If you’ve always fancied trying your hand at data visualisation but never really known where to start, Raw might just be the answer: a free tool designed to create vector-based visualisations from data that’s sat in a humble old spreadsheet.
The brainchild of Density Design, it was originally conceived as a “tool for designers and vis geeks”. Essentially, it provides a bridge between data software like Excel and illustration software such as Illustrator or Inkscape: it whips your numbers into shape, doing the hard work for you to spit out a vector graphics file to play with and make pretty.
You simply grab you data, paste it into Raw, choose a layout, customise it, then export the file as an SVG. Simple! So, it’s not super-advanced — like Tableau, say — but it’s a great first step for anyone interested in visualising data or getting a quick result. Best of all, it’s free, and while it’s online-only, data isn’t sent or stored anywhere, so you can use confidential data as it never leaves your computer. Go try it! [RAW]