Presentation and Visualization Tools

MS PowerPoint: widely used presentation program that is part of the Microsoft Office suite. PowerPoint contains basic design tools. It allows users to import and embed videos, sound, and graphics in slide decks. Users can purchase access to Microsoft 365 (the Microsoft Office suite of tools, including MS PowerPoint) via an online subscription or by purchasing a stand-alone (device-specific) version. Users can also sign up for free access, although the free version has limited functionality and must be connected to the internet.

Canva: a graphic design platform that is used to create graphics (for social media, websites, etc.), presentations, posters, and other products. Canva includes an extensive library of readymade templates and stock photos, video editing tools, and social media content scheduling. Users can collaborate online, creating and editing files in real time. There are free and paid subscriptions available, and educational and non-profit organizations can use premium features for free. 

Tableau: an interactive data visualization software. Tableau products query relational databases, online analytical processing cubes, cloud databases, and spreadsheets to generate graph-type data visualizations. The software can also extract, store, and retrieve data from an in-memory data engine. Tableau is owned by Salesforce. Tableau can access a variety of databases and tools, including ArcGIS. The latter can be used as a map data source and then rendered using Tableau’s mapping capabilities.

Adobe InDesign: a desktop publishing and page layout designing software application. It can be used to create products, such as graphics and layout for posters, flyers, presentations, and books. Primarily used by graphic designers, InDesign requires some time to learn to use the platform. InDesign has templates for all types of products.