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Build a chart report in a Canvas Dashboard

Last update: Fri Dec 19 2025 00:00:00 GMT+0000 (Coordinated Universal Time)

CREATED FOR:

  • User

The highlighted information on this page refers to functionality not yet generally available. It is available only in the Preview environment for all customers.

IMPORTANT
The Canvas Dashboards feature is currently only available for users participating in the beta stage. Parts of the feature may not be complete or work as intended during this stage. Please submit any feedback regarding your experience by following the instructions in the Provide feedback section in the Canvas Dashboards beta overview article.

If you have feedback regarding a possible bug or technical issue, please submit a ticket to Workfront Support. For more information, see Contact Customer Support.

Please note that this beta is not available on the following cloud providers:
  • Bring Your Own Key for Amazon Web Services
  • Azure
  • Google Cloud Platform

You can build and add a chart report to a Canvas Dashboard to visualize your data as a bar, column, line, or pie chart.

Chart report

Access Requirements

Expand to view access requirements for the functionality in this article.
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Adobe Workfront package Any
Adobe Workfront license

Standard

Plan
Access level configurations Edit access to Reports, Dashboards, and Calendars

For more detail about the information in this table, see Access requirements in Workfront documentation.

Prerequisites

You must create a dashboard before you can build a chart report.

Build a chart report in a Canvas Dashboard

There are many configuration options available for building a chart report. In this section, we’ll walk you through the general process of creating one.

  1. Click the Main Menu icon Main Menu in the upper-right corner of Adobe Workfront, or (if available), click the Main Menu icon Main Menu in the upper-left corner, then click Dashboards.

  2. In the left panel, click Canvas Dashboards.

  3. Click New Dashboard in the upper-right corner.

  4. In the Create dashboard box, enter the dashboard’s Name and Description.

  5. Click Create.

  6. In the Add report box, select Create report.

  7. On the left side, select Chart.

  8. In the top-right corner, click Create report.

  9. (Optional) Follow the steps below to configure the Details section:

    1. Enter a report Name.

    2. Enter a report Description.

    3. If desired, uncheck the Show extra series as “Other” box.

      note note
      NOTE
      There is a maximum number of 60 series that can be displayed in a chart. When this box is checked, any series above the limit are consolidated into an Other grouping in the chart.

      1. Choose which type of chart you want to create:

Bar, column, or line chart

NOTE
There may additional fields depending on the field type you select. The options outlined below are standard for all field types.

  1. In the left panel, click the Build chart Build chart icon icon.

  2. In the Chart type drop-down, select Bar, Column, or Line.

  3. In the second drop-down menu, select the bar, column, or line type:

    • Simple
    • Multi-series
    • Stacked

  4. In the Bottom (X) axis section, select the Update field, then locate and select the field that contains the data that will be summarized in the chart.

  5. In the Aggregation type drop-down, select how the data rolls up to produce the chart output.

  6. (Optional) Add an axis label in the space provided.

  7. (Optional) Toggle Hide axis on.

  8. (Optional) Input a Reference line value to set a target or threshold on the chart.

  9. Choose a Line type from the drop-down menu.

  10. Select the Update field button under the second section, then locate and select the second field you want to display in the chart.

Pie chart

NOTE
There may additional fields depending on the field type you select. The options outlined below are standard for all field types.

  1. In the left panel, click the Build chart Build chart icon icon.

  2. In the Chart type drop-down, select Bar.

  3. In the Metric section, select the Update field, then locate and select the field that contains the data that will be summarized in the chart.

  4. In the Aggregation type drop-down, select how the data rolls up to produce the chart output.

  5. In the Segment section, select the Update field, then locate and select the field that contains the segments you want to display in the pie chart.

  6. (Optional) In the Pie section, toggle Show segment labels on to display segment labels.

  7. (Optional) Toggle Show total on to display the total in the middle of the chart. When enabled, there are additional options to show a center label and choose the value format.

NOTE
Aggregation types display as follows:
  • Count aggregation types: The center value displayed is a count of all segments of the chart.
  • Sum aggregation types: The center value displayed is the aggregated total of the numeric or currency value.
  • Average, max, and min aggregation types: The center value displays the average, maximum, or minimum value accordingly.

  1. (Optional) In the Legend section, toggle Show legend on to display the chart legend.

  2. (Optional) Choose a Legend position from the drop-down menu.

Configure additional chart report settings

Filters

Follow the steps below to configure the Filter section:

  1. In the left panel, click the Filter Filter icon icon.
  2. Select Edit filter.
  3. Click Add condition and then specify the field you want to filter by and the modifier that defines what kind of condition the field must meet.
  4. (Optional) Click Add filter group to add another set of filtering criteria. The default operator between the sets is AND. Click the operator to change it to OR.

Drilldown settings

Follow the steps below to configure the Drilldown Column Settings section:

  1. In the left panel, click the Drilldown Columns Drilldown columns icon icon. The fields from your chart automatically appear as columns in the preview section on the right.

  2. (Optional) To update any of the existing column configurations, select the column you want to update in the Current columns section and then update the desired information (e.g. label, linked status, and conditions).

  3. Click Add column and then select the field you want to display as a column in the table. Repeat this process for each column you want to add.

Drilldown group settings

Follow the steps below to configure the Drilldown Group Settings section:

  1. In the left panel, click the Group Settings Group Settings icon.

  2. Click the Add grouping button and then select the field you want to create as a grouping.

  3. Click Save to create the report and add it to the dashboard.

Build a chart report example

In this section, we will go over the steps to create a column chart that displays overdue tasks by project owner.

  1. Click the Main Menu icon Main Menu in the upper-right corner of Adobe Workfront, or (if available), click the Main Menu icon Main Menu in the upper-left corner, then click Dashboards.

  2. In the left panel, click Canvas Dashboards.

  3. Click New Dashboard in the upper-right corner.

  4. In the Create dashboard box, enter the dashboard’s Name and Description.

  5. Click Create.

  6. In the Add report box, select Create report.

  7. On the left side, select Chart.

  8. In the top-right corner, click Create report.

  9. Follow the steps below to configure the Details section:

    1. Enter a report Name (e.g. Overdue Tasks by Project Owner).

    2. Enter a report Description.

  10. Follow the steps below to configure the Build chart section:

    1. In the left panel, click the Build chart icon.

    2. In the Chart type drop-down, select Column.

    3. In the Column type drop-down, select Simple.

    4. Select the Update field button under the Bottom (X) axis section, then locate and select the Task > Project > Owner > Name field.

      Update field

    5. Click the Select field button under the Left (Y) axis section, then locate and select the Task > Name field.

    6. In the Aggregation type drop-down, select Count.

      Aggregation type field

  11. Follow the steps below to configure the Filter section:

    1. In the left panel, click the Filter icon.

    2. Select Edit filter.

    3. Click Add condition.

    4. Click in the empty condition area, then select Pick Field.

    5. Select the Percent Complete field.

    6. In the Operators drop-down, select Less Than, then enter 100 in the evaluator field.

    7. Click Add Condition, then Pick Field.

    8. Select the Planned Completion Date field.

    9. In the Operators drop-down, select Less Than.

    10. Toggle Set relative date to ON.

    11. Enter $$TODAY in the evaluator field.

      For more information on wildcards, see the section Date-based wildcards filter variables in the Edit report filters in a Canvas Dashboard article.

      Evaluator field

  12. Follow the steps below to configure the Drilldown Column Settings section:

    1. In the left panel, click the Drilldown Columns Drilldown columns icon. The fields from your chart automatically appear as columns in the preview section on the right.

    2. Click Add column, then select the Assigned To > Name field.

    3. Click Add column, then select the Planned Start Date field.

    4. Click Add column, then select the Planned Completion Date field.

    5. Click Add column, then select the Last Update Date field.

    6. (Optional) To display the update time, select the Last Update Date option in the Current Columns field, then select a time value option in the Date format drop-down.

  13. Follow the steps below to configure the Drilldown Group Settings section:

    1. In the left panel, click the Group Settings Group Settings icon.

    2. Click the Add grouping button and then select the Project > Name field.

  14. Click Save to create the report and add it to the dashboard.

Considerations when building a chart report

Reports with financial data

Users with View or Edit access to Financial Data in their access level will still see financial data in Canvas Dashboard visualizations—even if the View finance permission is removed at the task or project level.

  • Users without financial data rights at the access level will not see financial data in reports.
  • Users who do see financial data are limited to records they already have permission to view (projects, tasks, issues, etc.). They will not see financial values for records they cannot access.
  • Report creators should exercise caution when including financial data in dashboards and be mindful of who they share dashboards with to prevent unintended access.

This is a known limit, and we plan to address it as quickly as possible.

Utilizing the field selector

The Sections drop-down in the Build chart section is designed to narrow down the choices in a field selector to make an object easier to find when building a table report. To start, you would select a base entity object.

  • All Sections: All object types in Workfront Workflow and Workfront Planning.
  • Workfront Objects: Native Workfront Workflow objects.
  • Planning Record Types: Custom record types defined in Workfront Planning.

Sections drop-down

Once the base entity object has been selected, the Sections drop-down then updates with applicable field type options to choose from.

  • All Sections: Native fields, custom fields, and related objects.
  • All Fields: Both native and custom fields (excludes relationships).
  • Custom Fields: Customer-defined fields either on a custom form or Planning record.
  • Workfront Fields: Native fields only.
  • Relationships: Connected records.

Reportable objects selection

Referencing children objects

Available relationships for additional columns, filter options, and grouping attributes are generally limited to objects higher in the Workfront object hierarchy or otherwise have a single selection on the report’s base entity object. There are some exceptions to this, which include the following:

  • Project > Tasks
  • Document Approval > Document Approval Stages
  • Document Approval Stages > Document Approval Stage Participants

When utilizing any of the parent-to-child relationships listed above, you will see a row in the table for each child record connected to the parent object.

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