Build an awesome chart dashboard without using Excel

[Video Introduction](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9G7dpyvETyg&t=78s) This article will show you how to create a perfect dashboard in just 15 minutes. You don't need to deal with complicated Excel operations, or use professional but hard-to-learn tools like Power BI. All you need is your data table ready. ## Outline - Turning tables into charts: First, I’ll show you how to convert tables into corresponding charts, such as bar charts and line charts. - Building a dashboard: Second, I’ll teach you how to combine these charts into a dashboard. ## Preparing Data and Tools For this demo, I’ve prepared four tables:  We’ll convert these four tables into charts one by one. To do this, we’ll use an app that makes it easy to create beautiful charts. You can find it in the App Store. - **The app is available for MacOS and iOS**, so it works across iPhone, iPad, and Mac. - **It supports English, Chinese, French, German, and more**. For this demo, I’ll set the app to English mode.   In the top-right corner of the app, there’s a “Table” entry where you can import an Excel file. As shown in the screenshot, all four tables have been imported into the app.    ## Converting Tables to Charts Click the “To Chart” button to turn a table into a chart:  There are many chart types to choose from. Since we want a bar chart, select that option. After selecting, you’ll enter an editing screen where you can adjust the chart—for example, modifying the vertical axis data. The preview on the left updates in real time.   Switch to the “Values” tab to modify the values for each dimension. For instance, since it’s currently August, the data for the next four months isn’t available yet. You can enter forecasted data here. Click save to refresh the chart.  You can also change the colors of the bars. For example, to highlight the month with the highest value and lighten the color for the last four months, you can set the color for each month individually.   ## Customizing Chart Appearance and Exporting as Image The final step is adjusting the appearance of the bar chart. This is where the app really shines—it offers many styling options so you can get creative.  Once done, save the chart. You can also export it as a high-quality image.  You can find the chart you just made in the app’s template section. Next, we need to convert the remaining three tables into charts using the same method—I won’t repeat the steps here.    Once all charts are ready, we can move on to building the dashboard. ## Creating a Chart-Based Dashboard Again, in the top-right corner of the app, there’s a “Dashboard” entry. Click “New Dashboard” to enter the editing interface.  On the top-right, you’ll see four options: Card, Chart, Text, and Icon. These correspond to: adding card outlines/backgrounds, adding images, adding text, and adding decorative icons—common elements needed for a dashboard.  ### Card Outlines First, use cards to build the basic layout. All components can be dragged to adjust position and size—very intuitive and easy.  You can also set the card theme. Besides a basic flat style, there are floating, cyberpunk, and other styles available.   For this demo, I’ll use basic cards. You can adjust properties like corner radius to finalize the dashboard outline.   ### Adding Charts Next, drag in the charts you created earlier. Click a card to lock its layer so it can’t be selected accidentally.  Drag the charts into place and resize them. Repeat for other charts, fine-tuning their properties as needed.     You can still enter the chart editing screen to make further adjustments. Click “Apply” in the top-right to save changes.  ### Adding Text and Icons The last step is adding descriptive text and decorative icons. Just drag the elements in, edit the content, and adjust their positions. Easy to learn and use!  Congratulations! Your dashboard is now complete. Save it, and you can export it as an image.  I’m happy to share this dashboard-making process with you. If you need inspiration for designing dashboards, feel free to visit this site often—I regularly share various attractive dashboard designs.  [Try It Now](https://fastchart.cn/en)