Hi is there any update on this? I have a template with formatted charts/graphs that need updating weekly. I would love to simply link my excel file which updates from our DB weekly and have my charts/graphs update.

Or is there a workaround for when I have to manually upate data for charts/graphs that the formatting is lost? I update data for 10 charts a week and each time I lose all formatting.

Any answer is appreciated

chart styles. templates. yes.

Sorry, I would add that an absolutely key feature is automatic chart updates, as the source data changes - be that some form of dynamic link to Excel, or to a data file (.csv?)

I'm agnostic to the 2 options posed by the original poster. What's important to me is knowing that the charting tools and capabilities are being brought into the 21st century. I'd really like to be in a community loop on what to expect and when - and to try things out in beta testing. I'm trying to move from Excel, but the current option is just not compelling.

Please, update and renew the diagram toll in illustrator. The tool isn't state of the art and needs renewing (preview function, better handling with numbers, more options, less bugs). I make infographics for many years and also teach infographic design, but the possibilities in Illustrator are unfortunately insufficient.
Many users are waiting and waiting for an update. It would be a great help to designers if the diagram tool could be renewed. Illustrator is a great application, but the diagram functions are not good.
Thank you very much
Daniel Röttele

Graph function.
The graph function has never been updated. It is clunky and functions poorly (e.g. on a combo graph including bar and line graphs, the second axis cannot have the value numbers customised to users specifications).. It'd be great to have some new graph functions after all these years, decades even, with no thought been given to improving the graphing function.

I guess no update on Project Lincoln then, huh?

The data "sheet" in Illustrator is very awkward to work with - and hasn't seen much if any development for a long time.

Also, I would like to see a preview as one ticks or unticks chart options.

Yeah assuming Project Lincoln still stands, your suggesting is being addressed :)

Hi!
Such tool is being developed by Adobe. Have you heard of http://data-illustrator.com?

It's in early stages. The problem with the char tool inside Illustrator is that is really destructive as soon as you start formatting. It is good for small charts, but it is unusable when you need to keep it linked to more complex databases.

Meanwhile, I would look at Datawrapper, Flourish, RAWGraphs, etc.

With Adobe Max coming up in a couple of weeks, hopefully, there will be some movement on this. I've found using Datawrapper <https://www.datawrapper.de>, a good solution in the interim, but would love to lose that extra step and have something I can directly manipulate in Illustrator or as an extension of the suite.

This thread (and the associated comments) has been running for a year now.
What's the feedback? Why haven't we heard some sort of progress report? It makes the whole discussion/consultation a bit pointless if no-one's listening...
Adobe, please tell us where this is heading!

A separate app that works like a "plug-in" in both Illustrator and InDesign would be good for me. Much like Microsoft Graph works between all the Office programs.
I would also second Sandee Cohen's suggestions.

PLEASE come up with an EASY and SEAMLESS way to export excel charts into Adobe Illustrator! Please! I have over 153 bar and pie charts I have to create from a pivot table in excel, which is arduous and time consuming. The chart feature in Illustrator is awful and confusing to use as well. I’ve been doing charts the same way for years by copy/pasting from excel into illustrator and having to remove about 10,000 clipping paths. Surely there is something you can that will make it easier to do charts. An extension? Maybe play nice with the @micsrosoft developers? Pretty please?

ARE YOU EVER GOING TO GET BETTER MESSAGES AND ADD A PREVIEW FUNCTION SO WE CAN SEE CHANGES BEFORE WE APPLY THEM IN CHARTS AND GRAPHS?????????

When will you release project Lincoln? That would solve so many problems. can either be a separate app (so long as they are vector elements) or within illustrator. Please hurry up

I agree with most of the comments here. There have been problems with the charting tool that have existed for far too long:

• Inability to scale with other objects
• Inability to handle data with commas, dollar signs, etc.
• Inability to maintain styling after data changes
• Lack of data labels
• Strange limit on size of numbers it can handle
• Errors in size of objects the charting tool draws

I would be fine with a stand alone charting program but probably would favor keeping it in Illustrator.

Having the chart linked to external data would be fantastic (Excel but also Google Sheets and other formats.)

Adding more chart types would also be a great update (Sankey, tree, bullet ... dare hope for Coropleth and other location-based chart types?)

I've shared some of this with the AI team, but here are my dream features for Charts and Graphs.

First, I actually don't want it embedded in Illustrator. I would like it as a stand-alone application. But the window for this application could open inside Illustrator. Think of what it's like to edit a symbol, group, pattern, etc.

But, if necessary, the application could also be opened and used without Illustrator running. The tools would be limited, but the application would run fast.

The data would be linked to Excel files. The users could update from Excel, or decline.

The data could also come from simple tab/comma delimited files. This is very helpful. For instance, I've got a medical device that exports only CSV data. I don't want to have to import it into Excel to then export it out.

Because the application is stand-alone in its own window, it should also be able to be opened in InDesign.

Both the AI and ID graphs would be linked to the original data. Because it is a separate file, salesmen and others could easily modify the data and then the designer would update the final project.

In addition, the elements in the window would be selectable and features such as AI filters and ID animations could be applied.

This would allow users to have dynamic, animated graphs, for Publish Online as well as FXL e-pubs.

Of course the application would have to be developed by both the AI and ID teams. But since you're all in India, that shouldn't be hard. ;-)

I'm researching for my agency as we just acquired an insurance company client who's going to have an incredible number of charts and graphs to produce, then likely edit continually. I fear the design department won't ever see their families again if we can't quickly produce and edit sophisticated and stylish charts linked to live data.

I would be fine with a separate Adobe app to create rich charts/graphs to export IF there was a way to richly style them in the app or if styling changes in the other programs would stick on graphics updated in the separate app. Basically, keep it in Illustrator so I don't have to change the colors by hand every time the client changes a number OR let me change the number in the separate app and let it populate to wherever the graph was imported.

In another forum, I just found out there had been a much richer chart tool back in Illustrator CC 2015, and I watched a demo video. Oh, lordie, that tool would calm my anxiety if it had been left in.

My vote would be to have all of this in a separate app.