SankeyMATIC Manual
Getting Started: Nodes and Flows
Entering Data
In the field named “Inputs”, enter one “Flow” per line, using this format:
Source [Number] Target
Sample: Income [100] Checking Account
After entering one or more Flows, click “Preview”.
SankeyMATIC will automatically lay out a diagram connecting all Source and Target “Nodes” using Flows with proportional thicknesses.
Example: | |
---|---|
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Using the same Node name in multiple lines will produce multiple flows in or out of that Node.
Note: Node names are case sensitive: 'A' is not considered a match for 'a'.
Diagram Shape and Size

Is your data shown best using:
- A tall rectangle?
- A wide rectangle?
- Something closer to a square?
These three examples all share the same inputs.
Experiment with the “Diagram Width” and “Height” settings to find what shape communicates your data most clearly.


Space between Nodes

Space = 3 px
Small spaces between Nodes lead to crowded or muddy diagrams, difficult to parse visually.

Space = 36 px
Large spaces between Nodes lead to thin spidery Flows, making differences between them harder to distinguish.

Space = 12 px
Find a happy medium appropriate for making clear comparisons between Flows.
Getting Data from a Spreadsheet?
Given data laid out like this in a spreadsheet document:
A | B | C | |
---|---|---|---|
1 | From | To | Amount |
2 | Income | Budget | 100 |
3 | Budget | Expenses | 60.75 |
4 | Budget | Savings | 39.25 |
Add another spreadsheet column applying either one of the following formulas to all of your data rows:
=A2 & " [" & C2 & "] " & B2
or
=CONCATENATE(A2, " [", C2, "] ", B2)
(Both formulas rearrange the data in the same way. Both have been tested in Excel and in Google Sheets.)
The new column will contain your data rearranged like this:
A | B | C | D | |
---|---|---|---|---|
1 | From | To | Amount | |
2 | Income | Budget | 100 | Income [100] Budget |
3 | Budget | Expenses | 60.75 | Budget [60.75] Expenses |
4 | Budget | Savings | 39.25 | Budget [39.25] Savings |
Then copy & paste the data from that new column into the SankeyMATIC “Inputs” field, and voilà:
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Next: Labels & Units »
SankeyMATIC Manual — Index
Main topics:
- Getting Started: Nodes and Flows
- Labels & Units
- Colors
- Exporting, Publishing, Sharing
- Syntax Reference