Adobe Illustrator CS6 Tutorial Pie Chart tool.

First draw out a chart with the Pie Chart tool.

First you put in the information for your chart, or import it from an excel file:

Your chart will look like this at first. (You might have a legend, too.)

I prefer colored charts instead of the grayscale default Illustrator makes. Using the white arrow select a slice and choose a color from your swatches to change it.

To make your chart 3d, select it first with the black arrow. Then go to Filters>3D>Extrude and Bevel. Use the settings in the example below:

Now your chart should look like this.

You can pull apart and edit the individual slices with the white pointer tool.

Since the title of my information is about mutations, I’ll draw some mutations on the different slices, starting with the dark purple. I drew the hand and shadows around it on a separate layer with the pen tool. I also locked the chart layer while I was doing this.

I drew the eye on the same layer with the pen tool.
Adobe Illustrator CS6 Tutorial Pie Chart tool.

I added some chemical bubbles on the green slice. They were created from a cut circle with transparent highlights.

I added tentacles on the last slice with the pen tool.

Then I added a title and labels.

For some charts you might only want to spice up the most important slice or the biggest one. Although most topics aren’t as fun as mutations, any sort of added graphics make boring charts look a lot better.
Adobe Illustrator CS6 Tutorial Pie Chart tool.