(Notes: All opinions are my own. I am not affiliated with Canva in any way)

(注意：所有观点均为我自己。我与Canva毫无关系)

Canva is a very popular design platform that I thought I would never use to create the deliverable for a Data Visualization project. I usually work in Tableau, which is more flexible, complete, and a surefire 360 degree visualization software, with all the perks of mostly being a drag-and-drop solution.

Canva是一个非常流行的设计平台，我以为我永远都不会用它来为数据可视化项目创建可交付成果。 我通常在Tableau工作，这是一种更加灵活，完善和具有surefire 360​​度可视化软件的软件，所有优点通常都是拖放式解决方案。

Why would you then ever use Canva instead of something like Tableau? Can Canva even be considered “data visualization software”?

那么，为什么还要使用Canva而不是Tableau之类的东西呢？ Canva甚至可以被视为“数据可视化软件”吗？

A recent project, which ended with the deliverable of a Canva infographic which received great feedback from the client, made me reconsider the above question, and got me to think about the advantages of Canva as an alternative medium through which to convey a visual data story.

最近的一个项目以可得到客户好评的Canva图表的交付结果为结尾，使我重新考虑了上述问题，并让我思考了Canva作为传递可视数据故事的替代媒体的优势。 。

In this brief article, I highlight the 4 main benefits of the tool and speak about the occasions in which you might want to choose Canva over different data visualization software.

在这篇简短的文章中，我重点介绍了该工具的4个主要优点，并说明了您可能希望在不同的数据可视化软件上选择Canva的场合。

需要零准备工作的轻巧解决方案 (Light solution that requires zero prep-work)

There are some occasion in which “less is more”, and that counts also for data visualization projects. Canva has the main advantage of requiring zero overhead and saves precious setup time either you or the client have to dedicate to share and interact with your viz in a meaningful way.

在某些情况下，“少即是多” ，这对于数据可视化项目也很重要。 Canva的主要优点是零开销，并节省了宝贵的设置时间，您或客户必须专门以有意义的方式共享和与您的Viz进行交互。

You only focus on the design and the presentation of your insights in a simple, cohesive and neat format.

您仅以简单，一致且简洁的格式专注于设计和见解的呈现。

No time is thus dedicated to sharing dashboards on dedicated Tableau Online pages, handling occasional version compatibility issues, administering user privileges and keeping track of frequent changes across the above. And after the project’s deadline has passed, maintainability is not even an issue.

因此，没有时间专门用于在专用的Tableau Online页面上共享仪表板，处理偶发的版本兼容性问题，管理用户权限以及跟踪以上各项的频繁更改。 在项目的最后期限过去之后，可维护性甚至不是问题。

With Canva, especially if you are on a tight deadline and your project requires a quick turnaround, you can just focus on the output.

使用Canva时，尤其是当您的工期紧迫且您的项目需要快速周转时， 您只需专注于输出即可 。

易于报告整合 (Easy report integration)

The tool is also ideal if your client does not want to access and share your visualization as a standalone product but also has the goal of integrating it into presentations and PDF reports.

如果您的客户不想作为独立产品访问和共享您的可视化文件，但又希望将其集成到演示文稿和PDF报告中，则该工具也是理想的选择。

If what you need is a static view of your data story and you do not want to spend time translating the interactivity of your Tableau/Dash/D3/PowerBI /etc.. dashboard into several screenshot-like views, you can just lift Canva to deliver a single infographic piece of data visualization which contains the end-to-end view of your data story.

如果您需要的是数据故事的静态视图，并且您不想花时间将Tableau / Dash / D3 / PowerBI / etc ..仪表板的交互性转换为几个类似屏幕快照的视图，则只需将Canva提提供单个图表的数据可视化，其中包含数据故事的端到端视图。

This is a great advantage in settings in which the client/end user needs to make a static use of your data visualization, as they might be in need to submit it to a third-party which requires a standard document reporting format.

这在客户端/最终用户需要静态使用您的数据可视化的设置中具有很大的优势 ，因为他们可能需要将其提交给需要标准文档报告格式的第三方。

Dynamic and rich dashboards are great most of the time, but sometimes clients want the full story in one go, in one static page. Canva allows you to do just that.

在大多数情况下，动态且功能丰富的仪表板非常有用，但有时客户希望在一个静态页面中一次性获得完整的故事。 Canva可以让您做到这一点。

迫使您专注于数据故事的绝对必要条件 (Forces you to focus on the absolute essential of your data story)

With Canva, there is no fiddling around. The infographic format and its “fixed” nature force the creator to prioritize key messages to be conveyed into powerful visualizations for which there is no shortage of data charts and graph options.

使用Canva，就不会摆弄任何东西。 信息图表格式及其“固定”性质迫使创建者确定要传送到功能强大的可视化文件中的关键消息的优先级，而这些可视化文件并不缺少数据图表和图形选项。

And if you are ever in need of something slightly more complex, you can always code it up in the backend and upload it into the tool.

而且，如果您需要稍微复杂一点的东西，可以随时在后端进行编码并将其上传到工具中。

I found this to be very beneficial as sometimes fancier charts take away readability and interpretability, even though at first glance they may seem beautiful to the eye

我发现这非常有益，因为有时看似漂亮的图表会失去可读性和可解释性，即使乍一看它们看起来似乎很漂亮

Overall, being able to focus on the bare minimum by using a tool which gives you fewer options is a great plus for data projects in which the the takeaways from a particular visualization needs to be crystal clear.

总体而言，通过使用一种工具，它可以为您提供更少的选择，从而将精力集中在最低限度上，这对于数据项目来说是一个很大的优势，在这种情况下，必须将特定可视化的内容清晰地​​体现出来。

成本 (Cost)

Oh, and did I mention the tool is absolutely free? You can always sign up for a Pro Version, but you can definitely manage to deliver a powerful infographic for your project without ever subscribing to the Paid version.

哦，我提到该工具是完全免费的吗？ 您可以始终注册Pro版本，但是您绝对可以在不订阅付费版本的情况下为项目提供功能强大的信息图。

Tip: If you are short on time, consider signing up to the Pro Version with a 1-month free trial, deliver on your project, and then unsubscribe before its deadline.

提示 ： 如果时间紧迫，请考虑使用1个月的免费试用版注册Pro版本，交付您的项目，然后在截止日期之前退订。

综上所述 (In Summary)

Although Canva does not compete, and does not even aim to compete with more structured and flexible business intelligence and data visualization software tools, it can be a great alternative solution for the data visualization designer who:

尽管Canva不参与竞争，甚至不打算与更加结构化和灵活的商业智能和数据可视化软件工具竞争，但对于以下人员而言，它可能是一个出色的替代解决方案：

1. Wants to focus merely on output and get rid of software overhead

   只想专注于输出并摆脱软件开销

2. Needs a static and easy-to-integrate format

   需要静态且易于集成的格式

3. Needs to convey few key messages in a visually powerful way

   需要以视觉上强大的方式传达一些关键信息

4. Is on a tight software license (and time) budget

   软件许可(和时间)预算紧张

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