Skip to main content

Tips and tricks for Data Labels

If we talk about the level of detail then data labels can make your visuals stand out and add more context to them. There is a flip side too with them. The most common issue is when you put the data labels it creates a bit of a mess in your visuals and it becomes an intricate task if you consider the readability for the end users. That's not the objective of visualization.

Let's consider a use case where we are creating a basic line graph with the evolution of discount percentages over a period. We are considering Sample Superstore data. Also, we have enabled the data labels for the whole series.


You can play around with the formatting of your data labels. We can adjust the position, colors, and much more. If you focus on the title of the visual it's dynamic in nature and depends on the selection in the slicer. To know more about dynamic titles you can follow the link. From a visual point of view, the abovementioned visual is not so intuitive in nature. 

To make it more intuitive we can reduce the number of labels and just show the minimum and maximum discount percentages. This will take the normal line graph a step ahead. How to do it? If you consider other BI tools such as Tableau this feature is just a toggle but in Power BI you can do it with the help of basic DAX.

We are creating two DAX named Max Discount and Min Discount. The formula is very basic and uses MaxX and MinX. It will return the largest and the smallest value of the Discount Percentage.


 


It's very basic and does the job so first disable the data labels from the formatting and put these measures in the Y axis. 


Once you put these measures in the Y axis then you can format it. The most basic thing is to change the color. Generally, I put red for minimum and green for maximum. You can adjust it according to your needs. You can find it under colors in the formatting pane. 

So back to the data labels enable it and you have to look for Apply settings to. Under that, you can see three options- Discount, Max Discount, and Min Discount. Select the Discount and disable the toggle to show data labels. Then select the Max discount and enable the toggle for data labels. You have to do the same for the Min discount.


Once you do that you can see the desired results. Only labels for the min and max discount are there on the line graph. Such tricks give an extra edge and add a level of detail to your visuals. For more tips and tricks do follow us.


Thanks for Reading  Let's connect on  LinkedIn. For more such blogs do follow us.

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Copying Bookmarks from one Power BI report to another

Let's think of a scenario, where you want to copy the bookmarks from one report to another. Most obvious approach is to just do a copy paste of the bookmarks. What's wrong with this approach? This approach only works for all visuals but not for bookmarks and field parameters.  If you are not familiar with basics of bookmarks and field parameters do refer to the beginners guide for bookmarks  and introduction to field parameters . Then how do you copy the bookmarks? Power BI enhanced report format (PBIR) for Power BI Project files (PBIP) will help you in achieving this. Let's check it out, I have 2 reports one contains the bookmark called Bookmarks PBIR Test (origin) and other one is Rolling Average PBIR Test (destination) .  Before we get started, you have to enable Power BI Project save option under preview features. Once enabled, restart Power BI desktop. There is a TMDL icon appearing on the left pane. What is TMDL and what's in it for me? There's a lot of possi...

Playing with Totals in Power BI

Are you a fan of matrix visual in Power BI? If you are as I am, I always struggle to get the correct totals and get something else instead of the totals it can be average. After a lot of research and going over different community posts, finally we have found 3 common scenarios that can elevate your matrix to the next level. To start with, I am using Sample Superstore data. Let's first explain the 3 different scenarios that we will tackle - We  would like  to show both Total Sales and Average Monthly Sales across different categories and different periods. We  would like  to show the Average Sales in the row subtotals and Total Sales in the column subtotals. Last and the  most interesting scenario is to show the Total sales excluding the furniture sales in the row subtotals and total sales in the column subtotals. Let's start by getting the correct totals in a matrix. Generally, if  use  basic Sum, Average... functions in your measures then most likely...

Introduction to Power Ops

Power BI, combined with all external tools, at least the basic ones, can be a perfect BI tool to meet all your needs. Today's blog will focus on another external tool. What?? Not another one!! In my regular practice, I always rely on basic external tools such as DAX Studio, Tabular Editor, and Measure Killer. But what if I say this new tool is a transformer, combining all the basic tools in one place? If you are looking for an introductory guide for the basic external tools, we got you covered.  Beginner's Guide to DAX Studio Advanced Guide to DAX Studio Guide to Measure Killer Yes, you read it right and we will give you an introductory guide to all the functionalities that can be achieved with  Power Ops . Okay, first things first to download Power Ops you can visit their  website  and I would recommend exploring it with one of your reports. You can download the free version. It will be available under the external tools section in Power BI Desktop. Before we move f...