Pie chart race
Animated share-of-total slices, for composition rather than ranking. Eight categories is the practical ceiling.
When to use it
A pie race shows share of a whole changing over time. The question it answers is "what proportion", not "who is ahead".
Eight categories is the ceiling. Past that, slices become slivers that carry no readable label and communicate nothing. If you have more categories, either group the tail into an "Other" slice in your spreadsheet, or use a treemap instead.
Slices and layout
In the Chart panel, Visible Item Count caps the slices drawn, and Order Items and Show Items decide which qualify.
Hide Small Slices Below is the setting that saves most pie charts — it drops slivers below a threshold rather than drawing labels that cannot be read.
Inner Radius (Donut) turns the pie into a donut. Beyond looking more modern, the hole is useful space for a total or date readout.
Space Between Slices separates the segments, which helps when adjacent slices are similar colours.
Markers and images
The Image panel attaches per-slice imagery. Marker Shape, Marker Size, and Marker Corner Radius style the badge; Connector Line Width draws the line linking it back to its slice.
Hide Images Below suppresses markers for slices too small to warrant one, which stops the edge of the chart filling with overlapping badges.
Values and animation
The Value panel carries the usual controls — Value Animation, prefix and postfix, decimals, multiplier, and format. For a pie, displaying percentages rather than raw numbers usually reads better, since share is the point.
The Animation panel sets Animation Type, Animation Duration, and Animation Timing for how slices transition between periods.
Frequently Asked Questions
Should we use a pie or a treemap?
A pie for eight categories or fewer where share is the story. A treemap for eight to thirty, where the same part-of-whole idea survives a much longer list because area is easier to read than angle at small sizes.
Can we show percentages instead of raw values?
Yes — use the Value panel's multiplier and postfix to display a percentage, or store percentages directly in the spreadsheet if the underlying totals are not needed.
Our smallest slices are unreadable. What now?
Set Hide Small Slices Below to drop them, and Hide Images Below to suppress their markers. If a large tail is genuinely meaningful, group it into an explicit 'Other' column in the spreadsheet.
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