Guide · 8 minutes
A Sankey diagram for PowerPoint.
The slide is where the diagram has to survive: projected, beside the rest of the pack, in front of people who read numbers.
Below is the statement, the flow lines it becomes, and the drawn diagram at deck size. No add-in, and nothing to install.
The slide we start from
One quarter, in thousands, in the order the pack prints it.
| Recurring revenue | $1,840k |
|---|---|
| Services | $420k |
| Add-ons | $160k |
| Total revenue | $2,420k |
| less Cost of revenue | $610k |
| Gross profit | $1,810k |
| less Sales & marketing | $720k |
| less R&D | $540k |
| less General & admin | $300k |
| Operating profit | $250k |
The five steps
- 1
Draw the one diagram the slide needs
A slide with money on it usually shows the period from revenue to operating profit. That is the worked example here, drawn from the statement below.
Cash flow works as the second diagram, headcount as the third. One per slide keeps them read.
- 2
Write one line per movement of money
Each line names where money came from, how much, and where it went. One line draws one ribbon. There is no other syntax to learn.
Amounts keep the notation you type. $1,840k stays $1,840k on the diagram and in the exported file.
The statement above, as flow lines
- Recurring revenue [$1,840k] Revenue
- Services [$420k] Revenue
- Add-ons [$160k] Revenue
- Revenue [$1,810k] Gross profit
- Revenue [$610k] Cost of revenue
- Gross profit [$720k] Sales & marketing
- Gross profit [$540k] R&D
- Gross profit [$300k] General & admin
- Gross profit [$250k] Operating profit
- 3
Export at slide size, as a clean PNG
A 16:9 slide is 1600 by 900. That is the deck export size here, so the file drops onto the slide without resizing.
Labels stay sharp when projected. A screenshot of a browser window does not: its text goes soft the moment the projector scales it.
- 4
Place it on the slide like any picture
Insert the PNG, size it once, and it sits beside the rest of the pack. SVG also works if the deck needs a file that scales.
The diagram is not editable inside PowerPoint. It does not need to be: edit where it was drawn, export again, replace the picture.
- 5
Next quarter, paste and re-run
Save the diagram, and next quarter paste the new numbers into the same one. Re-run it, export the fresh PNG, and replace the picture.
Node order, colours, labels and export size stay exactly where they were. The quarter you replaced is kept as a dated snapshot.
What those lines draw
Nothing was retyped for this picture. It is the 9 lines above, drawn.
The diagram scrolls sideways →
It opens on the diagram above, with these numbers in the panel beside it. Select all, paste yours over them.
Where it goes wrong
Screenshotting the browser
A screenshot carries whatever size the window was, and its text goes soft on a projector. Export at slide size instead: 1600 by 900, drawn for the slide.
Rebuilding the diagram every quarter
The slide is not the place the diagram lives. Save it, and each quarter is one paste, one re-run and one new export, with the old version kept as a snapshot.
Hunting for an add-in
Add-ins exist and most charge per user per month. The diagram is one picture on one slide. Draw it where flows are drawn and place the file.
Too many lines for one slide
12 ribbons are too thin to label at slide size. Keep the 5 or 6 movements your reader recognises and group the rest into one node called other.
Questions
- Can PowerPoint make a Sankey diagram?
- Not natively. There is no Sankey option in its chart menu, so the routes are an add-in, shapes, or an image drawn elsewhere. Drawing it at slide size and placing the PNG is the fastest of the three.
- What size should the export be?
- A 16:9 slide is 1600 by 900. That is the deck export size here, so the file lands on the slide without resizing. SVG works too if the deck needs to scale.
- Will the labels be readable when projected?
- If the export was drawn at slide size, yes. That is what the deck size is for. A screenshot of a browser window is not.
- Can I edit the diagram inside PowerPoint?
- No, and it does not need editing there. Change the numbers where the diagram was drawn, export again, and replace the picture on the slide.
- Next quarter the numbers change. Do I redraw?
- No. Save the diagram, paste the new numbers into the same one and re-run it. The look and node order stay put, and the old quarter is kept as a snapshot.
- What does it cost?
- Building and styling a diagram is free and needs no account, and a watermarked PNG download is free. A Pass is $12 for a week, $39 for a quarter or $99 for a year, paid once.
Other starting points
Passes are paid once: $12 for a week, $39 for a quarter, $99 for a year. A Pass buys saving, re-running, saved themes and clean PNG or SVG export.