Formatting and Customizing Visuals

Formatting improves readability and helps users focus on the most important information.

Power BI provides formatting controls for titles, labels, axes, colors, backgrounds, borders, and other visual elements.

Titles and Labels

Use descriptive titles that communicate the purpose of a chart.

For example:

• Less useful: Chart 1
• Better: Total Sales by Product Category

Data labels can display values directly on bars, columns, or other supported visual elements. Enable them when they improve understanding, but avoid displaying too many labels in crowded charts.

Colors and Themes

Colors should have a clear purpose.

For example, you might use a consistent color for revenue across multiple report pages. If you use different colors to represent categories, keep those category colors consistent throughout the report.

Power BI themes can help apply coordinated colors and formatting across multiple visuals.

Avoid using too many unrelated colors because they can distract users from the data.

Axes and Number Formatting

Axis labels and number formats should make values easy to interpret.

For example, displaying revenue as ₹1,50,000 may be more meaningful to an Indian business audience than displaying 150000 without a currency indicator.

You can configure number formats, decimal places, display units, and axis settings based on the visual and data type.

Be careful when modifying axis ranges. Truncating a bar chart's value axis can exaggerate differences between categories.

Tooltips

Tooltips display additional information when users hover over supported visual elements.

For example, a sales chart may show the product category, total revenue, order count, and profit in a tooltip.

Tooltips help provide context without overcrowding the report with labels and additional charts.

Formatting Best Practices

• Use readable fonts and consistent text sizes.
• Keep titles short and meaningful.
• Use colors consistently.
• Display units clearly, especially for currency and percentages.
• Avoid unnecessary borders, backgrounds, and decorative effects.
• Check the report at different screen sizes.

The objective is to improve comprehension rather than simply make the report look attractive.