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Turn a dashboard into a doc, PDF report or slide deck

A dashboard can also be written up as a Doc (a narrative read top to bottom) or presented as Slides (one idea per slide). Both read the same data as the dashboard: charts stay live and numbers stay locked to your data, while the words are written for the format. Switch format in the editor under Design → Format, then save it; anyone who can edit the dashboard can do this.

For how to switch and save a format, see Switch a dashboard to slides, a doc or Q&A. You can also pick Doc or Slides when you create a dashboard.

Choose a doc type: Investigation, Trend or Recap

Switch the format to Doc. Under Design → Format, Page structure sets the doc type:

OptionWhat it does
Investigation (default)Starts from a surprising finding and works toward an explanation.
TrendFollows a metric over time and what moved it.
RecapA summary of what changed this period.

Set the doc's shape, length and PDF paper size

These settings are also under Design → Format:

SettingOptions
ShapePage (default): a written narrative, read top to bottom. Poster: a single tall, banded canvas with big stats, like an infographic, built to share.
LengthBrief: a compact digest of what matters now. Standard (default): a focused article. Full: a long-form, multi-section document.
SurfaceWeb (default): a scrolling page. PDF: the same layout on paper pages, built to print.
Paper sizeShown for PDF only. A4 (210 × 297 mm) or US Letter (8.5 × 11 in). The default follows your browser's region: US Letter in the US, Canada and Mexico, A4 elsewhere.
Section navShown for Web only. On (default) shows a left rail linking to each section, so readers can jump around a long document. Off hides it.

Choosing Poster sets the surface to Web and hides Length, Surface and Paper size.

For example, to print a board report on A4, set Shape to Page, Surface to PDF and Paper size to A4.

Edit the text of a doc

Open the Content panel in any of these ways:

  • Click Edit doc at the top of the page on the canvas.
  • Click an empty part of the page, or click a section.

To change words in place, double-click the summary, a finding or a takeaway on the page. Numbers stay locked to your data.

Reorder, remove and restore doc sections

The Sections list in the panel shows every section.

  • Use the up and down arrows on a section's row to move it.
  • Use its remove button to take it out.
  • A removed section shows as a chip, for example "+ Key drivers". Click it to bring the section back.

Rewrite a doc section from its brief

Select a section to open its card:

ControlWhat it does
Section titleThe section's heading.
Section briefWhat the section should say. The brief steers the rewrite.
Rewrite section to matchRewrites the section from the brief. Every number stays grounded in your data; charts may change to match.
Add linesAdd Text, Bullets, Chart or KPI strip (four KPI cards derived live from your data).
Swap / RemoveSwap a chart, or remove a line.

The rewrite shows as a Proposed rewrite ("Every number verified against your data"). Click Apply to keep it, Try again for another version, or Discard.

A section built as a derived table can't be rewritten line by line: its rows re-derive from the data.

Choose a slide deck type

Switch the format to Slides, then pick a Page structure under Design → Format:

OptionWhat it does
Executive review (default)A few slides, big takeaways.
Pitch deckA narrative arc: problem, data, ask.
Data walkthroughA slide per chart with talking points.
MotionA full-bleed chart that plays through time while grounded captions narrate. Needs a date. See Build a Motion story.

Edit slides, slide types and speaker notes

  1. Click a slide on the canvas (Edit slide shows on hover). The Content panel opens with the list of slides.
  2. Click a slide in the list to jump to it.
  3. Double-click text on the slide to edit it.
ControlWhat it does
Drag to reorder handle, up and down arrowsChange the slide order.
Delete buttonRemoves the slide. A Slide removed notice offers Undo.
Slide type chipsChange the slide's layout: Stat, Chart, Bullets, Split, Summary, Section, Callout, Compare or KPIs.
Chart dropdownPicks the chart the slide shows. Only on Chart and Split slides, when the deck has more than one chart.
Redraft with AIRewrites that slide's words, keeping the numbers grounded.
Speaker notesNotes for the presenter. They never show on the slide.
Add slideAdds a slide of any of the nine types.

Charts and numbers stay grounded in your data whatever you change.

Rewrite a whole doc or deck with Redo with AI

Redo with AI sits at the top of the Content panel for both docs and slides.

  1. Click Redo with AI.
  2. Optionally describe what to change, for example "lead with churn risk, make it punchier". Leave it empty to regenerate as is.
  3. Click Redo. You see "Writing your story…" while it runs.

What it rewrites depends on the format:

FormatWhat Redo with AI rewrites
DocThe prose.
Slides, with a slide selectedThat slide.
Slides, with no slide selectedThe whole deck. It may reorder, retype, add, delete or redraft slides.

Charts keep using your live data and numbers stay locked.

Build a Motion story that plays a chart through time

A Motion story is a deck where one chart plays through time, with captions that narrate what changes. It needs a date column: without one, the Motion card is disabled ("Needs a date field — this dataset doesn't have one.").

  1. Switch the format to Slides and pick Motion as the page structure.
  2. Under Design → Format, use the Motion chart picker to pick a chart type. A type that doesn't fit your data shows why, for example "Needs a location column".
  3. Click the narration on the canvas to open the Motion story panel ("Narration that paces the playhead").

Motion story panel options

GroupControls
ChartBar, Bars, Ranking, Line race, Bubble, Scatter, Map, Globe, Treemap, Surface. Unavailable types say what they need (a date, category, location or number column, or two category columns).
DataMeasure (or X axis, Y axis and Size for bubble and scatter), Breakdown and 2nd breakdown.
TimelineDate column, Granularity, Each frame shows (Auto, Running total: everything up to that date, Each period, or Rolling: the last three periods together), and Plays From / To or Full range. It shows how many frames the story has.
StorytellingFollow (one entity, or "Nobody — show everyone"), Start speed (0.5×, 1×, 2×, 4×), Pause on key moments, Same time last year (needs at least a year of data), Camera, Show trails and Show legend (bubble and scatter only), 3D depth, a size control (Small, Medium, Large), and Date label (Automatic, Centre watermark, With narration, Hidden).
EventsAdd event with an Event date and a short Event text (up to 80 characters), for example "Price change". Delete event removes it. An event outside the story's dates won't show.
NarrationBeats. Each beat covers a stretch of time (from and to) and has a caption: what the viewer should watch. Use Add beat, Move beat up, Move beat down and Delete beat.

The value chips in captions are locked to your data: edit the words, not the numbers.

To share a published Motion story as a video, use Share as video. See Publish and share a dashboard.

Add a cover to a doc or deck

In the Doc and Slides formats the cover is part of the document rather than a page. Click it to edit it. See Title band and cover page.

Limits

  • Paper size is for the PDF surface only; Section nav is for Web only.
  • Poster docs are Web only and have no Length setting.
  • Motion stories need a date column. Same time last year needs at least a year of data.
  • Motion events: up to 80 characters of text.
  • A derived-table section can't be rewritten line by line.
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