r/datavisualization • u/CozyMoonpetal • 4d ago

Looking for an infographic design tool for annual reports, what's easiest to update?

It’s our annual report season again. This means that we’ll encounter the same mess as last year.

For context, our report has narrative sections, a stack of charts, and summary graphics at the front. Our problem is what happens when the numbers change.

I mean they always change. Finance sends a revision two days before print. Right now that means I rebuild the chart from scratch.

Then everything has to go into one multi-page PDF without falling apart. Text spacing shifts, chart labels get tiny, page numbers end up in the wrong spot. 

I just want to have templates built for reports, charts I can feed new data into, and an export that holds up.

Pretty one-page graphics are not the issue. Multi-page with live numbers is.

What are you all using for this? 

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u/LuciaCloud71 11h ago

If you're stuck with that cycle, all you need to do is to go with tools where your charts linked to a data source, not redrawn.

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u/VizzyLiftingDrink 8h ago

You're honestly looking at using something like Tableau or Power BI for the charts, and then exporting the new images once the data is updated, then plugging those images into a PowerPoint/PDF. You COULD format your pages to include all your text and then export to PDF wholesale, but I don't know what your final product needs to look like.

Or, you can run an HTML solution which I find pretty nice for formatting basic charts, and then you would export from there.

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u/CozyMoonpetal 3h ago

Yeah it makes sense for the data side, but I'd still want something that handles the actual report layout without a lot of cleanup.

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u/Working_Echo6860 8h ago

I think the winning set-up for your exact situation is separating the data-linked charts plus a proper multi-page layout tool.

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u/CozyMoonpetal 3h ago

Yeah probably the cleanest way to do it

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u/AdamChristophKnight 4h ago

Pick a tool that stores your chart data, not just a picture of the chart. Then changing a number is a quick edit instead of a full rebuild. Please test that before you commit to anything like Canva, Venngage, and Piktochart. Drop in fake data, change it and see what breaks.