> For the complete user guide index, see [llms.txt](https://portraitresearch.com/documentation/llms.txt).

# Build a chart

[Canonical page](https://portraitresearch.com/documentation/charts/building-a-chart/)

## Applicability

- **Task:** Build and verify a chart from supported data series
- **Access:** Portrait account; source connections and entitlements can apply
- **Audience:** Portrait users building or reusing charts
- **Surfaces:** web
- **Workflow status:** current
- **Availability:** Beta
- **Content type:** how-to
- **Last reviewed:** 2026-09-08

Charts is in beta. It is available in the web app; individual series still depend on source connection, coverage, and entitlement.

## Before you start

Choose one company and a supported data series. Start with a single series so that you can check its value, unit, and dates before adding comparisons or transformations. To save the chart, choose an accessible Project or [create one](https://portraitresearch.com/documentation/documents/projects/).

## Build and save the chart

1. **Open the editor** from **Charts** under **Tools** in the left navigation.
2. **Choose a data type** — Fundamentals, Valuation, Macro, Revisions, or Company Data. A chart uses a single type, so every series you add shares it.

3. **Add a series.** Pick the category and series, then bind it: a company for Fundamentals and Revisions; a company plus company-specific parameter and as-of revision for Company Data; a company or index for Valuation; nothing for Macro.
4. **Add more series** as needed, and refine each one (see below).
5. **Title the chart**, **select a destination project**, and **Save to project**.


## Shaping each series

Once a series is on the chart, you can:

* **Transform** it — invert; sequential or year-over-year absolute or percentage change; index to 100; two-year stack absolute or percentage; and, for daily series, 50-, 100-, or 200-observation moving averages. See [Chart calculations and data](https://portraitresearch.com/documentation/charts/calculations-and-data/) for the formulas, date pairing, and missing-data behaviour.
* **Combine** two series into a **derived series** with add, subtract, multiply, or divide.
* **Assign it to an axis** — primary or secondary — and set each axis's label and min/max.
* **Set Render as** for a series — line or bar. Applying a render type to the other series is a separate action with confirmation.
* **Set the date range** — year-to-date, 1 year, 3 years, 5 years, or **Custom** from 1 to 999 days. Historical and forward data have [category-specific rules](https://portraitresearch.com/documentation/charts/calculations-and-data/).

**Date range** and **Copy chart** sit above the preview. **Render as** belongs to the series controls.

Use **Add line** below the series to add a **Trend Line** or **Guide Line**. Place its points on the chart and use **Customize** to label or style it. These are annotations you place, not additional source observations; recheck their position if you change the date range or axes.


## Managing saved charts

Saved charts appear in **Recent** or **My charts** inside the chart editor, with their assigned Project. From that library you can reopen, **duplicate**, **move**, or **delete** a chart. To save a variation without disturbing the original, use **Copy to project** from the save menu. **Save changes** updates the chart you opened.

## Copy the chart image

Choose **Copy chart** above the preview to copy a PNG of the current chart definition, with its title, legend, and available citations. The definition can include unsaved edits; save it to a Project as well if you need to reopen that version. Paste the image into its destination and verify the series, date range, axes, annotations, and citations there before sharing. Copying an image does not grant data redistribution rights.

## Verify and troubleshoot

- Confirm that the saved chart appears in the chart editor library with the intended Project and reopens with the expected series, transforms, axes, and date range.
- Compare one plotted value with its source series before sharing the chart.
- If a series is missing, check company coverage, source entitlement, the selected data category, and any [Visible Alpha display-limit message](https://portraitresearch.com/documentation/charts/calculations-and-data/). A configured series is not necessarily visible.
- If a derived series is invalid, inspect both inputs and the operation, including division by missing or zero values.
- If a saved chart cannot be opened, confirm that its Project is active and you still have access before recreating it. Check [Project archive and restore behaviour](https://portraitresearch.com/documentation/more/settings/) before restoring a Project, because that can also reactivate Monitors.
- Use **Copy to project** when testing a variation that should not replace the original.

### Up next

[Chart templates](https://portraitresearch.com/documentation/charts/templates/)

Save a chart layout for supported companies with the required data coverage.