pbir-themes

## PBIR Theme Reference Themes define default formatting inherited by all visuals. Review the theme BEFORE editing individual visuals. ### File Locations | Theme | Path | |---|---| | Base (built-in) | `Report.Report/StaticResources/SharedResources/BaseThemes/<Name>.json` | | Custom | `Report.Report/StaticResources/RegisteredResources/<Name>.json` | Both referenced in `report.json`: ```json "themeCollection": { "baseTheme": {"name": "CY24SU10", "type": "SharedResources"}, "customTheme": {"name": "MyTheme.json", "type": "RegisteredResources"} } ``` ### Base Themes (April 2026) Custom themes layer on top of a base theme. Three are shipped: | Base theme | Status | Notes | |---|---|---| | `Fluent 2` | Preview (Desktop only) | Modern Fluent 2 styling. New pages default to **1920x1080** (initial page stays 1280x720). Adds chart / button / slicer / small-multiples style presets. Enable via Options › Preview features › "Modern visual defaults and customize theme improvements". | | `Classic 2026` | Default for new reports | Incremental refresh of `CY24SU10`-era defaults. | | `Classic 2018` | Legacy compatibility | Original base theme; reports created before 2026. | Switch via View › Themes › Customize current theme › Base theme dropdown. The Customize-theme dialog also surfaces aspect-ratio page-size presets and table/matrix style enhancements when the preview is on. The published theme JSON schema referenced by visualStyles tracks the latest base — current is `reportThemeSchema-2.149.json` (under `microsoft/powerbi-desktop-samples` on GitHub). ### Top-Level Theme Properties | Property | Type | Notes | |---|---|---| | `name` | string | Theme name | | `dataColors` | string[] | Palette hex strings, 0-indexed (referenced by `ColorId`) | | `background` / `foreground` / `tableAccent` | string | Semantic colors | | `good` / `bad` / `neutral` / `minimum` / `maximum` / `center` | string | Sentiment colors | | `textClasses` | object | `title`, `label`, `callout`, `header` → `fontSize`, `fontFace`, `color` | | `visualStyles` | object | `[visualType][state]` formatting overrides | ### Inheritance Hierarchy (broad → specific) 1. Wildcard `visualStyles["*"]["*"]` — all visuals 2. Visual type `visualStyles["lineChart"]["*"]` — overrides wildcard for that type 3. Visual instance — `objects` / `visualContainerObjects` in `visual.json` (see `pbir-visual-json` for the `objects` vs `visualContainerObjects` split in schema 2.4.0+) ### visualStyles Structure Two-level keys: `[visualType][state]`. Second level is a **state**, not an instance selector. | State | Meaning | |---|---| | `"*"` | Default (normal rendering) — most common | | `"hover"` | Hover state | | `"press"` | Press/click state | | `"selected"` | Selected state | ```json "visualStyles": { "slicer": { "*": {"items": [{"fontColor": {"solid": {"color": "#000000"}}}]}, "hover": {"items": [{"fontColor": {"solid": {"color": "#118DFF"}}}]} } } ``` ### Theme JSON Value Conventions | Type | Theme JSON | visual.json | |---|---|---| | Integer | `14` | `{"expr": {"Literal": {"Value": "14L"}}}` | | Float | `14.5` | `"14.5D"` | | Boolean | `true` | `"true"` | | Hex color | `"#e03131"` (bare) | `"'#e03131'"` (inner quotes) | | ThemeDataColor | `{"solid": {"color": {"ThemeDataColor": {"ColorId": 0, "Percent": 0}}}}` | Same shape wrapped in `expr` | **Never use `D` / `L` suffixes in theme JSON** — bare numbers only. ### ThemeDataColor ```json {"solid": {"color": {"ThemeDataColor": {"ColorId": 5, "Percent": 0.4}}}} ``` | Property | Notes | |---|---| | `ColorId` | 0-based index into `dataColors[]` | | `Percent` | `0` = exact, `0.1`..`1.0` = lighter, `-1.0`..`-0.1` = darker | ### Container Properties (visualContainerObjects) Place under `visualStyles["*"]["*"]` or per visual type. Arrays of property objects. | Object | Keys | |---|---| | `title` | `show`, `fontSize`, `fontFamily`, `fontColor`, `alignment` | | `subTitle` | `show`, `fontSize`, `fontFamily`, `fontColor` | | `background` | `show`, `color`, `transparency` | | `border` | `show`, `width`, `color`, `radius` | | `dropShadow` | `show`, `angle`, `distance`, `blur`, `color` | | `padding` | `top`, `bottom`, `left`, `right` | | `divider` | `show`, `color`, `style`, `width` | | `visualHeader` | `show` | | `visualTooltip` | `type`, `titleFontColor` | ### Visual Object Properties (objects) Chart-specific formatting keys placed under `visualStyles["*"]["*"]` or per visual type: `categoryAxis`, `valueAxis`, `labels`, `legend`, `dataPoint`, `plotArea`, `lineStyles`, `markers`. ### textClasses ```json "textClasses": { "title": {"fontSize": 14, "fontFace": "Segoe UI Semibold"}, "header": {"fontSize": 12, "fontFace": "Segoe UI Semibold"}, "label": {"fontSize": 11, "fontFace": "Segoe UI"}, "callout": {"fontSize": 45, "fontFace": "DIN"} } ``` CY24SU10 defaults: `callout` 45 DIN, `title` 12 DIN, `header` 12 Segoe UI Semibold, `label` 10 Segoe UI. All `#252423`. ### Filter Pane Styling — outspacePane (owned here) Location: `visualStyles["*"]["*"].outspacePane`. **Theme owns every styling property of the filter pane. Visibility / expansion state is separate — see `pbir-filters` for `report.json → objects.outspacePane`.** | Property | Type | Notes | |---|---|---| | `backgroundColor` | color | `{"solid": {"color": ...}}` or ThemeDataColor | | `transparency` | integer | 0-100 (bare) | | `border` | boolean | Show vertical separator | | `borderColor` | color | Separator color | | `fontFamily` | string | Triple-quoted fallback chain | | `foregroundColor` | color | Text, icons, buttons | | `titleSize` | integer | Points | | `headerSize` | integer | Points | | `searchTextSize` | integer | Points | | `inputBoxColor` | color | Input field background | | `checkboxAndApplyColor` | color | Apply button, checkboxes | | `width` | integer | Pixels | ### Filter Card Styling — filterCard Location: `visualStyles["*"]["*"].filterCard` (array). Target specific card states via `$id`. | `$id` | Targets | |---|---| | `"Available"` | Unapplied filters (filter pane list) | | `"Applied"` | Actively applied filters | | `"<GUID>"` | Specific filter by its `name` from filterConfig | | Property | Type | |---|---| | `backgroundColor` | color | | `transparency` | integer 0-100 | | `border` | boolean | | `borderColor` | color | | `fontFamily` | string | | `foregroundColor` | color | | `textSize` | integer | | `inputBoxColor` | color | **Note**: `filterCard` without `$id` can also live at `visualStyles["page"]["*"].filterCard` as a base fallback. ### Wildcard + Override Pattern ```json { "visualStyles": { "*": { "*": { "title": [{"show": true, "fontSize": 12}] } }, "textbox": { "*": { "title": [{"show": false}], "background": [{"show": false}], "border": [{"show": false}], "dropShadow": [{"show": false}] } } } } ``` ### pbir CLI ```bash pbir theme colors "Report.Report" # list palette pbir theme set-formatting "Report.Report" ... # set properties pbir visuals clear-formatting "Report.Report/**/*.Visual" --keep-cf -f ``` Without CLI use `jq` with temp-file pattern: ```bash THEME=$(jq -r '.themeCollection.customTheme.name' Report.Report/definition/report.json) THEME="Report.Report/StaticResources/RegisteredResources/$THEME" jq '.visualStyles["*"]["*"].title[0].fontSize = 14' "$THEME" > "$THEME.tmp" && mv "$THEME.tmp" "$THEME" jq empty "$THEME" ``` ### Clearing Visual-Level Overrides (Enforce Theme) Stale `objects` / `visualContainerObjects` in visual.json override theme defaults. - Clear container only (safe, preserves CF): `jq 'del(.visualContainerObjects)' visual.json` - Clear all bespoke formatting (removes CF too): `jq 'del(.objects) | del(.visualContainerObjects)' visual.json` ### Gotchas | Issue | Cause | Fix | |---|---|---| | `D`/`L` suffix rejected in theme | Used visual.json literal shape | Theme JSON uses bare numbers | | Hex color rendered as literal text | Inner single quotes `"'#fff'"` in theme | Theme uses bare `"#ffffff"` | | `id` key ignored in filterCard | Used `"id"` | Theme uses `"$id"` | | Filter pane styling causes deploy error | Styling placed in `report.json` outspacePane | Only `visible`/`expanded` allowed in report.json — move styling to theme | | Theme changes invisible after apply | Stale `visualContainerObjects` in visuals | Run `pbir visuals clear-formatting --keep-cf -f` | | `ColorId` out of range | Palette has fewer entries than referenced | Check `dataColors[]` length | | Font fallback chain broken | Not triple-quoted | `"'Segoe UI Semibold', wf_segoe-ui_semibold, helvetica, arial, sans-serif"` | | Inheritance not applying | Put properties at wrong state key | Default state is `"*"`, not `"default"` | | Third-level `"*"` catch-all confusing | Real themes sometimes nest another `"*"` for generic props | Treat as fallback; normal paths still work | | `textClasses` not inheriting | Used `fontSize` as string | Must be bare integer | ### Reference - Microsoft Learn: [Use report themes in Power BI Desktop](https://learn.microsoft.com/power-bi/create-reports/desktop-report-themes) - Microsoft Learn: [Create custom report themes (full JSON reference)](https://learn.microsoft.com/power-bi/create-reports/report-themes-create-custom) - Microsoft Learn: [Set formatted text defaults (textClasses table)](https://learn.microsoft.com/power-bi/create-reports/report-themes-create-custom#set-formatted-text-defaults)