Hi there and welcome to Pigment! We’re so glad to have you on board.
Below, you'll find a few things to help you get started, including our philosophy, the main terms used on the platform, as well as a set of links to help you build your first Applications, Boards and Blocks.
Our philosophy
At Pigment we believe you can prepare your business for anything with the support of flexible and scalable planning. We also know that this isn’t always easy in the face of constant change, which is why Pigment is built for now, and whatever’s next.
That's why we've imagined a complete planning and reporting ecosystem that’s designed to change the way you navigate decision making. The Pigment Knowledge Base contains all you need to know to get the best out of Pigment, and is designed to support you on every step of your learning experience.
Pigment is loved by modelers, designers and users alike, which is why we’ve created our Knowledge Base to provide the foundational knowledge you need to get started and grow, no matter what you’ve set out to achieve.From creating your first Application and plugging in data, to optimizing formulas to support a scaling team, or just building beautiful Boards that leadership loves, the Pigment Knowledge Base will help you prepare for anything you want to create with Pigment.
Want to learn more about Pigment? Take our interactive fundamentals courses in the Pigment Academy. Enroll in Pigment Essentials for Business Users and Pigment Essentials for Modelers!
How Pigment is structured
- Workspace. You log into the Workspace where all your company data is stored. It is strictly confidential and not shared with other companies using Pigment. There is one company per Workspace.
- Application. An Application usually represents a specific process, team or workflow. For example, some Application names could be Budget Planning or Sales Forecasting. Applications are used to group Metrics, formulas, grids, and data. Each Application has its own security access rules to manage individuals or teams who can see different data. You create Applications within your Workspace.
- Board. A Board allows you to visualize and share your data. It is a customizable canvas comprised of widgets, such as charts, text, graphs, KPIs or tables that you create within an Application. You can use it for reporting or presentations. For example, in a quarterly review meeting, you can project your Board with all the latest data.
- Block. A Block is an object within an Application that contains or calculates data in Pigment. There are four Block types in Pigment:
- Dimension List
- Transactions List
- Metric
- Table
Some useful terms
| Term | Description | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Dimension List | A Dimension Lists consists of related Items that bring consistency and structure to your Pigment Application. These Items represent the elements on which calculations are performed, and they play a crucial role in configuring and displaying your data. Each Item in a Dimension List must be unique to maintain calculation accuracy and ensure clarity when viewing data. |
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| Transactions List | A Transactions List represents a list of events or instances of buying or selling something that needs to be transformed or grouped for analysis. Unlike Items in a Dimension List, Transactions List Items do not need to be unique. This is because you might have two similar orders or events. | A list of orders, a Human Resources ledger, and so on. |
| Item | These are individual values in a List. |
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| Metric | Metrics store data according to a defined set of Dimensions. They can either be entered manually or calculated using formulas based on other Metrics, List Properties, or a combination of both. |
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| Table | Tables organize Metrics that can be analyzed and compared together. Each table consists of Metrics and Dimensions. The Metrics within a Table do not need the same Dimension, as Tables handle allocation and aggregation. |
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| View | Lists, Metrics, and Tables start with a default View. You can create multiple different saved Views for these Blocks, which can then be used to generate charts or customize how the data is displayed in a widget on a Board. Views offer flexibility by allowing you to pivot Dimensions, apply custom formatting, and adjust layouts to best present your data. | Converting a Table that displays |
| Page | This is a Dimension in a Block or Board that you can use as a filter to view your data. |
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More information:
Create and Edit a Board in an Application
Measuring what you need with Metrics