Create Visually Appealing Infographics With Tableau

Olivier Roth
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Published in
3 min readMar 26, 2020

Tableau is a software company that makes a variety of tools for visual analytics -helping people understand their data with the aid of visual representations. Tableau has recently acquired the infographics company Infoactive. For several years, Infoactive provided a convenient platform that made it easy for people to create their own visuals for a variety of purposes. Now that Tableau has acquired this company, users will have access to a whole range of analytics tools. Current Infoactive users can still access infographics they’ve made, but new users will not be able to use the existing platform. Instead, they should work with the new interface that Tableau has created.

The Importance of Using Images to Display Data

Images now play an ever larger role on the internet. Many people find it easier to absorb information that is displayed visually. Infographics can be especially useful for conveying complex data, such as statistics and charts. These are graphics that pair important data with visually appealing images, making the information more accessible and eye-catching.

The challenge faced by many small businesses is how to make good use of images on a limited budget. Creating quality infographics takes a certain amount of skill. If you outsource this and pay someone each time you need a new image, this can get costly. Tableau provides a platform that allows anyone to create these images for use on websites or social media pages. People can combine this with other applications offered by Tableau to understand the analytics of their site.

Creating Infograms With Tableau

While Tableau makes software that must be purchased, the company offers its basic services for free under the banner of Tableau Public. Through this, you can create your own images as well as access many data visualization tools. Tableau calls its infographics tool Infogram and it’s simple and free to use.

You begin by choosing a template. is the start of any image you want to make. Below are a few of the templates that are available. Some are free to use, while others are only available to people who upgrade to Pro accounts.

Making Best Use of Tableau

While Tableau provides some efficient tools for creating compelling infographics and other images, you can get even more out of the service if you also use some of their other tools. Many of these are available with a free account. When you join Tableau, you can watch a series of how-to videos that explain the best ways to use the company’s tools to gather and understand your data. When you create an infographic, chart or map, you want it to be as accurate and informative as possible. The information provided by Tableau’s tools is useful to use within your own business and also to share with your customers and visitors.

The original platform created by Infoactive was useful if you had to create an infographic. Now that Tableau has acquired this service, you have access to a much broader range of tools. This makes it easier for businesses to successfully use images and data in ways that help them grow.

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