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Set transparency for colors in Power BI

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Krishna Sankar on 10 Aug 2015 09:12:15

Being able to set transparency for Colors. RGBA or equivalent is extremely critical visualization tool. This is very helpful when you want to layer visualizations on top of each other. Ex. Layer an image on top of a text box. Layer different parts of an area chart. Layer a combo chart. This is a basic

Comments (59)
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David Robson on 18 Dec 2023 10:33:23

RE: Set transparency for colors in Power BI

this feels an easy fix considering it is already possible on things such as the fill colour. It would be very helpful if I could set the columns in a column chart as transparent.

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Åsmund Bratlie on 13 Jan 2022 11:43:23

RE: Set transparency for colors in Power BI

Are there any ways to see if this is in the pipeline for further development? It seems that this shouldn't take all that much to implement. The workarounds mentioned here does not satisfy the core issue. So vote, people =)

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Power BI User on 06 Jul 2020 00:17:27

RE: Set transparency for colors in Power BI

Surely the easiest way is to allow 8 character hex codes

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Power BI User on 06 Jul 2020 00:16:54

RE: Set transparency for colors in Power BI

But there's no option to choose conditional formatting for chart's Data colors section. I don't see any option to make one of data series transparent.

Only workaround I found is to setup series color the same as background, but grid lines won't be displayed properly.

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Michael on 06 Jul 2020 00:15:08

RE: Set transparency for colors in Power BI

I think it's mostly already there. When formatting a text box or shapes, simply enable Background = On and define both the Fill Color and the Transparency for the selected object.

You can even use any of the CSS-3 color codes (incl. RGBA, HSLA) in combination with conditional formatting and a measure. E.g. for a hardcoded (i.e. unconditional) color create a simple measure like:
SemiTransparentBlue = "RGBA(0,0,255,0.5)"

Then select the [fx] icon next to the color selector, choose Format By = Field Value, and set Based on Field to your (e.g. SemiTransparentBlue).

For real conditional colors your measure should be a bit more advanced though, like:

ConditionalColor =
var _value = [] /* the value to compare */
return
SWITCH( TRUE () ,
_value < -0.1, "RGB(255, 0, 0)",
_value < 0, "lightpink",
_value > 0.1, "HSLA(120, 100%, 75%, 0.5)",
"" /* else (0 >= value <= 0.1) */
)

Note the blank color code as else parameter for full transparency. Very useful for table visuals with alternating white and grey rows when no conditional color should be applied for specific values.

See also: https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/power-bi/create-reports/desktop-conditional-table-formatting#color-formatting-by-field-value

Still, allowing 8-digit hex codes as in Power app's ColorValue () function would be more user friendly. So I voted too :-)

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Rajeev Nandan Singh on 06 Jul 2020 00:14:30

RE: Set transparency for colors in Power BI

It will be very useful for Report Design and Data Visualization. !!
Highly recommend to make the report more impactful.

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Power BI User on 06 Jul 2020 00:13:56

RE: Set transparency for colors in Power BI

This would be just awsome!

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Mariana on 06 Jul 2020 00:12:41

RE: Set transparency for colors in Power BI

This really impacts the visuals!!!

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Mark on 06 Jul 2020 00:12:18

RE: Set transparency for colors in Power BI

Need this please - very useful for layering visuals as others have mentioned

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Christian on 06 Jul 2020 00:11:50

RE: Set transparency for colors in Power BI

BUMP. This is important so that you can layer some visuals it should be an easy fix. Just make the option of transparency for basic visuals like bar charts etc.