CanvasXpress Chart Footer

Publication-ready attribution — notes, source with a link, byline and a "Get the data" download — drawn on the chart so every export keeps it.

Introduction to the Chart Footer

A published chart needs to say where its data came from and who made it. The structured footer adds notes, a source (optionally linked with sourceUrl), a byline, and a Get the data link that downloads the chart's data as CSV — all rendered on the canvas itself, so PNG, SVG and PDF exports carry the attribution with them.

Everything is off by default. The classic citation keeps its exact position when used alone, and moves just above the footer block when both are present.

Quick Start

var mix = {
  "y": {
    "vars": ["Renewables", "Nuclear", "Fossil"],
    "smps": ["2000", "2010", "2020", "2024"],
    "data": [[7, 11, 20, 30], [17, 14, 10, 9], [76, 75, 70, 61]]
  }
};
var cXFt1 = new CanvasXpress("canvasFt1", mix, {
  graphType: "Stacked",
  graphOrientation: "vertical",
  title: "Electricity mix (%)",
  notes: "Shares of gross generation. 2024 values preliminary.",
  source: "IEA",
  sourceUrl: "https://www.iea.org",
  byline: "Chart: CanvasXpress",
  showDataDownload: true,
  legendPosition: "bottom",
  theme: "CanvasXpress"
});

Options

notes — footnote text above the source line; newlines split into multiple lines.
source — shown as "Source: …"; with sourceUrl it becomes a clickable link (exports keep the plain text).
byline — author or organization credit, e.g. "Chart: Jane Doe".
showDataDownload — adds a "Get the data" link that downloads the current data as CSV.
footerAlign — left (default), center or right.

Exports and Links

The footer is drawn on the canvas, so saved PNG, SVG and PDF files include it — attribution survives wherever the image travels. In the live chart, the source link and "Get the data" are real anchor elements overlaid on the canvas (keyboard- and screen-reader-reachable), never canvas hit areas.

Layout Behavior

The chart reserves bottom space for the footer automatically, and a bottom legend moves up above it. With no footer options set, layouts are unchanged to the pixel — the footer reservation is exactly the legacy citation height.

From the Menus

Right-click the chart and open Footer (next to Citation) to set notes, source, source URL, byline, the data-download link and the alignment. In the Customizer, Notes / Source / Byline appear alongside Title, Subtitle and Citation in the text options.