Power BI Template to create Report Themes with the JSON template

You can customize the look and feel of the Power BI reports using the formatting pane for each specific visual or you can speed up the process by using a JSON file.

This feature (the JSON file) has been available for quite a while but the documentation is poor  and unfortunately, a lot of the elements wont work even when you add them correctly to the file.

To be able to manage this, I have created my own guide for the JSON file and I am making it available for you to purchase, as well as my complete JSON file:

User Guide to the JSON Guide Template

Here is a video explaining everything, but if you prefer to read, skip the video and scroll to the text:

I have created a Power BI report that contains the following:

1. A Welcome Page, or in other words, your home page with links to all the resources available in the report. Just click on the images to go to different tabs and start customizing your theme.
2. A Labels Page, will allow you to search for Power BI visuals to find what labels are available for them. The labels are displayed in the same order as they appear in Power BI. Once you find the label you are looking for , right-click to go to the Properties Page, where all properties and values are listed.
3. A Properties Page, is hidden as it is used as a drillthrough for the Labels Page. Here you can see the name of the properties in the JSON file and the type you use for them. Once you are done, click the back arrow to go back to the Labels Page.
4. A Bulk Page, will allow you to search for visuals, labels or properties without having to go to the Label Pages. It can also list all the visuals that have a specific property if you want to do bulk editing.
5. A Font Page, will show the JSON name for the fonts and show you the default fonts for the Curbal theme.
6. and finally, the Color Page, will list all the colors available for this theme and give you their HEX code as well as some best practices.

And the following fields are available for you, so you can start modifying your JSON file:

• PBI Visual Order: Sorts the visuals in the same order they are placed on Power BI Desktop
• PBI Visual: Name of the Power BI visual
• JSON Visual: Name of the Power BI visual in the JSON file
• PBI Label Order: Sorts the labels in the same order they are placed on Power BI Desktop
• PBI Label: Name of the Power BI label
• JSON Label: Name of the Power BI label in the JSON file
• PBI Property Order: Sorts the properties in the same order they are placed on Power BI Desktop
• PBI Property: Name of the Power BI property
• JSON Property: Name of the Power BI property in the JSON file
• Description: Short description of what this property sets in Power BI Desktop
• PBI Value: Explains if the property is a text, number, color, etc and shows the dropdown options available for each property.
• JSON Value: Explains if the property is a text, number, color, etc and shows the dropdown options available for each property and the JSON name for each option.

and the Power BI file contains:

1. 2,474 rows with properties,
2. 29 visuals,
3. 156 (distinct) properties and
4. 76 (distinct) labels

This is a snapshot of what you will get.

Comments

1. The JSON file included in the Power BI report is the default one with some modifications.
2. The properties specified on the  report are in the same order as you will find in Power BI Desktop (at the time this was published).
3. Keep in mind that some properties are set globally. Locally set properties normally override global properties.
4. If you find a question mark on a property, it means that it is either not available yet, not possible or I just couldn’t figure it out.

User guide to the JSON file

If you purchase this product you will get Curbal’s JSON file that contains almost* all of the properties available at the moment of publishing it.

You have also available for purchase the JSON Theme Guide that will explain all the properties used in this file here or you might prefer to get both in this bundle here.

*NOTE: There are around 2% of the properties (60 out of 2.474) that either they are not available yet, not possible to configure using the JSON file or I just couldn’t figure them out. Those properties are marked with “?” in the file.

Contents

The JSON file contains all available and known properties needed to customize your Power BI file with your own theme, including:

1. 29 visuals,
2. 156 properties and
3. 76 labels

Screenshot of the JSON file:

Comments

1. The JSON file contains the colors, font and branding theme for Curbal. Feel free to use it in your reports if you like it.
2. The properties specified on the JSON file are in the same order as you will find in Power BI Desktop (at the time this was published).
3. If the property is not active it will have an underscore at the end of the name: “fontSize_”. To make the property available, just remove the underscore.
4. Keep in mind that some properties are set globally. Locally set properties normally override global properties.
5. If you find a question mark on a property, it means that it is either not available yet, not possible or I just couldn’t figure it out.

Purchase the guide and JSON file

If you want to customize the guide and JSON file, they are available for you to purchase here:

Hopefully you will find this template as useful as I have and it gets you started creating Power BI templates in no time 

Release Notes

Release Date	Version	Notes
2019-12-XX	v6	Not released yet