Learn how to add photos to your charts in Numbers with iWork

Presenting data in a manner that is visually pleasing and that will capture your audiences attention can be somewhat of a task. Using the charts in Numbers is a good way of presenting figures in a simplistic yet stylish way but how about making them even more interesting by adding your own photos. This can be a great way of actually visualising what the data represents. In this case, we’re demonstrating how this can be used to present a budget for a holiday. By using images of transport, food and activities, the chart becomes more immediate and far more engaging, all you need to do is follow the steps.

Step 1: Add a chart

Open Numbers, select the template you want to use, then add a chart using the drop down Chart menu at the top of the interface.

Step 2: Data

Fill in the categories that each segment of the chart will represent by clicking in each box, selecting the existing text and typing.

Step 3: Numbers

Do the same for the figures and the pie chart will automatically divide itself up into the relative percentages.

Step 4: Drag and drop

Because the first image isn’t in iPhoto, we’re not going to use the media panel, we’re simply going to drag and drop into the blue wedge from the desktop.

Step 5: Moving the wedge

Hold the cursor down and drag the wedge to move it away from the others for a cleaner look. You can also do this from within the Chart Inspector.

Step 6: Graphic Inspector

Open the Graphic Inspector and from the drop-down menu next to the thumbnail, select ‚‘Scale to Fit’. The image will now be resized to fit the wedge.

Step 7: Repeat

Repeat steps 4 to 6 for each individual wedge until they all have an image. You can also use the media panel to use images in iPhoto.

Step 8: Labels

Slide the Labels button at the top of the interface left, to move the numbers away from the centre of the image. This will make the resulting chart look much nicer.

Step 9: Shadows

Add a drop shadow to your chart to make it really pop from within the Chart Inspector. Select a shadow for the whole chart or for each wedge.

Click on the image below to zoom in and view the annotations.