Sources & content
Charts
Turn spreadsheet data into charts: everyday KPIs stay editable on the canvas; heatmaps, regression, and other heavy stats ship as analysis figure PNGs.
What charts are
Charts visualize trends, comparisons, and structure in your deck. Convas builds them from structured data with colors and typography aligned to your design—ideal for business and data-driven presentations.
Two ways to chart
From the same Excel or CSV, the Agent picks a presentation that fits each slide. Numbers always come from extracted spreadsheet data—never invented KPIs.
- Editable charts: bars, lines, pies, funnels, and other standard narratives. Tune values and series names in the canvas refine panel; charts stay editable in PPTX export.
- Analysis figure PNGs: heatmaps, correlations, distributions, regression, and other stats pivot tables cannot express. The Agent runs Python on your data and places a PNG on the slide—values are not editable on canvas; update the spreadsheet and ask for a refresh.
- HTML tables: when there are many detail rows and no single aggregate story, the Agent may prefer a table over a chart.
Supported types
Editable charts (canvas data table):
- Bar, horizontal bar, line, and area charts.
- Pie, donut, and bar+line combo charts.
- Funnel, Sankey, and waterfall charts.
- Radar, scatter/quadrant, and gauge-style progress rings.
Analysis figure PNGs (preview under Brief › Project materials › Analysis):
- Heatmaps, correlation matrices, category/dimension cross-analysis.
- Distribution plots, box/violin plots, histograms.
- Regression trends, fit lines, residual-style scatter.
- Large scatter plots, multi-panel stats (e.g. ROC, faceted comparisons).
The Agent picks types that fit the narrative. One slide can mix both—e.g. an editable bar chart for headline KPIs plus a heatmap for deeper stats.
How to generate
- Upload spreadsheets (Excel, CSV, etc.)—the Agent extracts structured data (see Files & source processing).
- In chat, name the chart type and slide: “Quarterly revenue bar chart on slide 4” or “Category correlation heatmap on the insights slide—analysis PNG is fine.”
- Editable charts can be refined on canvas; analysis PNGs also appear under Brief › Project materials › Analysis.
- The Agent lays out title, takeaway, and source notes with the chart; it avoids fabricating numbers when data is missing.
Example prompts
Use sales.xlsx from my brief—put a 2024 quarterly revenue bar chart on slide 4 with a YoY takeaway under the title.
The Agent reads extracted structured data; it does not invent figures.
From the attachment’s monthly data, add a line chart on slide 6 for the trend, with a source note.
Change the pie chart on slide 6 to a line chart; keep colors aligned with the design.
Type, layout, and narrative → chat; specific values → canvas refine panel.
Update only slide 4’s chart and takeaway—leave other slides unchanged.
Naming scope reduces accidental edits across the deck.
From the sales attachment, build a category GMV correlation heatmap as an analysis PNG on the insights slide.
Heatmaps → analysis figures; everyday KPI bars/lines → editable charts.
How to edit
Canvas editing applies to editable charts only. Analysis figure PNGs cannot be edited on canvas—update the source spreadsheet and ask the Agent to regenerate.
- Turn on edit mode, click the chart, then open Refine properties.
- Edit categories, values, and series names in the data table at the top of the panel.
- Adjust background color, opacity, and other styles; preview live, then Apply.
- For chart type, layout, or narrative changes, describe the intent in chat and let the Agent handle it.
Scope & limits
- Good for: revenue comparisons, trends, share breakdowns, funnel conversion, and common business charts.
- Data source: your uploaded files first; the Agent avoids fabricating numbers when data is missing.
- Image mode: charts appear as part of flat images—no editable data table on canvas.
- Heavy stats (heatmaps, regression, large scatter): ship as analysis figure PNGs—preview under Brief › Project materials › Analysis. Values are not editable on canvas; update source data and regenerate.
- Many detail rows without one aggregate story: prefer HTML tables over charts.
PDF embedded figures are separate from spreadsheet charts: batch-extract paper/report Fig under Brief › Project materials › Embedded; tabular data drives editable charts or analysis PNGs. See Files & source processing.