14. Visuals and Their Formatting
14.2 The Format Pane: Visual Tab, General Tab and Analytics
Select a visual › Visualizations › Format visual (paintbrush). The pane has two tabs and a search box at the top (type "data labels" to jump straight to it).
| Tab | Common cards (options differ by visual) | What you set |
|---|---|---|
| Visual | Legend, X-axis, Y-axis (and Secondary y-axis), Gridlines, Zoom slider, Columns/Bars/Lines/Markers, Data labels, Total labels, Plot area background, Small multiples, Cell elements (table), Callout value (card), Slicer settings | Everything inside the chart: axis type, font, title, range, colours, label position and display units (Thousands, Millions), line styles |
| General | Properties (Size, Position, Padding, Advanced options), Title (Title, Subtitle, Divider, Spacing), Effects (Background, Visual border, Shadow), Header icons, Tooltips, Alt text | Everything around the chart: title text and fx, background colour and transparency, rounded corners, shadow, the icons in the visual header, tooltip type and style, accessibility text |
Analytics pane (magnifying glass icon, third icon in Visualizations): reference lines and forecasts for supported charts (14.23).
Steps in Power BI – professional formatting in 10 clicks (bar chart of Orders by City)
- General › Title › Text: "Orders by City – Maharashtra", Font Segoe UI Semibold 14, Subtitle On: "Blinkit + Amazon Now, selected period".
- Visual › Y-axis › Title Off (city names are self-explanatory).
- Visual › X-axis › Values Off, Title Off (we will use data labels instead).
- Visual › Gridlines › Vertical Off.
- Visual › Bars › Colors › set one brand colour (e.g. #F2C811 yellow) or use fx for conditional colours (Module 20).
- Visual › Data labels › On › Display units Thousands › Value decimal places 1.
- General › Effects › Visual border › On, colour light grey, Rounded corners 8 px; Shadow Off for a flat look.
- General › Header icons › hide icons you do not want viewers to use.
- General › Alt text › "Bar chart showing total orders for each of six Maharashtra cities".
- Home › Format painter › click another visual to copy all this formatting.
Ravindra Bagale's Tip
Friends, don't make a mistake here: formatting every visual by hand is the mistake I see most, along with showing axis values, data labels and gridlines at once, and leaving titles like "Sum of Amount by City". Set a theme and use Format painter. Pick one way of reading values, and always write a meaningful title. Remember this rule.
Ravindra Bagale's Tip – मराठी
मित्रांनो, इथे चूक करू नका: प्रत्येक visual हाताने format करणं ही मला सगळ्यात जास्त दिसणारी चूक आहे, त्यासोबत axis values, data labels आणि gridlines एकाच वेळी दाखवणं, आणि "Sum of Amount by City" सारखे titles तसेच ठेवणं. Theme set करा आणि Format painter वापरा. Values वाचायची एकच पद्धत निवडा, आणि नेहमी अर्थपूर्ण title लिहा. हा नियम लक्षात ठेवा.
Ravindra Bagale's Tip – हिंदी
दोस्तों, यहाँ गलती मत करना: हर visual को हाथ से format करना सबसे ज़्यादा दिखने वाली गलती है, साथ में axis values, data labels और gridlines एक साथ दिखाना, और "Sum of Amount by City" जैसे titles वैसे ही छोड़ देना. Theme set करो और Format painter इस्तेमाल करो. Values पढ़ने का एक ही तरीका चुनो, और हमेशा मतलब वाला title लिखो. यह नियम याद रखो.