Learn How to Create Charts in InDesign Using Chartwell Font

Angelo Montilla
8 hours ago
3 min read

Creating simple charts and graphs can be a time-consuming task and may require using other applications, such as Adobe Illustrator or third-party platforms.

In this Adobe InDesign tutorial tutorial, learn how to create simple charts and graphs using a font – yes a font! We'll create pie charts and line graphs using Chartwell and apply them to an annual report layout.

Chartwell is an award-winning OpenType font that turns simple text strings into clean, stylized charts without using any design software tools or additional plug-ins.

Before jumping into this tutorial, click the link below to access the exercise files and download a few versions of the Chartwell font.

For a full and complete version of the Chartwell font, you can access it on the Vectro Type website.

First, open the InDesign document saved as Chartwell Charts. This is the document we'll use to build the charts and graphs using the numeric formulas and apply the brand colors.

Click the text frame at the top of the page, which has the first formula, which is 20+20+60. We're going to convert this formula into our first pie chart using the Chartwell font.

Creating Pie Graph

Select the font and in the font picker, type Chartwell and then choose Chartwell Pies.
Set the point size to 54 pt.
Open the Swatches panel, where you'll see a group called Chart Colors.
Select the first 20 and proceeding plus symbol and make it the lightest blue.
Select the next 20 and the proceeding plus symbol and make it the medium blue.
Select the 60 and make it a darker blue.
Hover over the bottom right of the text frame and click the OpenType logo.
Click the Discretionary Ligatures option and watch the formula text switch to the pie chart graphic.

Here is a visual look at the steps as explained above.

The beauty of using the Chartwell font is that the text is always live. You can check and uncheck the Discretionary Ligatures option to toggle between the chart and the text formula.

While it's perfectly fine to use the version of the pie chart with the live text, it's important to note that when increasing the of the chart, the text will also increase – making it a challenge to update the formula content if need be.

Instead, in this example let's create a copy of the chart, convert it to outlines and then resize it freely.

With the Selection Tool, hold Option (Mac) or Alt (Windows) and drag another copy of the text frame.

With the copied version selected, go to Type > Create Outlines. As a shortcut, you can also hold Shift + Command + O (Mac) or Shift + Ctrl + O (Windows).

This method allows you to copy the converted chart to another layout – which we'll do later in the tutorial – while maintaining the original live text with the formula.

Repeat the same step for the second pie chart as example 1.

Now that the first two pie charts are complete, let's focus on the third text frame in the document.

Creating Line Graph

Select the formula text inside and in the font picker, choose Chartwell Lines Vertical. Set the font size to 54 pt. There should be 9 figures in the formula which represent nine bars in the line chart.
Again, use the same method by selecting the first number followed by the plus symbol and choose the brightest blue in the swatch group. Select the second number followed by the plus symbol and choose the darkest blue in the swatch group. Alternate between both colors to complete the setup.

Here is how the third and final chart in the project will look like based on the steps explained above.

Now that we have all three charts ready to go, let's copy them to the layout for a fictional annual report for a company called Zoltex.

Open the second InDesign document, saved as Annual Report. You'll see there is extra space on the second page, on the right side, where we'll bring over the charts and graph.

Copy them over one by one and resize them accordingly.

Here is a closer look at the layout, before and after the charts are added.