measuring tool

and measure the specific distance.

We can simply use the graph tool

and then change the data inside the data panel

and apply it to our graph.

And that’s how you use the graph tools in Adobe Illustrator.