Gantt charts are a core part of the project planning process. Which functions do they offer and how do you find the right application to fit your requirements? In this article, we'll cover all the important questions relating to gantt chart tools on macOS.
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Definition: What is a gantt chart?
When to use a gantt chart
Gantt charts on macOS
Checklist: How to find your perfect gantt chart tool
Free Gantt Templates for Apple Numbers on Mac. Choose from our top Apple Numbers Gantt chart templates for planning and tracking projects. In addition to the 14 free, customizable templates below, you’ll also find info on how to create your own Gantt chart in Apple Numbers. Templates on this page include project management Gantt charts, a.
Definition: What is a gantt chart?
A gantt chart can be defined as a traditional project management tool to visualize the project schedule and to monitor the progress of project activities.
In a gantt chart all activities are displayed as bars in separate rows. You enter activities in the first column of a spreadsheet. As the first row marks the timeline your activities are displayed as a bar more left or right in its row depending on its start and end date. The bar is smaller or langer according to its calculated duration. In the end, you will get a good overview of all activities and their position in the context of the project as a whole.
You can easily find overlapping activities as their will be apparent as overlapping bars. Different colors are used to visualize if a task is still to be done, is work in progress or completed. Normally, it is also possible to highlight the critical path, i.e. those activities which affect the completion date of the project.
The name gantt chart refers to the American mechanical engineer Henry Gantt who did not invent this methodology but used and optimized the approach and made it popular during the 1910s.
When to use a gantt chart
Gantt diagrams can be used as planning tools for every kind of project. In contrast to other project visualizations, i.e. work breakdown structure, gantt charts can be created rather quickly with no time consuming training.
Gantt charts are especially handy when managing small and middle sized projects. As the tend to get confusing, if too many activities shall be displayed. However, with the right degree of detail even complex project can be displayed just fine. It's a challenge to find a balance between visualizing bigger work packages to keep the chart informative meanwhile neglecting details and to display small work packages while loosing a comprehensive view over the whole project.
Gantt charts on macOS
For a long time, Microsoft Project was the only serious project management application on the market. As the software is only available for Windows computer, Mac user had no choice than to create gantt charts with Excel or other spreadsheet applications.
Today, user can choose from a wide range of gantt chart tools for Mac. There are free applications as well as fee-based services, tools for beginners and professional users. Not all applications satisfy the minimum requirements you should set. The features and usability of different gantt chart tools varies quite a lot.
Free vs. fee-based applications
Why should you buy a gantt chart software if there are free applications available? At least, high software quality not always correlates to high prices. However, free gantt tools often come with a very minimal range of functions and lack customization options. You do not have to deal with those problems when investing a small amount in professional gantt chart software.
If you have little experience working with gantt charts or if you cannot dismiss the possibility of evolving requirements, it is usually a good idea to consider a professional software. You will save yourself unnecessary stress and time you need to switch to a better solution later on.
Cloud applications vs. local applications
Today, there are lots of saas applications you can use directly from your browser with no need of local installation. You don't need to worry about your IT infrastructure of the limitations of your operating system. That's for advantages. But cloud applications pose a huge security threat as they save confidential data on servers outside the company's direct control. This risk can be avoided if companies use local software and sync their data via secure server to share them with others. In this way, they benefit from the same flexibility saas applications offer but without the downsides. Besides, local software takes advantage of macOS' strengths and fits in well with the general usabilty. Both factors contribute to an efficient workflow and a short introduction phase.
Checklist: How to find your perfect gantt chart tool
- Scheduling: The schedule is at the core of every gantt diagram. You should be able to display previous and following tasks as well as dependencies. Moreover, you should be able to plan activities without fixed due date so that start and end date will vary depending on the progress of previous tasks.
- Different views: A gantt chart is not always the best view to manage a project. Many applications allow you to switch between different views like mind maps, PERT charts or WBS.
- Customization: You should be able to customize the software according to your needs, i.e. you can color bars, set reminders for upcoming deadlines, attach documents, add comments.
- Usability: Check if you can navigate the user interface intuitively. Can you access important commands via short cuts or are they hidden in the depth of the menu? Are you able to assign different authorizations to adjust views according to the team member's status? Does the program offers a comprehensive help andn easy to access resources?
- Import/Export: Not every software supports file formats that can be easily opened and edited on different operating systems. However, compatibility is especially important for professional and longer projects and should be included as a key feature.
- Collaboration: Check if the application fulfills your requirements for team work. Is it possible to work with multiple users at the same time in one document? Can you open and edit a project file via mobile device or web browser? Can you track comments and changes back to individual users?
- Synchronization:If your team is spread over different locations, make sure you can access the gantt chart software from mobile devices.
- Reporting: Which reporting functions are indcluded? Clear and compelling reportings are important for effective project controlling.
- Templates: Many applications offer templates for gantt charts, some of which are free. They can speed up the planning process significantly. Check if the software has relevant templates for your field of use.
- Demo version: Every professional software should offer a free demo version for customers to test functionalites and usability before the actual purchase.
Merlin Project and Merlin Project Express fulfill all mentioned criteria. For small projects, Merlin Project Express is a good fit. For complex and professional use, Merlin Project is the application of choice. You can download both versions and try them free for 30 days.
If you have any questions or problems, contact our support team.
This step-by-step Keynote Gantt chart tutorial demonstrates how to makeprofessional-looking Gantt charts using the popular presentation tool for Mac.
Although it doesn't have a built-in Gantt feature, Apple's Keynote allows Mac users to create a basic Gantt chart starting from a 2D Stacked Bar graphic. The resulting visual can be manually formatted to be fit for high-level presentations, but professionals who need to update it regularly or add more precise details may find the process a bit cumbersome.
For those who want to build professional-looking Gantt charts and update them quickly, a simpler way might be to use the web-based Gantt chart maker called Office Timeline Online. The tool allows you to create your visual directly in your browser and then download it as a native PowerPoint slide, which makes it easy to share and include in presentations. On this page, I will show you how to make a Gantt chart both manually in Keynote and automatically with the online Gantt tool. If you wish to learn how to make a timeline in Keynote for Mac, check out our timeline tutorial here.
Which tutorial would you like to see?
How to manually make a Gantt chart in Keynote
1. Enter your project data into a table and calculate key details.
Open Keynote and double-click to choose the type of presentation you want to use from the options available in the Standard Theme Gallery. In my example, I selected a simple, white presentation.
Keynote will generate a standard Title & Subtitle slide. To have more room for your graphic, you can turn the slide into a blank one. To do so, simply uncheck the boxes under the Appearance section of the Format pane on the right.
Now, to start gathering and calculating the data for your chart, add a Headers table to your blank slide by going to Insert → Table on the Keynote ribbon.
On the first row of the newly added table, list the key phases of your project (project tasks) as in the image below. Because these task descriptions will be shown as labels on your chart, it would be best to keep them as short as possible to ensure they'll fit well.
On the second row, enter the Start Week for each of your project’s phases, which will help determine the task bars' positioning on the graphic. Use the first task (starting in week 1) as a reference point to work out the other tasks' start week judging by the calendar date on which they're scheduled to begin. To illustrate how I estimated the start time for each of my tasks, I've included a second table (Calculations) in the image below.
Lastly, list each task’s duration in weeks on the third row. You can see the math I did for the duration series in the Calculations table below.
2. Add a 2D Stacked Bar Chart to your slide
Now that you've got all the necessary data sorted out, you can start building the graphic.
Free Gantt Chart Software Mac
Go to Insert → Chart on the Keynote ribbon.
Select 2D Stacked Bar from the menu that appears.
Keynote will automatically generate a simple stacked bar chart looking like the one below:
3. Add the data to your graphic
Select all the rows in your project data table and copy them (Cmd + C).
Now select the chart area and click on Edit Chart Data.
Click on the first cell (top-left corner) in the Chart Data window that pops up and paste the copied cells in to replace the placeholder data with your own. Keynote will instantly update the graphic with your project's details.
Note: Don’t worry if the task descriptions go off the slide. You can adjust both the text and the chart area to ensure a better fit by following the steps in the section below.
4. Format your chart to improve its legibility
Select the chart area and drag its sizing handles to reduce the height and width of your graphic.
Drag and drop the chart to reposition it better within the slide.
You may also want to edit the task descriptions on the left side of your graphic for an optimized display. To do so, double-click on any of them, and then, from the Format pane on the right, use the Font options (style, typeface, color and size) on the Axis Labels tab. I chose to decrease the text font size from 22 to 20 pt.
5. Turn your graphic into a Gantt chart
Now that your stacked bar fits the slide properly, you will need to make a few more adjustments to make it look like a Gantt. The formatting required for this is to make the blue bars transparent so that only the green ones remain visible. These will represent your tasks. To achieve this:
Click on any of the blue bars to select the entire series at once.
Select the Style tab from the Format pane on the right side of the slide.
Click on the color indicator next to Fill and select No Fill.
The resulting Gantt chart should look like this:
6. Customize your Gantt chart's task bars
At this point, you can apply a series of customizations to the task bars to make your Gantt chart more unique.
To recolor all your tasks simultaneously, double-click on any of the bars on your chart, go to the Style tab in the Format pane and use the Fill color indicator to select a new nuance. In my example, I opted for a dark orange.
You can also choose to recolor individual tasks, but you will need to tweak your data a bit to split your tasks into different series (categories). Open the Edit Chart Data table and:
i.Add several new rows beneath your Duration line, as shown in the image below. This will generate a series of different colors for your tasks, which you can customize however you wish later.
ii.Now, to move a task into a different color category, cut (Cmd + X) its Duration value from the original row and paste it (Cmd + V) in whichever of the newly added rows (keep the same column). You can see how I set up the new colors for my graphic in the image below.
iii.The tasks with their duration values distributed on different rows will be considered as distinct series, while the ones with duration values on the same row represent a single series. This means you can further customize the former separately and the latter at once, which includes changing the default colors generated by Keynote earlier. If you want to do so, double-click on the desired bar, go to the Style tab and use the Color Fill indicator to select a new shade. Here is how I changed the default colors for my chart:
The Style section also lets you apply a variety of effects such as strokes and shadows. However, it is recommended that you keep them to a minimum to avoid burdening your visual. For instance, I applied only a simple black outline to my task bars using the Stroke feature.
If you want to have each task’s duration visible on the Gantt chart, select any of the bars, go to the Value Labels section within the Series tab, and then choose Number from the dropdown menu. The duration values will be displayed, and you can change their positioning within the task bars using the feature Location. I chose to place the duration values in the middle of the chart bars.
Gantt Chart In Os
7. Customize the chart area
Free Gantt Chart Maker
Once you've found the look you like for the task bars, you can also make some changes to the chart area using the features within the Chart tab of the Format pane. Before getting started, make sure to select the graphic.
Add borders and titles: Under Chart Options, tick the boxes for Title and Border.
Customize fonts: Using the Chart Font options, you can modify the type and size of the text for the entire graphic. In my example, I changed the font from Helvetica Neue to Charter.
Note: If you want to customize the chart title or task descriptions independently, double-click on the desired element and make the intended change from the pane on the right.
Adjust the space between the chart bars: To increase or decrease the space between your tasks, use the up-down controls under the Gaps section. I increased the gap percentage from 40% to 60% as shown in the image below.
As a last edit to my Gantt chart, I’ve added more vertical gridlines to better highlight the relative distance between tasks. If you want to do the same, click on the Axis tab of the Format pane, go to Minor Gridlines, and select the type of gridline you want to use. I chose a straight black line with the size of 0,25 points.
In the end, my final Gantt chart in Keynote looked like this:
Download Gantt chart template for Keynote
How to make a Gantt chart online automatically
Keynote allows Mac users to manually build basic Gantt charts, but customizing and updating them for project meetings or client presentations may turn out to be quite time-consuming.
Below I will show you how to quickly make a clean, easy-to-follow Gantt in Office Timeline Online and customize it with a few clicks. Besides automating Gantt chart creation, the online tool lets you update your visual almost instantly and download it as a .pptx or .png file for easy sharing. To begin, access the free tool here.
1. Enter your project data in Office Timeline Online
From the New section in Office Timeline Online, click on the big '+' icon to build your Gantt chartfrom scratch, or select one of the pre-formatted templates available to get you started faster. In my case, I chose to create my visual from scratch.
After choosing the type of Gantt chart you wish to make, Office Timeline will direct you to the Data View, where you can insert and edit your project's data.
In the Data View section, enter your project’s tasks and their Start and End dates. You can also make a few quick customizations here, such as selecting the shapes and colors for your tasks. You will notice that Office Timeline generates and updates your graphic in real time, showing you a live preview of it on the right side. Once finished, click on the preview image or select the Timeline tab on the ribbon to open the Timeline View, where you can see your graphic in full size and make further changes.
2. Quickly customize and update your Gantt Chart
Once you've created your Gantt chart, you can customize and update it effortlessly with Office Timeline Online. The Timeline View lets you change any fonts, colors, positions and shapes, or even add extras such as Task Duration, Today's Date, and more. In my example, I used various colors to differentiate the tasks, switched the Percent Complete indicator on, experimented with date formats, and added a few milestones as well to show key events (the latter can be done from the Data tab). You can see the result below:
With a free Office Timeline account, you can automatically save your Gantt chart in the cloud, so you'll be able to return to it at any time and update it as plans change. You can easily add, edit or remove data in the Data View, or move tasks around and adjust their dates directly from the graphic using drag & drop. Once ready, download your Gantt chart as an editable PowerPoint slide that can be easily shared and included in presentations.