Opening the chart picker
- Go to the presentaid ribbon and click Insert Chart in the Charts group.
- The chart picker opens at your mouse pointer, with one row per chart family and a small preview of every variant.
- Hover a tile to see its name; click it to choose that chart type.
The picker is not a modal dialog. Clicking anywhere outside it - the slide, the ribbon, the slide strip - simply closes it again. So does pressing Esc.
Three ways to place the chart
Once you have picked a type, presentaid offers the same placement flow you know from drawing a shape:
- Click once on the slide - the chart is inserted at a sensible default size and centred horizontally and vertically on the slide.
- Drag a rectangle on the slide - the chart is created exactly in the area you drew.
- Select a shape first, then insert - the chart replaces that shape and takes over its exact position and size. This is the fastest way to fill a placeholder in a template.
The embedded data sheet opens automatically so you can type your numbers straight away.
PowerPoint refuses to insert a new chart while another chart's data grid is still open. If that happens, presentaid shows you PowerPoint's own message - close the open grid and insert again.
Editing the data later
Select the chart and click Edit Data in the action bar. This opens exactly the same embedded data grid PowerPoint itself uses, scrolled to cell A1.
For the constructed chart types (waterfall, Mekko, butterfly) the sheet contains a small block of hidden helper columns that hold live Excel formulas. You never need to touch them - they are protected, and they recalculate on their own as you edit the visible input columns.