# Choosing the right visualization Visualizations let you present data so that your applications users can interpret and explore it. For example, a bar chart that compares sales numbers for different regions, or a table with precise values for the same data. Good visualizations help you quickly and accurately interpret displayed data. Visualizations are easy to add and customize. They can take the form of charts, such as bar charts, pie charts, tables, gauges, or treemaps. Each chart type has unique functionality. Qlik Cloud Analytics automatically highlights items associated with your selections so you can drill-down and filter. ## Select visualization types that align with your purpose Each visualization type has a specific goal. You need to think about the purpose of your visualization, and pick a visualization type that lets you explore your data for that purpose effectively. For example: You want to show how a measure, quarterly sales, behaves over time. You should create a line chart, because one of its strengths is displaying how measure values change over time. Alternatively, you can start with the type of analysis you want to make. From the available analyses, you could select trend over time as your analysis type, which builds a line chart for you. For more information, see: * [Best practices for choosing visualization types](https://help.qlik.com/en-US/cloud-services/Subsystems/Hub/Content/Sense_Hub/Visualizations/when-to-use-visualizations.htm) * [Creating and editing visualizations](https://help.qlik.com/en-US/cloud-services/Subsystems/Hub/Content/Sense_Hub/Visualizations/create-visualizations-overview.htm#Best%20practices%20for%20designing%20visualizations) * [Creating and editing analyses](https://help.qlik.com/en-US/cloud-services/Subsystems/Hub/Content/Sense_Hub/Analyses/creating-analyses.htm) ## Which visualizations are available? The following types of visualizations are available from Charts in the assets panel: * Charts that visualize the data with elements like bars, lines, or points, or present them textually. * Dashboard objects that help with navigation through the available analytics. They can also automate the performance of certain actions. * Legacy visualizations that are still supported, but may have newer version available or do not have the same level of support for features such as embedding. There are also analyses available from Analyses in the assets panel. Analyses allow you to select the kind of analysis you want to visualize with your data and let the analytics application create the chart for you. The best choice of chart or analysis type depends on the purpose of the visualization. For more information, see [Best practices for choosing visualization types](https://help.qlik.com/en-US/cloud-services/Subsystems/Hub/Content/Sense_Hub/Visualizations/when-to-use-visualizations.htm). If the predefined visualizations does not fill your purpose, you can use a visualization extension. You find them in the assets panel under the Custom objects icon . ### Available built-in visualizations The built-in visualizations are those that are included regardless of your Qlik Cloud subscription. Built-in visualizations are fully supported. These are the built-in visualizations. #### Visualizations * the Bar chart icon : Visualize differences in measures over one or more dimensions, arranged as a series of bars with varying height. Can be displayed in vertical or horizontal format, and with grouped, stacked, or butterfly presentation. * the Box plot icon : The box plot is suitable for comparing range and distribution for groups of numerical data, illustrated by a box with whiskers, and a center line in the middle. * the Bullet chart icon : Bullet charts can be used to visualize and compare performance of a measure to a target value and to a qualitative scale, such as poor, average, and good. * the Combo chart icon : The combo chart combines bars and lines in the same chart. The bars and lines have different axes to enable comparing percentages and sums. Available as horizontal or vertical combo chart. * the Distribution plot icon : The distribution plot is suitable for comparing range and distribution for groups of numerical data. Data is plotted as value points along an axis. * the Filter pane icon: The filter pane allows you to control what data that is shown in the visualizations on a sheet. A filter pane can filter the data of several dimensions at once. * the Funnel chart icon : A funnel chart is a visual representation of the connected stages of a linear process. * the Gauge icon : The gauge is used to display the value of a single measure, lacking dimensions. * the Grid chart icon : A chart that displays comparative data and with the values represented as colors. * the Histogram icon : The histogram is suitable for visualizing distribution of numerical data over a continuous interval, or a certain time period. The data is divided into bins. * the KPI icon : The KPI is used to present central performance figures. You can add a link to a sheet. * the Line chart icon : The line chart displays data lines between values. Line charts are often used to visualize a trend in data over intervals of time. Can also be presented as an Area line chart. * the Map icon : The map is used to combine geospatial data and measure values, such as the sales for a region or a store. * the Mekko chart icon : The mekko chart compares a group while comparing category items contained within these groups. * the Org chart icon : Creates an organization chart with a tree structure. * the Pie chart icon : The pie and donut charts show the relation between a single dimension and a single measure. Can also be presented as a Donut chart. * the Pivot icon: Pivot presents dimensions and measures as rows and columns of a pivot table. The pivot table allows you to analyze data in multiple dimensions at a time. The data in a pivot table may be grouped based on a combination of the dimensions, and partial sums can be shown. Pivot has styling options not available to Pivot table. * the Pivot table icon : The pivot table presents dimensions and measures as rows and columns of a table. The pivot table allows you to analyze data in multiple dimensions at a time. The data in a pivot table may be grouped based on a combination of the dimensions, and partial sums can be shown. * the Sankey chart icon Sankey chart: A flow chart diagram chart visually emphasizing major transfers or flows within defined system boundaries. * the Scatter plot icon : The scatter plot presents values from two measures. This is useful when you want to show data where each instance has two numbers, for example, country (population and population growth). An optional third measure can be used and is then reflected in the size of the bubbles. When showing large data sets colors will be used instead of bubble size to represent the measure size. * the Straight table icon : The straight table allows you to present tabular data for detailed analysis. You can apply pagination to simplify consumption of large data volumes. You can also allow users to add and remove columns temporarily during analysis, using an enhanced chart exploration experience. * the Treemap icon : The treemap shows hierarchical data. A treemap can show a large number of values simultaneously within a limited space. * the Waterfall chart icon : The waterfall chart illustrates how an initial value is affected by intermediate positive and negative values. * the Write table icon : Use the write table to allow users to make changes in editable columns during data analysis. #### Dashboard objects * the Animator icon : You can animate changes in your visualizations over a period of time. * the Button icon : You can use buttons to add quick links for easy selection and navigation in your application. * the Date picker icon : You can select a single date or a range of dates from a calendar. * the Image icon: Insert images directly onto the sheet. * the Layout container icon : Add and arrange visualizations in a container. * the Line icon : Add vertical and horizontal lines to a sheet. * the Navigation menu icon : The navigation menu adds a sheet navigation options into your sheet. * the NL insights icon : The NL insights visualization displays natural language insights about data in the form of a chart. * the Slider icon : Allow users to change the value of fields and variables during analysis. * the Tab container icon : You can add visualizations in a limited space and show or hide the visualizations inside the container based on conditions. * the Text icon: You can use the text visualization to add text and links to webpages. * the Trellis container icon : Creates a trellis chart based on a master visualization. * the Variable input icon : You can set the value of a variable. * the Video player icon : You can add a video to your sheet. #### Legacy objects * the Funnel chart icon : A funnel chart is a visual representation of the connected stages of a linear process. * the Network chart icon : Creates a cluster diagram representing a graphical chart of a computer network. * the P&L pivot icon : Creates a pivot table that you can style, for example for profit and loss reporting. * the Radar chart icon : Creates a two-dimensional chart using radial axes to show the scoring of a measure in one dimension or another. * the Table icon: The table displays values in record form, so that each row of the table contains fields calculated using measures. Typically, a table includes one dimension and multiple measures. The Straight table has replaced the Table as the default table visualization. * the Text & image icon : You can use the text & image visualization to add text, images, measures and links to a webpage. * the Variance Waterfall icon : Shows the variance between two measures over the different values of a dimension. * the Word cloud icon : A cloud chart of words with their size based on measure value. ### Available analyses * the Anomaly (spike) icon : Detect and show large data variations including spikes and dips in a time series. * the Anomaly (trend) icon : Detect and show abrupt data variations including change points between time series segments. * the Breakdown icon : Show multiple dimensions in order of contribution. * the Breakdown (geospatial) icon : Show geographical contributions to a measure. * the Calculated measure (KPI) icon : Show a calculated measure. * the Clustering (k-means) icon : Show clusters of measures associated with a dimension using a statistical algorithm. * the Comparison icon : Show multiple measures for a dimension. * the Correlation icon : Show the strength of the relationship between two fields. * the Mutual information icon : Detect and show dependencies between the source and driver fields. * the Overview icon : Show the distribution of measures for one or more dimensions. * the Process control (mean) icon : Show measures over a time period compared with the overall mean of expected values. * the Process control (rolling mean) icon : Show the performance of a measure over time between two calculated control limits. * the Ranking icon : Show dimensions in the order of their contribution to a measure. * the Ranking (grouped) icon : Show hierarchical dimensions in order of their contribution to a measure. * the Relative importance icon : Show the relative importance of dimensions contributing to a total. * the Time series decomposition icon : Decompose a time series into trend, seasonal, and residual components. * the Trend over time icon : Show the performance of a measure over time, optionally broken down by a dimension. * the Trend with forecast icon : Show measures along with forecast over the current and future time periods. * the Year to date icon : Show a comparison of dimensions for the same period in previous years. Related learning: * [Getting started with Qlik Sense](https://help.qlik.com/lnk/Getting_started_QS) * [Foundations of Building Visualizations](https://help.qlik.com/lnk/Foundations_building_visualizations_QS) * [How do I create visualizations?](https://help.qlik.com/lnk/How_do_I_create_visualizations) * [How do I use the chart suggestions toggle?](https://help.qlik.com/lnk/How_use_chart_suggestions) ## Learn more * [Getting started with Qlik Sense](https://help.qlik.com/lnk/Getting_started_QS) * [Foundations of Building Visualizations](https://help.qlik.com/lnk/Foundations_building_visualizations_QS) * [How do I create visualizations?](https://help.qlik.com/lnk/How_do_I_create_visualizations) * [How do I use the chart suggestions toggle?](https://help.qlik.com/lnk/How_use_chart_suggestions)