To make an infographic, define your audience and message, gather supporting information, choose a format, write concise copy, and sketch the layout. Build the design in a template, check its accuracy and readability, then export and share it. The ten steps below use a fictional apartment maintenance log as a worked example.

Each step produces something the next step needs: a brief becomes copy, the copy becomes a layout, and the layout becomes a graphic. The hands-on instructions use Canva, but the workflow works in other suitable design tools.

In This Article

• 1. Define Your Audience and Main Message
• 2. Gather and Label Your Data
• 3. Choose the Right Infographic Format
• 4. Turn Your Notes Into Short Copy
• 5. Sketch a Rough Wireframe
• 6. Open and Adapt a Template
• 7. Enter the Chart Data
• 8. Establish the Visual Hierarchy
• 9. Review the Complete Graphic
• 10. Export and Share the File
• Key Takeaways
• Frequently Asked Questions
• Build From One Clear Message

1. Define Your Audience and Main Message

Write a brief that names your reader and the question the graphic will answer. For this example: “Help an apartment maintenance coordinator see which repair category appears most often in a practice log.” That gives you a subject and a boundary. Repair techniques belong elsewhere; staff performance is a different question.

Before sketching, choose where the graphic will appear and how large readers will see it. Record the destination, intended display size, and canvas width and height in your brief. For this practice example, plan an image embedded in a web article, displayed at 600 pixels wide by 800 pixels high, on a canvas 1,200 pixels wide by 1,600 pixels high. These are example dimensions, not requirements for a particular website. Use those dimensions when choosing or setting up the canvas in your design tool.

The boundary matters when you choose the headline. “Maintenance Requests” names a topic but leaves the reader to discover the point. “Plumbing Is the Largest Category” makes a claim you can support with the log.

If you’re learning how to do an infographic for a class assignment, use the assignment’s audience and objective to write your brief. Then test each proposed detail against it: does this help that reader understand the request mix? A detail can be interesting and still fail the test.

2. Gather and Label Your Data

Use this fictional practice dataset in a small spreadsheet. Keep the counts and calculated shares in separate, clearly labeled columns:

Category	Number of Requests	Share of Requests
Plumbing	20	40%
Electrical	16	32%
Heating	14	28%
Total	50	100%

Calculate each share as count ÷ 50 × 100: plumbing is 20 ÷ 50 × 100 = 40%. Step 7 uses these calculated shares, not the raw counts.

For a real project, keep the original source title and publication date beside each figure. Record the period covered and any excluded records. A count of requests is not a count of completed jobs or individual apartments; treating those units as interchangeable changes what the graphic claims.

Keep interpretation in a separate column. “Plumbing has the largest count” follows from the data. “Plumbing needs more employees” requires evidence about job duration and workload. That second sentence might be the question your audience cares about most, but this dataset cannot answer it. Better to expose that gap in the notes than hide it behind a confident headline.

3. Choose the Right Infographic Format

The maintenance counts suit a statistical infographic built around a horizontal bar chart. Readers need to compare categories, so give them bars with a common starting point. An apartment illustration may establish the subject, but it cannot do the comparison for them.

A different question would change the structure. A building renovation’s milestones belong on a timeline. Instructions for submitting and resolving a repair request belong in a process infographic. Two service plans need a comparison layout that holds the criteria steady across both alternatives.

Choose that relationship before opening the template gallery. A timeline template can make unrelated categories look sequential simply by placing them along an arrow. If a template asks you to imply a relationship your evidence does not contain, reject it. The format has an editorial job before it has a decorative one.

4. Turn Your Notes Into Short Copy

Write the copy outside the design tool, where cutting a sentence does not also mean moving six objects. Begin with the raw note: “The practice maintenance log contains several different types of requests, and plumbing is the category that occurs most frequently among the categories included.”

The useful part is at the end. Move it forward: “Plumbing Is the Largest Category.” Then assign the remaining information a job:

• Headline: State the finding.
• Context line: Identify the practice maintenance log.
• Chart: Compare each category’s share of requests.
• Footer: Identify the data as illustrative.

This is how to create infographics without turning every source paragraph into a text box: decide what readers need to see first, then let the layout carry the sequence. Delete “the chart below shows”; the chart can introduce itself. Keep a limitation if removing it would change the claim. Short copy should take less time to read, not demand more guesswork.

5. Sketch a Rough Wireframe

Draw a rectangle on paper with the same proportions as the canvas dimensions in your brief. Reserve a shallow header for the headline and context line, a large central area for the chart, and a narrow footer for the source note. Use rough boxes, not finished lettering. You are deciding where attention goes.

Give the chart enough width for both the bars and their category labels. A sketch that accommodates the bars but squeezes “Electrical” into the margin has already revealed a layout problem. Widen the label area in your sketch so the text will fit at a readable size.

The sketch also tests whether the headline and evidence belong together. Cover the footer: can someone understand the finding and its basis? Uncover it: is there a clear place for the qualification? Keep that place even if the empty space makes you want to add an icon. Empty space can separate ideas without adding another thing to interpret.

6. Open and Adapt a Template

On Canva’s homepage, select Custom size, choose px under Units, enter 1200 for Width and 1600 for Height, then select Create new design. This sets the canvas size before you add content rather than relying on Magic Resize later. In the editor’s Design panel, find and apply an infographic template with a headline-and-chart structure close to your sketch. Ignore its topic. A plain template with the right arrangement is more useful here than an elaborate one whose sections fight your content.

Before adding data, strip the template. Delete unused panels and decorative illustrations. Remove stock statistics and any logos you do not own. Replace the sample headline and supporting paragraph with your prepared copy. A sample number left in a corner can look every bit as authoritative as your own evidence.

Now move or resize the surviving blocks to match the wireframe. Preserve useful alignment and spacing; abandon anything that exists only to fill a placeholder. Creating an infographic does not mean completing every box a template offers. If your argument needs one chart, the template’s extra panels are invitations to clutter, not requirements.

7. Enter the Chart Data

These instructions use Canva’s desktop editor. If the template lacks a suitable chart, open Apps → Charts or Elements → Charts and choose a horizontal bar (row) chart. Choose an unstacked chart to compare the three shares. A proportional chart makes each bar equal 100%.

Select the chart, click Edit, and replace the sample entries in the Data table. Enter the categories and the calculated shares from Step 2: Plumbing 40, Electrical 32, and Heating 28. Use one numerical column, labeled “Share of Requests.” Do not enter the counts in this column. Arrange the categories with Plumbing at the top and Heating at the bottom; check the displayed order.

Select the share column, open its More menu, and choose Format column. Set Data type to Number, add % as the suffix, and set decimals to zero. This formats the already-calculated shares; it does not convert counts into percentages. Confirm that the labels read 40%, 32%, and 28%.

Under Customize → Text, turn Data labels on, choose Outside, and turn Legend off. Under Customize → X Axis, set the minimum to 0 and maximum to 50. Title the axis “Share of Requests (%).” Keep category labels visible and bar thickness and spacing consistent.

8. Establish the Visual Hierarchy

Use one type family, with a bold headline and regular-weight supporting text. Align the headline’s left edge with the chart labels. Give the largest bar a dark blue fill and the others a neutral gray, while keeping every category’s text label visible. Color can direct attention without becoming the only way to understand the chart.

Use this copy in the graphic and as a text version alongside the exported image:

Plumbing Is the Largest Category Share of requests in a practice maintenance log

Plumbing — 40% Electrical — 32% Heating — 28%

Source: Illustrative data for design practice, not actual service records.

Those closely spaced shares are easier to compare as aligned bars than as pie wedges. Let the bars occupy the main visual space; enlarging the headline until the chart feels secondary would undermine the evidence.

Useful infographic design makes the claim easy to find and the support easy to inspect. The footer can be quieter than the headline without becoming unreadable. Hierarchy is a difference in emphasis, not permission to hide inconvenient context.

9. Review the Complete Graphic

Compare the finished chart directly with the original spreadsheet. Match each label to its value and check that the ordering supports the headline. Read the footer on its own: would it stop someone from treating the example as actual maintenance records?

Next, view the graphic at its intended display size. If it will appear on a phone, assess it at phone-screen size. Enlarge essential labels or simplify the composition when they become hard to read. Check the margins for clipped text and awkward line breaks.

Then ask another person to explain the main point after a quick look. Their answer is more useful than “Does this look good?” If they remember an illustration but miss the finding, change the hierarchy.

10. Export and Share the File

In Canva, open Share, choose Download, and select the file type for the destination. PNG suits a raster image shared online. SVG offers scalable graphics where the editor and destination support it, though text, effects, or embedded images can affect portability. Choose PDF for print, using the print-oriented option when available. Export options vary by platform and plan.

Review the downloaded file to check the actual deliverable. Open it and inspect the edges. Look for missing chart labels, substituted fonts, or text that no longer fits its box. View the online image at its expected display size; for print, assess it at the intended physical size. Fix problems in the editable original and export again.

Keep that original for revisions. When publishing online, add a concise text description of the finding and provide the underlying information in accessible text nearby. An image should not be the only route to the information it contains.

Key Takeaways

• Write an audience brief that gives you a test for what belongs.
• Keep source details and measurement units attached to your data.
• Choose a format that expresses the relationship between the facts.
• Strip a template down to the content your argument needs.
• Review the downloaded file and provide a text version of its information.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is there an infographic template in Word?

You can adapt Word templates for a simple infographic. Use SmartArt for processes and relationships or charts for numerical comparisons; complex layouts can be cumbersome in Word’s document flow.

Can ChatGPT create infographics?

ChatGPT can help draft infographic copy, plan layouts, and prepare chart data; image-enabled versions can also generate visual drafts. Inspect generated text and numerical graphics carefully, and use editable charts when you need direct control over values and labels.

What is the best program to create infographics?

For a beginner who wants a template-based workflow, Canva, Piktochart, or Adobe Express is a practical choice. Choose among them by the chart editing, accessibility features, and export formats your project needs, not by the most attractive sample design.

What should an infographic look like?

An infographic should have an obvious starting point and a reading order that serves its message. Connected steps suit a process; a labeled chart suits a numerical finding. Decoration should never make either harder to follow.

Where should source credits go on an infographic?

Put source credits in a readable footer, with short references beside claims when different sections use different sources. Include the organization, report title, and publication year where applicable, and place fuller references in accompanying text if space is tight.

Build From One Clear Message

Now choose one question from your own work or class assignment and draft an audience brief for it. Use the maintenance example as a model for the workflow, not a layout to copy regardless of your evidence. Let your own question and information determine the headline, format, and design.