ABSTRACT
To incorporate visualization into one’s own practice, they must know which tools are best suited for the visualization task. The tools available for building visualizations fall into four categories: basic productivity applications, visualization software, business intelligence tools, and developer-based packages. This chapter presents the options for creating data graphics and criteria for evaluating one’s own software choices. Common productivity tools are good enough for most visualization tasks. With Excel/the iWork suite, one can create basic chart types: bar, pie, line, and scatter plots in addition to more sophisticated displays such as stacked area and radar charts. Google Charts are also interactive and web-based. Microsoft Excel provides a sophisticated set of static charting options. Apple’s own productivity suite, iWork, which includes Pages, Numbers, and Keynote, offers basic 2D and 3D charts in addition to animated vertical and horizontal bars, scatter plots, and bubble charts. Data visualization software applications are ubiquitous. These applications focus on usability through a drag and drop interface.
