How to use the graph maker
- Paste your data into the box (first row = column names), upload a CSV/XLSX file, or load a sample.
- Choose a chart type: line, scatter, bar, histogram, box plot or pie.
- Pick the X column and one or more Y columns. Add an error column if you have one.
- Set axis titles, ranges, log scale, fonts and a trendline if you need one.
- Download as SVG, PDF or PNG (300 or 600 DPI), or copy the matching Python code.
A graph maker built for lab reports and papers
Most online chart makers are designed for slide decks: rounded bars, gradients, tooltips. Plotiq does the opposite. Every figure starts in a clean scientific style: a closed axis frame, inward ticks with minor ticks, axis titles with units, and black text on white. It is the look that journals, lab manuals and thesis templates expect.
You can still switch to colour, add gridlines or change fonts. But you start from a figure that is ready to drop into a report.
What you can make
Line graphs and scatter plots with several series, grouped bar charts, histograms with adjustable bins, box plots and pie charts. Add error bars from a column or as a fixed or percentage value, switch either axis to a log scale, and fit a linear, polynomial, exponential, logarithmic or power trendline with its equation and R² shown in the legend.
Export for Word, LaTeX and journals
Choose a figure width that matches your layout: 3.5 in for a single journal column, 7.2 in for a full page width. SVG and PDF stay sharp at any zoom and can be edited in Inkscape or Illustrator. PNG export renders at 300 or 600 DPI, the resolutions most journals ask for. If you are learning Python, "Copy Python code" gives you a matplotlib script that redraws the same figure.
Frequently asked questions
- Is this graph maker free?
- Yes. Every chart type and every export format is free, with no account and no watermark.
- Is my data uploaded anywhere?
- No. Your data never leaves your browser. Plotiq parses and plots files locally with JavaScript, so nothing is uploaded to a server.
- Can I paste data directly from Excel or Google Sheets?
- Yes. Select the cells including the header row, copy, and paste into the data box. Tab, comma, semicolon, pipe and space separated data are detected automatically.
- What if my data is messy?
- Paste it anyway. Plotiq skips title and comment lines above the header, detects the delimiter and decimal commas (1,5), removes empty rows and columns, and reads numbers written as $1,200.50, 12 %, 5 mg, (300) or NA. Every change is listed under the data box, and "Tidy text" replaces your paste with the cleaned table.
- How do I write units with superscripts like m² or 10⁻³?
- Use ^ for superscript and _ for subscript: m^2, H_2O, 10^{-3}. Greek letters work with a backslash: \mu, \Delta, \sigma, and \deg gives a degree sign.
- Which export format should I use for a paper?
- Use PDF or SVG for vector figures (best for LaTeX and most journals). Use PNG at 300 DPI for Word documents and 600 DPI for line art when a journal asks for raster images.
Last updated: · by the Plotiq team