Additional enhancements for columns, bars and ribbons

Feature overview

Data enthusiasts, are you ready for some exciting news? The latest Power BI update is here, and it’s all about new enhancements that you’re sure to enjoy. Building on December’s transformative update, we’ve fine-tuned columns, bars, and ribbons, giving you even more control over your visualizations. From border enhancements to IBCS-inspired styles, this release is all about making your reports shine. So, let’s dive in!

Stacked column/bar enhancements

Hide inner borders

In our December update, we introduced fully adjustable borders for shapes, allowing for better contrast within Series or Categories. Now, with this update, we’ve stepped it up even more with a further enhancement – a new toggle to hide inner borders, helping report creators reduce visual noise while using shape borders. Say goodbye to cluttered visuals and hello to sleek, professional reports.

Check out the clear difference in the example below, where inner borders have been hidden, providing added flexibility in your report creation. Keep in mind that eroded and exploded shapes will still show borders on all sides, but now you choose the option that better suits your needs with each new report.

To try it yourself using an existing visual with a stacked column chart, simply follow these three easy steps: 1) Select the visual, 2) Open the Format pane, expand Columns, and then expand Border, 3) ensure the Border toggle is on, and then enable the toggle to Hide inner borders.

Clustered column/bar enhancements

Space between series

One of our latest updates in chart creation is the ability to separate shapes within a clustered series. This new feature may enhance the visual appeal and readability of your charts. By adjusting the gap width between columns or bars of clustered series using the new slider, report creators can customize the space between series from 0% to 75% allowing for greater flexibility in meeting individual requirements and creating more personalized reports.

To try it yourself using an existing visual with a clustered column chart, simply follow these three easy steps: 1) Select the visual, 2) Open the Format pane, expand Columns, and then expand Layout, 3) adjust the Space between series.

Overlap

Comparing two or more data series has become easier and perhaps more clear with the introduction of a new toggle that allows report creators to overlap the shapes of clustered series. This new feature allows clustered columns and bars to be overlapped while broadening the range of the space between series from 0% to 100% making the comparison of data series versatile and more visually interesting while achieving IBCS styles.

Flip overlap

If the introduction of our new overlap toggle caught your attention, we’re happy to provide you with even more control and customization of clustered series as shown here. We’ve added another toggle that allows you to flip the overlap to bring the last series to the front making it more visible and relevant. As an added bonus, by adjusting some of the other layout options, report creators can also reverse the series order, unlocking the ability to create different combinations of the series positions

Sort by value

As an additional benefit, when the overlap toggle is enabled, report creators gain the ability to sort visual elements by value. This feature ensures that clustered series accurately overlap based on their rankings. By doing so, the visual representation maintains a hierarchical structure, enhancing the overall interpretability of the report. Furthermore, the overlapped series adheres to the layer order corresponding to their assigned positions, resulting in a clear and organized view for users, presenting data in a more meaningful and visually appealing manner, while facilitating better insights and decision-making.

Ribbon enhancements

Add ribbons to bar or column charts

In our December update, we introduced significant enhancements to ribbon charts, allowing full customization of ribbons within your reports. Now, with this month’s update, we’ve extended these ribbon settings and customization capabilities to all bar charts and column charts. This enhancement now enables report creators to perform ranking analysis by associating exploded series with these ribbons.

Interactivity

Dynamic column/bar resize when using zoom slider

Wrapping up this months update, is another noteworthy improvement that empowers you to enhance the readability and visual appeal of your columns, ribbons, and error bars. This enhancement dynamically adjusts the spacing between categories when you zoom in or out. Specifically, when utilizing the new Cartesian zoom slider, all visual elements — such as columns, bars, ribbons, and error bars — will now resize based on the primary axis range and the “space between categories” control.

Visual shapes, lines, and markers roadmap

Graphs, charts, and plots will be fully transformed, and the roadmap continues forward multiple phases.

1. Visual shapes improvements (Column chart, bar chart, and ribbon chart)– Border and transparency support (Delivered) – Stacked series enhancements (Delivered) – Ribbon enhancements (Delivered) – Clustered series enhancements (Delivered)
2. Visual lines improvements (Line chart, area chart, and analytic lines)
3. Markers improvements (Line chart and scatter chart)
4. Error bars improvements