Overview
Beyond standard columns, lines, and pies, the pptx.dev API supports specialty chart types for advanced data visualization. These charts help you communicate complex data patterns that basic charts cannot express.
Specialty Chart Types
| OPF type | Use case |
|---|---|
waterfall |
Financial bridges: a starting value and positive or negative changes |
funnel |
Pipeline stages and conversion funnels |
treemap |
Hierarchical data and category proportions |
histogram |
Frequency distributions |
box-and-whisker |
Statistical spread and outliers |
scatter |
Correlation between two variables |
radar, radar-with-markers, filled-radar |
Comparisons across several dimensions |
pareto |
Category contributions with cumulative totals |
Use the chart catalog to inspect the required data. A sparkline, dumbbell or bullet arrangement is a visual composition rather than a separate OPF chart type.
Waterfall Chart
Perfect for showing how a starting value is affected by positive and negative changes:
{
"$schema": "https://openpresentation.org/schema/opf/v1",
"name": "Revenue Bridge — Q1 to Q2",
"slides": [
{
"layout": "chart",
"title": "Revenue Bridge — Q1 to Q2",
"chart": {
"type": "waterfall",
"data": {
"columns": [
"Series",
"Q1 Revenue",
"New Sales",
"Upsells",
"Churn",
"Downgrades",
"Q2 Revenue"
],
"rows": [
[
"Revenue ($K)",
400,
120,
45,
-30,
-15,
520
]
]
}
},
"design": {
"titleAlignment": "center",
"contentAlignment": "center"
}
}
],
"catalogs": {
"default": {
"source": "https://www.pptx.gallery",
"layouts": {
"chart": {
"name": "Chart",
"summary": "One to six charts, with an optional note.",
"tags": [
"Visuals"
],
"direction": "column",
"regions": [
{
"name": "title"
},
{
"name": "charts",
"accepts": [
"chart",
"group"
],
"role": "primary",
"flow": "grid"
},
{
"name": "note",
"size": "auto",
"accepts": [
"text"
],
"role": "supporting",
"flow": "none"
}
],
"description": "Give a chart enough space to show its evidence. Use the title to state the conclusion and labels to explain the measures.",
"preview": {
"vectorSrc": "https://www.pptx.gallery/layout-previews/chart.svg"
}
}
}
}
}
}
Funnel Chart
Visualize conversion through stages:
{
"$schema": "https://openpresentation.org/schema/opf/v1",
"name": "Sales Funnel — March 2026",
"slides": [
{
"layout": "chart",
"title": "Sales Funnel — March 2026",
"chart": {
"type": "funnel",
"data": {
"columns": [
"Series",
"Leads",
"Qualified",
"Demo",
"Proposal",
"Closed Won"
],
"rows": [
[
"Count",
1200,
480,
180,
72,
28
]
]
}
},
"design": {
"titleAlignment": "center",
"contentAlignment": "center"
}
}
],
"catalogs": {
"default": {
"source": "https://www.pptx.gallery",
"layouts": {
"chart": {
"name": "Chart",
"summary": "One to six charts, with an optional note.",
"tags": [
"Visuals"
],
"direction": "column",
"regions": [
{
"name": "title"
},
{
"name": "charts",
"accepts": [
"chart",
"group"
],
"role": "primary",
"flow": "grid"
},
{
"name": "note",
"size": "auto",
"accepts": [
"text"
],
"role": "supporting",
"flow": "none"
}
],
"description": "Give a chart enough space to show its evidence. Use the title to state the conclusion and labels to explain the measures.",
"preview": {
"vectorSrc": "https://www.pptx.gallery/layout-previews/chart.svg"
}
}
}
}
}
}
Treemap Chart
Show hierarchical data as nested rectangles:
{
"$schema": "https://openpresentation.org/schema/opf/v1",
"name": "Revenue by Product Category",
"slides": [
{
"layout": "chart",
"title": "Revenue by Product Category",
"chart": {
"type": "treemap",
"data": {
"columns": [
"Series",
"Enterprise SaaS",
"Mid-Market",
"SMB",
"Consulting",
"Training"
],
"rows": [
[
"Revenue ($K)",
320,
180,
95,
45,
20
]
]
}
},
"design": {
"titleAlignment": "center",
"contentAlignment": "center"
}
}
],
"catalogs": {
"default": {
"source": "https://www.pptx.gallery",
"layouts": {
"chart": {
"name": "Chart",
"summary": "One to six charts, with an optional note.",
"tags": [
"Visuals"
],
"direction": "column",
"regions": [
{
"name": "title"
},
{
"name": "charts",
"accepts": [
"chart",
"group"
],
"role": "primary",
"flow": "grid"
},
{
"name": "note",
"size": "auto",
"accepts": [
"text"
],
"role": "supporting",
"flow": "none"
}
],
"description": "Give a chart enough space to show its evidence. Use the title to state the conclusion and labels to explain the measures.",
"preview": {
"vectorSrc": "https://www.pptx.gallery/layout-previews/chart.svg"
}
}
}
}
}
}
Scatter Chart
Show correlation between two variables:
{
"$schema": "https://openpresentation.org/schema/opf/v1",
"name": "Deal Size vs. Sales Cycle Length",
"slides": [
{
"layout": "chart",
"title": "Deal Size vs. Sales Cycle Length",
"chart": {
"type": "scatter",
"data": {
"columns": [
"Series",
"Point 1",
"Point 2",
"Point 3",
"Point 4",
"Point 5"
],
"rows": [
[
"X",
15,
30,
45,
60,
90
],
[
"Y",
5000,
12000,
28000,
55000,
120000
]
]
}
},
"design": {
"titleAlignment": "center",
"contentAlignment": "center"
}
}
],
"catalogs": {
"default": {
"source": "https://www.pptx.gallery",
"layouts": {
"chart": {
"name": "Chart",
"summary": "One to six charts, with an optional note.",
"tags": [
"Visuals"
],
"direction": "column",
"regions": [
{
"name": "title"
},
{
"name": "charts",
"accepts": [
"chart",
"group"
],
"role": "primary",
"flow": "grid"
},
{
"name": "note",
"size": "auto",
"accepts": [
"text"
],
"role": "supporting",
"flow": "none"
}
],
"description": "Give a chart enough space to show its evidence. Use the title to state the conclusion and labels to explain the measures.",
"preview": {
"vectorSrc": "https://www.pptx.gallery/layout-previews/chart.svg"
}
}
}
}
}
}
Radar Chart
Compare multiple dimensions at once:
{
"$schema": "https://openpresentation.org/schema/opf/v1",
"name": "Product Feature Comparison",
"slides": [
{
"layout": "chart",
"title": "Product Feature Comparison",
"chart": {
"type": "radar-with-markers",
"data": {
"columns": [
"Series",
"Speed",
"Reliability",
"Features",
"Support",
"Price"
],
"rows": [
[
"Our Product",
9,
8,
7,
9,
6
],
[
"Competitor",
6,
7,
9,
5,
8
]
]
}
},
"design": {
"titleAlignment": "center",
"contentAlignment": "center"
}
}
],
"catalogs": {
"default": {
"source": "https://www.pptx.gallery",
"layouts": {
"chart": {
"name": "Chart",
"summary": "One to six charts, with an optional note.",
"tags": [
"Visuals"
],
"direction": "column",
"regions": [
{
"name": "title"
},
{
"name": "charts",
"accepts": [
"chart",
"group"
],
"role": "primary",
"flow": "grid"
},
{
"name": "note",
"size": "auto",
"accepts": [
"text"
],
"role": "supporting",
"flow": "none"
}
],
"description": "Give a chart enough space to show its evidence. Use the title to state the conclusion and labels to explain the measures.",
"preview": {
"vectorSrc": "https://www.pptx.gallery/layout-previews/chart.svg"
}
}
}
}
}
}
Map Charts
Visualize data geographically:
{
"$schema": "https://openpresentation.org/schema/opf/v1",
"name": "Revenue by Region",
"slides": [
{
"layout": "chart",
"title": "Revenue by Region",
"chart": {
"type": "world",
"data": {
"columns": [
"Series",
"California",
"Texas",
"New York",
"Florida",
"Illinois"
],
"rows": [
[
"Revenue ($K)",
450,
280,
320,
190,
150
]
]
}
},
"design": {
"titleAlignment": "center",
"contentAlignment": "center"
}
}
],
"catalogs": {
"default": {
"source": "https://www.pptx.gallery",
"layouts": {
"chart": {
"name": "Chart",
"summary": "One to six charts, with an optional note.",
"tags": [
"Visuals"
],
"direction": "column",
"regions": [
{
"name": "title"
},
{
"name": "charts",
"accepts": [
"chart",
"group"
],
"role": "primary",
"flow": "grid"
},
{
"name": "note",
"size": "auto",
"accepts": [
"text"
],
"role": "supporting",
"flow": "none"
}
],
"description": "Give a chart enough space to show its evidence. Use the title to state the conclusion and labels to explain the measures.",
"preview": {
"vectorSrc": "https://www.pptx.gallery/layout-previews/chart.svg"
}
}
}
}
}
}
Choosing the Right Specialty Chart
| Question | Chart type |
|---|---|
| "How did we get from X to Y?" | waterfall |
| "Where are we losing leads?" | funnel |
| "What is the biggest category?" | treemap |
| "Are these two things correlated?" | scatter |
| "How does our product compare?" | radar |
| "What is the distribution?" | histogram or box-and-whisker |
| "Where are our customers?" | Map charts |
Next Steps
- Start with column and bar charts for basic comparisons
- Learn about line charts for trends
- See all chart types