My startup Pretty Graph is working on an online graph-making app, which will make such graphs easy to make in the browser. Sign up at http://prettygraph.com or email me at [email protected] and I will let you know when we go live.

(My usual HN id is revorad, but I'm... err noprocrasting :-)

So you want people to sign up for a preview of a pretty graph maker without showing any pretty graphs?

Good point John. The full site with previews and a trial version will be up in a few days. That's why I haven't posted an Ask HN review post yet. I mentioned it in this thread because people expressed interest in such an app.

Sorry, that response was more snippy than it should have been. I'll look forward to your Ask HN

I know the designers on HN will crucify me for saying this, but it seems to me there is a very real market for templates like this. Maybe even a blogozine startup?

http://flowingdata.com/ has a few resources and sources.. I think the answer is - for the really high quality stuff - the end result is normally always Photoshop/Illustrator.