TLDR: Potentially useful ones are highlighted; the rest are just fun to look through.

Tools to make your data and visual tasks easier

This session will showcases some data, graphic and reporting tools that will make your life easier as a data journalist, graphics reporter or visual journalist.

WaPo’s Chris Alcantara \ Adrián Blanco Ramos \ Kati Perry \ Carson TerBush \ Daniel Wolfe

<aside> 🔗 https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1uygwjQuJq1BOf_aJWn1Ux54xPfDWlWuP34G5LXD3g84/edit?usp=sharing ^ Google Slides presentation from workshop

</aside>

Data

• jq (app/web | free) — read and manipulate JSON data.
• xsv (app | free) — read and manipulate CSVs.
• csvlens (app | free) — look at CSVs in table form.
• OpenRefine (app | free) — cleans datasets.
• Visidata (app | free) — analyzing big datasets in any way you want.

Visualizations

• Typescale (web | free trial) — calculate font size for webpages.
• Custom Venn diagrams (web | free) — good for sketching drafts (WaPo used it to plan this!).
• Plotly (app | free) — graph with Python.
• Layer Cake (app | free) — graph with Svelte.

Graphics

• Coolors (web | free) — generate color palettes & gradients.
• Adobe Illustrator (app | free with U-M login!) — edit vector graphics imported from other sites (like Datawrapper!).
  • ai2html (app | free ) — convert Illustrator file into html.
• Sip (Mac app | $10 student discount) — pick, edit, keep track of colors you see online.