Power BI Report Theme Change - Snack 8

Last time we visited, we addressed the formatting of the Date column.  

It got a little ugly, but hopefully everything worked out for you.

Getting back to My Workspace in Power BI, let's see what else we need to do.

Go ahead an open your report; again, mine is called "FinancialSample."

There are multiple things that stand out about the data.  However, the table visual itself does not seem to stand out too well.  It is difficult to discern where that visual begins and where it ends.  

Let's fix that!

The more that you use Power BI, the more you will find that it is extremely helpful to know exactly where those visualization boundaries are.

Viewing your report in My Workspace in Power BI, 

1. Choose "Edit" from the top menu
2. In Edit mode,
1. Choose View
2. Choose Theme
1. A window should appear with some rather colorful themes.
2. I know you really want to choose your own, but for these demo purposes, 
3. Find the one with the blue background.
1. If you hover over that one, it should say "Tidal"
1. I use this one (Tidal) exclusively, because it matches organizational colors almost perfectly.
2. Click "Tidal"
1. The table appears over a blue background now.
2. Also, the boundaries for your table, as well as the handles that enable resizing it should also be more apparent.
1. This just makes everything a lot simpler.
3. In the top left of the screen,
1. Choose File
2. Choose Save

That is all we have for today.

Still hungry? 

If you really want to change the Theme to colors that better match your personality, repeat steps 1-3.

Should you choose one with a white background, I highly recommend adjusting the background color, so you see visual boundaries better.  You can always change it back to white later.

1. To change your background ...
1. Click on the background of your report so that you have NO visualization selected
1. How do I know that I have NO visualization selected?
1. The Visualizations pane will only have 2 icons at the top
2. At the top of the Visualizations pane,
1. Click the "Format your report page" icon (looks like a paper and paintbrush)
2. Select "Wallpaper"
1. Ensure the box for "Image" says "Browse"
1. If it does not, click the "X"
3. Choose a color from the color pallet
3. File > Save

Yes, you can use a picture for a background instead, if you really want to.

You probably noticed that there are two similar choices in there for backgrounds.

"Canvas Background" is the area within the report page. The boundaries of that are the dashed line going around the report screen.  You cannot move your visuals past that line.  That is the "Canvas."  You may have to adjust the transparency on this to see it happen.

"Wallpaper" refers to the area outside the report canvas.

Looking at how I have been doing this for the last bunch of years, it seems that I only use the Wallpaper with the Canvas background Transparency set to 100%.

Why?

I don't know.  The dashed line surrounding the Canvas is good enough for me to know where my layout space ends.

Until next time, play around with it and see what works best for you.